The Homespun Holiday by Sarah O'Rourke Read Free Book Online Page B

that enough time to get
off work and get Paisley to your parents’ house?”
    Millie nodded as she began to climb
into the cab of the truck, her mind reeling as she tried to keep up with their
conversation.  Things were happening so quickly that she felt like she’d
somehow fallen into an alternate universe – one where sexy-as-sin doctors
wanted to spend time with her outside of work.  “Yeah, that’ll be…great,” she
acknowledged, her voice a little shaky.  Offering him a dazed look, she shook
her head. 
    “What?” he growled in that surly
voice she knew so well.
    “I don’t understand what’s
happening here, Doc,” she said truthfully.  “Have you just asked me out on a date ?”
she asked, her eyes twinkling with enthusiasm as her heart pounded in her
chest.
    Mack’s face flushed and he
shrugged.  “Why is it so important to women to label everything?  We’re gonna
share a meal tonight.  If you wanna call it a date, I can’t stop you,” he
declared before slamming the door on her reply.
    “I’ll be damned,” Millie muttered
to herself as she watched him slowly circle the SUV to reach the driver’s
side.  “It’s an honest-to-God Christmas miracle.”

Three:  You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
     
    “What the hell was I thinking?”
    Pacing the length of his living
room, his footsteps echoing against the wood floors, he shoved a hand through
his hair, making it stand on end.  “Seriously, Nugget?  What the hell was I
thinking?” he asked, turning to look at the massive black dog sprawled across
the hearth in front of the fireplace.
    Nugget’s only reply was a
snort….probably one of annoyance if Mack was reading man’s best friend
correctly.  Nugget never liked his naptime interrupted over trivial human
matters.
    “You’re right, Nug.  I wasn’t
thinking.  I’m not even sure how it happened.  It was like the neurons in my
brain quit firing and my dick took control of my mouth.  Next thing I know, I’d
asked her out.  For tonight.  Alone.  With no buffers between us,” he rambled,
skirting furniture as he made another lap around the room.    Pausing as he
reached the window, he looked outside into the darkening evening.  “I should
just call and cancel, right?” he asked with a look at his dog.
    Nugget yawned.
    “Yeah, you’re right.  I can’t do
that to her,” he agreed, as if the dog had actually spoken to him.  “That’d be
an asshole move on my part.  Of course, she might expect that coming from me,”
he reasoned, absently stroking his jaw.  “Hell, if I’d just denied this was a
date when she asked me about it, I’d feel a lot better.  But I didn’t, damn
it.  I was the typical smartass I always am and told her that she should call tonight
whatever she wanted.  Christ, could I have been a bigger douchebag?” he asked,
turning to look at his dog for his opinion.
    Evidently his dog’s own ass was more
interesting than he was because Nugget simply went right on licking it.
    Dropping his hands on his hips,
Mack looked at the clock hanging above the plasma television.  It was already
half past five.  She was expecting him by six.  Since she only lived ten
minutes away, he had plenty of time.  Dropping into the leather recliner in the
corner – the one where he sat and read at night – he dropped his head back
against the chair.  “Fuck,” he groaned out loud.  He didn’t know whether he
dreaded tonight or was excited by it.  It had been years … literal years…
since he’d taken a woman out on a date.  Sure, he’d fucked women more recently
than that, but those were chicks he’d picked up in a bar or at a medical
conference ... women that he’d had a few hours of shameless fun with before
sending them on their merry way.  Each one of them had been carefully selected
and knew the score before their clothes had ever come off.  If any of those
ladies had been interested in more than the number of orgasms he could give