It Started at Christmas...

by Janice Lynn

  On her front porch when he’d kissed her and completely rewired her circuitry.

  That had to be it because she didn’t fantasize about men or kisses or things way beyond kisses, yet that’s exactly what she’d done more often than she’d like to admit since Friday night.

  “Sorry.” He studied her a little too closely for her liking. “I didn’t realize I’d startle you or I would have made some noise when walking up.”

  She stepped into her office and he followed, stomping his feet with each step.

  She rolled her eyes.

  “So your tests are all negative?”

  She nodded without looking at him because looking at him did funny things to her insides.

  “Thank goodness.” He sounded as relieved as she’d felt. “The mayor’s too?”

  She nodded again.

  “That is great news.”

  She set her laptop down on her desk then faced him. “Was there something you needed?”

  He shook his head. “I was checking to see if you’d heard anything on your labs.”

  She waved the phone she still held. “Perfect timing.”

  He waggled his brows. “We should go celebrate.”

  Not bothering to hide her surprise, she eyed him. “Why?”

  “Because you got great news that deserves celebrating.”

  She needed to look away from those baby blues, needed to not think about his amazing smile that dug dimples into his cheeks, needed to not stare at his magical lips that had put her under some kind of spell.

  “My great news doesn’t involve you,” she reminded him, not doing any of the things she’d just told herself to do.

  “Sure it does. I was there, remember?”

  How could she ever forget? Which was the problem. So much about that night plagued her mind. Lance acting so protective of her as he’d driven her to the hospital and stayed during her blood draw. Lance taking her home. Lance kissing her.

  Lance. Lance. Lance.

  Yeah, he had definitely put her under a spell. Under his kiss.

  Her cheeks heated at the memory and she hoped he couldn’t read her mind. Her gaze met his and, Lord, she’d swear he could, that he knew exactly where her thoughts were.

  Don’t think of that kiss. Don’t think of that kiss. Just don’t think at all.

  “My news doesn’t involve you,” she repeated, reminding herself that she worked with him. She wasn’t like her father who’d drag any willing member of the opposite sex into his office for who knew what? A relationship with Lance would be nothing short of disastrous in the long run.

  Plus, there was how she couldn’t get him out of her head. What kind of stupid would she be if she risked getting further involved with someone who made her react so differently from how she did to every other man she’d met? To do so would be like playing Russian roulette with the bullet being to end up like her mother. She was her own person, nothing like her parents.

  “You’re a stubborn woman, McKenzie.” He sounded as if that amused him more than upset him.

  “You’re a persistent man, Lance,” she drily retorted, trying to look busy so he’d take the hint and leave. She wanted out from under those eagle eyes that seemed to see right through her.

  Instead, he sat on the desk corner and laughed. “Just imagine what we could accomplish if we were on the same team.”

  “We aren’t enemies.” Maybe that was how she should regard him after that treacherous and oh-so-unforgettable kiss.

  His gaze held hers and sparked with something so intense McKenzie struggled to keep her breathing even.

  “But you aren’t willing to be more than my friend.”

  She wasn’t sure if he was making a comment or asking a question. Her gaze fell to her desk and she stared at a durable medical equipment request form she needed to sign for a patient’s portable oxygen tanks. Her insides shook and her vision blurred, making reading the form impossible. They did need to just be friends. And coworkers. Not lovers.

  “I didn’t say that.” McKenzie’s mouth fell open. What had she just said? She hadn’t meant to say anything and certainly not something that implied she’d be willing to share another kiss with him.

  She wouldn’t, would she?

  “You are willing?” He asked what was pounding through her head.

  “I didn’t say that either.” She winced. Poor man. She was probably confusing the heck out of him because she was confusing herself.

  Despite her wishy-washiness, he didn’t seem upset. Actually, he smiled as if he thought she was the greatest thing since sliced bread. “You want to go get frozen yogurt tonight?”

  Totally caught off guard by his specific request, she blinked. “Frozen yogurt? With you?”

  Was he nuts? It was December and thirty or so degrees outside. They were having a serious conversation about their relationship and he’d invited her to go get frozen yogurt? Really? That was his idea of celebrating her good news?

  Why was she suddenly craving the cold dessert?

  “They’re donating twenty percent of their take to the Sherriff’s Toys for Tots fund tonight. We could sit, eat frozen yogurt. You could tell me about your half marathon on Saturday morning. I heard you won your age division.”

  Oh.

  “You wouldn’t say no to helping give kids toys for Christmas, would you?”

  No, she wouldn’t do that. “You should have gone into sales. Did I mention earlier that you were persistent?”

  “Did I mention how stubborn you were?”

  A smile played on her lips, then she admitted the truth. “I’ll be here until late, Lance. You should go without me, but I can swing by and pick up some frozen yogurt on my way home. That way the kids can get their Christmas toys.”

  His grin widened, his dimples digging in deep. “You think I won’t be here until late?”

  “I don’t know what you have going on,” she admitted. She always made a point to not know what Lance was up to. She hadn’t wanted to think about him, hadn’t wanted to let his handsome smile and charm get beneath her skin. So much for that. She could barely think of anything else.

  “We should correct that.”

  No, they shouldn’t.

  “Plus, I plan to go to the hospital to check on a patient.” Edith’s blood count had come back low enough that McKenzie really was concerned about a gastrointestinal bleed. Hopefully, the gastroenterologist would see her soon. Although she could pull up test results and such remotely from her office, she wanted to put eyes on her patient.

  “We could ride to the hospital together, then go get frozen yogurt afterward.”

  They could, but should they?

  “It might cause people to ask questions if we were seen at the hospital together so close on the tails of Saturday night.”

  “You think my kissing your hand in the lab hasn’t caused a few tongues to wag?”

  His kissing her hand had caused her tongue to wag when she’d returned his kiss on her front porch.

  A sweet kiss that hadn’t lasted nearly long enough.

  A passionate kiss that had made her want to wind her arms around him, pull him as close to her as she possibly could and kiss him until she’d had her fill.

  “We’re already the top story around the hospital. George has told everyone how I saved your life with mouth-to-mouth when you passed out.”

  Heat flushed her face. “You did not do mouth-to-mouth on me in the lab.”

  He arched a brow. “You sure? You are still alive.”

  Very alive. Intensely alive. Feeling more alive by the second beneath his gaze.

  “You owe me.” His eyes locked with hers. “Say yes.”

  Needing to break the contact, she rolled her eyes. “I don’t owe you.”

&n
bsp; He let out an exaggerated sigh. “You’re right. I’m the one who owes you. Let me make it up to you by taking you out for frozen yogurt.”

  Her brows made a V. “What do you owe me for?”

  “That kiss.”

  Her cheeks flushed hot and she stared at the durable medical equipment form again, still not able to focus on it. “You don’t owe me.”

  “Sure I do.”

  “Why?” She refused to glance up at him.

  “Because it was an amazing kiss.”

  It had been an amazing kiss.

  “If you said yes to going with me for frozen yogurt, I could repay you.”

  “With another kiss?”

  “Well, I had frozen yogurt in mind, but I like how you think a lot better.”

  When she didn’t immediately answer, he sat down on the edge of her desk and grinned down at her. “But I’m a compromising kind of guy. If you ask nicely, we could do both frozen yogurt and mouth-to-mouth.”

  McKenzie bit her lower lip. She wanted to say yes.

  Way more than she should.

  It was only frozen yogurt.

  And his lips against hers.

  Not giving her breath but stealing hers away.

  “You think threatening me with more mouth-to-mouth is going to convince me to say yes?” She made the mistake of looking directly at him.

  He stared into her eyes for long moments, that intensity back, then he nodded. “I know it is.”

  Her eyes widened at his confidence.

  “You want me as much as I want you, McKenzie. I’m not sure why you feel you need to say no or not date me, but I’m one hundred percent positive that it’s not because you don’t want to be with me or that you didn’t enjoy that kiss as much as I did.”

  “That’s cocky of you.”

  “Honesty isn’t cockiness.”

  “Why should I want to be with you?”

  He frowned. “We get along well at the clinic and hospital. You make me smile and I make you smile. We have a lot in common, including that neither of us is looking for a long-term relationship,” he pointed out. “I’m basically a nice guy.”

  “Who I work with,” she reminded.

  “That’s really your hang-up? That we work together?”

  Sinking her teeth into her lower lip again, McKenzie nodded. It was, wasn’t it? It wasn’t because he scared her emotionally, that the way she reacted to him emotionally scared her silly, that she was afraid she’d get too attached to him and end up reminding herself of her man-needing mother?

  Was fear what was really holding her back?

  His gaze bored into her. “If we didn’t work together, you’d go out with me? Admit that there was something between us?”

  “We do work together so it’s a moot point,” she said, as much to herself as to him, because she wasn’t chicken. She wasn’t afraid to become involved with Lance. If she were, that would mean admitting she really was like her mother.

  She wasn’t.

  “But if we didn’t work together, you’d go have frozen yogurt with me tonight?”

  She closed her eyes then nodded. Lord help her, she would. Probably take some more of that mouth-to-mouth, too. She squeezed her eyes tighter to try to block out the image.

  See, she wasn’t afraid of Lance. Her reservations were because of their jobs. She heard Lance stir, wondered if he was moving toward her, if he was going to go for more mouth-to-mouth, and, when she opened her eyes, was surprised to see that he was leaving her office.

  Seriously, she’d essentially just admitted that she wanted to date him, to share kisses with him, and he was leaving? Not cool.

  “Where are you going?” she asked, instantly wishing she could take her question back as she didn’t want him to know it bothered her he’d been leaving. Why had he been leaving?

  “To leave you alone. We’re both adults, neither of whom wants a long-term relationship. When we’d both be going in with no long-term expectations and there’s no company policy against dating, that you’d use that as your reason doesn’t make sense unless the truth is that I’ve misread the signs that you return my attraction or you’re scared. Either way doesn’t work for me. Sorry I’ve bothered you, McKenzie.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  MCKENZIE BOLTED OUT of her office chair and took off after Lance. She grabbed hold of his white lab coat and pulled him back into her office.

  He couldn’t just leave like that.

  She pushed her office door closed and leaned against it, blocking his access to leave until she was ready to let him go.

  “Does that mean we aren’t going to be friends anymore?” Did she sound as ridiculous as she felt? He’d asked her out. She’d turned him down. Repeatedly. He’d told her he’d leave her alone. She’d stopped him. What did that say about her?

  Dear Lord, she was an emotional mess where this man was concerned. She should have let him go. Why hadn’t she?

  “You want to just be my friend?” His blue eyes glittered with steeliness. “I’m sorry, McKenzie, but I want more than that. After our kiss, it’s going to take time before I can rewire my brain to think of you as just a friend. We can’t be ‘just friends.’ At least, I can’t think of you that way.”

  “Stop this,” she ordered, lifting her chin in defiance at him and the plethora of emotions assailing her. “All this because I won’t go get frozen yogurt with you? This is ridiculous.”

  “Not just frozen yogurt, McKenzie, and you know it. I want to date you. As in you and me acknowledging and embracing the attraction between us. As in multiple episodes of mouth-to-mouth and wherever that takes us. I’ve been honest with you that although I’m not interested in something long term, I’m attracted to you. Isn’t it time you’re honest with yourself and me? Because to say our working in the same building is why you won’t date me is what I find ridiculous.”

  “But...” She trailed off, not sure what to say. Way beyond her excuse of not wanting to date a coworker, McKenzie was forced to face some truths.

  She liked Lance.

  She liked seeing glimpses of him every day, seeing his smile, hearing his voice, his laughter, even when it was from a distance and had nothing to do with her. She liked catching sight of him from time to time and seeing his expression brighten when he caught sight of her. She liked the way his eyes ate her up, the way his lips curved upward. She didn’t want him to avoid her or not be happy when he saw her. She didn’t want to stop grabbing a meal with him at the hospital or hanging out with him at group functions. She enjoyed his quick wit, his easy smile, the way he made her feel inside, even if she’d never admitted that to herself. If he shut her out of his life, she’d miss him. She’d miss everything about him.

  “You can date other women,” she pointed out, wondering at how her own heart was throbbing at the very idea of seeing him with other women. Not that she hadn’t in the past. But in the past she’d never kissed him. Now she had and couldn’t stand the thought of his lips touching anyone else’s. “You can date some other woman,” she continued in spite of her green-flowing blood. “Then we could still be friends.”

  He shook his head. “You’re wrong.”

  “How am I wrong?”

  He bent his head and touched his lips to hers.

  McKenzie’s heart pounded so hard in her chest she was surprised her teeth weren’t rattling. But her thoughts from moments before had her kissing him back with a possessiveness she had no right to feel.

  She slid her hands up his chest and twined her arms around his neck, threading her fingers into his dark hair. She kissed him until her knees felt so weak she might sag to the floor in an ooey-gooey puddle. Then she kissed him some more because she wanted him to sag to the floor in an ooey-gooey puddle with her.

  The thought that he migh
t cut her out of his life completely gave desperation to how she clung to him.

  Desperate. Yep, that was her.

  When he pulled slightly away he rested his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. “That’s some mouth-to-mouth, McKenzie.”

  She shook her head. “Mouth-to-mouth restores one’s breath. That totally just stole mine.”

  Why was she admitting how much he affected her?

  He cupped her face in a caress. “I can’t pretend that doesn’t exist between us. I don’t even want to try. I want you, McKenzie. I want to kiss you. Your mouth, your neck, your breasts, all of you. That’s not how I think of my ‘friends.’”

  Fighting back visions of him kissing her all over, she sighed. “You don’t play fair.”

  His fingers stroking across her cheek, he arched his brow. “You think not? I’m being honest. What’s unfair about that?”

  She let out an exasperated sigh, which had him touching his lips to hers in a soft caress.

  Which had her insides doing all kinds of crazy somersaults and happy dances. Okay, so maybe she’d wanted to say yes all along, but that didn’t mean everything about him wasn’t a very bad idea. Just as long as she kept things simple and neither of them fell under false illusions or expectations, she’d be fine.

  When he lifted his head, she looked directly into his gaze.

  “I will go to the hospital with you and get frozen yogurt afterward with you, but on one condition.”

  “Name it.”

  She should ask for the moon or something just as elaborately impossible. Then again, knowing him, he’d find a way to pluck it right out of the sky and deliver on time.

  “No more mouth-to-mouth at work,” she told him, because the knowledge that she’d dropped to her father’s level with making out at work and to her mother’s level of desperation already cut deep.

  He whistled softly. “Not that I don’t see your point, McKenzie, but that might be easier said than done.”

  She stepped back, which put her flat against the door. With her chin slightly tilted upward, she crossed her arms. “That’s my condition.”