by Ann, Natalie
“Wednesday is perfect. I should be done a little after five.”
“That sounds good. Sorry, but I need to run, Mrs. Wilks will be here in a few minutes, and I need to give her instructions for Zoe, then go to work.”
“Have a nice day.” He disconnected the call and remained in one of the lounge chairs for a minute longer. He was alone at the moment, so free to let his mind wander.
After Beth had left Saturday, the house seemed big, too quiet and almost desolate. It had never felt like that before. But after spending the day with Zoe, her giggles and little feet pounding on the floors had brightened up the place.
Watching Beth move around the kitchen, making Zoe’s lunch, rushing her to the bathroom, all those simple things a mother did for her child cheered him enormously. All the things he never experienced growing up with either of his parents. It made his heart swell with need. And want. He wanted that in his house. He wanted a family. He wanted kids of his own, always had.
He just hadn’t found the right person—until now. Because there was nothing more he wanted than to see Zoe running around his house carefree and playing, her blonde ringlets swaying around her head, her smile lighting up the room.
Brooke had called him on Sunday, concerned of course. Brooke had always been a worrier, always thinking everything to death. She thought he was getting in too deep, too fast. He didn’t deny it. She knew how much he loved kids and wanted a family, and she wanted to make sure it wasn’t the little girl he was falling for. Again, she needn’t have worried. In a little over two short weeks he knew he was falling for Beth just as hard as he was for Zoe.
***
“Looks like you got a little sunburn there, missy,” Mitchell said a short while after Beth arrived at work.
Beth looked in the mirror and realized that her nose was still a tad bit red. She never wore much makeup, but this morning she had tried to cover it up with foundation, without much success. “As you know, Zoe and I spent some time on the water Saturday. The sun must have been stronger than I thought.”
“Oh, do tell,” he said with a cheesy grin. “How does Major Hottie look in a bathing suit?” His eyes were gleaming with mischief when he looked in the mirror and applied more hair gel to his bleached blonde hair.
Oh boy, looked like Mac has another nickname. First Zoe refused to call him anything other than Dr. Mac, which was his name, technically. But still, it was a bit embarrassing around other people. And now Mitchell was going to refer to him as Major Hottie. She hoped Mac never found out. Of course he would probably think it was funny.
“I wouldn’t know,” she answered simply, then realized her mistake by his next words.
“You skinny dipped? Oh, now I really need to know. It’s true what they say about the size of hands and feet. Trust me, I know.” He stopped and sent an exaggerated wiggle of his eyebrows, then continued on. “His feet looked to be close to a size thirteen?” His guess only served to add a blush to her mild sunburn.
“No, we didn’t skinny dip,” she rushed out. “We both had shorts on, not bathing suits, so no skinny-dipping. Zoe was with us, remember,” she reminded him, her face growing hotter—because she had looked at his feet when he was barefoot on the boat and thought the same thing Mitchell said. Not that she would ever admit that to Mitchell.
“Oh come on, you were there all day, right? Zoe naps,” he said. “Please tell me something happened. Otherwise I’m going to be really disappointed in him.” He turned away from the mirror and flamboyantly put a hand on the hip of the tight red shorts that he was sporting. With his white fitted shirt and whitish colored hair, he reminded Beth of an anorexic Santa Claus in the summer.
If it was possible, her face turned an even deeper shade of red at Mitchell’s questioning.
“I knew it, so give it up. Details—you know I need them. I give you girls all my details,” he told her.
“Yeah, but we don’t want them,” she replied. Thankfully they were the only two working at the moment, and no clients had arrived yet. “He kissed me. Three times,” she said, mumbling the last piece of information.
“What was that? Did you say three times?” he asked her, a knowing smirk filling his handsome face.
“Yes,” she said, spinning away, busying herself turning on her curling and flat irons, and organizing her station before her first appointment.
“Well?” he asked. “Details.”
“I’m not giving you details on how he kisses,” she said, mortified.
“I’m not asking about details on the actual kiss. Though,” he added on second thought, “maybe I wouldn’t mind knowing a few details.” On a dramatic huff, he waved his hand at her when shook her head. “Fine, another time. Details on what you felt. How did it feel?”
“You know I don’t have a lot to compare it to.”
“Don’t stall. I’m not asking for comparisons. I’m asking for how you felt when he kissed you. Each time, too, because I know each one felt different, right?”
How did he know those things? She never experienced anything different each time Derek kissed her, but she definitely did with Mac. At first it confused her, but thinking about it now, maybe talking to Mitchell would help. Maybe it was normal to feel something different each time.
“OK, first kiss. Nervous, because I wasn’t expecting it really.” Not that she would ever forget it, because it was special, all right. In front of the water, his hand on her face, his whiskey-colored eyes almost sizzling with emotion when he warned her of what he was about to do. It was perfect, and downright memorable.
She continued on. “The second time was when we were leaving. Zoe was in the backseat of my car and interrupted us. But before she did, I would say it was all heat, that lost-in-the-moment feeling.” At least she thought that was what it was, having never experienced it before.
Looking at Mitchell waving his hand in front of his face theatrically made her shake her head in amusement. “But that third and final kiss, well, that was when Zoe told him to kiss me again, because he had asked her permission. Wasn’t that sweet? Anyway, the last kiss.” She sighed and knew a dreamy look floated into her eyes. “That kiss, that one felt like I was falling.”
Mac had leaned in, placed his forehead to hers and smiled softly at her, his eyes seeming to hide some deep secret he longed to share, and share only with her. Then her breath lodged right in her throat when he whispered, “You heard her.” And lowered his mouth over hers.
There was nothing sexual at all about it, just his lips on hers, frozen in time. She swore her heart was beating out of her chest and had all she could do to make her jellified legs move in order to climb in her car and drive away.
***
Wednesday couldn’t have come soon enough for Mac. He was itching to see Beth and itching to get his hands on her again. Of course with Zoe around he wasn’t sure that was going to be possible. Most likely nothing more than a kiss, but he would take what he could get.
He had checked Zoe’s medical records when they finally arrived from her previous physician. Noticing she didn’t have any food allergies, he decided to pick up an ice cream cake for dessert. He didn’t know what dinner entailed, again not that he cared. He wanted to spend time with them, of course, and to celebrate Zoe’s cast coming off.
He knocked on her door a little after five, thankful he was able to get out of work on time. Fate must have been on his side that every appointment was on time for the day.
At her answer, he opened the door. A grin escaped his lips when he saw Beth walking through the living room, a pair of floral-patterned shorts riding high on her thighs again, with a red tank top.
“Whew, it’s hot in here,” he said, closing the door behind him.
“The air conditioner died yesterday.” She pointed to the unit in the window between the living room and kitchen. “Sorry, having the oven on isn’t helping much either.”
Looking around, he saw two fans blowing, one in the living room and one in the kitchen, and comment
ed, “It’s going to be tough to sleep in this heat.”
“I’ve got a unit in my bedroom. It’s on right now, but it’s a small one, so it’s not really cooling the whole place at the moment. Like I said, having the oven on is what makes it worse. It will be fine once I turn the oven off. No worries, I’ve slept in much worse.”
Zoe, having heard Mac’s voice, started yelling from the kitchen where he could see she was buckled into her booster seat coloring.
Mac walked in and went right to her, leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “It’s not pink anymore,” he said, tapping a long finger on the cream-colored splint now covering her little wrist and hand.
“No.” She pouted. “It’s ugly.”
“Oops,” Mac said, turning to look at Beth, who was currently bending over checking on whatever smelled delicious in the oven. The room heated up even more at the sight of her bent just so.
She turned, caught him staring, and tried to tug her shorts down a bit.
“Sorry.” He grinned sheepishly and cleared his throat. “Anyway, seems I brought up a bad topic.” He nodded to the cream-colored splint. “Oh, here, before it melts.” He handed her the bag in his hand. “Ice cream cake,” he mouthed to her, not wanting to cause any reaction out of Zoe before dinner.
“You’re learning,” she said with a nod at the box. “And yes, the splint isn’t nearly girly enough for Zoe. She would rather have the cast back on since it was pink. Me, I’m glad it’s gone because now she can soak in the tub without me worrying about her cast getting wet.”
The mention of the word “tub” got Zoe all excited. “Bath time?” she asked in a squeal.
“Guess even you make a mistake now and again.” He winked at her when Zoe looked anxiously toward the bathroom door.
Loosening his tie, he unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt, and rolled up his sleeves, then caught Beth’s grimace. “Maybe I should have warned you about the heat, not that I could do much about it. Mrs. Wilks has another air conditioner upstairs, but it was too heavy for the two of us to manage together. Her son will be over tomorrow to put it in for me.”
“No need to wait until then. Call her and let her know I’ll go up and get it now. Why didn’t you even think to ask me?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m used to doing everything on my own. I would have managed it somehow if Mrs. Wilks didn’t talk me out of it.”
A few minutes later, he walked out the door, up the stairs to get the air conditioner, carried it down, and quickly installed it. It was heavy, and he could imagine Beth hurting herself trying to do it on her own, and tried not to let his frustration show. “Much better,” he said when the cold air started to fill the room.
“Just in time, too,” she announced when she placed two homemade pizzas on the table. “One manly pie with cheese and pepperoni—Zoe’s favorite,” she added with a chuckle. “And one veggie pie for me. Which I will encourage Zoe to have some of as well.”
He didn’t know anyone who made homemade pizza. It was too much work and effort, especially in this heat. But she had no problem putting in the extra effort, least of all for Zoe, who clapped when the pizza was placed in front out her.
More surprising was Beth’s offer of a beer. She must have noticed what was in his refrigerator the other day. Unfortunately since he was on-call, he had to decline, but he was still touched that she went to the same amount of effort that he tried to do for them this weekend.
***
Several hours later lying in bed, Mac realized how much fun tonight was. If anyone had seen him sitting in Beth’s tiny apartment eating homemade pizza while a three-year-old happily tried to steal his slice, or later when he wiped the melted pink frosting from the ice cream cake that was smeared all over Zoe’s face, they would have thought he was crazy for loving every minute of it. He even thought he was a crazy at one point when he helped tuck Zoe in for the night, giving her a kiss and wishing her sweet dreams. But the smile she rewarded him with made it all worthwhile.
Even more so was the tender look Beth sent his way after she watched his interactions with Zoe. And the kiss she gave him when he left her apartment a few minutes later made the heat in her tiny apartment all worth it. Crazy or not, all he could think of at the moment was that it felt right.
Just Let Go
Between his rounds at the hospital, his office hours and meetings with Harper Construction, Mac had little to no time to talk to Beth, let alone see her and Zoe. Now three days later, he was finally able to leave the hospital, his third after-hour emergency in as many days.
But he couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he made his way across the hospital parking lot, hoping she was home. He knew she had to work today too, but was pretty sure Saturdays were only a half a day for her.
Beth picked up on the first ring. “Where are you?”
“Just leaving the hospital. I’m hoping tonight will be quiet. Where are you?” he asked, starting the car and turning the air conditioner on full blast.
“Walking to the playground with Zoe.”
He didn’t even bother to stop the groan. “Put her on the phone, please.”
“What?” she asked, clearly shocked. “You want to talk to Zoe on my phone?”
“Who, Mommy?” Mac heard in the background.
“Yes, put it on speakerphone so she can hear me,” Mac said.
“OK.”
“Zoe, can you hear me?” Mac asked.
“Dr. Mac,” Zoe cried out in delight.
“Yes, it’s Mac. Why won’t she call me Mac, Beth?” he asked in bewilderment, then he continued his conversation with Zoe. “No monkey bars. Do you hear me, Zoe?”
“Monkey bars!”
Mac could hear Zoe clapping her hands, despite the splint on her wrist, and her feet hitting the sidewalk. Images of her jumping up and down in excitement flashed into his brain. “No, no monkey bars. The slide and swing only, do you understand?” he asked patiently.
“No. I like the monkey bars,” she squealed enthusiastically. “The slide, too,” she informed him.
Beth laughed right after Mac sighed.
“Forget it. I’ll meet you two there. I’m not in the mood for another trip to the emergency room.” He disconnected the call and never heard Beth and Zoe giggling.
***
Mac arrived a few minutes after they did. Just in time to see Zoe walking up the wooden stairs of the slide, holding the railing with her good hand, with Beth standing at the bottom waiting to catch her.
“Dr. Mac,” Zoe yelled and took off on a run after Beth steadied her at the bottom of the slide.
He swung up her in his arms, tossed her high once, and then settled her on his hip.
“Monkey bars,” Zoe demanded, pointing to them eagerly.
“No, no monkey bars.” He tapped a finger on her splint. “Remember, you fell and hurt your arm. Those are for big kids. You are still too little for them,” he said, trying to explain.
She tilted her head to the side as if she was trying to comprehend his words, then she dropped her shoulders in defeat. “No monkey bars,” she said, sticking her bottom lip out.
Oh boy, talk about pulling on his heartstrings. It was for her safety, though. Geez, this was hard. He didn’t want to make her sad, so instead he tried to distract her. “How about I catch you at the bottom of the slide?”
“How do you do it?” he asked Beth a few minutes later while they watched Zoe walk around a structure weaving in and out of the big yellow tunnels. “How do you say no to that face?”
She smiled, reached up and brushed a piece of dirt from his cheek that Zoe must have transferred. “You only fall for it a few times. Then it’s easier to say no.”
He caught her hand in his, held her stare, and leaned in to kiss her. Only to be brought up short by Zoe popping out the tunnel closest to them and yelling, “Peek a boo.”
They jumped apart, guilty. Beth dipped her head in embarrassment, causing Mac
to laugh and give her a one armed hug.
After a good thirty minutes of running around, Mac offered to take them to dinner, claiming it was too hot to cook and he was roasting in his pants and shirt since he had come straight from work. The only good thing about working after hours or on the weekend was he didn’t feel it was necessary to dress in a suit.
Zoe and Beth quickly walked home, with Mac following slowly behind. He felt ridiculous following behind them like a stalker and was going to get a car seat to leave in his car the next chance he got.
Once they were finally seated in a booth at a local chain restaurant, Beth appeared nervous. “I’ve never taken her out to eat before; what if she misbehaves?”
“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? Besides, we can handle her between the two of us. Zoe’s a good girl, aren’t you, Zoe?” he asked her.
“I’m a good girl. Magic box?” she asked in delight.
He saw Beth try to smother a grin, but she wasn’t succeeding, most likely wanting to see how he would get out of this, so instead he said, “Absolutely, anything you want. We can go pick out a new toy if you’re a good girl here.”
With her eyes wide, her jaw dropped, stating, “Mac, that’s bribery. I don’t want her to think that every time she’s good, she gets a toy. She needs to learn to be good on her own.”
“She will. You can teach her that.” He smirked at her, then sent a wink to Zoe. “I’ll bribe her. That way I’ll be the good guy.”
She kicked him lightly under the table and chuckled when he winced.
***
Hours later, Mac joined Beth on the couch in her apartment. “Well, I guess it was a successful night.”
After a quick stop for a new toy, they had enough time for Zoe to play in the tub before she started to rub her eyes and declare it bedtime. Her pajamas were on, her teeth brushed, her hair combed, and she asked Mac to read her bedtime story, much to Beth’s dismay.