The Homespun Holiday (5 page)

“That we’re friends?” Mack
repeated.  He’d never really given it any thought before now, but the closer he
examined the relationship between them, the more he could justify a friendship
between them.  “Look, you pick up my dry cleaning every Wednesday so that I
don’t have to deal with Miss Ellie pawing all over me and inviting me to dinner. 
I watch your kid for you when she needs somebody to look out for her in the
afternoons.  We occasionally share our lunch together.  I call you Millie or
Mills and you call me Doc – well, you call me Doc most of the time.  You only
use the full title of Dr. Daniels when we’re either in front of patients or
you’re pissed at me.  Either way, that sounds a lot like friendship to me.”

Awestruck that he’d realized they
were friends before she did, Millie could only blink.

“Plus, you obviously feel
friendly
enough with me that you were completely comfortable going behind my back and
inviting my family to Paradise for Christmas.  Not only that, but you told my
sister about the psychiatrist’s position at the hospital.  That seems real
friendly
to me,” he remarked with a hard look into Millie’s sparkling green eyes.

Biting her lower lip, Millie
shivered.  Whether it was from the cold mountain wind blowing across the
parking area or that intense look in Doc’s eyes, she wasn’t sure.  “You and
Nugget were gonna be alone,” she said quietly.  “I didn’t like that,” she
admitted, the thought of this tall, brawny man and his sweetheart of a
Newfoundland doggy eating frozen dinners alone in front of the television
torturing her.

“Nugget and I are always alone
unless I’m working.  We’re used to it,” Doc countered reasonably, quickly
shucking his coat when he caught Millie shuddering again as the chilly breeze
blew over them.  “Put this on,” he growled, wrapping his coat around her narrow
shoulders.  “If you catch your death, I’ll be stuck entertaining my family all on
my own!  And let me tell you, that’s
not
happening!  You got me into
this mess; you can help me get out of it.”

“Yeah, well, now you live in a town
and work with a woman that despise seeing anybody alone over the holidays,
Doc.  Everyone deserves to have someone during Christmas.  Even ornery old men
and their giant canine companions.  I knew you’re close with your sister. so I
decided to take the bull by the horns and shoot her a postcard.  She’s been
asking for a picture of Paradise every time she called the office for you.  So,
I sent her what she asked for:  a picture perfect post card of Paradise’s
Christmas season.  It’s not my fault if she fell in love with our fair town, is
it?  And it was your good buddy, Cain Turner, that requested I mention the job
to her.  For that, you can yell at him, not me.”

“Faith McKinnon needs to put her
husband on a tighter leash,” Mack grumbled, silently hoping the woman would
choke him to death with it so he couldn’t cause any further damage to Mack’s
orderly life.

Millie’s lips twitched.  “I think
that’s Faith Turner now, Doc.”

“All those girls will always be
McKinnons to me,” he replied grouchily. 

“You’re not really
mad
at
me, are you?  I just wanted you to have someone for the holidays.  I would have
invited you to join me and Paisley and our family, but I assumed you’d just say
no since you’ve said no to every single person that’s invited you to join them
for Christmas.  I knew you wouldn’t turn away your own family during the
holidays.  Not when it’s obvious how much you enjoy talking to your sister.”

“You thought about inviting me to
join you and Paisley?  At your home?  For Christmas?” he asked, repeating her
earlier statement as though he was unable to believe it.

“Of course,” Millie replied,
nodding quickly.  “I just assumed you wouldn’t say yes.  You’ve said no to
everybody else.  Why would we be any different?”

“Neither you
or
Paisley
qualifies as everybody else, Mills.”

Captivated by the swirling color in
his eyes, Millie swallowed.  “Oh,” she breathed weakly.  “I just thought… I
mean I assumed…”

“Don’t ever assume with me, Mills. 
Just ask.  I’m an honest man; I’ll offer you a truthful answer.  And I very
much would have enjoyed being a part of Christmas with you and Paisley.  Is the
invitation still open?”

Slightly overwhelmed by the
obviously honest declaration, Millicent’s breath caught.  “You’re serious?  I’m
not being punked or something, am I?” she asked, looking around the parking lot
as if expecting to see reality show television cameras appearing from nowhere.

“I don’t know what that even
means.  Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are that I feel this way.  But I
enjoy your company and Paisley is a hoot.  So, yeah, Nugget and I would have
enjoyed being a part of your holiday celebration.  In fact, I think since I’m
being forced into Christmas with my family thanks to a helpful shove from you,
that you should agree to celebrate with us, too.  Maybe Christmas Eve at my
place with your family and Christmas Day morning at yours.  That sounds fair to
me.”

“Are you sure you haven’t fallen
and hit your head?” Millie asked, reaching up to grip his dimpled chin and turn
his face from side to side as she searched for a lump.

Wrapping his hand around her dainty
wrist as her cool fingers pressed against his chin, Mack chuckled.  “I’m in my
right mind.  Trust me, this isn’t a purely altruistic move on my part.  I might
have a slightly ulterior motive.”

“And that is?”

“I love my family, but both my
mother and sister can be nosier than a police detective at a crime scene.  It
never hurts to have a buffer present.  If they start asking me a lot of
personal questions, I can always use you as a human shield.  In fact, I think
it’s your duty to do this for me.  Without your little postcard, none of this
would be happening.”

“Are you blackmailing me, Doc?” she
asked on a laugh, one eyebrow arching.  “Because I’ve got it on good authority
that friends do not blackmail friends.”

“Fine.  What about a favor, huh? 
Friends do favors for each other all the time, don’t they?” Mack volleyed
smoothly, studying her.  “How about you do me this
favor,
Millicent? 
You won’t deny me that, will you?  Especially since you’re the one that got me
into this predicament.”

“No, I suppose not.  I’d be happy
to spend the holidays with you and your family.”

“Same here,” he admitted softly. 
“Now, how do you feel about you and Paisley helping me decorate my place
tomorrow?  It’s Saturday.  We both have the day off unless one of my patients
decides to go into labor, and since nobody is that close to delivery yet, I
think we’re pretty clear there.   My family expects to fly into Paradise and
find my home a completely undecorated mess.  I’d love to knock my sister down a
peg or two and surprise her with a perfectly designed Winter Wonderland. 
Really, this is the least you could do,” he grumbled when Millie didn’t make a
peep.  “Let me remind you once more that this shit is all your fault.”

“Such a sweet talker.”  Millie
sighed dramatically and batted her eyelashes demurely.  “You sure know how to
charm a girl.”

“My ex-wife used to say the same
thing,” he reminisced.

“
You
were
married
? 
For real?  To a woman?”  Millie gaped in stunned disbelief, unable to imagine
this male as a part of a couple.  Sure, she’d had her fantasies about her sexy
boss.  Of course she had!  He was hot.  Lean and muscular in
all
the
right places.  And she’d bet her right pinky toe that he was hung like a
horse.  But that’s where the fantasy ended.  Because in addition to all she
fantasized about, Mackenzie Daniels was also surly, stubborn and an all-around
Gloomy Gus on most all the days that ended in Y.

“For your sake, lady, I’m going to
choose not to be offended here,” Mack returned mockingly as he fought a grin.  “You
don’t need to look quite so astonished; I’m not exactly an ogre, Mills.”

Staring up at him, Millie took
stock of the Doc’s high, chiseled cheekbones, his dimpled chin, his square jaw
and his perfectly sculpted, extremely kissable lips and she had to agree.  “No,
definitely not an ogre,” she whispered, as her tongue darted out to lick her
suddenly dry lips.  “What I meant to say is that I just never imagined anyone
that valued his solitude and privacy as much as you do married to anyone.”

“I do enjoy my solitude and privacy,
but I’m also a guy, Millie.   I
do
like to fuck.”

Millie nearly choked on her
tongue.  “Women, right?”

“Yes, women!  Did you assume I was
asexual?  Or did you think I was gay?  Do I strike you as a latent homosexual,
Millie?” he asked as his steady gaze connected with her nervous one.

“N-no, but if you did swing that
way, you should know that Paradise has this lovely florist that’s been looking
for love in all the wrong places,” she managed to impart through her mostly
frozen lips.

“He’ll have to keep lookin’ then
because I’m straight as an arrow, woman,” Mack growled, his eyes skating
hungrily over her pretty face.

“Doc, why are you tellin’ me this
stuff?” Millie asked, trying desperately to understand where and when this new
and open Mackenzie had emerged.  Would she find the ‘Old Mackenzie’ collapsed
at his desk in the office?  Was she hallucinating?  What exactly had been in
her sandwich from the diner?

“That’s what friends do, right? 
Share and shit like that?” he asked with a careless shrug.

“I reckon,” Millie mumbled.  “But
maybe we should think about getting back to the office.  It’s almost two and
you’ve got a 2:30 with Sandy Bingham.”  Honestly, she was more than a little
nervous standing here with him because suddenly Mack was eyeing her like she
was a steak and he was a very hungry animal.  And crazily enough, she found
herself not minding in the least the idea of being his meal.

Ignoring her reminder of his afternoon
appointment, he kept staring at her.  “So, is that a yes to spending tomorrow
with me?”

“I… uh…. I guess, if that’s really
what you want,” she agreed, her cheeks blushing as she tried to make herself
stop fidgeting like a teenage girl being asked on her first date.

“What about tonight?  Are you busy
tonight?” he asked.

“I don’t think so.  Why?”

“Because, you haven’t seen my
place.  I want to show it to you so that you can get an idea of what we’ll
need.  I’ll even feed you if you’ll agree to help me out,” he offered calmly.

“I…you’re sure about this?” she
asked, not quite able to believe that this man was volunteering to spend time
with her.  Or hell, with anybody really.  Mack was a loner.  Everyone,
including her, knew it.  He’d already knocked her off her axis with the news
that he’d once had a wife.  Now, he was acting like -- dare she even imagine it
– like he was actually interested in her?

“I’m positive.  And maybe tonight
could be an adults-only evening since tomorrow will be kid-friendly,” he suggested
smoothly.

“Uhmmm – okay,” she agreed slowly,
nodding.  “I’m sure my mom and dad won’t mind watching Paisley for a few
hours.”

“Good,” Mack declared with a
satisfied nod as he reached around Millie to open the vehicle’s door for her. 
“Then I’ll pick you up at your place around six.  Is that enough time to get
off work and get Paisley to your parents’ house?”

Millie nodded as she began to climb
into the cab of the truck, her mind reeling as she tried to keep up with their
conversation.  Things were happening so quickly that she felt like she’d
somehow fallen into an alternate universe – one where sexy-as-sin doctors
wanted to spend time with her outside of work.  “Yeah, that’ll be…great,” she
acknowledged, her voice a little shaky.  Offering him a dazed look, she shook
her head. 

“What?” he growled in that surly
voice she knew so well.

“I don’t understand what’s
happening here, Doc,” she said truthfully.  “Have you just asked me out on a
date
?”
she asked, her eyes twinkling with enthusiasm as her heart pounded in her
chest.

Mack’s face flushed and he
shrugged.  “Why is it so important to women to label everything?  We’re gonna
share a meal tonight.  If you wanna call it a date, I can’t stop you,” he
declared before slamming the door on her reply.

“I’ll be damned,” Millie muttered
to herself as she watched him slowly circle the SUV to reach the driver’s
side.  “It’s an honest-to-God Christmas miracle.”

“What the hell was I thinking?”

Pacing the length of his living
room, his footsteps echoing against the wood floors, he shoved a hand through
his hair, making it stand on end.  “Seriously, Nugget?  What the hell was I
thinking?” he asked, turning to look at the massive black dog sprawled across
the hearth in front of the fireplace.

Nugget’s only reply was a
snort….probably one of annoyance if Mack was reading man’s best friend
correctly.  Nugget never liked his naptime interrupted over trivial human
matters.

“You’re right, Nug.  I wasn’t
thinking.  I’m not even sure how it happened.  It was like the neurons in my
brain quit firing and my dick took control of my mouth.  Next thing I know, I’d
asked her out.  For tonight.  Alone.  With no buffers between us,” he rambled,
skirting furniture as he made another lap around the room.    Pausing as he
reached the window, he looked outside into the darkening evening.  “I should
just call and cancel, right?” he asked with a look at his dog.

Nugget yawned.

“Yeah, you’re right.  I can’t do
that to her,” he agreed, as if the dog had actually spoken to him.  “That’d be
an asshole move on my part.  Of course, she might expect that coming from me,”
he reasoned, absently stroking his jaw.  “Hell, if I’d just denied this was a
date when she asked me about it, I’d feel a lot better.  But I didn’t, damn
it.  I was the typical smartass I always am and told her that she should call tonight
whatever she wanted.  Christ, could I have been a bigger douchebag?” he asked,
turning to look at his dog for his opinion.

Evidently his dog’s own ass was more
interesting than he was because Nugget simply went right on licking it.

Dropping his hands on his hips,
Mack looked at the clock hanging above the plasma television.  It was already
half past five.  She was expecting him by six.  Since she only lived ten
minutes away, he had plenty of time.  Dropping into the leather recliner in the
corner – the one where he sat and read at night – he dropped his head back
against the chair.  “Fuck,” he groaned out loud.  He didn’t know whether he
dreaded tonight or was excited by it.  It had been
years
… literal years…
since he’d taken a woman out on a date.  Sure, he’d fucked women more recently
than that, but those were chicks he’d picked up in a bar or at a medical
conference ... women that he’d had a few hours of shameless fun with before
sending them on their merry way.  Each one of them had been carefully selected
and knew the score before their clothes had ever come off.  If any of those
ladies had been interested in more than the number of orgasms he could give them,
he’d sent them off on their way with a wave and a smile.

Because he didn’t do long-term
relationships anymore.  He certainly didn’t fucking date.

Except, now, it appeared he did.

What the hell kind of voodoo magic
had Millicent Robbins worked on him when he wasn’t looking that now had him
contemplating more than a casual fuck with a woman?

Because he knew it could never be
casual with Millie.  And not just because she had a kid, either.

No, Millie was the type of woman
with whom a man put down roots.  That kind of guy bought a house.  That type of
man would get a dog.  That man would help her raise a family.  Holy shit, he’d
already done two out three of those things, he realized with a horrified gasp. 
  

Bolting to his feet, he darted
toward his phone.  He had to call this whole thing off before he found himself
shackled to yet another woman that would end up hating him for his dedication
to his job.  He had to cut Millie loose before she looked at him and accused
him of wasting the best years of her life waiting for him to be ready to
concentrate on them instead of rushing off to take care of his patients.

He’d dialed the first three numbers
of her phone number before he realized….

“Millie isn’t Tiffany,” Mack said
out loud as he stared at the phone in his hand.  Looking toward his
Newfoundland dog, he grinned.  “She’s nothing like Tiffany, is she?”

One sharp yap from Nugget confirmed
what he already knew and he slowly replaced the phone on its base.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, sinking
onto the couch as he stared at his huge long-haired dog.  “Millie couldn’t be
more different from Tiff if she tried.”  First off, Millie wasn’t injected with
as much plastic as a Barbie doll.  Her tits still bounced when she walked,
unlike his ex’s that sat like stone against her chest.  Millie loved babies and
kids.  Hell, she even had one of her own that she loved with a passion that
rivaled any parent’s love he’d ever seen.  Tiff, on the other hand, couldn’t
stand babies.   Sad, since he’d loved children and had wanted them to have at
least a couple of their own. She despised the idea of having to be responsible
for another person.  Although, in hindsight, he supposed it wasn’t really
shocking since she could barely accept responsibility for the things she did. 
Most important of all, though, was the fact that he could never see Millie
being unfaithful to him because she had something his ex-wife had always
lacked.  Something called integrity.  If Millie wasn’t happy with him, she
wouldn’t troll the local bars looking for an easy hook-up to dull the pain. 
Hell, no.  Millicent would march right up to him, rip off his scrotum, and
shake it over her head much like the Native Americans did when they’d taken a
scalp from an enemy.   Oh, Millie would probably give him the opportunity to
make things right with her before she resorted to violence, but if that was
unsuccessful, he had no doubt she’d go the other route. 

His Millie could be a firecracker
when crossed.

Fuck, now he was thinking of her
with highly possessive pronoun usage?  He was well and truly screwed.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep
cleansing breath.  “Okay, Nugget, old boy, we’re gonna walk through this.  I’ll
just do a good, old-fashioned pro and con list for dating Millie.  Pro:  That
woman’s body is a work of
art
.  Seriously, it’s like God took my wish
list for the perfect woman’s body and made it happen with her.  Big tits, small
waist, heart-shaped ass….yeah, she’s got it
all
,” he groaned, shifting
in his seat as he adjusted his tightening jeans. 

Finally comfortable below the belt,
he continued. “Okay, Nugget.  Now for the con.  She works for me.  I see her
all day, five days a week.  What if we got sick of each other, Nugget?  Or more
likely, what if she got sick of me?  If we start something and it doesn’t work
out, will I end up losing the best nurse I’ve ever had?  She certainly can’t
afford to be without a job for long – not with Paisley in the picture.”

Looking at his dog, Mack frowned. 
Could dogs laugh?  Because, honestly, it looked like Nugget was laughing his
canine ass off at Mack’s struggle.

“This isn’t funny, fucker!  Millie
means something to me.  And that one is both a pro and a con.  On the pro side,
at least I know that I’m still capable of caring about a woman.  On the con
side, I’m fucked because I care for this woman.  I don’t want her hurt.  And I
certainly don’t wanna be the jackass that fucks things up and hurts her.  The
scary part is that I’m fuckin’ terrified that I will.”

Shooting back to his feet, Mack
shoved one hand in his jeans pocket and eyed his dog.  Nugget had his head
tilted to the side as if he was asking, “Why?”

“You wanna know why, Nugs?  I’m
scared I’ll fuck it up with her because I’m shit at relationships.  I’ve been
avoiding them for so long, I can hardly remember how to have one.  And Millie
deserves to have a good, healthy relationship with a guy that can go all in.  Do
you think I could be ‘all in’?”

Nugget howled.  He actually pointed
his snout toward the ceiling and
howled
.

Staring at the animal, Mack
growled, “I can’t tell!  Is that a good howl or a bad howl?”

Nugget seemed to glare at him.

“You’re right.  I’m wasting time,
aren’t I?” he asked, lifting his arm and peering at the watch on his wrist. 
“She’s expecting me.”

Crouching, he offered his loyal
companion a good rub on the tummy.  “I want her, boy,” Mack admitted, lifting
one hand to scratch behind Nugget’s ear.  “I want her more than I can remember
wanting anything ever.  She’s sweet and dedicated.  She’s so damn self-reliant,
always so determined to handle everything on her own – even when she
knows
I’d help her.  Stubborn and strong.  She’s raising that little girl on her own,
and she’s doing
such
a good job.  Paisley is smart as a whip and cuter
than any kid has a right to be.  Fuck, I can’t deny… they’ve both weaseled
their way into my heart.  A day ago, I would have sworn it was impossible, but
when she stared up at me in that parking lot like I was some kind of Superhero
for taking the time to look out for her and her kid… that’s when I knew.  I
knew these feelings I’ve been trying to ignore aren’t gonna go away.”

The dog shifted on his side,
lifting his head as if to say, ‘Whatcha gonna do ‘bout it, Silly Human?’

“I guess that means I’m gonna have
to take a chance, huh, boy?” Mack grinned and petted his dog.  “It figures that
I’d end up waiting so long that now I’m gonna have a fuckin’ audience watching
while I attempt to woo Millie.  Jesus, my mom and sis are gonna revel in my
downfall.”

Nugget sighed and laid his head on
Mack’s knee, looking up at him with silent commiseration. 

“Yeah, I know,” Mack murmured,
rubbing the top of Nugget’s head.  “I think she’s definitely gonna be worth it,
too.”  Offering the dog one last pat, Mack stood and reached for his coat
hanging on the coat tree in the corner.  “Wish me luck, Nugget.  If everything
goes well, you just might be meeting your future mistress tonight.”