"Good, she misses you too."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, she told me."
"Is that so? Huh, I may have to drop by and say hi to her."
"I'd love that…I mean she'd love that. Of course, I miss you too, but I know you'd be seeing Stimpy." Mac grinned shyly and Kylie smiled. "I need to get going. I have an early meeting today. But, the offer stands, I'm sure Stimpy would love to see you this weekend since I know you're off."
"Don't push it, Dr. Trotter." Kylie smiled again and went back inside.
~
Friday morning arrived before Mac could even figure out where her week had gone. "What a hectic week. I'm never going on vacation again." She said to herself as she took her usual route to her office through the ER. She stopped at the employee lounge to test the coffee, but it looked like sludge in a cup so she decided to skip it. Lyle ran into her as she was leaving the room.
"Hey, long time no see." He chuckled.
"Where have you been?"
"I'm pulling a forty-eight hours on and twenty-four hours off shift for the next two weeks."
Mac wrinkled her nose. "Why? You're the Assistant department head."
"I'm trying to get these new residents trained and we've been really short staffed lately. It seems like everyone either has accidents or goes on vacation in the summer."
"Yeah, my case load always doubles in the summer. You know how to find me if you need me. I'll be tied up in board meetings next week though."
"I'm so glad I don't have to deal with administration. I'd much rather sit here and stitch cuts all day long. But, that's why you make the big bucks."
"Please, you know damn good and well I don't make the big bucks, it's more like the little bucks. But to me it's about making a difference." She winked at him. He was the only one in the hospital that knew why pediatrics meant so much to her.
"Hey by the way, you want to explain what happened the other day?"
"Huh?" She watched him pour a cup of sludge into his cup. "Yuck! Are you actually going to drink that shit?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Gross!"
"Hey, it keeps me going. Want some?"
"Looks like mud in a swamp to me, no thanks."
"So?" he asked.
"What?"
"You and the fire woman. Why was she screaming at you?" He asked.
"Oh that…long story that you already know."
"So she's still pissed at you huh?"
"She's a little passed pissed. But, at least we're trying to work on being friends again…maybe."
"Well that's a start."
"It's anything at this point. I don't know what I'd do without her in my life, everything changed when I met her. I don't know how to go back."
"You two seemed good for each other, at least from what I saw of you together anyway. I'm sure it'll work itself out."
"A friendship is always better than nothing, at least that's what I keep telling myself," she said.
"Me, Jennie, Tony, and DJ are going to Daisy's tonight, want to go?"
"No thanks. I need to do laundry after work. I haven't washed a thing since I've been back. Thank god we wear scrubs every day. That's all I have left."
He laughed. "Well you know where we'll be if you want to hang out."
She laughed with him. "Yeah, same drinking time, same drinking table."
"Hey, we're not drunks, only doctors and nurses that need a place to vent," he laughed.
~
Saturday afternoon, Mac was in the water changing the zinc plates on the back and bottom of her boat. She never noticed Kylie step aboard. Mac climbed up the step ladder wearing a green and blue string bikini top and tiny little matching board shorts that made her eyes glow brightly. Her tan skin was slick with water and her short blond hair was frazzled from her squishing the water out with her hands. Kylie stood in amazement with her eyebrows in her hairline.
Mac dropped the towel and almost ran right into the smaller woman as she turned to go down into the cabin. "Holy shit! You scared me! What are you doing here? On my boat?"
"You…" Kylie was still mesmerized by the sight of this woman, her blood was pumping and her skin was itching for contact. Calm down…
"Kylie?" Mac said waiting for a reply.
"Stimpy," Kylie said.
"Excuse me?"
"You invited me…to see Stimpy." Kylie finally spit the words out.
"Oh yeah…yeah, she's inside you can go see her."
"Are you coming in?"
"As soon as I dry off."
"Were you swimming?"
"No, working on the boat."
"Oh." Kylie went below deck, happy to put some distance between them. The tiny dog ran up to her begging to be picked up, she bent down to get her. "My God she's going to kill me dressed like that Stimpy!" The dog was licking her face. "I know I missed you too!"
"I'm glad to see you two are still in love," Mac said.
"What? Huh?" Kylie heard the word love and turned right into Mac who had been standing behind her. The heat in her body rose again, threatening to come to the surface.
"You and my dog. You guys seem to have a pretty loving relationship."
"What can I say? She's adorable and I do love her."
"That's nice. Your stitches look a lot better." Mac said.
Kylie realized that at her height Mac was probably eye level with the top of her head and the stitches in her hairline. Besides the fact that they were standing less than a foot from each other.
"My head doesn't feel like it's in a vise anymore."
"That's a good sign. Would you like something to drink? I have beer, wine, water, OJ, milk, lemonade…uh…that's it, I finished the strong stuff." Mac was relying on her photographic memory of her refrigerator. She could feel her heart pounding and dared not move away from the adorable woman standing in front of her. Kylie's dark curly hair was down on her shoulders.
"Lemonade sounds good."
Mac was the first one to step way. Kylie silently thanked God that Mac moved before she reached out and grabbed her. She wanted to kiss her so badly. Anything to taste her once again. What the hell am I thinking? This woman hurt me. She tore me apart and she ditched me for an ex who could care less about her. She walked away from me! Now all I can think about is how good she tastes. Hell no, Neil, not this time, you are not getting your heart broken twice by the same woman! Kylie sat on the couch in the salon mentally chiding herself. Mac quickly joined her with two tall glasses of lemonade.
"How was your vacation?" Kylie sipped the drink, pleased with the tangy sweet flavor.
"What vacation?"
"Didn't you leave?"
" Oh yeah, you mean Brazil or when I took the boat out?"
"Which one was your vacation?"
"Well, I took some extra time off to go with Loren to Brazil to see her family. That was shot to hell in two days, I wanted to choke her to death. We had a huge fight in front of her family and I told her off. I flew home and decided to call in an old favor in order to take two weeks of vacation time with no notice." She shrugged. "I took Stimpy and sailed up to see my uncle in North Carolina. We spent a few days with him and sailed back."
"Interesting."
"Which part?"
Kylie wasn't really ready to discuss Loren. "You sailing alone all the way up there."
"I've taken the boat out many times alone. It's not a big deal. It was lonely though, that helped me talk myself through a lot of issues. Then seeing my uncle really helped."
"Are you guys close?"
"Yeah, he's like a second father, more of father than my own father sometimes. My father is not an emotional person. Everything is black and white with him. Uncle Gordy is different. He's like me, he see's color."
Kylie smiled. "Sounds like you had a good time."
"Yeah, he helped me work though my problems and left me to sail home with a clear head. I wish I could see him more, but I'm so busy with work and he's a retired divorcee so he travels
a lot." Mac finally went into the bedroom and changed into soft cotton shorts and a t-shirt. When she returned Stimpy was lying in Kylie's lap while she scratched his belly. "You can borrow her if you'd like," Mac joked.
"She's too cute, but no I can't take her from you." Kylie pet Stimpy behind her ears. "Although, she would make a great babe magnet. Maybe I'll borrow her sometime."
"What! You're not using my dog to pick up girls." Mac shook her head and grinned.
"Why not? Is that what you do with her?"
"I wish." Mac laughed sitting down next to Kylie.
"So, what happened with Loren?" Kylie asked still petting the little dog.
"You really want to know?" Mac turned her head to look into Kylie's eyes.
"No. But, if I ever want to be close to you again I need to know."
"When she started recovering I saw the old Loren return, the one I fell in love with. It brought a lot of old memories and feelings back and I stupidly thought she had changed. We went to Brazil to see her family and she started bossing me around again like usual and then brought you up. I didn't know she even knew. She must have been following me or something. I was furious. She never changed. She used the accident as an excuse to reel me back in and control me like she used to do," Mac paused.
"We had a huge screaming match and I told her that taking care of her and coming back to her was the second biggest mistake of my life next to breaking your heart. I thought she was going to slap me when I told her I was in love with you," Mac said.
Kylie's jaw dropped and her eyes bugged out of her head like a cartoon.
"I know there's nothing between us anymore, but I will never stop loving you."
Kylie pushed Stimpy out of her lap and slid closer to Mac.
"Say it again," Kylie said.
"Say what?"
"That you love me," Kylie said placing her hand on Mac's cheek.
"I love you, Kylie. I love you with all of my heart and everything that I am," Mac said as a tear slid down her cheek onto Kylie's hand.
"I love you too, Mackenzie," Kylie smiled pulling Mac against her.
Their lips met softly at first, their mouths opening to claim each other in a passionate kiss. Mac pushed forward slightly and Kylie lay back pulling Mac onto her without breaking the seal of their lips.
Kylie pulled away breathless. "If you ever mention that woman's name again I'm going to beat you to death and if you break my heart again I will leave your beaten body in a burning building," Kylie said seriously.
"Marry me," Mac said.
"What?" Kylie said pushing Mac up off of her.
"I'm serious. I don't want Loren or anyone else ever thinking they can take me away from you. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me and how much I love you," Mac said.
"I...this...I didn't even come here to get back with you. I figured we would talk and maybe hang out again sometime as friends. I never thought...Mackenzie, are you sure that's what you want? I mean this is pretty sudden."
"You are what I want and I will do anything and everything in the world to have you, Kylie."
"It's not legal here."
"Let's take a trip to New York. It's legal there."
Kylie shook her head trying to get her brain to comprehend what was happening.
"I'll book a flight right now if you say yes," Mac said.
"Let me get this straight, you want to fly to New York and get married this weekend?"
"Yes," Mac said.
"What about a honey moon?" Kylie teased.
"Is that a yes?"
Kylie nodded and smiled as she wrapped her arms around Mac's neck.
"Ever been sailing?" Mac wiggled her eyebrows pushing Kylie back down under her.
About the Author
Sydney enjoys reading everything from magazines to historical books and boasts about her massive collection of paperbacks and hardbacks in her personal library. She's also a huge fan of multiple TV shows, which she says take up too much of her time. She enjoys writing Novellas and has multiple titles coming out soon.
You can email her at [email protected] and like her fan page at facebook.com/sydneycanyon
Go to www.tri-pub.com to get information about Triplicity Publishing or to submit your own manuscript.
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on, Igniting Temptation
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