ONE NIGHT WITH THE BEST MAN

by AMANDA BERRY - Special Edition 2364 - ONE NIGHT

  “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

  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 fe
et 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.

  She turned her bright blue eyes up to him and shook her head no. “I’m going to take care of Uncle Sam.”

  He believed her. He didn’t know why she was so attached, but somehow Sam had become her hero. Or maybe Amber would be his savior. Either way, Sam must have done at least one good deed in his life to deserve her devotion.

  The hallway was bustling with energy. Nurses darted in and out of rooms. The high-school-aged candy stripers were unloading the breakfast trays. The various beeping and swishing sounds of equipment blended into a discordant symphony. The smell of antiseptics filled his nose. It invigorated him. Hospitals had been his home for the past few years.

  He wasn’t used to being a visitor, though. Instead of part of the natural flow, he felt as if he was in the way as he walked to the coffee machine in the waiting area. As his coffee finished brewing, he caught Penny’s voice behind him.

  His pulse surged like a teenager in heat. Last night had to be the end of it. She laughed deep and throaty, and he twitched. Grabbing his cup of coffee, he turned, ready to do battle, and found her walking with Maggie and Brady.

  “How’s Sam?” Brady searched Luke’s eyes.

  “We’re waiting for the doctor to come in and let us know the test results.” Luke glanced at Penny. She stood there as if nothing had happened between them. Nothing had changed. That was how he had wanted it, after all.

  “Amber’s with him?” Maggie shook her head and smiled. “That girl... I’m amazed you were able to tear her away from his side last night. Penny said it was a good thing you were there for Sam.”

  “I’m glad I was there, too.” Luke felt the collar on his black T-shirt tighten around his throat. “Sam never told me he was having heart problems or I would have been more diligent.” And not been having sex in the closet.

  “You know Sam,” Penny said. “The strong, silent types rarely give you a clue into their hearts.”

  He narrowed his eyes on her. This wasn’t the first time she’d referenced Sam as if she knew him better than just another person in the small town where they grew up. Everyone he kept in touch with had alluded to the fact that Penny got around. Hopping from one bed to another. Was Sam’s one of those beds?

  It wasn’t inconceivable. The number of eligible men in Tawnee Valley, and even in Owen, dropped off after high school. Although the farmhouse looked as if a monk lived there, Sam might have had a booty call or two.

  “Which room is he in?” Brady drew Luke’s attention away from Penny, who had started to give him a strange look.

  “I was just heading back there.” Luke turned and walked with Brady down the hallway. Penny and Maggie chatted lightly behind them.

  “You could have called me last night,” Brady said.

  “Ha! And interrupted your wedding night? No way.” Luke took in a breath. “There wasn’t much you could have done. Sam wasn’t in immediate danger. They just wanted to monitor him overnight and run tests in the morning. Besides, they won’t tell us anything unless Sam lets them.”

  “I’m glad you were here to take care of things.” Brady stopped him. “What do you know about his heart?”

  “He said you knew about the X-ray.” At Brady’s nod, Luke continued, “Glad to be in the loop. His problems could be caused by a number of possibilities. Until the test results are back, they won’t be able to determine a course of treatment.”

  “How bad could it be?” Brady glanced back at Maggie and Penny, who had stopped discreetly a little farther down the hall.

  The fainting had him most alarmed. Heart failure. Structural issues. But it could be just dehydration.

  Luke took in a deep breath and released it. “Honestly, it could be as simple as monitoring and as complicated as a heart transplant.”

  “Damn.”

  “We won’t know anything until the doctor comes in.”

  “Right.” Brady ran a hand over his dark hair. “Right. Let’s go, then.”

  * * *

  When Luke glanced at her, Penny’s insides turned molten. Luke had definitely improved with age and had gone about proving that to her with a fierce determination that had kept her up all night. If it weren’t for his glances that seemed to be trying to dissect her, she would be afraid of falling for him again and begging him not to leave her. As if that would happen.

  “Earth to Penny.” Maggie waved a hand in front of Penny’s eyes, breaking her view of Luke’s butt in denim.

  “Sorry. Did I miss something?” Penny blinked and tried to maintain an air of innocence.

  “You aren’t fooling me for one minute, Penny Montgomery.” Maggie took her arm as the men started to move again. “I’ve known you practically all my life and I know when you’ve done the naughty.”

  “The naughty?” Penny laughed. “Good lord, woman, just call it what it is. Sex. S-e-x. Sex. Down-and-dirty, in-and-out sex. Which you should know because everyone is assuming you had sex last night, too.”

  “Shh. We’re in a hospital, for goodness’ sake.” Maggie looked around as if a group of avenging nuns would descend on them.

  “Yes, and it was good.” Penny smirked. Damn good, if truth be told. She’d known that Luke had ruined her from falling in love ever again, but she’d hate it if he ruined her for sex, too.

  “Hey.” Maggie pulled her to a stop. Her hazel eyes searched Penny’s. “He’s not seeing anyone....”

  Penny laughed. “You sound like Bitsy. You do know that I have a shop to run and he has a medical thingy hundreds of miles away, right? How’s that supposed to work without the capability of time travel?”

  “If you are in love, there are ways.”

  “Spoken like a true romantic.” Penny tugged Maggie forward. “I’ll just have to reserve myself for my weekly Winchester brothers viewing and let you stay the hopeless romantic.”

  “You know Supernatural won’t be on the air forever.” Maggie turned into the room.

  “That’s why I own the DVDs.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “More Sam and Dean all to myself.”

  Penny couldn’t make Maggie believe that she was determined to stay alone for the rest of her life. Okay, maybe not alone. She had Maggie and Amber, and she had Brady by marriage and any little ones that would come along. She’d be happy with that as long as they stayed right around the block.

  Her heart pinched. Brady could have to move with his job. Even though he claimed he wanted to settle down in Tawnee Valley, how long would he be happy with small-town life? If Maggie left, where would Penny be?

  God, she never got this emotional, even with lack of sleep. She’d deal with them moving if it happened. She t
urned the corner into the almost-full hospital room. Sam and Amber sat on the bed, and Luke and Brady stood beside Dr. Sanchez. Maggie joined Brady, who wrapped his arm around her.

  There was no place for her. She glanced once at Luke, who had his head down over the chart the doctor had given him. She didn’t belong with him. Taking a deep breath and ignoring the choking tears in the back of her throat, she left the room and the only family she had.

  * * *

  Dr. Sanchez was good at her job.

  Luke didn’t question that, even as he reviewed all her notes and the test results and cardiologist reports from St. Mercy in Springfield from last night and this morning. He wasn’t looking for errors, just making sure that what she was saying was correct. Maggie had taken Amber to find some ice cream for Uncle Sam, while Brady and Luke stayed to listen to the doctor.

  Luke checked the picture from the echocardiogram they had performed this morning. The still images had the measurements marked, showing the aortic valve. This wasn’t what Luke had been expecting. His hand quaked as he turned to the next page. “Why didn’t you mention the murmur last night?”

  “Dr. Ward, you are well aware of HIPAA.” Dr. Sanchez waited for his acknowledging nod before continuing. She couldn’t release any information without Sam’s consent, which he obviously hadn’t given. “Everything points to severe aortic stenosis. We’d like to get Sam on the schedule in the next few days for surgery at St. Mercy Hospital in Springfield.”

  “Is this because of the enlargement of his heart?” Brady leaned against the windowsill with his arms crossed. His brow furrowed as he assessed the situation.

  “Most likely the doctor who examined the X-ray couldn’t tell that only the left side was enlarged from too much blood.” Dr. Sanchez started writing on her chart. “That’s why they strongly suggested that Sam go to a cardiologist, but I’m sure they told him not to worry. Some athletic men have slightly larger hearts, and for them it’s nothing to worry about.”

  Sam had remained silent while the doctor spoke in her no-nonsense manner. Luke wanted to berate Sam for not following up, for not calling him to talk about his medical problems. Luke was training to be a cardiologist. The one person Luke had never understood—besides Penny—was Sam. Hell, maybe Sam and Penny were meant for each other. They both drove him nuts.