A Christmas Miracle for the Doctor

by Victoria James

  She stared at him, not knowing what to feel or what to say. The one man who was so out of her league, who was everything she’d ever wanted in a partner, was telling her that he was off the market. But the part she couldn’t get out of her head was that…he wanted her. How could this be happening to her? She’d been waiting her whole life for someone like him to come along. She forced a smile on her face, trying to understand where he was coming from. “I…feel the same way about you. I respect that you’re putting Bella first and that you don’t want to enter another relationship. I get that, Drew,” she said, gathering her things quickly, the urge to be alone driving her to move quickly. His hand caught hers, holding her still, and she looked up at him, willing herself not to give everything away.

  “Addie, what I’d give for one night with you, but that’s not what you deserve, and I know that won’t be enough for either of us.”

  She was going to die. Seriously, die in the Chocolatiers because the most wonderful, hottest man she’d ever met just said in a deep, thick, sultry voice that he wanted to spend the night with her…and that it wouldn’t be enough. She knew her face was all sorts of red that she couldn’t even control. “I, um, I need to get going.”

  She all but ran out of the bakery, the cold air hitting her face like a soothing balm. She forced herself to slow down or risk the humiliation of falling on the snow- and ice-covered sidewalks. She made her way to her store, very aware that she’d run away like a child, but knowing she needed to get the heck away from him. To make him make an exception to his no dating plan? She wasn’t just any woman; she adored his little girl. She…what was she thinking? She leaned her head on the back of the wall behind her store. She couldn’t sabotage his plans and intrude on his family life. She didn’t know the first thing about being a mother, and it was selfish of her to even go there. No, it was hands off with Drew. There would be other men.

  Right?

  Chapter Ten

  She could have shopped for her dress right in town. There were actually a few cute shops that carried formal wear, but that would involve hearing an analysis of how things looked, what would look great on her, and who was her date. Her sisters would have insisted on coming with her, and if she didn’t invite them, they would have been hurt. She also wouldn’t have been able to get a good deal like shopping online allowed.

  She gingerly pulled out the three different dresses she’d ordered and had left sitting in the box all week. She should have tried them on sooner, like, not the night of the party. It was a remnant of her past maybe, always trying on clothes that never seemed to fit right, suddenly not feeling good enough when standing in front of the mirror. Drew was a man she never would have thought would have been interested in her, but he’d made it very clear he was very interested.

  She pulled out the first dress—this was her safety choice. Black, just below the knee, three-quarter sleeves, with a modest square neckline. Dress number two was slightly riskier; it was black again, because that was always her go-to choice when she was feeling insecure, but this one had a lower V neckline and then came in at the waist with an adorable A-line skirt. The third choice was something she never thought she’d ever wear, but bold Addie who had just finished her second glass of wine had one-clicked it. It was a deep red, figure-hugging dress that would be sure to grab attention, which was something she avoided at all costs. She sighed and looked in the mirror, pleased that her beachy waves had turned out perfectly and her makeup looked sophisticated but not overdone. Now it was just the dress.

  She jumped at the loud knocking on her apartment door. She inhaled sharply and pulled her robe closed as she raced to the door. Drew wouldn’t be an hour early, would he? She looked through the peephole and opened the door.

  Melody was standing there, looking stunning in a red, floor-length gown that skimmed her slim body beautifully. “Move aside, dear sister. I’m about to make sure you don’t put on some mousy dress and try to disappear into the corner at Mom’s.”

  Addie groaned as Melody barreled through her apartment, her heels clacking against the floor, and walked straight into her bedroom. She followed her, feeling dread and hope at the same time. Melody was pretty much tell-it-like-it-is, but with a heart of gold to soften the blow of whatever truth she was going to tell. She stood in the doorway as Mel picked up each dress. She held up the safe choice and made a face. “Seriously? You own like five of these types of dresses. They are great for funerals, job interviews, and brunch with Mom. Other than that, you need to retire them from your wardrobe.”

  Addie rolled her eyes but secretly agreed with that assessment. “Next?”

  She held up the A-line black dress and narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. “Acceptable, but only if you’re not wearing a sports bar with it trying to hide your assets. This dress needs a little cleavage.”

  Addie shook her head. She didn’t have little cleavage. She had lots of cleavage. “I have a cute black sports bra.”

  “I can see I arrived just in time. What’s this…” She dropped the other dress for the red one and held it up triumphantly, as though she’d been the one to buy it. “This. You are wearing this.”

  “No,” Addie said, jutting out her chin. Just seeing Mel holding it made her realize it wasn’t for her. She was not going to wear a red dress when Mel was wearing a red dress. “I’ll wear the other one. That was purchased after drinking too much wine, and I regret it. I’m not wearing it. I won’t feel comfortable.”

  “You’re not eighty. You’re going on a date with a hot doctor that everyone at that hospital wants. Comfort is not the name of the game. In fact, the more uncomfortable you are, the better you’ll look.”

  Addie laughed nervously.

  Melody was straight-faced. “Consider me your fairy godmother. Go try both these dresses on, and I’ll tell it like it is. But put on a damn bra with underwire and shoes that have at least a two-inch heel, though three inches are preferable.”

  Addie rolled her eyes and snatched up the dresses, her only push-up bra, and strappy black patent three-inch heels, and made her way to the washroom. “Are you seriously leaving the room to change?” Melody called out as she left.

  “You’re too intense!” Addie yelled out. The truth was that she didn’t feel comfortable in front of Melody, and it brought up too many bad memories of growing up. Her sisters had always defended her and had never made fun of her or made her feel uncomfortable. But there were dozens upon dozens of times their mother would poke her head in their room while they were changing and point out all of Addie’s inadequacies. She dressed quickly, pushing those memories out of her head. She wasn’t that girl anymore. She didn’t look in the mirror until she slipped on the shoes and then took a deep breath and looked at herself in the red dress.

  “Do not take off any of those dresses before I see. I repeat…”

  “I heard you,” she snapped, irritated because that’s exactly what she’d intended on doing. There was no way she was wearing this dress to the party. It was too…loud, too eye-catching.

  “I know you, Addie. I’m coming in.”

  Addie rolled her eyes as Melody opened the door. She tried not to look vulnerable as her sister’s jaw dropped. “You have got to wear that. You have to.”

  “I’m not. Leave, I’m trying on the next one.”

  “Stop being a baby. You are going out with Drew.”

  She threw her hands up in the air. “So what? I’m not going to change who I am. Drew and I are friends. I’m helping him out with his daughter. He doesn’t want marriage again, or a relationship even. So I might as well be comfortable in my own skin than try and be something I’m not. I will never look like his ex-wife. I will never be that girl, so I’m not going to make a fool of myself trying.”

  Mel crossed her arms. “You don’t have to look like his ex. Look like you. I’m not telling you to be something you’re not or that you have to dress a certain way to attract a guy, but on the flip side, you shouldn’t keep hiding. Maybe you wa
nt to wear that dress but you’re too shy and insecure. Be bold, Addie.”

  “Easy for you to say,” she said, glaring at Melody. She shouldn’t have to spell this out for her. She was closer to her in age than Molly, and she knew how she was tormented in high school, and she knew about the most humiliating day of her life; she knew about their mother’s constant criticism.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Oh, come on. You will never get what it’s like to be me. You know what high school was like. You know what it was like at home.”

  “That was a long time ago. You have to move on. You’re an adult now, and you’re hiding from life.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? I have moved on. In my day-to-day life, I’m fine. Certain…situations make all those old issues come out, and I can’t help it. Never mind. It’s my problem, not yours.”

  Melody winced, and she turned away from the sympathy in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I just…I want the best for you, Addie, and it makes me sad to think you still have issues. I wish you saw what the rest of the world sees when they look at you. You are a beautiful woman on the inside and out.”

  Addie took off her shoes. “I love you, Mel, but I can’t wear this. It’s stupid, and I feel like an idiot for even talking about it. It’s this inferiority complex I have when I think of Drew’s ex. Oh, and then I ran into Damien from high school, and I found myself back in high school again. I mean, it’s been what, nine years since I’ve seen any of those jerks, but it brought me right back,” she said, her voice cracking.

  Melody walked forward and hugged her. “I’m sorry. You’re right, I don’t know what it’s like to be bullied for four years. I just want the best for you, and I think Drew is a great guy, like the best I’ve met in a long time other than Ben.”

  Addie sniffled and pulled back, eyeing her sister when she heard something in her voice as she mentioned Drew again. “Hey, you don’t…have feelings for him, do you?”

  Something flashed across Melody’s eyes. “What? Of course not. We see each other a lot, and guys like him are hard to find. He’s one of the good ones. Don’t blow it because some losers in high school and Mom made you feel like you’re not good enough. You’re the best, Addie.”

  Addie fanned her fingers in front of her eyes when Melody’s filled with tears, too. “Stop it. I actually bought new makeup for this. I can’t ruin it before I even go out tonight.”

  “Okay, try the other dress and then let me see,” Melody said, leaving the room. Addie thought about what Melody said about Drew as she dressed, wondering, hoping, her sister was telling the truth about not having feels toward Drew. But she knew Mel had no problems going after what she wanted or honesty, and she’d hope that she was being truthful.

  She stepped into the black A-line dress and zipped it up, the fabric smooth and fitting snugly against her body. She turned to look at herself in the mirror after her shoes were on and fought the urge to cover up and just run for the safe dress. While this wasn’t like the look-at-me-red, it was more…skin than she was used to, and she was used to material that flowed rather than clung.

  “Are you finished? I don’t want to be here when Drew shows up. It’ll seem to high school.”

  True. She whipped open the door, and Mel gasped. “That’s gorgeous. I know I said the red dress was the winner, but you looked like you were going to die in it. This seems more…you. Elegant and beautiful.”

  She knew Melody was trying to be nice and conciliatory. “You think I’m a wimp for not wearing the red.”

  Melody shrugged but smiled. “You look amazing in both. But you have to feel amazing. You have to feel comfortable. This dress is gorgeous. I know it’s hard for you to take compliments, and I know you…still doubt things, but you were always gorgeous, Addie. Always. It didn’t matter that you were heavier then. You’re a knockout. Just look at yourself. You’ll see what Drew sees, what the rest of us see.”

  Mel blew her a kiss and left. Addie stood looking at her reflection, hearing the door shut a minute later. She took a deep breath and walked out of the washroom and screamed as she bumped into something—someone solid. Strong hands reached out to grasp her bare arms. “Sorry, Addie. Melody said to walk in.”

  She took a step back to look up into Drew’s handsome face. She swallowed hard because the man looked as though he graced the cover of any men’s magazines. He was…devastatingly gorgeous in his black suit and crisp white shirt with dark red tie. He was clean-shaven, and he smelled so good she fought the urge to lean in closer and bury her face in the crook of his neck. Except when she made eye contact with him again, he wasn’t looking all that…happy. He was barely even looking at her. Certainly not looking like a man who was remotely interested in her, who had said she was sweet and sexy.

  “Everything okay?” she asked, hoping that maybe he’d say sorry, that he was preoccupied with work. But he said nothing of the sort.

  He cleared his throat. “Of course. Are you ready to go?”

  “Um, yes. My coat is at the door.” She was not going to be hurt that he hadn’t even mentioned a cursory “you look good” or something like that.

  He helped her into her coat and held open the door for her. They walked out in silence to where his car was parked, and she sank into the passenger seat, trying to fight tears. She would not let her mind go to the fact that he’d seen and spoken with Melody, who’d looked stunning in her red dress. Nope, not going there.

  …

  Drew had never felt more like an ass than he did tonight. The moment Addie had walked into him at her apartment was the moment he knew he was doomed. She looked stunning. Beyond stunning. She looked like the Addie he was used to seeing, but tonight she was wearing a dress that seemed to accentuate every full curve and hollow of her body that his hands were itching to go over. So he kept his hands in his pockets at this stupid party because he was afraid that if he made contact with her, there would be no going back. What did that say about him? He could keep promises. He was a man of his word. But he wanted to break the promise he’d made to himself…not to get involved with another woman.

  He stood there, listening to Luke Thomson and Melody drone on about some problem with the administration at the hospital, but his gaze was on Addie across the room. It was hard to keep track of her because her mother’s house was sprawling and filled with people and an obscene amount of Christmas trees and over-the-top, creepy, life-sized toy soldiers. He wanted to leave. With Addie.

  “Are you okay?” Melody asked.

  He looked over at her and forced a more jovial type of expression on his face. Judging by Luke’s choked laugh, he wasn’t doing a great job. “Uh, yeah. Fine. Just tired.”

  “Doesn’t Addie look gorgeous tonight?” Melody said.

  Oh, crap. He was being such an ass even Addie’s sister was noticing his behavior wasn’t appropriate. Addie was his date, and he was hanging out at the opposite end of the room. It was like junior high. He cleared his throat. “She does.”

  Melody’s eyes narrowed. “Oh no, she’s talking to our mother.”

  “Is that bad?” Luke asked.

  “Always bad,” she whispered before downing the rest of her champagne.

  He looked over at Luke, who was scrolling through pictures on his phone and smiling. Right. The baby. He should ask him about his kid. That would at least keep him talking for a while, and he could just smile and pretend to listen. “How’s the baby?”

  Just as he thought. Luke looked up from his phone and lit up like one of the Christmas trees in the room. Except he didn’t just talk—he stood beside him and made him scroll through pictures on his phone, with a description for each picture. As he was doing this, his irritation gave way to guilt and self-loathing because he’d never done that with Isabella. He had never been that irritatingly happy, doting father. Luke was on picture, like, one hundred, and he didn’t even know how many pictures he had of his little girl. He wanted to take out his phone and show him that his little girl wa
s the best, too. She had a smile that was so contagious, even the most hardened soul would fall in love with her. She had a heart that was so generous that she made him want to be a better father. She was so smart that she could read from books that were far more advanced than her grade level. She was so brave…that she’d stolen his Rx pad and prescribed fart remedies to bullies…because she wasn’t confident enough in his abilities as a father and protector to come to him.

  He downed the rest of his red wine. Well, hadn’t this turned out to be one of the worst nights of his life? He looked up from Luke’s phone to Addie, who was still across the room, though she was now drinking from two glasses of champagne. God, what an idiot he was.

  “Is Isabella excited about ChristmasFest?” Melody asked.

  He nodded, forcing himself to engage in even more small talk. “She is. Well, it’s thanks to Addie. She really saved the day. Apparently, they do some mother-daughter skate, and Bella was heartbroken because her mother can’t be here…” His voice trailed off, and he frowned when he saw Melody’s face go white and her mouth drop open.

  “Addie’s going to skate with her?” she whispered.