Daddy's Christmas Date Read online

  He gave an exaggerated nod. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  I grinned and looked over my shoulder at the man who looked too young to have a kid. “Are you doing okay, Dad?”

  “That’s my Uncle Blake and he’s a dead man.” His words were so grave I nearly laughed and looked at Bobby with a question in my gaze. “He said my daddy’s gonna kill him. But he won’t. My dad’s a nice guy.”

  “I’m sure he is, kid. Now I need you to hold still.” He froze, breath held and eyes squeezed tight. “Okay maybe hum a little so you’re not so nervous.”

  “I’m not nervous.”

  “Sure. You’re brave as a bee.” He began to hum and I nudged the forceps around the marble, loosening it slowly before finally freeing it. “All right!” I held my hand up for a high five and he smacked it with a proud grin.

  The door burst open and I turned. “Where is…Bobby, what happened?” The man was huge, close to six and a half feet with short blonde hair and stormy grey eyes.

  “Dad, Dr. Dani took a marble from my nose!”

  Dad, okay. I slid to the side and examined the man more carefully. He was big, exuding masculinity and virility. He was a delicious looking man who made me think things no woman should think in the presence of a child. “He might have swallowed a few marbles as well, so I need to check his stomach.”

  Was that my voice, sounding all deep and husky? Who could blame me with six and a half feet of tall, brooding male? Never mind that gentle look and soft tone he used with his son. His son. Which meant a wife, because of course a guy like that had a wife. Probably a girlfriend too.

  “Right. Do I know you?”

  “Oh brother,” the other man said with a hint of amusement.

  I rolled my eyes at the lame pickup line. “Doubtful.” I would have remembered a specimen as fine as that.

  “No seriously.” He looked at me carefully, a serious expression on his face. He stood a little too close and he smelled too good for my peace of mind. Like man and earth and motor oil. “You look familiar.”

  This man could make a woman forget herself. Forget that she’s off men, that she has a coffee date. Crap! “Excuse me.” I quickly sent Ty a message telling him that I was running late. “Okay Bobby are we ready for the next part?”

  He nodded bravely. “I can do it Dr. Dani.”

  “I never had any doubt.”

  “That’s it,” his voice boomed loud, startling even his son. “Dani. Dani with the deep and abiding but ladylike love of cheesecake.”

  Oh. My. God. This man, this work of art, this descendant of Achilles was Ty? “In the flesh, which makes you FlyGuy.”

  “You can just call me Ty,” he grinned and pulled his phone out, grin growing bigger at his message. “Talk about a small world. My coffee date has a work emergency.”

  “Too bad. Maybe if you’re lucky she’ll make it up to you.” Yep, apparently I now flirted with my patients’ parents.

  “I intend to make sure she does,” he shot back, his voice deep and smooth like an aged whiskey.

  A shiver went through me at his words, and I noticed two sets of eyes, rapt at the byplay between us. “Right. Well Bobby and I should get started. Do you need your dad or your uncle, kiddo?”

  He puffed his chest out. “No. I can do it by myself.”

  “Never had a doubt.” He flushed at my words, grabbing my hand as I led him to another room with an ultrasound machine. He hopped up on the table and asked me a million questions.

  “Do you have a boyfriend, or a husband?”

  “No.”

  “Do you want one?”

  I laughed. “Are you applying for the role kid?”

  He laughed. “You’re pretty, but too old for me. Maybe, never mind.”

  “Thanks. You’re pretty too.”

  “I’m a boy,” he said with a pout, wincing as the cool gel slid over his tummy.

  “Boys can be pretty too, but fine, you’re very manly and handsome if those words please you.”

  “You’re a strange doctor.”

  I laughed again. “Story of my life, Bobby.”

  “You’re nice though and I like your blue hair. Do you have a mom?”

  “Yeah. We all have a mom.”

  “Not me,” he said sadly. “My mom died the day I was born so I never got to meet her.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, she’d love to see what a cool kid you are.”

  “Thanks Dr. Dani. She loved to cook and so do I.”

  I wiped his belly and pulled his shirt down to cover him. “Really? Me too, but I’m not all that great at it.”

  “What do you like to cook?”

  “My specialty is fried chicken with mac & cheese.”

  His silver blue eyes went wide and round. “Can we have dinner together Dr. Dani? I make good desserts, really.”

  The first good offer I’ve had in ages, and it’s a seven year old kid. “I think your dad might have a problem with that.”

  He giggled and shook his head. “Maybe. He likes girls though, and Uncle Blake says he needs a woman, not an airhead. What’s an airhead Dr. Dani?”

  “It’s someone who isn’t very smart, and it’s not really a nice word.” Kids really got right down to the heart of things. It was refreshing. And painful.

  “Oh. My dad is really smart. He knows how to fly planes and how to fix anything. He can also start a fire.”

  Great so Ty was even better than he seemed online. What hope did I have of keeping a guy who looked like that, was a great father and a Mr. Fix-it? None.

  “Yeah? Let’s go find him then.” We didn’t have to go far because Ty waited with a worried expression on the other side of the door.

  “How is he? Will he be okay?”

  “Yep. He should pass them out in the next twenty four hours so make sure you monitor him. There should be no pain but if there is, go to the ER and have them call me.”

  “Thank you, Dani.” He leaned in so close I got another long enticing whiff of him, and honest to goodness I inhaled deeply. His lips quivered with a smile that said he knew what I was doing but I couldn’t even feel shame or guilt because I was mesmerized by the tiny flecks of gold and blue in his eyes.

  “Silver, not gray.”

  “Huh? Oh, yeah well I guess it is all about perspective,” he said sheepishly.

  I can’t believe I said that out loud. “Anyway, Bobby will be good as new. Nothing to worry about.” I took a step back and took in each of the men, so similar but also very different. “Um, I’ll need you to complete the forms before you leave.”

  “Oh shit, I didn’t know. This was closer than the ER.”

  I looked to Blake, and gave a polite smile. “Don’t worry about it. If I’m here, I’m willing to help. But the paperwork has to be done.”

  “Right behind you Dani.” Did the man have to be such an outrageous flirt with that sexy come hither smile and eyes that sparkled. “So how about I take you for a late dinner,” he asked when we were alone at the reception desk.

  “I would love that, but…”

  He frowned. “But?”

  “But you’re on bathroom duty for the next twenty four hours to make sure he gets rid of those marbles.”

  “Oh. Bathroom duty. Right. Tomorrow then?”

  I gasped, feigning surprise. “A Friday night date for our first date? Isn’t that a little taboo?”

  He flashed an easy grin that showed off the sharp edges of his cheekbones and jaw, the straight line of his nose and the perfect crescent moon of his smile. “I’m a real rule breaker, Dr. Dani.”

  Oh, he was a real charmer. Handsome and funny, sexy and flirtatious. Why on earth did that site think we were a matched set? “I have a feeling that you, Ty, are a real troublemaker.”

  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”

  Yeah, he was going to be trouble.

  Big, sexy trouble.

  Ty

  “Wow you look fantastic.”

  She looked more than that
in a sexy blue number that made her body look incredible. It clung to her narrow waist, highlighting small but perky breasts, only to draw attention to firm, sculpted arms and legs. Her hair fell around her shoulders in a curtain of light waves with blue ends that only drew my attention to her cleavage.

  “Well thank you Ty, you look pretty amazing yourself.” Her gaze raked me over twice, heavy and hot enough to feel like a caress. “Really amazing, actually.” An adorable blush stole over her cheeks as if she were embarrassed by her admission.

  “I guess Bobby was right, I needed to dress to impress.”

  “This place is great!” She looked around at the light Mediterranean décor, smiling at the small touches of blue, sandstone and mosaic tabletops. “I’ve been here for going on five years and I’ve never even heard of this place.”

  “Blake found it, said we must try the tapas.”

  She laughed and the sound was sweet and sexy, causing my cock to tighten under the table. “Then we must.” Her smile was so damn sweet, like the girl next door only if the girl next door had a Mona Lisa smile that said she knew a joke the rest of us didn’t. “How’s Bobby?”

  “Great. He’s a pretty big fan of yours, says you love fried chicken and macaroni as much as he does.”

  “He’s right, I do. Your kid is already a charmer. My heart aches for the girls who fall for him.”

  “Well between me and Blake, he’s been taught well how to get his way. But there aren’t many women around so he may be rusty where girls are concerned.”

  “Yeah maybe, but somehow I doubt it.” She smiled again, eyes lit beautifully as the waiter came to take our order. “Tapas and wine sounds great, you pick.”

  “Is this a trick?”

  She laughed and rolled her eyes. “No, I just want to see what you choose.”

  “No complaining about my choices, right?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not a picky eater Ty. Unless as there are no sardines, anchovies, capers or sun dried tomatoes I’m fine.”

  My shoulders sank at her serious expression. She would hate the meal and things would start off awkwardly. “Well, you let me choose,” I grumbled.

  She stared so damn long I thought I might lose my temper. Women were so damn confusing, always being contrary just because they could. Like it was a good thing to be mysterious. Then I heard it, a snicker. A chuckle.

  “I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you, but at your face,” she panted, clutching her side under the force of her laughter. “I couldn’t tell if you were going to kill me or force me to eat the tapas,” she said in an exaggerated Spanish accent.

  Soon, I was laughing right along with her. “Yeah okay, you got me.”

  “I really am not a picky eater, Ty. It’ll be fine. And if it’s not, I’m happy to drown it in wine.” She grinned and took another sip. “Can I ask you something personal?”

  I nodded, but my body tensed immediately, wondering what she wanted to know. Would she inquire about my wealth, or would she want the nitty gritty details of my time in the service? That’s usually what it boiled down to, which is why I’d given up about eighteen months after I started dating again.

  “Sure.”

  “What made you choose the Air Force?”

  Her question caught me off guard and I smiled. It had been a long time since a woman pleasantly surprised me. “The simple answer is that I always wanted to fly.”

  “I’ll bet it feels amazing to be right up front, staring out the window while you’re going faster than the speed of sound. I’d kill for a chance to do that, if I wasn’t a big ol’ chicken.”

  “It didn’t suck.”

  There went that melodic laugh again that encouraged me to join in. “I can only imagine. So what’s the complicated answer?”

  “I wanted to fly and I didn’t want any special treatment because my dad was a SEAL. Everyone expected I would go to the Navy like him, but I needed to do something different.”

  “You wanted to serve, but you wanted to be your own man. I admire that.”

  “Sometimes I still miss it.” I don’t know what possessed me to share that with her, but Dani was easy to talk to. She had a ready smile and she knew a lot about, well, about everything.

  I learned a lot about her over dinner. In addition to her love of classic rock, she has a thing for sexy lingerie, eclairs and French fries. She was a Trekkie and an avid reader. “What do you read?”

  “Anything. Everything. Romance, history, biographies, medical journals, erotica and pretty much everything in between.” She grinned. “I read whenever I have a free moment.”

  “You sound like Bobby. The kid reads anything we put in front of him, and some things we don’t.”

  “Surely two tech savvy guys like you don’t have old school porn?”

  I laughed at that. “No, we don’t. But Blake is a collector of old dirty magazines, the rarer the better.”

  “Oh. My. God!”

  “Yeah you can pretty much guess that Bobby was mesmerized, curious as all hell, and still completely obsessed with boobs.”

  “There’s another thing you three have in common.”

  “Yeah I guess that’s true. Though, I have to say I’m more of an ass man.”

  It might have something to do with the fact that she had the most perfectly round, juiciest ass I’d seen in a very long time. I liked it all, tits and ass and everything in between. But Dani’s ass was the stuff of dreams. In that dress, all I could think about was bending her over, squeezing those fleshy globes in my hands as I pounded into her like I needed to lose myself.

  “Really? Because I too am an ass man,” she said in a perfect deadpan.

  I laughed again and leaned forward. “And how does my ass rate?”

  She leaned forward with her own sultry smile. “Get up and go to the bathroom and I’ll let you know.”

  I stood a little too fast and the chair skidded back on the hard wooden floor, drawing a few stares. I didn’t go to the bathroom, but I did take the long path to the counter to pay the bill, smiling the whole time as I felt the weight of her stare on my ass, but not just my ass. My legs, my back and—holy hell—when I turned around to come back she still stared, openly and with enough appreciation to make a grown man blush.

  “Well?”

  “It’s so good I want to sink my teeth into it.”

  I choked on a breath at her words but damn she threw fire in my blood with her words and made my cock thicken with her stare. “Good to know.”

  “I’m not easy Ty, but you are very nice to look at. Kind of bums me out that I like talking to you too.”

  “Why?”

  “If this was a bad date I could just tune you out and stare at you all night.”

  “Now you have to talk to me?”

  She nodded. “Don’t you just hate when they’re handsome and well spoken?”

  “It’s the absolute worst,” I grinned, enjoying the way her big blue eyes darkened as it narrowed in on my mouth.

  Dani sat back and fanned herself. “You are far too potent FlyGuyTy. I’m not sure my inner nerd-girl can handle you.”

  “Inner nerd-girl?”

  She laughed and her cheeks stained a beautiful shade of pink. “Okay inner and outer, but I only like you more now for knowing that already. Check please!”

  “I already paid,” I reminded her, a bemused smile on my face.

  “Right. I had a fun time with you tonight Ty, and that usually doesn’t happen.”

  I shared that sentiment and worse, I wasn’t ready for the night to be over yet. “Invite me over for a nightcap.”

  “I’m not sleeping with you,” she told me, punctuating her words with a finger aimed at my chest.

  “I said a drink, not a screw.”

  “Not sleeping with you, Ty.”

  “Whatever you need to tell yourself, Dr. Dani.”

  “Hey, I have tongue depressors and I’m not afraid to use them.”

  “Sounds kinky,” I added just because watching h
er blush fascinated me.

  “It’s not. It’s painful. Very painful.”

  “Will we need a safe word?”

  She nodded and whispered, “No. Don’t you know Ty? No word is safe.”

  I swallowed and stood, using her body to shield the view of my boner from the other diners. “I’ll remember you said that,” I whispered in her ear, enjoying a satisfied smile when she stumbled right into my arms.

  “I can’t believe you’ve never had cheesecake bites!” She spoke with excitement as she kicked off her sexy black fuck me pumps that had driven me mad all night. “They’re bite size like candy, only they’re cheesecake.”

  I sat on a very plush sofa that instantly relaxed my body. “They sound amazing, but I can honestly say that I didn’t even know they existed until this moment.”

  “Get comfortable, because I am about to rock your world.” Her cheeks pinkened again. “You know what I mean.”

  “And you said you weren’t sleeping with me tonight. Guess you’re thinking about it.” I relaxed further into the sofa, stretching my arms across the back and crossing my leg at the knee.

  “I’m not dead Ty, but I’m also not easy.”

  “Good, because easy is boring.”

  Women, for the most part, weren’t complicated creatures. Not when you were attractive and wealthy, never mind a widower. But Dani wasn’t easy. She wanted me, but she was looking for a reason not to. A strange twist of events.

  She popped her head back into the living room with a grin. “So, you’re saying if I offered sex to you right now…?”

  “I’d be up and pressed against you before you could finish the sentence. But that’s not easy. You’ll make me work for it Dani, I’m sure of that. You’ll make me work hard for that first orgasm and probably even harder for that second one. By then, I’ll know all the spots to tease you. To taste to. To lick you until you scream. No, it won’t be easy, but fuck, it will be fun.”

  She let out a sexy little gasp and licked her lips before disappearing back into the kitchen. “Damn potent man.”

  I chuckled at her flustered state, glancing around her living room at the art and the photos on the wall. “Who’s the woman?”