The Renegade Returns

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He shouldn’t ask. He really shouldn’t. “How did you know?”

“Just from the sheer amount of time I spent watching those around me. It’s amazing what people will say in front of you when they don’t realize you’re there.”

Ouch. Despite the magic of her fingers, Luke rolled to his side. “Did we really do that to you, Avery? Ignore you? Make you feel invisible?”

“Luke, y’all weren’t the only ones. I was shy, and worked very hard to fade into the woodwork. Do it often enough, and people expect it.”

He remembered seeing her walk across the country club dining room and realized just how far she’d come. That walk was probably as hard for her as his own had been. “How did you become so smart?”

“Smart? No. Just...practical.”

“Practical, huh? Doesn’t that ever get boring?”

This conversation was way deeper than he’d planned.

She shook her head, a slight smile tilting the corners of her pink bow lips. “No,” she said. “There isn’t time to be bored.”

He wanted to ask if she felt the same way in the dark of night, when she was home alone with no one to laugh and cuddle with, but he didn’t. He couldn’t.

The deep stuff wasn’t what he was here for.

“Let’s get you set up for your next appointment,” she said as she moved away from the table.

The fun was over.

Flipping over on the narrow table proved harder than he thought, but at least he had the coward’s comfort of knowing Avery faced away from him. Easier was getting himself upright with his legs hanging off the table. Boy, her magic hands had turned his muscles to jelly.

When Avery turned back, she was studying his chart. He could have called her on avoiding him, but he let it go. For now.

She was back to being all business. “Let’s shoot for three days a week.”

“Sure.” Not like he had much else going on. “However often it takes.”

“That means we will see each other on Friday. Monday, Wednesday, Friday good for you?”

He nodded. Deep in his brain, he searched for a way to instigate himself into other parts of her life. She might have forgotten about him helping her have fun, but he hadn’t. “We could see each other before then. You know, for dinner?”

“Are we back to that again?” she asked, her face completely blanking for a moment.

“Mary makes a mean prime rib up at Blackstone Manor. Why don’t you join me? I could even ask her to make her famous chocolate chip cookies.”

Avery frowned, shifting the chart in her hands. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?” Luke had a pretty decent puppy-dog look when he tried.

“It’s just, um...”

Yep, the look was working.

She swallowed. “With me being, you know, your physical therapist, maybe socializing isn’t such a good idea.”

“Why not? Because you said everything outside of the office was fair game.”

Her face flushed and he knew he’d gotten her. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

His male instincts urged him to stalk closer, crowd her in and make her admit she was just as attracted to him as he was to her. Instead he forced himself to remain still, using words to reel her in. “Come on. You want an adventure. I want to help you find one. Let’s talk about it over dinner.”

“Well...” Her flush deepened, but she also straightened her shoulders. “I guess I could do dinner one night.”

Was that a slight squeak he heard in her voice? “Good. I know Christina has been dying to see you, too.”

A little of the starch drained from her posture. “Oh, um, yes. That sounds nice.”

Obviously she hadn’t been to a dinner with all of them home. Nice wasn’t the word he’d use. Chaotic, maybe. Just what she needed.

“It will be interesting, to say the least.” Not like the gloom and doom his grandfather had presided over. James Blackstone had demanded the appearance of a family dinner, but they had been mostly silent events with none of the laughing, joking and talking Luke associated with that idea. Especially not since his mother’s car accident.

As he came to his feet, the quizzical little smile Avery gave distracted him. He saw nothing else. Not taupe walls, nor yellow scrubs. Just pale blue eyes and bow-shaped lips moving closer as she stepped forward.

Before he could reach for his cane, his legs gave him the old heave-ho and collapsed. Avery had moved close, too close to miss out on his game of Timber. Down they both went.

He tried to twist, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. They hit the floor hard. Or rather, Avery did. Luke’s arms worked better than his legs, catching him before he landed on her. Oh, that elbow was gonna bruise. Of course, the rest of his body couldn’t help but tangle all up in hers.

They came to rest hip to hip, stomach to stomach, and all of Luke’s pent-up need was blatantly evident. Once more, the first thing that popped into his head came out of his mouth, even though he knew he’d pay for it later.

“Sweetheart, you’re the softest landing place I’ve had in a while.” The scary part—it was true.

Four (#ulink_289d4458-78f0-5f72-8a62-a2ee67c3b41a)

For once, Luke was able to walk into breakfast at Blackstone Manor like a normal person, albeit relying on his cane, instead of a hunched-over hobbit moaning in pain. He tossed Christina a grin as he approached the breakfast dishes on the mahogany sideboard.

Though she seemed a little pale and not her usual serene self this morning, she returned his smile. “Someone’s looking much better than the last time I saw him,” she teased.

Since neither of his brothers were there to rag him, Luke spoke freely. “I swear that woman has magic in her fingers.”

“I bet.”

Without thought, Luke whipped his head around, pinning her with a glare until he realized she was joking with him. Busted.

Christina raised her hands in surrender. “Just kidding.” But that smug smile said she’d gotten all the information she needed.

The pressure to explain rose. For once, he gave in. Maybe if he talked some of his thoughts out, he could make more sense of them. Somehow, he could share with Christina things he’d normally keep to himself. He attributed it to her peaceful bedside manner. His brother Aiden was one of the few people who could shake her calm attitude.

Yet he was grateful to be filling his plate as he spoke, instead of facing her across the lace-covered table. “Avery gave me a massage after my session yesterday. My muscles haven’t felt this good since before my accident.”

“Nice,” she murmured. Again she tossed him the knowing look, but thankfully she held her teasing. “She worked on my shoulder once. Definitely skilled. I’m glad she could help you out.”

Why did he remember his therapeutic massage with less-than-clinical nuances? He shouldn’t...he knew he shouldn’t. Trying to shake the memory, he finished filling his plate and settled across the table from Christina.

She went on. “This is the most pain-free I’ve seen you since you moved back.”

Luke was a little shocked himself.

Christina studied her plate for a moment. “I know it seems silly to be worried about a grown woman, but Avery has pulled away some since KC and I became involved with your brothers. Maybe hanging out with us makes her feel like a third wheel. But I think Avery needs someone to shake her out of her rut, so to speak.” She gave Luke one of her patented purposeful looks.

He didn’t disappoint. “Well, I do need a hostess for dinner.”

Christina lowered her fork despite the bite of waffle on the end. “She agreed?”

“Yes. She tried to brush me off, so I told her how much you missed her...and how disappointed you would be if she didn’t come.”

He leaned back in his chair, accompanied by a creak of wood. Part of him wanted to confess how conflicted he was, how much he wanted Avery to come to dinner for himself. He didn’t want to admit to the attraction that grew every time he saw her, but he was drawn to the chance to make the laughter, the spark of life in Avery’s eyes grow.

“She’s funny—so dedicated to her work, holding fast to this therapist-patient bit. But I think she needs someone to push her outside her safety zone.” A cohort in crime, so to speak. Luke didn’t want Christina to know how desperate he was for the job.

The whole time he spoke, Christina’s expression grew in excitement until she practically glowed. “So you are interested! I knew it.”

Uh-oh. Christina would be unbearable once she thought she was right.

“No, ma’am.” He would not let anything sexual even start between him and Avery. Not when he had no plans to hang around. She was obviously rooted in this town, and the last thing he could see himself as was a small town husband. “You can put that emerging matchmaker back in her cage, because it’s not gonna happen.” He waved his arms around the room. “This version of happily-ever-after is not for me.”

“That’s what Aiden and Jacob said,” she mumbled beneath a smile.

“I’m serious, Christina.” Christina’s astute look had him adding, “I just want to be her friend. I owe her that.” And much, much more. Even though he’d brushed her off as a teenager for all the right reasons, he still felt bad about it now.

“As long as you’re careful with her,” Christina gave the obligatory warning, but Luke could see her concern for her friend in her darkened eyes. “Honestly, she deserves more than a little bit of fun after all she’s been through.”

“Has it been rough since her mother died?”

“Oh, it was rough way before that.” Christina shifted the pieces of waffle on her plate as a thoughtful look softened her face.

“How come I haven’t heard anything about her when I’ve been home?”

“Because there wasn’t much to hear. She went to college and things were good until the summer after her sophomore year. Then her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She’d been dating a guy pretty steadily, but when she buckled down to finish her studies early, he lost interest.”

Ouch. Just what she needed—someone who abandoned her the minute she needed support.

Christina stared into space as she spoke. “She was home as much as her studies would allow, but she finished within a year and a half. Came home and started to build her clientele while taking care of her mom full-time.”

“How long was her mom sick?”

“She went into remission once, for a couple of years, I think?” Christina shook her head, sending her thick, dark hair swinging. “She died almost two years ago.”

Wow. “That’s a long time to be a caregiver.”

“Yeah,” Christina whispered, trailing off into silence that was punctuated by the clink of their silverware. Finally she said, “She’s given her all for Black Hills, but she deserves more—just for herself. I’m glad to see she isn’t going to settle.”

Luke thought of dinner and Avery’s lack of response to Mark’s hand at her back. “You mean that Mark guy?”

“Don’t get me started,” Christina groaned.

“Please don’t,” Aiden added as he strolled into the room. “Her opinion is less than stellar, I assure you.”

A pang stung Luke’s chest as Aiden kissed Christina on the temple, but he shook his head. Absolutely no touchy-feely stuff for him. No, sir. Settling down was not in his current timeline.

“Avery and Mark have gone to a lot of functions together since her mother died. I think it started out as convenient, especially for her, since she gets comments about a single woman needing to get married all the time, but I think he’s always been more interested than she realizes.”

Luke tried to ignore the burn of something unpleasant building in his gut. He hadn’t known they’d actually been such a “thing.” Part of him did not like that thought...at all.

“I’ve never cared for him, but Aiden says there aren’t any complaints at work,” Christina went on.