by Nella Tyler
“I didn’t know if you take cream and sugar or not,” I explained to Mackenzie as I set our coffees down on the table. I took my coat off quickly and draped it over the back of the other chair, across from where Mackenzie sat.
“I can get it—probably better to do it myself anyway,” Mackenzie said, giving me a quick smile. She stood and I had the pleasure of seeing that she was wearing jeans—and they fit her like a glove. As she walked past me, I turned my head just a little bit and caught sight of the shape of her ass; I looked away just as quickly, turning my attention onto my coffee, warming my hands on my cup. Do not let her catch you doing that. The view was great, and I had at least a dozen more reasons to hope that things would go well on this first date. I definitely wanted to see what she looked like naked. Take your time. Don’t rush things. She’s probably not the kind of woman who puts out until the third date—and that’s what you want, isn’t it?
Then Mackenzie was back at the table, sitting down and taking a sip of her coffee. “You know,” she said, smiling a little, “I think this is the first real date I’ve been on in probably about a year.”
“Full disclosure: it’s been about five years for me,” I admitted. “I went on a few blind dates a couple of years ago, but they just…” I shrugged. “One of them I ended up pretending that Landon’s grandparents had texted me to let me know he’d somehow gotten food poisoning.”
“Oh no!” Mackenzie laughed. “That must’ve been absolutely the worst date.”
“She was a smoker, and insisted that it didn’t harm a kid to be around it,” I said, shaking my head in disgust. “She also wanted to know why I didn’t just send Landon off to a boarding school.”
“I can see why you’d cut the date short then,” Mackenzie said. I took a sip of my own coffee and something relaxed inside of me.
“So you seem really dedicated to your job—I almost couldn’t believe I’d caught you at work yesterday.”
“That’s actually why I’ve been without a date for so long,” Mackenzie said, blushing once more. “I’m so involved in my career that I sort of just…let dating fall by the wayside.” Mackenzie giggled a little bit—it sounded amazing to my ears, like a bell. “If you hadn’t asked me out, I’d probably not have another date until like…April or something.”
“I know that feeling,” I said, nodding. “Between Landon and my job, it’s hard to find time to devote to another relationship.” A look like concern flickered across Mackenzie’s face. “I’m ready to jump back into the dating pool, though,” I said quickly. “I feel like it’s time. Landon is getting older, more independent.”
“He seems to be really independent already,” Mackenzie said.
“Oh he is,” I said, thinking of my son. “He wants to do everything himself anymore—even things he’s too small to do.” Mackenzie nodded, smiling, and I thought to myself that there was nothing more gorgeous on the planet than the sight of her smile.
“I read in the file that he broke the leg playing soccer?”
“Yep,” I shook my head. “One of the scariest moments of my life. He was a trooper though—barely even cried on the way to the hospital.”
“How long have you been taking care of him by yourself?” Mackenzie took another quick sip of her coffee.
“Pretty much his whole life,” I told her. “His mother died when he was only a few months old. Cancer.” Mackenzie’s big, bright eyes were full of sympathy for me. “Let’s talk about something else—I don’t want to dwell.”
We chatted for over an hour, comparing our jobs, and talking about our childhoods. I learned that Mackenzie had grown up a little outside of the city, that her parents still lived in the same house she’d grown up in; I told her about going to college in California, and getting my degree, and about how Landon and I had moved back to the city after my wife had passed away.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out quickly, worried it might be about Landon; instead of an emergency call from his grandparents, it was the alarm I’d set to make sure I got back to their place in time to pick Landon up. “I’m so sorry,” I said, standing up. “But Landon’s at my in-laws’ place, and they can’t keep him overnight. I have to go get him.” Mackenzie nodded her understanding and stood, finishing off her coffee.
“I should head home and put together some dinner for myself anyway,” she said, giving me another one of those beautiful smiles. “I had a really great time talking to you, Patrick.”
“Can I walk you to your car?” Mackenzie hesitated a moment before nodding. We dropped our empty cups off at the pick-up station and left the café together.
“I’m parked a couple of blocks down,” Mackenzie said, looking almost embarrassed. “It was impossible to find anything closer.”
“I know—I was going around in circles for fifteen minutes to find a spot,” I told her. I walked at her side for a few steps and then, on an impulse, I reached out and took her hand in mine. Mackenzie stumbled slightly in surprise, but she gave my hand a quick squeeze and we continued up the street to where she was parked.
“Here I am,” Mackenzie told me. She drove a beat up old sedan; just what I would have expected for a woman who worked a job that covered her normal expenses with only a little bit left over, a responsible person who didn’t live outside of her income. I saw her take a deep breath and her hand moved in mine. “I had a really good time,” she said, looking up at me nervously.
“Me too,” I told her. I looked into her eyes for a moment and made a decision; I didn’t know for sure if she wanted me to kiss her—but I knew that I would know in a heartbeat if I’d read the signs wrong. I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers. Mackenzie tensed against me for just an instant, but then she relaxed. I deepened the kiss, wrapping my arms around her, giving her plenty of opportunity to push me away or back off or tell me to stop.
Instead of pulling away, Mackenzie pressed her body against mine, and a hot jolt of electricity shot through me at the feeling of her curves crushed against my body. I darted my tongue out and she opened her mouth, letting me in. In a matter of a few minutes I would never have believed it was cold outside; we were heating up second by second. My hands started to wander a bit on Mackenzie’s body and I kissed her more and more hungrily, and in a matter of moments I had her up against the car door.
I broke away from her finally; I could feel the heat pooling in my groin, my cock hardening like a metal rod. “I have to go,” I said, giving Mackenzie one last, quick kiss. “Landon.” She nodded, looking up at me breathlessly.
“I understand,” she said.
I smiled. “Can I see you again soon?”
Mackenzie nodded. “I’ve got a day off in a few days; we could go out the night before.”
“That sounds good,” I said, smiling down at her. “I’ll call you tomorrow to firm up the details.” I gave her one last kiss and then let her go, stepping back. It felt like I had a hot stone in my pants as I walked back towards my car; Mackenzie had felt so good and so right pressed up against me. I couldn’t wait to see her again—and maybe our next date I would hedge my bets and make sure Landon could stay the night outside of the house. I watched Mackenzie pull out of the parking spot and finished heading to my own car, trying to clear my head enough to go pick up my son.
PART TWO
Chapter One
Mackenzie
For a few days after my first date with Patrick, I still couldn’t quite keep the smile off of my face. It had been ages since I’d actually gone on a date and even longer since I’d had a good date. When I went into work the day after, everyone commented on my good mood; of course I couldn’t tell them anything about it—dating a patient’s parent isn’t against the law or anything, but it isn’t exactly ethical. I had more patience than ever with the kids who came in, and I could even look forward to my family’s holiday get-together with something like calm. If nothing else, at least I can tell them that I’ve been on a date recently, I thought as I walked into work a co
uple of mornings later. I was as professional as ever with Patrick and with Landon when they came in, which I’d been a little worried about—but Patrick was the same as ever: focused on Landon, talking to me about his son’s progress.
I was looking forward to my next date with Patrick so much more than I thought. When he’d first asked me out, I had been nervous—that I’d say something stupid, or that he’d turn out to be a jerk, or that things would get awkward—but when he’d kissed me I’d really felt it. I wonder how many dates before we can sleep together? It wasn’t just up to me; it was up to him as well. With a child, Patrick would have to be careful about how quickly he got serious with someone. He couldn’t risk bringing someone into Landon’s life who wouldn’t be a good influence. Even though I was Landon’s physical therapist, I understood that Patrick would have to be sure about how I would interact with Landon in a different part of his life.
“Girl, you have been distracted for days,” Amie commented. “Can’t you hear Charlotte paging you?” I blushed and answered the phone. It was a call from another patient’s mother, to ask if I thought that her daughter would be ready to go back to ballet in three weeks when the new program started. I told her that we’d have to see at her daughter’s next appointment if her recovery had been enough to allow for it, and that all on its own reminded me of Landon and all his progress—which reminded me of Patrick.
I went back to my work, throwing myself into a session with a seven-year-old girl who had broken both arms in a tree-climbing accident and needed to regain muscle mass after the long period waiting for the bones to heal. As long as I was working with an actual patient, I was able to focus on my work; I would hate myself if I ever let anyone distract me from the sessions themselves. I took her through the exercises, cheering her on and encouraging her about how far she had come, and talked to her Mom and Dad who were both watching her work with me. “She’s doing really, really well.”
“Do you think she’s going to make a full recovery?”
“She’s going to need time,” I cautioned them, “but she’s young, and the breaks themselves didn’t do very much damage at all to her muscles. If we work hard then Annie will absolutely make a full recovery and fingers crossed, it’ll be like it never happened.” I did a quick evaluation of her strength and coordination—at such a young age, long periods of time where the muscles are immobile can slow down normal development—and sent her on her way with her parents, a little sweaty but grinning from ear to ear.
After Annie, there was a lull between sessions; I’d had a patient cancel on me while I was in the session. It irritated me whenever parents would call at the last minute to cancel, but I know that things come up, and they can’t always be predicted. I went back to my desk and pulled up the endless paperwork that I never quite seemed to get done and decided to work on that. Amie had made a run to the café a block away from the office, so I had a hot drink waiting for me, and I sipped it while I called up the files that needed updating.
There wasn’t much of anything out of the ordinary going on with any of my patients; that of course meant that their files were starting to get more than a little bit boring to update. I started typing in my notes, based on the papers I’d filled out during their sessions, and my mind began to wander while I worked. I knew I shouldn’t give into the impulse to daydream, but I couldn’t help myself.
I thought about my date with Patrick, remembering every little detail of our conversation, the way the coffee had tasted, the way he’d looked. I had to think that it wouldn’t be all that normal for someone like Patrick—good-looking, pretty wealthy, and working in such a prized field—to even notice someone like me, much less want to go on a real date with me. I wonder where he’s going to take me next, I thought, remembering that I’d agreed to a second date. I bit my bottom lip and felt my cheeks warming up as I remembered the kiss at the end of the night, the way that Patrick had seemed to be on the point of asking—begging—me to come home with him. It was a good feeling. It had been years since I’d felt like I had something special, like I could drive a man wild. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Patrick had to pick Landon up from his grandparents’ house, I was pretty sure that he would have gotten to third base—so to speak—really easily, and probably would have invited me back to his house.
Maybe for our second date, he would plan ahead to have Landon spend the night somewhere—or maybe he’d have a babysitter set to watch his son until the early hours of the morning. Maybe I’d invite him back to my place, or he’d invite me back to his. I shivered; it had been a long time since I’d been with anyone. I was a little nervous, but I let myself slip into the little fantasy anyway. I imagined that Patrick took me out to a nice dinner—a step up from our first date, but nowhere too fancy, nowhere I’d feel uncomfortable or underdressed in my good clothes. I’d had time to do my hair and makeup, and I looked amazing—in fact, Patrick told me just that.
In my little fantasy, the dinner went just as well as coffee had gone a couple of days before, and we were laughing and talking, but I could feel the tension building up inside of me. We left the restaurant together and Patrick suggested that I could ride in his car; he’d bring me back to where I’d parked later. “Besides, it doesn’t make sense to take two cars to one destination, right?” I nodded and he kissed me again, just like he had on our first date together. My heart pounded in my chest as Patrick deepened the kiss moment by moment, his hands beginning to wander over me. I was pressed against the car, Patrick’s body against mine, his hands tickling and caressing me as we stood there.
Patrick broke away from me, pulling back and looking down into my eyes. “You’re sure you want to come home with me?” I nodded, too breathless and turned on to even think about turning him down. I had wanted to go home with him even on our first date—only his need to make sure Landon was safe and taken care of had prevented us from going through with it then. I got into his car—since I didn’t really know what he drove, I just imagined a nice SUV—and then we were at his house, tumbling into the bedroom together, going at each other like a couple of animals. I imagined taking off his suit bit by bit, piece by piece; I imagined Patrick fumbling to find the zipper on my dress. My heart beat faster and faster while we stripped each other’s clothes off and touched each other everywhere.
Somewhere along the way, we fell into bed together and all I cared about was the fact that I could feel Patrick’s skin against mine, that I could feel the hard ridge of his cock rubbing against me through the thin fabric of his underwear. I shivered, imagining him slipping one hand between my legs, stroking and rubbing me while I lay underneath him, absolutely turned on. I felt hot all over, tingling from head to toe, and all I could think of was that I wanted more—I wanted to feel him inside me, wanted to feel him moving with me.
“Mack! Where is your head at, girl?” I almost dropped my cup of coffee on my desk at the sound of Amie’s voice.
“Oh! I guess I just got lost in space,” I said, wishing the blood would rush out of my face instead of rushing into it. My cheeks burned, I was blushing so hard.
“Look at this one,” Amie said, gesturing to my face for one of the other therapists walking through the office area. “I know what she was thinking about. Who was it, Mack?”
“Oh shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It wasn’t anyone.”
“I could tell everyone to avoid the employee bathroom for a few minutes if you want,” Amie suggested playfully. “Because you look like you’re ready to go.”
“I was just thinking about something,” I said, shrugging. “I started daydreaming.”
“I can tell what you were daydreaming about,” Amie told me. She sat down in the chair next to my desk. “Come on, you can tell me who it was; I’m not going to share it.”
“It wasn’t anyone in particular,” I said, shaking my head. “Just a little fantasy.”
“I bet it was one of the patients’ parents, wasn’t it?” Amie chuckled. “Don’t act shocked! Gisele had
a thing for one of the parents a couple of months ago—wanted to go to work on him like a giant ice cream sundae.”
“If I was into one of the patients’ parents, after telling me that about Gisele you’re the last person I’d share with,” I told Amie, grinning in spite of how embarrassed I felt.
“I’m friends with you,” Amie pointed out. “Gisele is just another coworker. Come on, tell me who it was.” I rolled my eyes again.
“Alexander Skarsgard,” I told her, grinning. “I could do worse than a handsome Swede who has money and brains and charm.”
“You’re lying,” Amie told me, grinning with glee. “But I’ll let it slide. You don’t want to tell your best work-buddy who you were getting all hot and bothered with in your brain, then you don’t have to.” She leaned in closer. “But that one guy—the one with the five-year-old—he’s a pretty tasty dish.”
“He’s a widower,” I said with a shrug. “Besides, we’re not supposed to date patients’ parents.”
“No, but I don’t think anyone would blame you if you did,” Amie told me, standing up again. “And besides it’s not something they’d fire you for. Promise me if he asks you out you’ll at least consider it. I had to laugh; Patrick had already asked me out, and I’d done exactly what Amie had said I’d do—but we’d gone out anyway. And we were going out again.
“I promise to actually think about it,” I told her, and then she was off to fetch her next session’s patient.
Chapter Two
Patrick