Dirty: The Complete Series (Secret Baby Romance Love Story) (39 page)

“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 2

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 couple 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.