Dirty: The Complete Series (Secret Baby Romance Love Story) (140 page)

“You look good yourself,” Mackenzie said,
stepping back and taking her seat once more.

“Can I get you a coffee? Or do you want
something else?” I glanced around; there was a line at the register but it
wasn’t too bad.

“Coffee is fine,” Mackenzie said, smiling
a little nervously.

“Then I will be right back,” I said. I
gave her a pretend stern look. “Don’t run away on me now—I spotted you, so I
know you’re here, and I’ll know if you run away.”

“I won’t run away,” Mackenzie said, her
smile warming up a bit. “I’ll be right here.”

I stepped into the line and tried not to
fidget as I waited for the people ahead of me to put in their orders.
Get it over with and you can sit down with
her for an hour or more. You won’t have to get up again.
I’d never been
close enough to Mackenzie to smell her, and of course it’s not like I go around
sniffing people; but when she’d hugged me, I’d caught a whiff of her soap and
shampoo, and maybe a hint of perfume. Mack smelled sweet and warm, just like
I’d thought she might, and I could feel that while she was strong, she was
soft, too—in all the right places.

The line moved forward bit by bit and I
lost myself in thought for a minute, wondering if things were just going to be
awkward, or of Mackenzie was going to actually give the date a real chance. The
fact that she’d gone to the trouble of getting cleaned up—and I thought she
might have put on makeup, too—said that at least she had invested some thought
in meeting with me.

Finally I got to the registers and put in
my order for two regular coffees. I realized I hadn’t asked Mackenzie how she
took her coffee; I told the woman behind the register to leave room in one of
the cups, just in case. I waited off to the side, and glanced at Mackenzie to
make sure that she was still there—and not terribly bored. I grabbed the two
coffees and made my way back to the table, being as careful as the crowd around
me would let me be; the last thing I needed was to spill coffee all over myself
or someone else because I was hurrying.

“I didn’t know if you take cream and sugar
or not,” I explained to Mackenzie as I set our coffees down on the table. I
took my coat off quickly and draped it over the back of the other chair, across
from where Mackenzie sat.

“I can get it—probably better to do it
myself anyway,” Mackenzie said, giving me a quick smile. She stood and I had the
pleasure of seeing that she was wearing jeans—and they fit her like a glove. As
she walked past me, I turned my head just a little bit and caught sight of the
shape of her ass; I looked away just as quickly, turning my attention onto my
coffee, warming my hands on my cup.
Do
not
let her catch you doing that.
The view
was great, and I had at least a dozen more reasons to hope that things would go
well on this first date. I definitely wanted to see what she looked like naked.
Take your time. Don’t rush things. She’s
probably not the kind of woman who puts out until the third date—and that’s
what you want, isn’t it?

Then Mackenzie was back at the table,
sitting down and taking a sip of her coffee. “You know,” she said, smiling a
little, “I think this is the first real date I’ve been on in probably about a
year.”

“Full disclosure: it’s been about five
years for me,” I admitted. “I went on a few blind dates a couple of years ago,
but they just…” I shrugged. “One of them I ended up pretending that Landon’s
grandparents had texted me to let me know he’d somehow gotten food poisoning.”

“Oh no!” Mackenzie laughed. “That must’ve
been absolutely the worst date.”

“She was a smoker, and insisted that it
didn’t harm a kid to be around it,” I said, shaking my head in disgust. “She
also wanted to know why I didn’t just send Landon off to a boarding school.”

“I can see why you’d cut the date short
then,” Mackenzie said. I took a sip of my own coffee and something relaxed
inside of me.

“So you seem really dedicated to your job—I
almost couldn’t believe I’d caught you at work yesterday.”

“That’s actually why I’ve been without a
date for so long,” Mackenzie said, blushing once more. “I’m so involved in my
career that I sort of just…let dating fall by the wayside.” Mackenzie giggled a
little bit—it sounded amazing to my ears, like a bell. “If you hadn’t asked me
out, I’d probably not have another date until like…April or something.”

“I know that feeling,” I said, nodding.
“Between Landon and my job, it’s hard to find time to devote to another
relationship.” A look like concern flickered across Mackenzie’s face. “I’m
ready to jump back into the dating pool, though,” I said quickly. “I feel like
it’s time. Landon is getting older, more independent.”

“He seems to be really independent
already,” Mackenzie said.

“Oh he is,” I said, thinking of my son.
“He wants to do everything himself anymore—even things he’s too small to do.”
Mackenzie nodded, smiling, and I thought to myself that there was nothing more
gorgeous on the planet than the sight of her smile.

“I read in the file that he broke the leg
playing soccer?”

“Yep,” I shook my head. “One of the
scariest moments of my life. He was a trooper though—barely even cried on the
way to the hospital.”

“How long have you been taking care of him
by yourself?” Mackenzie took another quick sip of her coffee.

“Pretty much his whole life,” I told her.
“His mother died when he was only a few months old. Cancer.” Mackenzie’s big,
bright eyes were full of sympathy for me. “Let’s talk about something else—I
don’t want to dwell.”

We chatted for over an hour, comparing our
jobs, and talking about our childhoods. I learned that Mackenzie had grown up a
little outside of the city, that her parents still lived in the same house
she’d grown up in; I told her about going to college in California, and getting
my degree, and about how Landon and I had moved back to the city after my wife
had passed away.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took
it out quickly, worried it might be about Landon; instead of an emergency call
from his grandparents, it was the alarm I’d set to make sure I got back to
their place in time to pick Landon up. “I’m so sorry,” I said, standing up.
“But Landon’s at my in-laws’ place, and they can’t keep him overnight. I have
to go get him.” Mackenzie nodded her understanding and stood, finishing off her
coffee.

“I should head home and put together some
dinner for myself anyway,” she said, giving me another one of those beautiful
smiles. “I had a really great time talking to you, Patrick.”

“Can I walk you to your car?” Mackenzie
hesitated a moment before nodding. We dropped our empty cups off at the pick-up
station and left the café together.

“I’m parked a couple of blocks down,”
Mackenzie said, looking almost embarrassed. “It was impossible to find anything
closer.”

“I know—I was going around in circles for
fifteen minutes to find a spot,” I told her. I walked at her side for a few
steps and then, on an impulse, I reached out and took her hand in mine.
Mackenzie stumbled slightly in surprise, but she gave my hand a quick squeeze
and we continued up the street to where she was parked.

“Here I am,” Mackenzie told me. She drove
a beat up old sedan; just what I would have expected for a woman who worked a
job that covered her normal expenses with only a little bit left over, a
responsible person who didn’t live outside of her income. I saw her take a deep
breath and her hand moved in mine. “I had a really good time,” she said,
looking up at me nervously.

“Me too,” I told her. I looked into her
eyes for a moment and made a decision; I didn’t know for sure if she wanted me
to kiss her—but I knew that I would know in a heartbeat if I’d read the signs
wrong. I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. Mackenzie tensed against
me for just an instant, but then she relaxed. I deepened the kiss, wrapping my
arms around her, giving her plenty of opportunity to push me away or back off
or tell me to stop.

Instead of pulling away, Mackenzie pressed
her body against mine, and a hot jolt of electricity shot through me at the
feeling of her curves crushed against my body. I darted my tongue out and she
opened her mouth, letting me in. In a matter of a few minutes I would never
have believed it was cold outside; we were heating up second by second. My hands
started to wander a bit on Mackenzie’s body and I kissed her more and more
hungrily, and in a matter of moments I had her up against the car door.

I broke away from her finally; I could
feel the heat pooling in my groin, my cock hardening like a metal rod. “I have
to go,” I said, giving Mackenzie one last, quick kiss. “Landon.” She nodded,
looking up at me breathlessly.

“I understand,” she said.

I smiled. “Can I see you again soon?”

Mackenzie nodded. “I’ve got a day off in a
few days; we could go out the night before.”

“That sounds good,” I said, smiling down
at her. “I’ll call you tomorrow to firm up the details.” I gave her one last
kiss and then let her go, stepping back. It felt like I had a hot stone in my pants
as I walked back towards my car; Mackenzie had felt so good and so right
pressed up against me. I couldn’t wait to see her again—and maybe our next date
I would hedge my bets and make sure Landon could stay the night outside of the
house. I watched Mackenzie pull out of the parking spot and finished heading to
my own car, trying to clear my head enough to go pick up my son.

PART 2

Chapter One - Mackenzie

For a few days after my first date with
Patrick, I still couldn’t quite keep the smile off of my face. It had been ages
since I’d actually gone on a date and even longer since I’d had a good date.
When I went into work the day after, everyone commented on my good mood; of
course I couldn’t tell them anything about it—dating a patient’s parent isn’t against
the law or anything, but it isn’t exactly ethical. I had more patience than
ever with the kids who came in, and I could even look forward to my family’s
holiday get-together with something like calm.
If nothing else, at least I can tell them that I’ve been on a date
recently,
I thought as I walked into work a couple of mornings later. I was
as professional as ever with Patrick and with Landon when they came in, which
I’d been a little worried about—but Patrick was the same as ever: focused on
Landon, talking to me about his son’s progress.

I was looking forward to my next date with
Patrick so much more than I thought. When he’d first asked me out, I had been
nervous—that I’d say something stupid, or that he’d turn out to be a jerk, or
that things would get awkward—but when he’d kissed me I’d really felt it.
I wonder how many dates before we can sleep
together?
It wasn’t just up to me; it was up to him as well. With a child,
Patrick would have to be careful about how quickly he got serious with someone.
He couldn’t risk bringing someone into Landon’s life who wouldn’t be a good
influence. Even though I was Landon’s physical therapist, I understood that
Patrick would have to be sure about how I would interact with Landon in a
different part of his life.

“Girl, you have been distracted for days,”
Amie commented. “Can’t you hear Charlotte paging you?” I blushed and answered
the phone. It was a call from another patient’s mother, to ask if I thought
that her daughter would be ready to go back to ballet in three weeks when the
new program started. I told her that we’d have to see at her daughter’s next
appointment if her recovery had been enough to allow for it, and that all on
its own reminded me of Landon and all his progress—which reminded me of
Patrick.

I went back to my work, throwing myself
into a session with a seven-year-old girl who had broken both arms in a
tree-climbing accident and needed to regain muscle mass after the long period
waiting for the bones to heal. As long as I was working with an actual patient,
I was able to focus on my work; I would hate myself if I ever let anyone
distract me from the sessions themselves. I took her through the exercises,
cheering her on and encouraging her about how far she had come, and talked to
her Mom and Dad who were both watching her work with me. “She’s doing really,
really well.”

“Do you think she’s going to make a full
recovery?”

“She’s going to need time,” I cautioned
them, “but she’s young, and the breaks themselves didn’t do very much damage at
all to her muscles. If we work hard then Annie will absolutely make a full
recovery and fingers crossed, it’ll be like it never happened.” I did a quick
evaluation of her strength and coordination—at such a young age, long periods
of time where the muscles are immobile can slow down normal development—and
sent her on her way with her parents, a little sweaty but grinning from ear to
ear.

After Annie, there was a lull between
sessions; I’d had a patient cancel on me while I was in the session. It
irritated me whenever parents would call at the last minute to cancel, but I
know that things come up, and they can’t always be predicted. I went back to my
desk and pulled up the endless paperwork that I never quite seemed to get done
and decided to work on that. Amie had made a run to the café a block away from
the office, so I had a hot drink waiting for me, and I sipped it while I called
up the files that needed updating.