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He heard what sounded like a hiccup. Or her choking back tears.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Take the weekend and come with me to Texas,” he said.
She popped up in bed and flipped over. Her eyes were red as they zeroed in on him. “Say that again?” she asked.
The question came out unexpectedly, but the sentiment was heartfelt, he realized. “Come to Texas. Meet my family. You’ll have fun, and they’ll love you.”
Her eyes opened wide. “But . . . work. The hospital. My patients.” Her father. That last one went unsaid.
“Will all be here when you get back.” He didn’t know what he hoped for out of the request. He only knew he wasn’t ready to be apart from her.
The rest he’d figure out.
If she said yes.
Chapter Seven
Alexa sat up in bed with the sheets pulled over her breasts as she stared at Luke. Come to Texas, he’d said, and boy, was she tempted. She’d never wanted to chuck the responsibilities in her life and take off for the weekend more than she did now.
Unfortunately, the reliable, dependable side of her spoke louder in her head and took over. “I can’t just pick up and go when the whim strikes me.” She winced, knowing she sounded more like her father than herself.
And the hurt on Luke’s face confirmed it.
“Luke—”
“I get it. You have to work.” He’d been sitting on the edge of the mattress, and now he reached down and grabbed his pants off the floor.
She wasn’t ready for their time together to end, especially not like this. “No, you don’t get it. I want to go with you. I really do.”
He paused in the middle of pulling on his jeans and glanced over his shoulder. “It’s not as hard as it sounds. I’m guessing you have plenty of vacation time built up, and since you managed today, I figure you also have people to cover for you. Hell, knowing you, half the hospital probably owes you a favor.”
Her cheeks burned because he was right, and he’d figured her out in a very short time. “I want to go,” she repeated, needing him to hear her and believe. “But I can’t leave without any notice.”
He secured the button on his jeans before answering. “Lex, I’m not gonna lie to you. These couple of days weren’t just unexpected. They were fucking amazing,” he said, letting loose with his language for the first time.
She grinned but said nothing, mainly because a) it didn’t bother her and b) she agreed. Their time together had been exactly that.
He hooked his fingers in the loop of his jeans, his chest bare, his gaze level on hers. “Nobody respects discipline and routine more than I do. I wouldn’t be where I was in my career if I didn’t dedicate myself 110 percent during the season and stick to a schedule during the off-season. And if I thought you were saying you couldn’t come because you wanted to work or it would affect your career, I’d never push. But that isn’t it, is it?”
With every word he spoke, her defenses rose higher. She stiffened her shoulders until her neck hurt, and she glared at him, but he clearly wasn’t finished. “Tell me what you think it is,” she said, folding her arms across her chest, protecting herself from whatever he would say next.
Ironic since five minutes ago, she wouldn’t have thought she’d have to protect herself from this man—ever.
“You don’t want to tell your father you’re taking more time off. You don’t want to disappoint the old man or lose the legacy he’s so carefully prepared for you. But, darlin’, I’m asking you straight out to be sure that’s the future you, yourself, want.”
Her mouth ran dry. As quickly as her anger had grown at his words, it deflated with his further insight. She wasn’t sure about her life, and he knew it. And he didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted her to be happy.
His gaze softened. “If I could stay longer and be with you, I’d do it. Give up a meeting or two, miss a practice if I thought I could work it out. But the one thing I won’t miss in life is a family event because those only happen once. I can’t get back a missed birthday or the look in my niece’s eyes when she sees that power-charged Barbie Car I bought for her that’ll be waitin’ in the driveway.”
Oh my God. He was killing her. Alexa didn’t even know the little girl he spoke of, but she suddenly had a whole new vision of Luke Thompson, and it took her breath away. His words sliced deep because how many of her birthdays had her own father missed because of work, while Luke wouldn’t skip his sister’s daughter’s special day?
She’d thought this man was something unique. Something real. Now she knew for sure.
