Chocolate was the very worst thing for her. Not only was it the onslaught of mass quantities of sugar, which was like a nuclear bomb to her system, but I’d started to suspect Lizzy was lactose intolerant. She was going to spend the night sick to her stomach again, I just knew it. My head exploded with visions of me, running between Kat’s dialysis treatment and Lizzy doubled over the toilet. This was just too much.
That was when a tall cowboy jumped down from the truck, his booted feet landing beside Lizzy. I looked up… and up… and into the darkest violet-blue eyes I’d ever seen on a man. I’d never been this close to Luke Walker, and… uh… he wasn’t… too bad. To look at. Just to look at, mind you.
“Just a couple handfuls of Hershey’s Kisses,” he said. “It won’t kill her.”
“A couple ofhandfuls?That’s more than she should have in a month!”
“Hey, come on, sweet thing. It’s a wedding! Let the kid have a little fun.”
My eyelid started to twitch. “Did you just call mesweet thing?Is this a joke to you? Lizzy, go wash your face. It’s time to go home.”
Luke Walker stuck a flannel-clad arm in front of Lizzy, barring her from doing what I’d told her to. “Now, just wait a second. We were in a hurry, that’s all. She didn’t get any cake or ice cream because she was helping me, so I gave her some chocolate. What’s the big deal?”
“Helping youwhat?You fed her enough chocolate to kill an elephant and then put her up on top of that water truck where she could fall and break her neck!”
He lowered his arm and got a cheesy grin. “Overprotective. I get it. You must be the aunt.”
I rolled my eyes. Maybe Iwasoverprotective, but raising Lizzy was like running around putting out fires everywhere she went. And he wasn’t helping. “Audrey Livingstone.DoctorLivingstone to you. And you’re Luke Walker, the lunatic.”
“Lunatic?” He cocked his head thoughtfully. “I kind of like the sound of that.”
“Of course you would, but trust me, it wasn’t a compliment. What on earth were you thinking?”
Luke Walker’s cheek flinched, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I was thinking it’d be fun, that’s what I was thinking. Dusty was laughing.”
“I don’t really care if Dusty was laughing. You didn’t even check with me before you let Lizzy do all that stuff. That’s not okay. What is wrong with you?”
He winked and shot me a grin. “You’re the doctor. You tell me.”
I narrowed my eyes. “The only kind of doctoring you’re going to get from me is a dentist’s drill with no Novocaine. Come on, Lizzy. We’re leaving.” I put my arm around Lizzy and marched her toward the car.
“Promise?” Luke called after me.
I turned and glared daggers at him, but he just grinned wider.
“Guess I’ll make an appointment for next week, then?”
I straightened. You didn’t get anywhere with this kind of guy by rolling your eyes and walking away. You had to challenge them, head-on. “Fine. Next week. I’ll sharpen my drill.”