It had pushed the boundaries, even for him.
But he also remembered her hesitancy that first day at the entrance of the hospital. She hadn’t acted like a spoiled little rich girl.
Maybe her mom had married into money. Nick said Kate’s father knew she wasn’t his biological daughter, so her mother hadn’t used an unwanted pregnancy to trick anyone into marrying her.
She hadn’t lied about it.
Except to Kate, evidently. It had to be rough having your world suddenly turned on its head.
He handed the keys of his little MGB to the valet.
“I won’t be long,” he said.
“Very good, sir.”
The front entrance welcomed him, the double doors swishing open with a quiet hiss. What the hell would he do if she invited him up to her room?
It was a question he’d never thought he’d have to ask himself. But Nick was her father, so there would be no more supply closets...and definitely no hotel rooms in his future. He could keep his hands off her, really he could.
“May I help you, sir?”
The guy at the front desk was just as smooth and refined as he’d expected. “I’m here to see Kate Bradley.”
“One moment.” He tapped some buttons on his computer keyboard, but just as he was picking up the handset to dial her room, the elevator doors pinged and Kate herself emerged.
The air left his lungs, just as it had the first time he’d seen her. It wasn’t so much the way she was dressed as the way she carried herself—although the dark jeans clung in all the right places and the dark green halter-top left her pale shoulders exposed, revealing a smattering of freckles.
“Sorry, I wasn’t sure where we were going,” she said when she reached him.
That soft drawl slid over his body like warm silk. Again.
He noticed the guy behind the desk just stood there, the phone still gripped in his hand. So Luke wasn’t the only one who thought the whole damn package was irresistible. When he turned his eyes toward the other man and lifted his brows, the guy put the phone down with a quick click, his face turning red. “Can I get you anything, Ms. Bradley?”
How about a fire extinguisher, so she can put you out?
As if he himself was any better at containing that particular fire.
One side of his mouth quirked. Was Nick absolutely sure this was his kid? Because he just wasn’t seeing the resemblance.
Kate smiled at the desk clerk, hiking the shiny metal links of her purse onto her shoulder. “I think I’m good. Thank you, though.”
No thinking needed. She was good.
Giving himself an internal eye roll, he motioned toward the door. “Are you ready? I know a place a couple of miles from here.”
Once in his little car and heading down the road, he noticed Kate flinching periodically as they passed other cars.
“It still seems so strange to be driving on the left. I keep thinking someone is going to honk at us. Or worse.”
“You get used to it.” Not that she was going to be here long enough for that. So exactly how was he supposed to shine up Nick’s halo while avoiding tarnishing his own any further? By returning that little article of clothing she’d left behind a few days ago? “There’s a paper bag in the glove box. You might want to take it with you.”
She tugged on her seat belt as if needing a bit more breathing space and stared at the latch in front of her. “I think I’ll wait until we get back to the hotel, if that’s okay. My purse is pretty small.”
She knew exactly what was in there. He’d had half a mind to take the easy way out and toss the panties into the garbage, but he hadn’t. Luke had never been one to shy away from things that were uncomfortable, even when it had come to his folks’ poverty...his dad’s drunken anger. He’d just stood there and faced it down unblinking. “Don’t forget them. I’d hate the wrong person to go digging through that glove box.”
“Like your next conquest?”
Maybe she’d gotten wind of his reputation, as well. He really was going to have to appear a whole lot more boring at work. “I was thinking more along the lines of Nick—your father.”
Kate’s face drained of all color and she turned to stare at him. “You promised you wouldn’t say anything about that.”
Hell, the woman really didn’t think much of him, did she? Luke rarely gave his word, but when he did, he moved hell and high water to keep it. He’d learned the hard way that most promises were quick on the tongue and easily broken. Not by him, though.
And yet he’d made two pretty big promises in the last couple of days. One to Nick and one to his daughter. “I already told you I’m not going to tell him.”
He stopped for a red light, shifting down to first gear and glancing over at her. “What happened at the hospital stays between the two of us—no one’s going to hear it from me.”
Her eyes closed for a second, and she nodded. “Thank you. I couldn’t bear it if anyone thought I was...”
“If anyone thought what?”
“It’s not important.”
If that soft sigh was anything to go by, it was important. At least, to her. But if she wanted to tell him, she would have. It was probably best to stick to neutral topics anyway, since the purpose of this outing was to discuss Nick’s treatment, extol his virtues and then each go their merry way.
The light turned green, and Luke eased back into traffic. “Nick’s going to make a full recovery, by the way. He had some shrapnel—leftover from an old wound—that shifted. It got a little too close to his spinal cord for comfort. He’s just finishing up his course of physical therapy and then he’ll be free to go about his business.”
Kate twisted in her seat and stared at him. “That’s wonderful. So he won’t have any permanent damage?”
“No.” Unlike himself, who carried a permanent reminder of his time in Afghanistan. “His physical therapy is taking a little longer than expected because of some nerve damage, but after that he should be good to go.”
“Maybe I can help. I’m a physical therapist.”
She was? Luke frowned. He’d been thinking along the lines of socialite, so the fact that she was a PT came as a complete surprise. “I don’t know...”
“I’m licensed, specializing in LSVT.”
Luke’s head was still spinning at the revelation as he turned another corner. He’d known plenty of physical therapists, but Kate looked nothing like the professionals who’d hauled his ass out of bed after the injury that had nearly claimed his leg. Who’d propped him upright and goaded him into taking his first shaky steps.
Although remembering
