“Just dozing,” Millie replied with a gentle laugh. “What’s up?”
Mack wracked his mind for an explanation he could offer for his call. Telling her that he missed the sound of her voice made him sound like a pussy. And he wasn’t quite ready to appear that vulnerable to her – at least not yet. So, he lied. “I realized that we’d never worked out a time for me to pick you and Paisley up tomorrow.”
Millie snorted. “And here I thought you might be calling to say that you missed me. Silly, huh?’ she questioned with a self-deprecating chuckle.
“Not so silly at all. I was calling for that reason, I just was too much of a pussy to cop to it,” Mack returned truthfully.
“Really?” Millie asked breathlessly.
“Yeah,” Mack confirmed. “Although, the other thing is true, too. What time can I come get you and Paisley?”
“Is eight o’clock too early to start your day?” Millie asked, her quiet voice a little anxious.
“Doesn’t sound soon enough to me. I’m beginning to think I made a mistake taking you home tonight. I should have gone with my gut and kept you with me, but I was trying to be a fuckin’ gentlemen,” he explained ruefully, loving the sound of her laughter when she began to giggle.
“I’m not so sure we’re ready for sleepovers yet. Especially since we never really defined what we were doing together tonight. We sorta got occupied doing other things, remember?”
Fuck yes, he remembered. He’d been able to think of little else since he’d kissed her goodbye and left her safely on her doorstep. After they’d shared a delicious dinner at the Longhorn, he’d brought her back to his place, ostensibly to show her the place they’d be decorating tomorrow. After giving her a quick tour of the sprawling two story home, they’d found their way back to his living room and his tongue had found its way back into her mouth.
And Christ, he’d enjoyed the next hour of his life exchanging long, slow kisses with Millie as he’d stretched her out on the couch and hovered above her. She’d allowed his hands to wander over almost every inch of her body, learning what she liked, noting which spots were the most sensitive to his touch. As he’d expected he’d found the firm, ripe globes of her breasts to be incredibly responsive to his touch, her nipples stiffening almost as soon as his hand made contact with her flesh. He hadn’t undressed her, so he still had to wonder if those little gems would be pretty pink or a deeper shade of rose, but the mystery only added to her allure. Surprisingly, it was the curve of her neck, especially the dip where her throat met her shoulder, that was amazingly susceptible to his attention. Every time his tongue had swept across that sweet little indentation, her body had shuddered against his, her erect nipples poking against his chest as she’d arched her back toward him and moaned his name.
“Yeah, babe, I don’t think I’ll forget tonight any time soon. At least not until we replace these memories with even better ones,” he replied, his voice a little hoarse with unfulfilled passion.
“That will be hard since tonight was pretty close to perfect for me,” Millie shared in a hushed voice.
“You should know, I’m gonna take that statement as a challenge, sweet Millicent,” Mack notified her, thankful she couldn’t see the wicked grin on his face.
“Do I need to be scared?” Millie questioned coyly.
“Scared, no. Prepared, absolutely,” he warned seriously, his body relaxing as he heard her breath catch. He loved making her make that sound.
“Why do I feel like I just went on the endangered species list?” Millie asked a tad apprehensively.
“Probably because you’re not a stupid woman. Sweet dreams, babe. I’ll see you in a few hours,” Mack assured her before ending the call.
Putting his feet up in his recliner, Mack smiled at the wall, content in the knowledge that in a few short hours, she and her daughter would be back under his roof, decorating for the holidays. Sure, he hated Christmas, and decking his house out in a holiday-themed makeover was gonna cost a mint, but the price would be worth it if he got to spend more time with his two favorite girls.
And as he closed his eyes, imagining them all under his roof, he couldn’t help hoping that this time next year that Millie wasn’t sleeping ten minutes away from him. He prayed she’d be in the next room, in his bed, waiting for him.
Six: Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Saturday, December 14
“It’s gotta be that one!” the tiny Yuletide tyrant yelled at her horrified-yet-humble Christmas disciple. “You said that we needed to sell Christmas, ‘member? You said go big or go home, didn’tya? I’m tellin’ ya, Dr. Mack! This is the tree that says Christmas. We needs it! Tell ‘im, Momma!” she yelled, jabbing her finger toward the stately fir tree.
Millie tried to choke back her laughter as she stared at her daughter’s aggrieved face. “Honey, I don’t think that one would fit very well in Doc’s house. His house is tiny compared to that tree,” she managed to say through her giggles, biting her lip when Mack turned to give her an equally affronted look.
“My house is plenty big. It’s just that tree is a giant,” he growled, pointing at the fir in question. “It’s gotta be over twelve feet tall.”
“It’s the tree, Dr. Mack! I know it,” the five-year-old Christmas Nazi announced from her position beside Mackenzie.
Running a hand down his face, Mack wondered how parents were supposed to handle these kind of holiday skirmishes. He had no experience with this, and Mills didn’t appear to be willing to help him out with this particular grievance, he thought irritably, shooting the deeply amused woman in question another glare over his shoulder.
Kneeling beside his favorite maddened munchkin, he gently took her by the arms and turned her toward him. Dressed in black leggings and a bright red Christmas sweater, she stared at him with unamused eyes. “Okay, Princess. Explain to me why it has to be this tree out of all the trees on this tree farm,” he asked, sweeping his arm out in a wide arc to encompass the fir forest where they all currently stood.
“’Cause, Santa can see this one from the sleigh!” Paisley stated as though it was the most logical thing in the world.
“How in the world do you figure that, Baby Girl?” Millie couldn’t resist asking. “The tree will be inside the house. Santa is really talented, but I doubt he’s got X-ray vision, sweetie. He can’t see through a roof.”
“But he can magically see who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, right?” Mack asked Millie sarcastically as he looked up at her. Turning back to Paisley, Mack shrugged his shoulders. “This Santa guy sounds like one shady fella to me. You sure you wanna impress him that badly?”
Paisley rolled her eyes dramatically. “Of course I do. He gots my pwesents, Dr. Mack. I been good all year long. I’m not gonna screw it up now! ‘Sides, he doesn’t see the tree through the roof, Momma. He sees it through the window as he rides by the house. And ev’rybody who’s anybody knows that the best pwesents go to the kids wif the bestest trees.”
Both Mack’s and Millie’s lips twitched at Paisley’s impassioned plea for the tree, but as Mack would have caved, Millie shook her head. “It’s not happening, sweetheart. Choose another tree. One that isn’t so tall this time.”
“Why?” Paisley whined, her large eyes sad as she looked from her mom to Mack.
“Because I said so,” Millie returned firmly. “Now, do I need to choose the tree or are you going to keep looking?”
“I’ll do it,” Paisley returned grudgingly as she stomped off to assess a few more firs for suitability.
Mack’s jaw dropped as he watched the little girl walk away. “That’s it?” he yelped, turning sharply to look at Millicent. “That’s all there was to it?”
“All there was to what?” Millie asked curiously, her brows furrowing as they followed a few footsteps behind Paisley as the kid darted from tree to tree, viewing and dismissing each fir she stopped beside within three or four seconds.
“She was angry, on the verge of a tantrum
and you say, ‘because I said so’ and she just accepts your answer and the argument gets averted?” he questioned, mystified and not a small bit awed by the power of the modern day mother.
“Mackenzie,” Millie chuckled, using his Christian name, “It’s Christmastime.”
“Uh, yeah, that’s why we’re out here in the middle of nowhere chopping down a tree,” he remarked, holding up the axe for emphasis. “But what’s that got to do with my question?”
“Any kid that’s been raised by any kind of parent at all will concede the battle when it’s being waged just a few weeks away from Christmas. They don’t want to compromise their holiday haul. Their present number might suffer if they were anything less than nice. Naughty kids don’t get good gifts, you know,” she explained patiently.
Mack froze in place and blinked back at her. “That’s genius,” he finally whispered. “Seriously, that’s scary smart.”
“Once you have a kid, you get all the secrets of the universe answered. Didn’t you know?” she mocked, laughing when his arm flew around her waist and he ticked her ribs.
Up ahead, Paisley stopped walking to turn around and face the laughing pair behind her. “Will you two stop it? We gots serious work to do, Dr. Mack! There’s no time for tickle games! The countdown ‘til Santa’s sleigh arrives is on, y’all,” she admonished the adults sternly, shaking her finger at them.
Holding up both her hands, Millie nodded supportively at her daughter. “You’re right, sweetie. We need to get with the program.”
“My bad, Princess,” Mack quickly followed Millie’s lead and apologized, too. “I’ll behave.”
Paisley nodded sharply, adjusting the striped cap on her head when it slipped over her eyes. “Good! C’mon then!” she called. “I think I finded the most perfectest tree!”
Millie happily took the hand Mack held out to her and allowed him to pull her along toward her daughter. A week ago, she’d never in her wildest dreams have imagined being this happy, yet here she was. Her heart was full and her mind was clear. She knew getting involved with Mack… with anybody, really, was a risk. And Mack was arguably a bigger risk than most men since he was also her boss and employer. When you added that to the fact that she still didn’t know what he wanted them to be to each other, she should have been anxious as hell.
But, she wasn’t.
She couldn’t explain why, but she knew she was safe with Dr. Mackenzie Daniels. Physically and emotionally secure. More importantly, she knew her child was safe, too. Mack would protect her baby with his life if it ever came down to it. She knew that the same way she knew that the sun would set in the west and rise in the east. Despite his often surly demeanor, he was a man who was good at taking care of people, his concern for his patients, employees, and family evident in the way he tended to them.
Oh, he wasn’t without his faults. Mack was certainly a little rough around the edges in a not-quite-house-trained kind of way. He could be a grouchy, brusque pain in the butt when something didn’t suit him, and he complained almost constantly about the small, close knit town she loved so much. And, if he had his way, he’d never celebrate another holiday. Ever. But, overall, it was nothing she couldn’t overlook.
“Momma! Dr. Mack, hurry up,” Paisley begged, jumping up and down enthusiastically.
Mack and Millie trudged down the path, the dry, dead grass crunching beneath their feet. When they reached the rosy cheeked little girl, both turned their head toward the tree at which she proudly pointed and grinned.
“Now, that’s a nice tree, Miss P,” Millie praised her daughter, her eyes on the tree as she wrapped her arms around her girl’s shoulders and squeezed gently. “You did great, Baby Girl.” Glancing over her shoulder at where Mack stood, Millie tilted her head to the side and asked, “Doc? How do you feel about this one?”
~~**~~
Standing just behind Millie, Mack watched the easy interaction between mother and daughter. Millicent made parenting look effortless, but he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that it wasn’t the hardest job she’d ever had. It was just that Millie enjoyed her child, and she wasn’t shy about letting it show. And because of Millie’s hard work, Paisley was an incredibly easy kid to love.
“Well, you both know that I’m not exactly a huge fan of all this Christmas crap…” he began, his lips twitching when both his girls rolled their eyes at exactly the same moment.
“We know,” they both declared in unison, even the length of their long-suffering sigh the exact same.
Choking back a chuckle at their dramatics, Mack continued. “Okay, you two Christmas know-it-alls, what I was going to say was that even though I’m not a Christmas fan, that tree will look perfect in front of the picture window in my living room. Santa will be able to get a perfect view.”
Paisley jumped up and down, her excitement obvious. “Wooooooohoooooo! Santa’s gonna see us! Santa’s gonna see us!” she cheered, dancing around the tree.
Mack shook his head at the kid’s antics and took another look at the tree she’d chosen. It really was a good-looking fir. The branches were full and thick, the height was just over seven feet and he wouldn’t have to do much trimming….all in all, it really was the ideal tree for his house. Thankfully, they’d already gone shopping for all the paraphernalia needed to decorate.
Paisley and Millie had quickly decided early this morning that for his first venture into holiday decorating he should use a red, white, and blue patriotic Christmas theme inside and out at his home, and when they’d arrived at the Paradise Home and Garden specialty store, they’d promptly loaded him up on red, white and blue bulbs, ribbon and lights. They’d also found holiday wreaths for the front and back door (which he found ridiculous since nobody but the dog ever used the back door), an inflatable Sergeant Santa that was decked out in full military gear for the front yard, and enough holiday lights to string every tree in his yard. Based on the amount of lights his girls had bought, he was pretty sure the astronauts at the space station would be able to see his lawn.
Jeez, there he went again, Mack thought with a mental sigh. Thinking of Millie and Paisley in the possessive sense had become second nature since he’d realized that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his feelings confined to the friend zone where Millicent was concerned.
Nope, he wanted her. And not in the safe platonic way. No, it was safe to say he wanted Millie in the strip-her-clothes-off-and-get-her-naked-in-his-bed-ASAP-way.
And Paisley….well, that kid had wormed her way into his heart before he’d even realized what he was feeling for her mother. Given the fact that her fucktard of a biological dad had abandoned her, he was relatively sure that he’d be a much better father figure than Millie’s ex-husband. Unlike John, he wanted the job. He wanted it badly.
“Dr. Mack?” Paisley whined impatiently, tugging his hand. “You really like it?” she asked anxiously.
Quickly passing his axe off to Millicent, Mack crouched down so that he could look in his little holiday helper’s hazel eyes and grinned reassuringly. “I really do, squirt. It’s the best looking tree on the lot, and you found it for me. I knew I chose the right girls for the job of helping me already, but you’re knockin’ it out of the ballpark! I’m gonna owe you big for this, kiddo.”
Paisley’s little face glowed with happiness. Looking over her shoulder at her momma, she loudly whispered, “Should I asks him, Momma?”
Giving Millie a confused look, he gently tapped Paisley’s nose. “Hey, you don’t have to ask permission. You can ask me anything, Pretty Girl. Whatcha want?” he asked, more than willing to go fetch her whatever her adorable little heart desired. Yeah, he was whooped, and he knew it.
“Weeee-llllll,” Paisley began, drawing the word out as she shuffled from one foot to the other. “My class at Sunday school is doing a pway on Sunday night. It’s called the Navity.”
“You mean, the Nativity?” Mack asked, keeping a straight face even as Millie buried her face in her hand to muffle her laugh.
“Uh huh. That’s it. Anyway, Imma sheep!” she announced proudly.
“You are?” Mack asked, feigning shock.
“Uh huh,” Paisley returned, nodding avidly. “I gots a line, too. It’s ‘Baaaaaa Baaaaaa!’. Whatdaya think?”
“For a second there I really thought we had a sheep out here with us,” he said, looking around as though he were still trying to spot one.
Paisley giggled. “You’re silly, Dr. Mack! He’s silly, huh, Momma?” she asked, looking toward her mother for validation.
“Maybe a little,” Millie conceded, holding her thumb and index finger closely together.
Still smiling, Paisley turned her bright eyes back to Mack. “Anyways, my pway is Sunday night and I was wonderin’ if you might wanna come see me? Momma telled me that you might not be able to come ‘cause your momma and sissy are comin’ for Christmas, but I really want you to be there and see me.”
“Now, Miss P, what did we talk about? You aren’t allowed to make anyone feel guilty just to get your way. You know you’ll have me and Granny and Papaw there.”
Mack shot Millie a frown. “Well, that’s fine and good, but what if I want to come, too? I’m sure my sister and mom will love watching you in your role as a sheep. I’ll tell you what, Princess. As long as I don’t have to deliver any unexpected babies that night, I’ll be there. So will my whole family. I have it on very good authority that they love watching the Nativity story.”
“Really? You’ll come?” Paisley asked hopefully, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“I’ll come, sweetheart,” he agreed gently, grunting as forty pounds of little girl socked him in the dead center of his chest and short little arms suddenly tried to strangle him.
“Yay! I told you he’d come, Momma!” Paisley decreed happily, lifting her head from Mack’s shoulder to beam at her mom.
The Homespun Holiday Page 7