Seven
Luke
“Your girl just left here,” Aiden said the moment I answered the phone.
“My what?”
“Claire Andrews, and that cute-as-a-button little girl of hers.”
I cursed under my breath. “That was today.”
“Yep. They just left. And I’ll tell you what, she seemed awfully disappointed that I was the one here instead of you.”
My bear roared with satisfaction at that little piece of info, but I tried to silence him. I’d totally forgotten about Claire’s follow-up. Well, I didn’t forget about it. I definitely didn’t forget about it. I’d been looking forward to it ever since she left my office the last time. I’d just kind of… lost track of the days, I guess. And when I got a call for an emergency down at the hospital, I didn’t think twice. I never did. They needed all hands on deck for a big accident and had even spared a helicopter to get me down into surgery faster. As much as I wanted to see Claire and Ella again, I knew I’d made the right decision.
But that didn’t make me any less upset that I missed them.
“She’s cute,” Aiden said, filling in the silence left by my own thoughts.
I growled on instinct.
“Easy there. I’m not moving in on your mate. I’ve got one of my own, remember? Just busting your balls. Keep your bear down.”
I sighed. He was right. I needed to keep him on a tighter leash before he made a mess of this whole thing.
“She’s not my mate,” I grumbled in answer.
Aiden just laughed. “Sure she’s not. Whatever you have to tell yourself to help you sleep at night. But as your brother, I’ve never seen you this worked up over a girl before. I know what I’m seeing.”
“Was there something you needed to tell me? I need to get back into surgery if all you’re doing is teasing me.”
He chuckled again and part of me wanted to throw my phone down the hospital hallway.
“No, no. Go save lives. I can give you shit later.”
I didn’t even bother giving that a response before I hung up. I was annoyed with my brother, annoyed that he got to see Claire when I didn’t, annoyed that I’d missed her, and even more annoyed at how much all of this was affecting me. I barely knew the woman and she was distracting me every moment of every day. Maybe I shouldn’t see her again. Maybe I should just forget all about her and move on with my life.
But I knew that wouldn’t happen.
I thought about her the rest of the night, even through the long chauffeured ride back up the mountain to my place. Even when I was crawling into bed, completely exhausted and bone-tired, I was thinking about Claire, her smile, her golden mop of curls shining like a halo. Yeah, there was no way I could forget about her. And there was no way I could stay on this mountain, knowing where she was, and not go visit her.
It was a night of restless sleep, but once dawn broke, I felt reinvigorated. I knew what I had to do. And what I had to do, was see Claire.
I took my time having my morning coffee, showering, and getting ready. I knew I didn’t have any appointments until evening, so the whole day was pretty much free. But I also didn’t want to show up at her shop at the crack of dawn like some weirdo. I had to time it right. I couldn’t let her see how eager I was until I’d gauged her interest too.
So it was nearly noon by the time I made my way down into town, looking for the antique shop she ran. It was a charming little building set prominently on Main Street, trellises covering the front with ivy and wisteria tangling together, only showing the barest hints of red brick underneath. There were big windows, too, with gold lettering that had seen better days, but still proudly said ‘Andrews’ Antiques.’
At least I knew I had the right spot.
I took a deep breath, steeling myself, rehearsing the story I’d concocted for why I was there. No time like the present. Even with my nerves jangling, I forced myself to open the door, greeted by the cheery tinkle of the bell announcing my arrival.
“Dr. Luke!” Ella cried, and I whirled around to find her at a short table, papers and crayons scattered all around her.
“Hey there, Ella. How are you feeling? Eating lots of popsicles?”
She grinned and nodded.
I looked around the shop, but didn’t see Claire anywhere immediately. There was a counter with a register right in front of the door and a big staircase leading up to the open second floor right behind it. Other than that, there were hardly any walls in the space, just a big open room organized into smaller, prospective rooms with the careful placement of furniture. It could have looked ridiculously cluttered and full if it hadn’t been arranged just so, but the way it was, it was inviting and made me want to venture further into the store to see what they had to offer.
“What are you coloring?”
Ella shrugged, holding the paper up for me. “A bear.”
“Ooh,” I said, crouching down at her kid-sized table. “I’ve never seen a pink bear before. She’s pretty.”
Ella beamed at me. “I have a pink bear… But she’s sick today.”
I frowned. “Oh no. What happened?”
Ella sighed, setting her crayons down and reaching under the table. She pulled out a well-loved faded bear, I could tell at one point it had been a nice soft pink, but at this point, it was nearly gray. “She had an accident,” Ella said, her voice grave as she lifted the bear’s head to reveal a split seam in the neck.
“Oh dear, that does look serious, doesn’t it?”
Ella nodded, looking solemn.
“Well, you know, I don’t treat bears very often, but I do know a thing or two about them, and I think she just needs some stitches. What’s her name?”
“Bubbles.”
“Can I?” I asked, reaching for the bear, but not taking it.
Ella nodded, offering the stuffed animal to me.
“Hi Bubbles,” I said, petting her head softly. “I’m Dr. Luke. I see you’ve got a bit of a boo-boo here, but I can make you all better.”
“Really?” Ella asked.
I nodded. “Where’s your mom? I’ll bet she’s got a sewing kit around here somewhere.”
Ella immediately pointed over my shoulder and I turned to see Claire, arms full, just watching us. She was standing in front of an open stock room door, and as soon as I turned to see her, her face went bright red and she bustled over to the front counter like she hadn’t just been hanging around watching.
I jumped to my feet, still holding Bubbles the bear, and waved at her. “Hi,” I said, nearly breathless. She was even more beautiful here today, relaxed, in her element, not fraught with worry over her daughter’s illness.
“Hi,” she said back, dropping the boxes on the counter.
And then for a long moment, we both just stood there staring at each other, the heat and tension between us a palpable feeling in the air. Her eyes roved over me in a hungry way that had my bear growling and my cock growing harder, and the flush in her cheeks told me I wasn’t the only one affected by whatever weird chemistry was between us.
“Mom, do you have a suing kit?” Ella chirped in, shattering the moment.
Claire’s face screwed up into confusion and I laughed.
“A sewing kit. I was going to give Bubbles here some stitches.”
“Oh,” Claire said, a little smile crossing her face. “I told you I’d fix her when we got home, sweetie. You don’t need to bother Dr. Bradford with it.”
“It’s no trouble, really. I’ve got lots of practice with stitches.”
Claire looks uncertain but then shrugs, heading behind the counter to dig around. “If you’re sure…”
“I am,” I said firmly.
She handed me the basic sewing kit and turned back to her work unpacking the boxes. I crouched back down at Ella’s table, eventually deciding I needed to be on my knees to work at it instead of trying to fold my long legs up into a chair meant for a child.
While I worked on the bear, I explained to Bubbles — and by extension Ella — what I was doing and how it wouldn’t hurt because I’m a very good doctor. Claire didn’t say anything while I stitched up the bear, but I could hear the sounds of her working in the background and occasionally I would chance a glance over at her and catch her looking my way.
I couldn’t say what it was about that interaction, but it felt natural and easy. So domestic it made me ache.
And that was foreign. I’d always enjoyed being single. I expected to always be single until the day the curse claimed me. But suddenly, I was having daydreams about a house with a wife and tiny feet running around. Fantasizing about enjoying this kind of comfortable silence while we both did our respective work.
And the fact that talking to Ella and making her laugh made me feel so good, so worthwhile, certainly didn’t hurt. I’d never given any thought to being a dad before, but with her, this kind of stuff felt so natural it was hard to remember she wasn’t my kid.
“There, good as new,” I said, handing Bubbles back to Ella. “If you’ve got really cool band-aids, she’d probably like one to protect the stitches.”
Ella’s eyes darted over to the counter, but Claire was laughing, already holding out a box of band-aids with mermaids on them.
“So,” Claire said, breaking into the moment once Ella was fixing a band-aid on her bear. “I assume you didn’t just drop in today to fix my daughter’s stuffed animal?”
I froze, momentarily forgetting the entire story I’d come up with for her.
“Uh… No. Actually…” I had to think fast. “I needed a gift for my brother and his wife. They’re about to have a baby, so I figure I’ll need something to give them when the time comes.”
She nodded, smirking as she turned. “Come on, I have some things you might like to see.”
I followed her up the stairs, admiring the way her jeans hugged her hips and her amazing ass the whole climb. I hadn’t really paid much attention to her body before, being too worried about reassuring her and keeping my bear at bay at the same time, but now that I only had to focus on one of those things, I took the time to appreciate the view.
“So, is this for the brother I met yesterday?” she asked, and it took me a minute to remember what she was talking about.
“Oh, yes. Aiden. I forgot you saw him yesterday. He didn’t give you any trouble, did he?”
She giggled and the sound made my heart skip a beat. “No, of course not. Though I still haven’t figured out how I’m supposed to pay you for any of this.”
“Maybe we can make a trade,” I said, gesturing around the room.
She turned, giving me a searching look, but then nodded. “Maybe.”
“So, tell me a little about your brother and his wife, maybe that will help me know what you’re looking for.”
Crap. I hadn’t really thought this far ahead. “Well, Aiden’s a pain in my ass. Molly’s nice enough, but she’s got a penchant for gossip that I don’t appreciate.”
Claire raised an eyebrow at me, still smirking, and I sighed.
“That’s not really helpful, is it?”
“Interesting, but not particularly helpful, no.”
“I think they like… traditional things? Warm wood and stuff.”
Claire laughed, shaking her head. “Well, I’ve got my work cut out for me.”
“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. But I didn’t want to talk about myself. I wanted to know more about her.
“You’ve had a kid, what kind of stuff would you have liked?”
She shrugged. “Honestly? Someone to help change diapers.”
I bristled. That was the second time she’d mentioned Ella’s dad off-hand and my opinion of the man wasn’t improving any.
“What about her dad?” I knew it was pushing. I knew it was invasive to ask, but I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to know everything about this woman. And I wanted to know what I was up against.
“He’s his own special brand of terrible. But we’re not shopping for me. How about this rustic hand-carved changing table? It’s from the pioneer era. There are pine trees carved into the legs and a cute little family of bears here on the front.”
I had to hold back my chuckle. What was it today with bears being everywhere? It was like my bear was trying to remind me that he was still in there, still growling for his chance at Claire.
“You know what? I think that’s actually perfect. How much?”
She gave me a hard look, her lips pressed together. “I thought we were doing a trade?”
“Oh, you thought I meant with furniture?” Now was my only shot. I couldn’t screw this up. “I was hoping you’d come to dinner with me.”
Her eyes went wide and I could see the refusal on her lips before it even came. “Oh, I couldn’t… I—”
“Why not?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip thoughtfully, her eyes darting toward the front of the store.
“If it’s about Ella, bring her along,” I said, thinking on my feet as fast as I could. “My brothers are having a barbeque this weekend. Family affair, all ages welcome. She’ll have a blast. No pressure.”
Claire’s breath caught and I was sure she was going to deny me anyway, but then she blew out a heavy breath and nodded. “Okay.”