One Night with the Best Man

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The doors swung open. Dr. Sanchez came into the waiting area and walked their way. “Don’t get up.”

Luke had automatically started to rise without thinking about Amber and Penny leaning on him. She smiled down at the three of them. Penny released his hand and he missed her warmth.

“So far the test results have been promising. It doesn’t look like he suffered from cardiac arrest, but we can’t rule out a future one. We’d like to keep him overnight for observation.”

Luke breathed out as if he’d been holding his breath for days. No cardiac arrest was good, but Sam wasn’t out of the woods yet. “What’s the plan once he’s released?”

“Until we have a few more test results, we won’t know for sure the type and extent of damage. I can’t give you any more information until tomorrow.”

“But he’s going to be okay?” Penny asked, straightening in the chair.

“We’ll know more tomorrow.” Dr. Sanchez smiled that doctor smile Luke was all too familiar with. The one that said we don’t know all that much and all we can do is hope for the best. “For tonight, I suggest you go home and get a good night’s sleep. We’ve already given Mr. Ward something to help him sleep.”

“Thank you,” Luke said. Because of privacy laws, the doctor wouldn’t tell Luke much more, so he didn’t push. Besides, until the tests were completed, the doctor wouldn’t know any more than he did.

Dr. Sanchez disappeared behind the doors again.

“Why don’t I drive us all out to the farm?” Penny stretched like a cat. “It’s closer to the hospital and Amber won’t pitch a fit if she wakes up there. I asked Bitsy to look in on my dog when she left the reception.”

Luke hesitated. It felt odd to invite Penny back to Sam’s house. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the offer—”

“I wasn’t doing it just for you.” She stood and looked down her nose at him. “Maggie is family to me. That makes Brady family and Sam by extension. I need to take care of Amber and make sure things go smoothly so those two can take their daughter to Disney World on their honeymoon and make me more babies to take care of. I’m tired and I just want to crash and be there when Amber and Maggie need me in the morning.”

Luke stood and picked up Amber. Thinking of Penny with babies did something strange to his heart. “I just didn’t want you to think that I needed you—”

“Trust me. I know you don’t need me.” He saw a flash of hurt in Penny’s eyes. “Maggie and Amber need me.”

“I’m sorry, Penny. I didn’t mean...” Oh, hell, what did he mean? If it meant avoiding a fight and not disappointing Amber, who was he to care whether they stayed here or went to the farm? They could work out the details when they arrived. Right now, he just wanted to look at something besides these four walls. “Look, we’re both tired. Why don’t I drive us out to the farm and we’ll work on it from there? It doesn’t look like I’ll be flying out tomorrow.”

“If you are talking about staying for Sam, maybe I can help.”

Help? She was the reason he hadn’t been out there to help Sam in the first place. His brother might have been showing signs that he could have picked up on if he hadn’t been too busy making eyes at the pretty woman in front of him. “He’s my family. For now, let’s go home.”

“He’ll be okay.” Penny rested her hand above his heart.

Penny’s touch comforted him in a way he’d almost forgotten. For a long moment, he searched her eyes. With Sam’s condition unknown, Luke couldn’t just leave. Depending on what was wrong, he might need surgery or just bed rest. His mind shuffled through all the possible diagnoses, but he didn’t have the chart to see what they’d uncovered when they’d examined him today. He trusted the doctor to make the right call regarding Sam’s treatment.

Regardless, his brother might be here longer than a night. What happened after tonight with Penny? They hadn’t promised more than tonight because that wasn’t an option. Maybe it still wasn’t an option. He didn’t know Penny that well anymore, but from what he heard she rarely made a habit of any man.

He needed to get out of his head. There was plenty to worry about tomorrow. First he had to get through tonight. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Five (#ulink_dcb12e14-c723-5a6b-bfa2-530ba2d57ef4)

Penny shut the door of the bedroom. Amber had taken very little coaxing to fall back to sleep in Brady’s old bedroom. Reassuring her that Sam would be okay and they’d see him in the morning was all it had taken. The old wooden stairs creaked under her feet as she returned to the first floor. It was past two in the morning, the lights were all still on and she didn’t feel tired at all.

The sound of a chair scraping across the linoleum in the kitchen drew her that way. She stopped in the doorway and leaned against the doorjamb. Luke sat at the kitchen table, his head in his hands. If she had stayed with him after high school, would things have turned out differently? Would he have made it through med school with her dragging him down? Where would she have been when he left her? Stuck in some city where she wouldn’t know a soul and Maggie would have been here all alone dealing with her mother’s illness and raising Amber.

She could play the what-if game, but she had decided a long time ago to live in the present. And presently, the weight of the world was on Luke’s shoulders. He’d always taken on too much. All she’d ever wanted to do was take some of that weight off him. In high school, it had been easy. Nothing takes a man’s mind off his problems like sex. Now they were adults with a complicated history. She had no idea of the problems he was facing in his day-to-day life, but Sam’s collapse was one more thing to deal with.

Even though it had been years since they’d been together as a couple, she’d known at the hospital that he needed her to be there with him. To keep him out of his head.

“Hey,” she said and shoved off the wall to join him in the kitchen.

He lifted his head and gave her a weary smile. “Hey.”

“Not exactly how I thought this night would end.” She flashed him a smile and leaned against the counter, putting one bare foot on top of the other. She’d ditched her killer high heels next to the door as soon as they’d walked in. They looked a little obscene next to the work boots and sneakers stacked there.

Her feet felt only half as weary as Luke looked. She wanted to go over and pull him into her arms and just hold him, but she needed to let him dictate what he needed. Whether it was just to talk or...

He rubbed his hand over his hair. “You want some coffee?”

“Nah, I should sleep at some point tonight, so I can wake up when Amber gets up.” A knot formed in her stomach. He probably thought she was pushing for him to invite her to sleep with him. For once she felt awkward. This was one of those situations she avoided for just this reason. She didn’t sleep over and she didn’t let anyone near her bed. She was all for sex, but cuddling wasn’t her style.

He started to rise from his chair. “I can set up the guest bed—”

“Is that really necessary?” She put on her best brazen-it-out smile. Typically she didn’t “sleep” with anyone except her puppy, but the last thing Luke needed to do tonight was worry about making her comfortable in his family home. She’d be fine whether he wanted her in his bed or on the couch. “I can crash wherever.”

When she shrugged so that he would know it wasn’t a big deal, the strap from her gown slid down her arm, drawing Luke’s gaze. She felt it like a physical caress. The air in the room was suddenly charged.

“You always liked to finish what you started.” His gaze met hers and his eyes flamed with desire.

Her body responded with all the repressed heat she’d sidelined since their closet interlude. Her body always would react to his. But she didn’t want to push him, not with everything else weighing on his mind. “You know me. I’m always game. But I leave the decision up to you. I know you have a lot on your mind right now—”

“I’d rather not think at all.” Luke crossed the kitchen floor and pulled her into his arms. Her toes brushed against the warm, soft fabric of his socks. “I’d rather forget everything outside of these walls for the rest of the night. Stop my mind from circling around what I’ll need to do to be able to stay here with Sam. Stop from worrying that he might not be getting sufficient care. Stop trying to figure out—”

“Just stop,” she whispered and drew his head down to hers. “I won’t ask you for anything.”

“I know,” he said before claiming her mouth.

* * *

The creak of the bed woke Luke from a deep sleep. He automatically reached for his phone on the nightstand but hit only air where his nightstand should be. He blinked into the darkness and squinted at the dim light coming through the window. Instead of city lights, he saw the moon lighting up the fields rolling into the distance. The crops swayed slightly in the breeze.

The night came rushing back to him. The wedding. Sam’s collapse. Inviting Penny into his bed. A shadow moved in front of the window.

“What are you doing?” Luke sat up and rubbed his face.

She flinched and turned around to face him. He couldn’t see her features, but his eyes were quickly adjusting to the darkness. Her light skin glowed in the moonlight that managed to sneak through the curtains. Standing only in her underwear, she held the rest of her dress at her waist like a shield in front of her. “I was...going to get a drink of water. Do you want some?”

“No, I don’t want some water.”

“More for me, then.” She started to move away.

“Enough bull. What is really going on, Penny?”

She glanced at the door to the hallway and then back to the side of the bed that was still warm from her body. “I just thought...” She shrugged.

“That there isn’t enough room? I snore too loudly?” He shifted off the bed and flicked on the lamp, casting the room in soft light.

She blinked but didn’t move to cover herself. “What does it matter?”

“Just get back into bed, Penny. I swear we’ll only sleep.”

“Isn’t it the woman’s job to be needy and clingy?”

“Far be it from me to stop you.” He stepped away from the bed and held his hand out. “I just thought you might want to be comfortable for the night. The last thing I’d want to do is make you feel needed.”

Penny’s shoulders pushed back and her chin tipped up. “Contrary to popular belief, a woman does not need a man to need her to feel complete.”

Though her words and actions were angry, saying them nearly naked was having the opposite effect on his body. “I made you feel complete at least three times if my count is correct.”

She threw her dress at him. He caught it and dropped it to the floor.

He strode across the room and grabbed her elbows, pulling her flush against his chest. “Unless you plan to traipse around the farmhouse in your underwear.” At the devilish glint in her eyes, he added, “Remembering that my niece could wake up at any moment, I suggest you come back to bed.”

Her body was tense against his and fire crackled in her eyes. “Maybe I don’t want to sleep with you.”

His hands rubbed her back. “If you don’t want to sleep with me, I’m sure I could be convinced to stay awake.”

Apparently he was starting to speak her language because she softened. Her curves molded into his and the heat that had pooled in his stomach flooded his system. “I’ve never been good at sleepovers.”

“I doubt there are many people who would accuse you of being good at all.” He lifted her into his arms. Penny was a puzzle. One he would be better off not trying to solve. One he should be pushing away instead of carrying back to his bed.

He lowered her onto the mattress, never releasing his hold on her body.

“Good is overrated.” Penny pulled him down to her. “When has being good ever gotten you what you wanted?”

At one point, the thing he’d wanted most had been her. He’d been willing to do anything to keep her, except share her with anyone else. He lowered his head to hers. “Being good has gotten me nothing.”

Chapter Six (#ulink_ffcdbf71-9fd5-5ffb-b695-602e6e99e10a)

Waiting rooms weren’t nearly as bad as sitting in a patient’s room, especially when the patient was Sam. Luke had taken the recliner, whereas Amber had chosen to sit at the end of Sam’s bed. Apparently Sam was confident that he wasn’t staying there because he’d been dressed in his tux, minus the jacket and tie, and ready to go as soon as they’d come in. When Luke had given Sam a bag with some of his clothes from home, he’d grunted a thank-you and immediately changed.

“I made sure to give the baby calves their bottles.” Amber had been listing all the chores she’d insisted on helping with this morning. “I’ll walk the fences this afternoon to make sure there aren’t any breaks.”

“I knew I could count on you.” Sam smiled at his niece, if you could call the slight curve to his lips a smile.

Luke still couldn’t understand Amber’s loyal devotion to hardheaded Sam. This morning at the breakfast table, she’d run off a list of all the chores that she did when she stayed at the farm. While Luke had been amused with the list, he’d barely been able to keep his eyes from the woman who had kept him up all night.

Penny had moved around the kitchen with ease, as if she made breakfast there frequently. For all he knew she did. She had said she and Sam had had nothing more than that kiss years ago, but how could he believe a word that slipped past those wicked lips?

Wearing one of his T-shirts and not a whole lot more, she’d slipped out of his room. He’d assumed she’d join him after using the bathroom, but when he woke a few hours later from little feet creaking down the stairs, Penny was not in his bed.

He’d found her on the couch with an afghan pulled over her, fast asleep.

“Can I name the new piglets? Please?” Amber brought his attention back to the present. They were waiting for the doctor to talk to them and discharge Sam. Penny had excused herself as soon as they got to the hospital to go check on her puppy and to change out of Luke’s oversize T-shirt and sweats.

“We can just call them Pork Chop, Ham and Bacon.” Sam rested against the elevated back of the hospital bed. Luke couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard Sam tease someone. Maybe when Luke had been Amber’s age. Before Dad... Before Mom...

“That’s not very nice, Uncle Sam.” Amber gave him a look that reminded Luke of their mother when she’d scolded them even though she wanted to laugh at their antics. Sam just chuckled lightly, drawing Luke’s questioning gaze to him. Sam shrugged.

“When am I getting out of this place?” Sam looked toward the door as if willing the doctor to appear with his release instructions.

“I’m sure the staff is just as anxious for you to go,” Luke said before standing. “I’m going to go find a cup of coffee. Do you want anything?” He looked at Amber.