Everything You've Got: Anything & Everything, Book 2 (33 page)

There was an RV parked in her driveway. Not just any RV either. It was
the
RV. The RV that had changed her life.

And it sitting in the driveway of the house she was renting in Rolland could only mean one thing: Luke was here.

She was torn between extreme happiness and incredible exhaustion. Happiness because she’d missed him and wanted to see him with an intensity that physically hurt. Exhaustion because she couldn’t fight with him and send him away again.

He must have heard her drive in because he came out of the RV as she slammed her car door.

He looked great.

Maybe a little tired, but great.

She hadn’t seen him in two weeks. She’d called Stan in Rolland the morning after Luke had taken her to dinner in Alliance. He’d said she could start immediately. Dr. Brickham had appreciated her offer to give him thirty days’ notice but had ultimately felt it was unnecessary. So she’d hired movers and had arrived in Rolland—and the rental house the hospital owned—four days after Luke walked out of the restaurant.

The two weeks had been…okay. She definitely liked her work better. She was busy and appreciated and welcomed. But there were a hundred things she missed about Justice—dinner at her mom’s, the flowerbeds at the park, Marc’s cheesecake, the fact that she could catch up on all the gossip with a stop at the post office.

And then there was the hole in her soul where her heart used to be.

And now he was standing in her driveway.

She’d been expecting it on some level. But she hadn’t let herself expect it. Every time she’d started to wonder if he’d come, she’d squelched it.

“Hi.”

One syllable and she wanted nothing more than to jump into his arms.

Instead she hugged herself. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s my first night in Rolland. Where else would I be?”

Her heart thumped even as she held herself back from him. “It’s not your first night. You’ve been here before.”

“This is my first night living here, though. That’s different.”

Her heart thumped harder as her mouth dropped open. “What?”

“I need you. I want you. I have to be with you. So I’m moving to Rolland.”

She stared at him. Was she dreaming? That would be a much better explanation for this than its being real.

“Have you been drinking?”

He smiled. “Of course not.”

“Hit your head? Been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness? Been told an end-of-the-world prophecy?” She came to stand in front of him, just out of arm’s reach—in case he had handcuffs.

He grinned, noticing the distance. “None of the above.”

“So there’s actually no good reason for you to move here?”

“You’re here. That’s more than reason enough.”

That’s what he was supposed to say, what she wanted him to say. If she’d scripted it for him that’s what she would have written.

And instead of being thrilled, she suddenly felt like crying.

She’d wanted this, him, but…she really couldn’t handle the almost-having-it anymore. He might move here. He might try it. But it wouldn’t last. Or, almost worse, he’d stay but be unhappy. There was no way he would leave his friends, family, community and work for good.

She crossed her arms to keep from grabbing him. “You’re not moving to Rolland.”

“I am. I’m building a new restaurant.”

“What?” she demanded.

“I’m building a restaurant here. Meeting with the real estate agent tomorrow morning to look at some lots. Don’t know if I’ll call it The Camelot or something else.”

That sounded like something more permanent. Something to be more hopeful about.

Which meant a lot of squelching.

“I think that’s a really bad idea,” she said, starting up the sidewalk toward the house.

“No you don’t.” He started after her. “You love the idea for the same reasons I love the idea. It’s something I’m great at and love to do and this town would love a place like The Camelot.”

She opened the front door and stepped inside, letting the screen door swing back in Luke’s face. He stopped it with his foot and followed her inside.

“You don’t want a restaurant here.” She tossed her purse and bag onto the first chair in the living room, then kicked her shoes off and continued to the kitchen.

“I want to be with you, you’re here, I run restaurants, therefore I want a restaurant here.”

She yanked open the fridge door and stared inside. She had no idea what she was looking for but she just couldn’t look at him. This was all too tempting, too perfect—and it would last about two months.

“You’ll never be able to stay here, Luke. This will never replace Justice.” She moved some bottles and containers around, pretending to search for something.

“I’m not looking for a replacement.”

“You shouldn’t settle for a consolation prize either.”

“Kat, look at me.”

She was staring at the ketchup. She swallowed hard. “No.”

“Why?”

“Because then you’ll be able to talk me into this and it’s a bad idea.”

He chuckled. The next thing she felt was his hands on her hips. “I’m not looking for a replacement and this isn’t a consolation prize. It’s just something new.”

She straightened and took a deep breath. “You don’t do new.”

“People can change.”

She wished.

“I painted the lobby of The Camelot—the one in Justice—red.”

“No way.”

She felt one hand leave her hip. He must have reached into his pocket because he put his phone in her line of sight. With a photo of the newly painted Camelot lobby.

It was red.

She slowly turned to face him. “I’m scared.”

“Me too.”

God, she’d missed him. She wanted him.

But it would be worse if she had him again for a little while and then lost him.

“I can’t make you move your whole life here when I know you’re not going to like it, when I know you’re going to eventually want to leave.”

“You have to trust me. I love you.”

She sucked in a quick breath. She wondered if she’d ever get used to hearing him say that.

“Tell me you love me too,” he said. “I know you do. I know you’re scared of what that means, but we’ll work it out.”

“I want you to be happy.”

“I’ve never been as miserable as I’ve been the past two weeks without you.”

“It’s the sex.”

He grinned. “I haven’t been having any sex.”

“That’s what I mean.” Maybe she’d overwhelmed him for a while. Maybe she was different enough from the other women that he was a little amazed. Or something. She’d accept that he felt something for her. Something big even.

But was it enough?

“I’m not here because of the sex, Kat.” Luke cupped her cheek. “I’m here because you’re here.” He leaned in and kissed her.

It was soft, sweet, and full of promise.

“Tell me you love me too,” he whispered against her lips.

She hadn’t said it out loud yet. But he knew. “I love you too.”

The smile on his face made her heart flip. He leaned in to kiss her again but she put her hand against his mouth.

“Which is why I can’t let you do this. I love you. I want you to be happy. Go back to Justice.”

He didn’t look shocked or even a little surprised. He sighed in resignation. “I’m not going back to Justice.”

“Maybe not yet,” she said.

“But obviously I’m going to have to prove it.”

“What do you mean?”

He let go of her and reached into his pocket again. “Here is a copy of the loan document from the bank. It’s enough to buy the RV from Marc and Sabrina and to start building here. This—” he opened another folded paper, “—is the agreement between me and Marc for him to buy half of my half of the business. I’ll stay on as twenty-five percent owner of The Camelot for now but Marc is the majority partner. And this—” he pulled one more piece of paper out, “—is the buyer’s agreement from the couple who bought my house.”

She took the papers with shaking fingers. “You sold your house? You sold most of The Camelot?”

“I did. I’m here to stay.”

Oh, God. He was going to regret this. And it was all her fault.

“Maybe there’s time to get it back. There’s got to be time to change this. Marc will understand.”

“I don’t want it back.”

Her eyes filled with tears and she took the step back from him that she needed to think clearly. “Maybe not this minute. But this is going to sink in and—”

“I’m staying.” He turned on his heel and started toward the front of the house. Very much
not
staying.

“What… Where are you going?”

“To my RV. Where I’m going to live until the love of my life realizes that this is for real.” He turned back to look at her from the front door. “And that it’s for good.”

He pulled the door shut behind him leaving Kat completely speechless.

And a little amazed.

Chapter Twelve

It only took her three days to learn that Luke’s routine was to get coffee at the Pit Stop, the convenience store on the corner of Main Street, at seven a.m. And stay, chatting with the other men, until eight.

It wasn’t hard to hear information about Luke. Everyone in town was talking about him, his move to Rolland, the fact that he was parking the RV—for free again—in the park until the restaurant was done and, of course, the fact that he was building a restaurant.

So it was easy to find out that he had already joined the men at the Pit Stop for coffee and donuts the past two mornings at seven.

Which was why she showed up there at seven a.m. three days after he’d left her house.

Because he hadn’t showed up at her house again. He also hadn’t showed up at the clinic. Or anywhere else where she was.

After the nights she’d spent tossing and turning, she needed the coffee almost as much as she needed to see him.

They made eye contact the moment she stepped in the door. Their eyes met over the bald head of the man Luke was talking to at one of the tables and, though his mouth kept moving with whatever he was saying, it also stretched in a smile.

He knew she couldn’t stay away from him.

She sighed and headed in his direction. He got to his feet as she stopped by his table.

“Morning, Dr. Dayton,” he said.

“Morning, Mr. Hamilton.”

“Can I buy you coffee?”

“That would be great.”

He took her elbow and headed for the self-serve coffee island where he proceeded to fill a cup and mix it with just the right amount of cream and sugar before handing it to her.

“I know what you’re doing,” she said.

He leaned in. “Do you?”

She nodded.

“Good. Pay attention.” He lifted his hand and hooked the scooped neckline of her white sundress with his finger running it along the edge between the fabric and her skin. “I know what you’re doing too.”

Ah, he’d noticed.

Since coming to Rolland she was still wearing black but not
just
black. And not as much leather. And fewer kick-ass boots.

“What am I doing?” she asked, lifting the paper cup.

He dropped his hand. “You’re starting over. You’re taking the opportunity to be who you are now in a new place instead of letting how things have always been in Justice govern you.”

She felt her mouth drop open. She wouldn’t have put it quite that way but…yeah, okay. She was in a new place where she didn’t have to keep up the façade.

“And that’s what I’m doing too,” he said, smiling at her look of amazement.

She frowned slightly. “How? You’ve always been a social butterfly, in the center of whatever’s going on. How is this different?”

“It’s a new place, a new start, a whole new town to win over and impress.” He gave her a cocky grin. “Just what I need.”

Yeah, just what he needed.
Two
groups of people thinking he could do no wrong.

She hid her smile behind her cup. Because he did need that. He needed to know that people loved him because of
him
. Not because he’d grown up in town, or because they loved his mother, or because he’d headed the town’s Fourth of July celebration committee for the past five years.

“And so you know,” he said, leaning in closer. “I’m building the restaurant, I’m having coffee, I’m filling in on the golf league because Conner’s sick and I’m helping finish the roof at Sunshine Estates. And I like it. A lot.”

Great. But it had been three days. They’d see how long that lasted. It wasn’t The Camelot, it wasn’t coffee with Bill and it wasn’t golfing with Marc.

“Okay. Have fun. Just be sure to stick a note on my front door when you decide to move back to Justice,” she said turning away. “Thanks for the coffee. Bye, guys,” she called to the other men, giving them a little wave.