Free Wait for Me / Trust in Me by Samantha Chase Page A

me to drive up here.”
    â€œNo, 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.”
    â€œWell, maybe you’ll get another chance.”
    â€œI’m not driving up here again until the summertime!” she joked and Lucas laughed with her.
    â€œHow 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.
    â€œWell, you fussed over me yesterday when I was hurt and now it’s my turn to fuss over you.”
    â€œWhy 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.
    â€œYes, really,” he replied defiantly.
    â€œOkay, stand up.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou heard me. Stand up.” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
    â€œAnd what will that prove?”
    â€œStand up and walk around the sofa without limping or scowling.”
    Lucas did not like the challenge in her tone. “And if I don’t?”
    â€œThen 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?”
    â€œBecause 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.”
    â€œThen 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.
    â€œWhat 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