Wait for Me / Trust in Me (5 page)

“Damn him, damn him, damn him!” she said, slamming a cabinet door shut after being unable to find a suitable comb for her hair. Storming from the bathroom, Emma went to the bedroom and went about the task of setting everything back to its original appearance. She wanted to wipe away all traces of her having been there. With any luck, she could get a ride with the tow truck driver into town and get a rental car and get home. There was no way she could spend another night here with Lucas playing whatever game this was.

Yanking open the bedroom door, she stomped over to where Lucas stood in the kitchen, his coffee mug suspended midway to his mouth.

“When the tow truck gets here, I want him to get me into town so I can get a rental and get home,” she stated bluntly and then crossed her arms across her chest in defiance.

“No.” Lucas finally took a drink of his coffee, putting the mug down with a little too much force on the countertop and wincing when the hot liquid splashed on him.

“No? What do you mean no?” Emma's tone got louder and she took a step toward him.

Lucas was just as fired up as she was, possibly even more so. She'd had him tied in knots since she got here. Who was he kidding? Emma had him tied in knots for well over a year. “I mean,” he said menacingly, closing the distance between them, “no. The tow truck driver has more important things to do than chauffeur you around looking for a rental car. Did you think you were the only car trapped in this storm?”

“It's not your decision to make, Lucas. I may not be able to drive my own car right now but I can damn well leave if I want to!” If her voice hadn't trembled on the last word, she would almost have believed her own bravado.

Lucas almost had too.

“Emma,” he began patiently, “no one is saying you can't leave, but the towing company has to battle enough things right now without adding driving you around to their list. All of the roads aren't even cleared yet and you'll probably be hard pressed to find a rental place open. Be reasonable.”

Right now Emma didn't want to be reasonable. She wanted to kick, scream, and pout. None of this was fair. All she'd wanted was to get away for a few days, dazzled with the possibility of an all-expense paid weekend at a spa. Look where it had gotten her. She took Lucas's patience as condescension and she simply snapped.

“Reasonable? I'm supposed to be reasonable? I drive up here into the unknown in the middle of a damn snow storm and nearly get myself killed! My car is probably totaled, and has your father even bothered to see what's happened to me? No! I mean, I risked my damn life to get some stupid papers to him and he hasn't even called me to see if I'm okay? Who does that?”

Lucas was ready to defend his father but Emma had merely stopped to take a breath.

“I have worked my tail off for Montgomerys, and this is what I get? I'm snowed in and stuck here with a man who treats me like I've got the damn plague!” Her chest was heaving by the time she was done and the lack of response from Lucas was the final straw for her. Emma didn't care if she had to walk all the way back into town herself, she was getting out of here. She spun on her heel to get away from Lucas when he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he snarled. “I have never treated you like you have the plague!”

“Oh, really?” she asked snidely. “You have spent the better part of my time here going between looking at me like you want me to walking away like I disgust you! And you know what, Lucas? It's pretty damn insulting.”

They were pressed together from chest to thigh and Emma almost purred with delight at the feel of him, and then remembered that every time she gave in to that feeling, Lucas seemed to pull back. Doing her best, she gave him a look of disgust. “Let go of me,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Not a chance,” he said just before he lowered his head and claimed her lips with his. Everything in Lucas's head told him not to do this, that it was a mistake. But the sight of Emma so riled up had him needing to give in to all he'd been denying himself.

The kiss started out punishing; he had to make Emma feel all of the anger and frustration he'd been feeling, but as soon as she caught up to him and clenched the front of his shirt in her fists to pull him closer, Lucas was lost. One hand came up to cup the back of Emma's head and he heard her whimper.

There was no turning back. One taste was never going to be enough. Lucas changed the angle of his head and swept his tongue into Emma's mouth to mate with hers and everything in Emma seemed to soften. She melted against him and Lucas found himself gentling the kiss, stroking instead of taking. Emma's hands let go of his shirt to work their way up around his neck. The feel of her hands on his skin, raking up into his hair, was driving him wild. He wanted to feel her hands on other parts of him and not while they were standing in his kitchen.

Lucas reluctantly left her mouth and worked a trail of kisses along her cheek to her throat, nudging the collar of his robe aside to taste more of her skin. Emma's head fell back to give him better access as she sighed his name.

He could get very used to hearing her say it like that.

His hands began their own journey, first skimming down her back, then cupping her rear before trailing up her sides to the swell of her breasts. Lucas was certain that he was going to go mad if he didn't have her soon. In his mad dash to claim her as his, one hand slid to the sash of the robe. He was about to pull it free when there was a very loud knock at the front door.

“What the…?” he asked as he raised his head. Emma's face was flushed, her breathing ragged, and he had never seen a sexier sight.

“I think it's the tow truck,” she said quietly.

Lucas stepped back from her and watched as she righted the robe and tried to fix her hair. If it weren't so important to try and get Emma's car free from the ditch, he would gladly have ignored the door. “Dammit, Emma, I've got to go out there.” He skimmed a hand along her cheek and ran a thumb along her now-swollen lower lip.

“I know.”

Reluctantly, Lucas went to the door and looked back at Emma once again. He wanted to say something, anything, but what was there to say? If he hadn't made the call, there was no doubt he'd be deep inside her right this minute. But maybe this was for the best; after all, wasn't he the one who knew better? That their sleeping together would be something Emma would come to regret?

The distance between them right now would help them to both see that. Without another word, Lucas stepped outside and closed the door behind him.

Emma stood speechless in the kitchen. Well, how could she possibly doubt his feelings for her now? It was obvious that he wanted her and surely he could tell that she felt the same way. But where did this leave them?

Who knew how long he'd be outside with the tow truck? And when he came back inside, then what? Was she supposed to be waiting for him? Waiting to pick up where they'd left off? Was she supposed to just forget what had almost happened? Right, like that was going to happen. Ever.

The sound of a cell phone ringing in the distance had Emma searching for its whereabouts. She walked over to the living room and found Lucas's phone on the sofa. The display showed it to be his father, so she decided to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Emma! My goodness, girl, how are you? Lucas told me about the accident, but you were in the shower so I told him I'd wait until today to call and check on you! Are you all right? What can I do to make this up to you?”

His tone was near frantic and Emma had to suppress a smile. Not twenty minutes ago she would have said she was furious with her boss, but hearing the sincerity in his voice right now had Emma reconsidering. “I'm better today, thank you, sir.”

“Oh, stop being so formal,” he chided. “Lucas said you had a concussion.”

“That was his opinion, but I don't think it was all that bad. He woke me up every two hours last night and had me reciting state capitals and the months of the year and I passed with flying colors.”

“Ah… I remember the days when we had to do that for him. It's never a good feeling to watch someone you care about and not know the extent of their injuries.”

“Well, I'm down to just a mild headache—that is completely manageable—and my ankle is feeling better too. Lucas was able to call a tow truck and he's outside with the driver right now in hopes of getting my car out of the ditch.”

“I am so sorry, Emma. I had no idea that a storm was brewing. I tend to think that the weather where we live is exactly as it's going to be up here. I never seem to be able to accept that there can be such a difference in a two-hour drive.”

“It's okay, Mr. Montgomery. I'm fine, really, and my car? Well…”

“Don't you worry about a thing. We'll take care of all of the repair costs and the rental car for you. This was completely my fault and I just feel sick at the thought of what could have happened if you'd gotten hurt anywhere but on Lucas's property.”

“Yes, thank heavens for small miracles,” Emma murmured. “Are you and Mrs. Montgomery okay? Did you have any trouble with the storm?”

“Us? No! We're used to this sort of thing even when it sneaks up on us. Luckily Lucas takes after us. He said he had stocked up on supplies yesterday so the two of you should be fine for the duration.”

“Um… I'm not sure about the duration. I'm hoping to bum a ride with the tow truck driver into town to try and find a rental car place so that I can get home.”

“No, you can't!” he replied too quickly. “Emma, the roads are a mess. You shouldn't be out driving just yet. Plus, everything up here is closed down because a lot of the roads haven't been plowed yet. I can't bear the thought of you possibly getting hurt again.”

She smiled at his concern. “I appreciate that, but I think it would be best if I tried to get home.”

“Why? Has Lucas done something to upset you?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that,” she lied. “It's just that he really lives a very solitary life up here and I'm just frazzled from the wreck. I think it would be best if we each had our own space. I don't understand how I ended up here rather than your place though…”

“I'm afraid I had a senior moment,” he admitted sheepishly. “I'm just so used to rattling off Lucas's address to people and having things sent to him that when you asked, I automatically gave his address. I'm embarrassed to have to admit it. You know that's not like me at all.”

No, it wasn't like him at all, and she knew her boss well enough to know that he wasn't being one hundred percent honest with her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why he would do such a thing.

“I'm just relieved to know that you're all right. Promise me that you won't get on the road until they're cleared better.”

She wanted to argue with him just as she had with Lucas earlier, but she supposed they both had a point. “I promise. I'm not happy about it, but I promise to wait until it's safer to drive.”

“Excellent! Maybe wait until Sunday and let Lucas just drive you home and we'll get a rental car for you Monday morning. This way we can kill two birds with one stone: I know you'll get home safely and I have an excuse to get Lucas into the office for a second time in a month.”

Emma smiled at his words. She knew how much it pained her boss that Lucas spent so much time away from his family and the rest of the world. She only wished that he wasn't pinning his hopes on Lucas falling in line with those plans. “We'll see. I can't force Lucas to let me stay here for another two days and then drive me all the way home. That's not my fight to have with him.”

William had to give her credit for her compassion for his son. Some people in her position might be more than willing to do his bidding to win his favor, but not Emma. No, she understood Lucas, maybe better than he did, and didn't want to do anything that would cause more strife. “You're a sweet girl, Emma. I wouldn't expect you to fight this battle with Lucas for me. All I ask is that you consider it.”

“I will, sir,” she assured him. “I have no idea how long he'll be outside with the tow truck.” As she said the words, she walked to the window by the front door and looked out to see what kind of progress was being made. The driveway had been cleared. When had that happened? But for all she could see, her car had yet to make an appearance. “Would you like me to have him call you when he comes back inside?”

“That would be wonderful,” he replied. “Oh, and Emma?”

“Yes?”

“Make sure he doesn't overdo it out there. I know he doesn't think that we can tell, but…he's still not doing well with his knee. I don't think he wants any of us to know or to ask, but since you're the only person who's been with him for any amount of time in his house, please make sure he's okay.”

There was sadness in his voice and Emma's heart broke a little for the parent and for the child. Though they were both grown men, it didn't seem to matter; to William Montgomery, his concern for his youngest son would never end. “I'll make sure he takes it easy,” she promised before hanging up.

If only she knew how…

The kitchen was really a dream, Emma thought, as she went about making lunch for her and Lucas. She had no idea how much longer he was going to be outside with the tow truck driver, but she needed something to do, and messing around in the kitchen seemed like the perfect way to kill some time. As his father had told her earlier on the phone, Lucas had just stocked up and there was a wide variety of foods to choose from.

Knowing that he would most likely appreciate something hot after being outside in the cold, she first opted for some soup. There wasn't enough time to make any from scratch, but she found two cans of chicken corn chowder that she doctored up. Then came the sandwiches, some nice grilled cheese with bacon. Oh, if only her assistant could see her now! There wasn't a salad in sight and Emma was perfectly okay with it. With the soup simmering and the sandwiches being warmed in the oven, all Emma had to do was wait for Lucas to come back inside.

She didn't have to wait long.

Fifteen minutes later Lucas came through the door and Emma jumped. She had been staring out the back windows at what seemed to be miles of snow-covered land. She turned when she heard him and almost gasped at what she saw. He was covered in snow, his skin red, and at his feet were all of her bags and belongings from her car. He nearly slumped to the ground once the door was closed.

“Oh, my gosh, Lucas! What in the world?” She nearly ran over to him and it didn't take long for her to realize that he was in pain. Without a word, she took the hat from his head and began to help him remove his coat.

“Emma,” he said by way of warning her but she ignored him.

“Hush,” she said quietly and went back to helping him get as much of the snow covered clothing off as possible. With his coat, hat, and gloves on the floor, Emma watched as he slowly removed his boots. It was hard to miss the hiss of pain when he bent forward.

“Go put on dry clothes,” she told him. “I've got lunch ready.”

Lucas stood straight up and looked at Emma as if he'd never seen her before. He opened his mouth to argue, but all she said was “Go” and he slowly lumbered back toward his bedroom, where he slammed the door.

Emma made a tsking sound and went about picking up his belongings and taking them into the mudroom near the back of the house to dry. After that, she headed into the kitchen to serve up their food. Before she was finished, Lucas stepped from the bedroom, walked over to the living room, and sat down wearily on the sofa, his head falling back against the cushions.

It was a no-brainer at that point; making up a tray, Emma carried it to Lucas and placed it over his lap. He looked up at her in surprise and what she saw in his eyes took her breath away. Gratitude, plain and simple. How long had this man been taking care of himself? How long since anyone had done something as simple as preparing a meal for him? How long since he'd even let anyone?

She gave him a weak smile and turned to walk away. “Are you going to join me?” Lucas asked, his eyes warm on hers.

“I was just going to make myself a tray,” she reassured him. Within minutes she was sitting on the sofa beside him, making herself comfortable and trying not to spill her soup. “I wasn't sure what you wanted to eat but I figured this was your house and if it was here, you'd pretty much enjoy it.”

He gave a small laugh. “Can't argue with that logic. But seriously, Emma, thank you. You didn't need to do this.”

“Are you kidding me? It was nice to have something to do. I felt so helpless sitting in here where it was warm and dry while you were stuck out there. I hate that you had to do that for me.”

“We're not going to go through that again, are we?” he asked. “None of this was your fault and you need to let it go.”

“How did you get the driveway cleared away so fast?”

“I have a plow blade attachment for my truck. I simply pulled out of the garage and went to work.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I thought you had shoveled that whole thing yourself!”

“Not anymore,” he mumbled to himself. “It didn't take too long and I wanted to have it done before I called the tow truck. It would have been pointless to have them drive all the way out here if they couldn't get onto the property.”

Emma nodded. “How bad did it look?”

“The road?”

“No, my car. Was it bad?”

Lucas took a hearty bite of his sandwich and seemed to chew slowly. Emma did not take that as a good sign. “It was about what I expected,” he said finally.

“Meaning what exactly?”

“It looks like you ran it into a tree. The front end is pretty banged up, but luckily you weren't going very fast so it could have been much worse. I had Bill take it to his shop. He's a friend of mine and I trust him and his work. He'll get a good look at it probably tomorrow and have an estimate to us by Monday.”

“Us?”

“Emma, Montgomerys is going to take care of this. It wasn't your fault and you were on company time. We'll take care of the repairs and your car rental for however long it takes to get your car fixed.” In that moment, he sounded very much like a boss and Lucas saw something cross across Emma's face. Confusion? Disappointment?

“That's very generous, Lucas. Your father called while you were outside with the tow truck and he told me the same thing. I don't expect the company to take care of this expense, but I appreciate the help.”

“Well, it was Dad's fault,” Lucas stated firmly, still angry at what could have happened to Emma because of his father's inconsiderate behavior.

“I could have told him no, Lucas. He didn't hold a gun to my head and force me to drive up here.”

“No, but he certainly did all that he could to sweeten the deal for you.” Emma frowned at that statement. “What? What's the matter?”

She looked over at him and gave a sad smile. “I was actually really looking forward to it—the spa, the pampering, all of it. I never indulge in things like that because it always seemed so frivolous, but once it was offered to me? I found that I really wanted to do it.”

“Well, maybe you'll get another chance.”

“I'm not driving up here again until the summertime!” she joked and Lucas laughed with her.

“How about someplace local? I'm sure we can arrange something like that for you when you get back.” Again, he came across sounding like her employer, and even though that was exactly what he was, he still hated sounding like that to her. “It's the least we can do.”

Emma seemed to sober instantly. “That's a very generous offer, but I don't expect the company to pay for a day at a spa for me. It's really not necessary.” Her tone was formal, as if she were talking to someone in the office.

They ate the remainder of their lunch in silence and Emma rose to take both of their trays into the kitchen. “I don't expect you to wait on me, Emma,” Lucas said, his eyes watching her as she moved around the room.

“Well, you fussed over me yesterday when I was hurt and now it's my turn to fuss over you.”

“Why would you say that?” he demanded, sitting up straighter on the couch. “I'm not hurt.”

Emma stared at him point blank, eyebrows arched. “Really?” she asked sarcastically.

“Yes, really,” he replied defiantly.

“Okay, stand up.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Stand up.” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

“And what will that prove?”

“Stand up and walk around the sofa without limping or scowling.”

Lucas did
not
like the challenge in her tone. “And if I don't?”

“Then you'll just be proving me right. I'm not a fool, Lucas. Your knee is hurting and there's no shame in that. You probably messed it up yesterday carrying me up from my car, and then again today helping the driver get my car out of the ditch. Why is that so hard to admit?”

“Because you don't know what the hell you're talking about,” he snapped. “There's nothing wrong with my knee, and I resent you saying that there is.”

“Then prove it.”

Rage built in Lucas faster than he thought possible. In the two years since his injury, no one had provoked him like this. People left him alone; even the physical therapists stopped pushing him when he refused to be challenged. How dare Emma come here and make these ridiculous demands on him!

Sure his knee hurt; anyone would feel some sense of pain after the way he had exerted himself in the last twenty-four hours. But it wasn't like he couldn't handle it. Lucas knew he could get up right now and do a damn jig and never let on that he was feeling any kind of pain. He glared at Emma and saw that she hadn't budged.

Fine. He'd prove her wrong and then they could move on with their day. Placing both hands firmly on the sofa Lucas braced himself and pushed to a standing position and went to take a step.

And crumpled back down to the sofa with a growl of disgust. Emma was at his side immediately and he heard her soft curse. “I cannot believe that you are so stubborn that you would rather risk aggravating an injury than admitting that you have one.”

His first instinct was to argue, but she had hit the nail on the head.

“What do you need? Heat or ice?”

What he needed right now was to have his solitary life back and to be left alone in his misery. One of the reasons he'd quit going to rehab was because he hated having anyone help him; it reminded him that he wasn't the man he used to be.

“Lucas?” she said, snapping him out of his reverie.

“Ice,” he mumbled and sat back on the sofa, lifting his leg up onto the coffee table. In no time at all, Emma was beside him and rolling up the leg of the flannel pajama pants he had thrown on earlier. All Lucas wanted to do was push her away but he just didn't have the strength to.

He flinched when she placed the ice pack on his scarred and swollen knee, refusing to look at her. Lucas didn't want to see the pity in her eyes. There was the sound of Emma's feet walking across the room and he heard her moving around in the kitchen before coming back offering him water and ibuprofen.

“Do you have anything stronger?” He shook his head. “Okay, then. What do you usually do when this happens?”

“Who said this ever happened before?” Lucas knew he was sounding like a belligerent child, but couldn't summon the energy to care.

“I'm trying to help you,” she said wearily. “This is all my fault, and I'm trying to do what I can to help you. Can you please just cooperate?”

“Really? Like you cooperated last night?”

“Did you not wake me up every two hours? And didn't I answer all of your stupid questions each time?”

“Stupid ques… Look, I know how to handle a concussion, Emma; you don't know the first thing about a knee injury!”

“So teach me! For crying out loud, Lucas, we've got nothing else to do here! You refused to let me even speak to the tow truck driver about leaving, so you're stuck with me for the weekend. Now either let me help you or deal with the fact that I'm going to sit here and nag you all afternoon.” She sounded pretty smug and she knew that she had left him no choice.

“Fine,” he sneered. “Normally when this happens I take the OTC stuff and ice it for a while. I do my best to stay off it and by the next day I'm usually better. Satisfied?”

“Hardly. What does your physical therapist have to say about this? Why is this still happening? I thought you had the surgeries to repair the injury?”

“That's none of your damn business.” Lucas so did not want to have this discussion. He'd avoided talking to anyone about this and he certainly didn't want to talk to Emma about it. How did he explain that he'd elected out of the last two surgeries because even though the problem would have been repaired, he still wasn't going to play football ever again? Rather than continue to go under the knife, Lucas had simply given up and decided to live with the limp and the pain as a reminder that he couldn't go back.

“It doesn't matter what the therapist thinks or says; sometimes injuries just don't heal.”

Emma looked at him suspiciously. “I would think that you would have gone for a second or maybe third, fourth, and fifth opinion to get yourself better.”

“Who says I didn't?”

“Did you?” she challenged.

“Christ, Emma, what do you want from me?”

“I want to understand why you choose to live such an isolated life! I want to know why with all of your money and connections that your knee isn't healed and that you don't seem to care! I want to know why you seem to have just given up on life!” Her tirade ended on a near shout. She opened her mouth to speak only to have Lucas cut her off.

“You want to know why, Emma? Is that it? Well, let me tell you, sweetheart, it isn't pretty.”

“Lucas, I…”

“No, you wanted to know, well, here it is. When I hurt my knee I was having my best season ever. I had endorsement deals and was making more money than I'd ever dreamed of. I thought life couldn't get any better, and then I messed up my knee. I had the first surgery and the doctors were optimistic and my coaches and agents were optimistic. It didn't take long for them to realize that I wasn't healing properly. So they called in some specialists.

“More tests were run and more doctors looked at me and saw a secondary injury, and so they did a second surgery. Everyone was cautiously optimistic at this point. I was still promised the sun, the moon, and the stars by everyone around me. I was promised that I'd be back to full strength by the following season and all of my endorsement deals were still in play.” Lucas took a steadying breath and adjusted the ice pack on his knee.

“After the second surgery and another round of physical therapy, they let me go to a couple of practices to see how my endurance was, and my knee gave out before I even hit the field. A trip back to the hospital showed that I would probably need at least another two surgeries, but even with that, I'd never play football again.”