by Nella Tyler
I laughed. “There is that, too,” I agreed. “So I guess we’ll be keeping all our sex indoors for now.”
“If we’re still dating in the summer, I wouldn’t mind finding a place to try it out,” she said, blushing a bright pink-red.
“Oooh, we haven’t really had the conversation about sex, have we?” I wrapped my arm around Mackenzie’s waist and pulled her closer to me.
“We haven’t, that’s a good point,” she said. “What do you like?” I chuckled.
“Well, I mean… I’m probably kind of boring,” I told her. “I like things…kind of straightforward.” It had been years since I’d done any sexual experimenting—and at that, Joanne had always been interested in pretty straightforward things. For a second I worried that maybe Mackenzie wanted something a little more exciting. “I’m not against trying things, though,” I added.
“Me either,” Mackenzie said. “It’s just…it’s been a while since I’ve been with anyone at all, and even before that—when I was dating—I never really had much chance to…explore.” She blushed an even deeper red as we made our way through the park slowly. “But I wouldn’t mind trying like…sex in the outdoors, as long as it wasn’t somewhere people would definitely see us. Or something like that.”
“Maybe sex in the shower?” I remembered the bathroom in Mackenzie’s apartment; it would be just big enough in the shower stall to hold her up against the wall, to get in a little fun. The bathtub at my place was bigger. Looking at Mackenzie, I thought that we could probably both fit in the tub pretty easily. “I have a really nice, big bath at my place. That could be fun.”
“Sort of like hot tub sex?” Mackenzie grinned up at me. “You’re right, that does sound nice.” She licked her lips and took a sip of her coffee. “Have—have you ever used like…whipped cream in bed?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Once or twice,” I said, looking away. With Joanne. “It tends to get pretty messy.”
“So whipped cream in certain places, and then maybe sex in the shower afterward?”
I laughed. “That’s as good a plan as I could think of,” I said. I tightened my grip on her. Just thinking about getting her alone—about the different ways we could have sex together—was enough to make me warm in a way that all the jackets and sweaters I was wearing couldn’t do on their own. I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Start thinking about the different things you want to try,” I suggested. “If we can make it back out of the park, maybe we can start working on them.”
We started talking about other things—like books and movies and music again—while I tried to cool down a bit. The conversation drifted back onto the subject of Landon, and I remembered that before I’d left the house to take him to his grandparents’ house, he’d asked me if I thought that Mackenzie might want to spend Christmas with us. It was something that had come absolutely out of the blue, and I’d pushed it out of my mind as soon as I’d told him I would think about inviting her. Things are going really well. What’s the worst that could happen? Four and a half good dates, that’s enough to justify asking someone to come over for the holiday, isn’t it?
“Hey—I just remembered, when I was talking to Landon earlier, getting ready to drop him off and come get you, he suggested that maybe you could spend Christmas with us. He’s really into it this year; he’s even been making presents for all his friends in the school.”
“I think he told me about that the other day,” she said, looking up thoughtfully. “Isn’t it a picture or something that he’s doing?”
“Yep,” I confirmed. “He’s making each one of his friends a painting that is all about them. Jessica is getting a picture of cookies, Alex is apparently going to get a painting of dinosaurs.” I shook my head, remembering the sight of all the different pictures my son had been working on with a combination of paints, colored pencils, and markers. “His grandparents are helping him pick out actual presents for members of the family, with money I set aside for him to do his shopping.”
“At least you’ll be surprised with whatever he gets you,” Mackenzie pointed out with a little grin.
“I will be! That’s right!” I realized she hadn’t exactly answered my question—or given me a response to my invitation. “So do you think maybe you’d like to spend Christmas Eve, or Christmas day, with me and Landon? I know it’s kind of a big day and we’ve only gone on four dates, but it could be a lot of fun.” Mackenzie’s face twisted into a grimace.
“I wish I could,” she said, frowning. “My family makes a huge deal about the holidays; they party it up from Christmas Eve right up until the morning of New Year’s Day. It’s a really important thing for us to get together.” Mackenzie laughed with a little bit of guilt and bitterness in her voice. “Last year I had to spend a few days away from the festivities; I was on the on-call and voluntary overtime lists.”
“Ah,” I said, nodding.
“So they’re putting a lot of pressure on me to be there the whole time.”
“I totally understand,” I said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. “Family can be persistent.”
“My parents? Totally.” I chuckled again.
“Do they know you’re seeing someone?” Mackenzie looked away and I saw her face light up with a blush.
“Not—not exactly,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to tell them anything until I was sure that this was going to last, that it would be serious. They pester me a lot about settling down with someone, you know?”
“I can picture that,” I said. “So you’re going to tell them when you get there, right? I’d hate to think you’re putting up with them bothering you for a week where I can’t even help.”
“Well, if things get too bad, you can count on me to text you and ask for sanctuary,” Mack told me. We were getting closer to the entrance to the park.
“Or if you change your mind for whatever reason,” I said with a shrug. I felt a little disappointed, but I could understand family obligations. Landon and I both had an obligation to different parts of my family and Joanne’s; I couldn’t exactly assume that Mack didn’t have anything at all going on just because she didn’t have a kid and wasn’t married.
But part of me wondered if she really did want to spend the holiday with her family—who she had told me once or twice in the few dates we’d been on had pressured her to date around for years—or if instead she was using it as an excuse because she thought that a holiday together was too intense, or because she was iffy about seeing me. I walked Mackenzie to my car, holding her hand; I’d set Landon up with family members so that I could hopefully enjoy the thrill of having sex with Mackenzie again, but I had a lot of food for thought now that Mack had given me an excuse for not coming over for the holidays. I told myself that she was just busy—a lot of people were—and that I just had to be patient. But thinking about what Landon wanted from me, and what I wanted for myself, it seemed to me that Mackenzie might just not be all that interested in spending a holiday with an almost stranger. I couldn’t blame her.
I took her straight to her apartment, instead of driving her back to my place; it didn’t seem like the right opportunity. I gave Mackenzie a long, hungry kiss, and then we were parting ways, Mack going into the building and me watching to make sure no one mugged her. By the time I was alone again, I was mostly happy—but also a little bit worried. We’d have to talk soon.
PART 3
Chapter One - Mackenzie
“Got any Christmas plans, Mack?” I looked up from the file in front of me on the computer; Charlotte, one of the other therapists, had stopped at my desk on her way to the therapy area.
“Just going to be with my family, I think,” I said with a shrug. I couldn’t tell her the little hope that I harbored, even if most of the people in the office were now aware of the fact that I was dating Patrick.
“You’re not going to hang with that tasty guy and his son?” Charlotte clucked her tongue against her teeth, shaking her head. “No bette
r way to spend the holidays than an early wake-up by a kid, followed by an afternoon of making love while the tyke plays with the new toys.” I laughed.
“I’ll get the early wake-up either way,” I told her. “I’ve got nieces and nephews.”
“Not the same,” Charlotte said, shaking her head. “Not the same at all. But do what you will with your life, girl.” She went on her way, back to the therapy area to clean up after her previous patient’s session.
I went back to working on my files, waiting for my next patient to arrive. I had reordered my schedule a little bit; I’d come in about thirty minutes early, before the clinic opened, so that I’d be able to leave thirty minutes early at the end of the day. Patrick had hinted that our date was going to be somewhere relatively fancy that night, and I wanted the extra time to prepare.
There was only a week and a half before Christmas, and I’d gotten about half of my shopping done; I was still going back and forth in my mind on the topic of whether I should get Patrick something. Sometimes I thought that a little token gift wouldn’t be a bad idea—something to show that we were dating, that I had faith in the relationship, but not something huge and expensive. But then I always stopped short of actually thinking of anything in particular, because I thought that we’d only been dating a couple of weeks—not even a full month. If I bought him a gift, he might think I was taking things more seriously than he was comfortable with. This is the real reason you shouldn’t date patients’ parents, Mack: you don’t have the milestone of meeting their kid to show you how serious things are.
I had started debating it in my head again, going back and forth on the issue of whether a small gift would really be all that much of an indication that I thought things were serious, when I heard the buzz of my phone vibrating in my desk drawer. I opened the drawer and took my phone out; flashing on the screen was Patrick’s name and number. “Hey!” I said, keeping my voice as quiet as I could in spite of the excitement that welled up at me just at the thought of him calling. “I was just thinking about you.”
“My timing is excellent,” Patrick told me, his voice dry. “I really hate to do this, Mack, but I have to cancel tonight.” I frowned.
“Is something wrong with Landon? I can come over and check him out if you want,” I suggested. “I mean—I don’t have to go out somewhere.”
“I wish I could have you over, but I’m not even going to be home,” Patrick said. “I got pulled into this stupid business dinner thing. I’m on my way to pick up Landon and drop him off at the babysitter’s place.”
“That sucks,” I said, feeling my stomach give a lurch inside of me. I swallowed against the tightness that began to form in my throat and blinked a few times to get rid of the tears that started to form in my eyes. It must be close to that time of the month—I’ve never gotten this emotional over a guy canceling on me before. “I wish you could get out of it, but I’m not going to give you a hard time,” I said, keeping my voice level by sheer force of will.
“If I’d had a little more notice I would have had time to ask if you wanted to come with me,” Patrick said, sounding regretful. I smiled weakly, trying to imagine what use I could possibly be to Patrick at a business dinner.
“I’d probably just sit there and try to look pretty,” I told him. “I don’t know if I’d give you any boost in conversation.”
“Sitting there and looking beautiful would be enough on its own,” Patrick said, and I could hear the warmth in his voice. He sighed. “I really hate canceling on you so last minute. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.” I shrugged, glancing around to make sure no one in the office was obviously eavesdropping on me.
“I can’t really talk for long,” I told Patrick. “If the office manager comes through and sees me on my phone she’ll give me hell.”
“I figured as much,” Patrick said. “I just didn’t want to leave you hanging or put it off until after you’d left for the day.” He sighed again. “I wish I was seeing you tonight, Mack. I’m sorry I can’t follow through with our plans.”
“It’s okay,” I said, making my voice lighter than I felt. “These things happen. I’m sure you didn’t expect to get pulled into something tonight. We’ll see each other in a couple of days at Landon’s next appointment.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Patrick told me. “If it wouldn’t be totally unprofessional I’d bring you the biggest bouquet of flowers the florist shop has.” I laughed in spite of myself, picturing Patrick in my mind trying to carry a huge bouquet into the office while Landon ran circles around him.
“Bring the flowers to our next date,” I suggested.
“I’ll do it! And I’ll come up with something even better than my plans for tonight to give you double the date.” I smiled in spite of how disappointed I felt and said goodbye to Patrick, hanging up before I either got caught or stopped being able to cover up how upset I was that I’d come to work early only to end up with no plans at the end of the day. I put my phone back into the drawer and closed it, trying to think of things that I could do when I got out of work thirty minutes early. There’s always the Christmas shopping, I told myself, though it didn’t seem all that great a way to spend my evening.
“You staring off into space again?” I looked up to see Amie carefully hobbling down the short hallway that led between the waiting room and the therapy area.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I stood up quickly, looking Amie up and down. “You’re still injured. You should be resting.”
“You know as well as I do that getting up and moving around within reason is the best thing someone can do during recovery,” Amie told me. She took the chair next to my desk and sat down in it, crossing her arms—one of which was in a cast—across her chest. “Besides, someone’s got to keep an eye on the likes of you.” I rolled my eyes.
“Right, because you’ve done a great job of that in the past,” I said, sitting back in my chair.
“I knew that you were going to date Landon’s dear old dad before you even did,” Amie said, sticking her tongue out at me. “I’d say that’s a decent track record.”
“Not true,” I said, grinning. “I had already gone out on a date with Patrick when you suggested I should go out with him.”
“You sneaky thing!” Amie looked at me in shock for a long moment. She shook her head, laughing. “So how many dates have you been on with him?” I shrugged.
“I’ve been on a few,” I said. I felt my cheeks warming up with a blush. “I mean—it’s not really serious or anything, we just go to dinner or go out and do something.”
“What’s been the best date so far?” I grinned, unable to help myself.
“We went ice-skating together,” I said. “I got to pick the restaurant we went to beforehand, so I took him to that Indian place around the corner from here, and then we just went to the park and went skating.”
“You are a cheap date, Mackie,” Amie said, shaking her head in pretend disapproval. “It’s not like he’s broke! Have you even been paying attention to his clothes? His kid’s clothes? He’s sending that boy to one of the most expensive private schools in Chicago, and rolling in here in designer suits.”
“I’m not going to try and make him spend a ton of money on me,” I said sharply, scowling at Amie. “I just want to have a good time with a nice guy, that’s it.”
“Tell me this: have you and he gone to bed together?” I blushed even harder.
“A few times,” I said, looking away. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“It is so my business! If I don’t ask, who else are you going to talk to about him? I’ve never seen you really share anything with anyone else in this office, and god knows you don’t have that many friends out of this place.”
“I have friends!” I glared at Amie, a little hurt at her comment. “And I have siblings. I could talk to them.”
“Yeah, if you wanted them to start planning your wedding after your first date you could,” Amie said with a grin.
“What’s he like in bed?” I looked around, trying to make sure that none of the young patients—or their parents—were listening in.
“He’s great,” I said quietly. “Of course, it’s been ages since I’ve been with anyone else, but…” I grinned, blushing bright red. “He’s amazing in bed. I swear.”
“It’s probably been a while for him, too,” Amie pointed out. “So it’s good that he’s able to take care of business.” She smirked at me. “Does he go down on you?”
“Amie!” I looked around again, shocked at how direct her questioning had become. I swallowed against the dry feeling of impulsive fear in my throat. “Yes, he does sometimes. He’s good with his hands, too.”
“Then I’m satisfied that this is an excellent life choice,” Amie said, giving me a quick nod. “Even if it isn’t serious and doesn’t go beyond seeing him every few days and having good sex, I’m glad to hear you’re getting out there. I was starting to worry about you.” She pulled herself up carefully, groaning in pain until I started to get up to help her. “No—it’s okay. I just put off the pain pill until I could get back home. I need to fill out paperwork, and I do not fancy trying to take the train home high as a kite.” Amie patted my hand with her uninjured one and gave me another grin. “One of these days if things do get a little more serious between you and him, you should bring him on a double date with me and Travis.” I rolled my eyes.
“That’s down the line,” I said. “I don’t even know if things are going to last beyond the month.” I thought of the fact that Patrick had canceled our date for that night; I didn’t say anything about it to Amie—especially since she was on her way to the manager’s office to fill out paperwork—but I couldn’t help but think that Patrick might have been able to get out of the business dinner if he’d really wanted to. It just seemed too convenient that he found out about the obligation a few hours before our date. You’re being stupid, I told myself. You had to cancel a date with him before; it’s only fair that you give him the benefit of the doubt on one cancelation. Don’t get all paranoid before the relationship even gets serious. I watched Amie leave and went back to trying to decide how to spend my evening off, now that I wasn’t going to be spending it with Patrick.
