A Perfect Holiday Fling (8 page)

“Holy shit.” Stefan collapsed onto the stool and clutched a hand to his chest. “I thought the damn cat had coughed up an internal organ.”

“I don’t think she would be sitting here doing her best Cleopatra impersonation if that was the case.”

Callie inspected the stitches on her injured ear. The tabby looked a lot healthier than she had just a few days ago. Her new owners seemed to be taking good care of her.

“Is she eating regularly? Using her litter box?”

“Yeah,” Stefan said. Standing again, he walked over to the exam table.

Callie gave the cat’s belly a rub before turning to Stefan and folding her arms over her chest. “So, what happened to the guy who was hell bent on getting rid of this cat?”

A rueful grin pulled at his lips. “Okay, so she’s starting to grow on me.” He ran a hand down his face. “Hell, I actually looked for
her
this morning instead of the other way around. You’d think I’ve never read the damn paper without her in my lap.”

She couldn’t stifle her laugh a second longer.

“You find this funny?”

“I find it adorable,” she answered.

His brow hitched in that terribly sexy way that made Callie’s insides tremble.

“Really? Adorable.” He took a step closer. “Well, that sounds like something I can work with.”

Instant heat fluttered in her chest, and butterflies filled her belly. A tiny voice told her to back away, but Callie decided that the voice belonged to her evil twin who didn’t want her to get laid. That voice could go hang itself. She took a step forward just as Stefan did the same, closing the space between them.

He paused a hairsbreadth from her lips and whispered, “This is when you tell me to stop.”

Callie gave her head a slight shake. She wasn’t stopping anything.

A devilish glint sparkled in his eyes as he leaned forward and joined his mouth to hers. He started out slow, gently brushing his firm lips against hers, but that gentleness soon gave way to an ardor that had her nerve endings standing at attention. His tongue swept along the seam of her lips, the moist tip teasing her, gradually prodding before pushing its way inside.

Stefan backed them up until she was pressed against the wall, hemmed in by his powerful arms on either side of her head.

Callie’s eyes drifted closed as his solid chest met hers. Her nipples tightened with want, the pleasurable ache seeping into her bones, lighting her on fire from the inside out.

Their tongues jockeyed for position, with Stefan’s eventually winning out as he plundered her mouth, his tongue ebbing, then advancing in a back and forth motion that had her entire body shivering with need.

Callie didn’t know how much time had passed before she was finally able to tear herself away from the kiss that would go down in the annals of all-time best kisses she’d ever experienced. She put a hand to her forehead as she backed away, not stopping until she hit the edge of the exam table.

“Okay, what was that?” Callie said.

His chest still rising and falling with his rapid breaths, Stefan eyed her with a curious stare. “I told you to tell me to stop if it wasn’t something you wanted.”

“I know…I just.” She sat on the edge of the exam table and picked up Sandy, who instantly started to purr and rub her cheek against Callie’s chest. “I need to know what we’re doing here, Stefan. I mean, was that just a kiss because you’re happy your cat didn’t cough up a lung, or—”

“That kiss had nothing to do with the cat.” He advanced on her, lifting Sandy from her lap and tugging her hand until Callie stood. He reached for her other hand and enclosed them both between his rough, warm palms.

“Enough of this talking around the issue stuff. I like you,” he said. “A lot.”

“Uh…okay,” she stumbled, then inwardly cringed.
Okay?

His lips quirked. “You like me too, Callie. You can admit it. I won’t tell anybody you’re playing favorites.”

She choked out a laugh, despite the tangle of nerves twisting in her stomach.

She was going to do this. She was going to embark on a holiday fling with Stefan Sutherland. And she was going to enjoy the hell out of it.

“Alright, I’ll admit that I find you…interesting.”

He continued to stare at her.

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, I like you, too. God, I feel like I’m back in high school.”

“I drove all the girls crazy in high school.”

She arched a brow. “Cocky much?”

“I’m a naval fighter pilot; it’s in the job description.” He twisted them around and perched his hip on the exam table. “So, now that we’ve established that you find me unbelievably hot, what are we going to do about it?”

She would choose to have a holiday fling with the cockiest man in Maplesville.

He tipped his head to the side. “I know. How do you feel about playing tour guide?”

“For you?”

“Yeah. I need someone to show me around Maplesville. I’m still new here. I haven’t had a chance to see much of this place.”

“But I thought you weren’t going to be around for all that long?”

Why was she still coming up with excuses? She wanted this. She wanted
him.

“The length of my stay is still undetermined. But as long as I’m here, I might as well enjoy myself, right? Are you busy tonight?”

“You want to go out on a Monday night?”

He shrugged. “Why not?”

“What about Jacob and Sandy?”

“Jacob’s spending the night at his friend Kennedy’s. They’re having some big kickoff to Christmas break sleepover.” He gestured toward Sandy. “Ms. Hairball here should be good on her own for a few hours.”

Callie barked out a laugh, then she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Okay,” she finally answered, barely able to suppress the nervous, giddy excitement surging through her. “I still have several surgeries, but why don’t you pick me up around seven. Have you ever eaten at Emile’s?”

He shook his head.

“It’s in Gauthier, about twenty minutes east of here. The Christmas in Gauthier celebration is going on right now. If I’m going to impress you with what this area has to offer, that’s the perfect place to do it.”

His eyes traveled languidly up and down her body, setting off sparks along her nerve-endings.

“For the record, you’ve already impressed me with what this area has to offer, Dr. Webber.” He leaned forward and placed a swift kiss against her lips. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

Chapter Six

“Exactly how did a scorpion get attached to your…uh, your junk?”

“How else? A dare, of course.”

“Of course.” Callie rolled her eyes.

“Hey, I was one of the new guys. I wanted to make an impression on the men in my unit.”

“By walking around with a scorpion dangling from your dangly parts? I can’t even imagine what kind of impression you were trying to make.”

“Thought it’d show them that I was fearless. Ended up just showing them that I can be dumb as shit. And that I have a high tolerance for pain. I never even flinched.”

Callie’s laugher turned the heads of several people dining on the outside patio at Emile’s Restaurant in nearby Gauthier, where they had been eating and conversing for over an hour already. Stefan had conceded that the place was far nicer than anything he had been expecting. Located on the town’s Main Street, which looked as if it had been lifted straight out of a Normal Rockwell painting, the restaurant, with its rich, dark brown hardwood floors, shimmering, elegant chandeliers, and crisp linen table cloths, could hold its own with anything he’d seen in downtown New Orleans.

Despite the chill in the air, he and Callie had opted for the patio, which was adorned with huge poinsettias, strings of sparkling lights, and the faint sound of Christmas music being piped out of discreetly hidden speakers. Tall heat lamps strategically placed around the patio made it just warm enough to enjoy the clear, crisp night without freezing to death.

“How’s your crab cake?” Callie asked.

“Delicious.” He held out a forkful. “You want to try?”

She shook her head. “I can’t. Allergic to seafood.”

“Damn, that must be hard as hell living here on the Gulf Coast.”

“Tell me about it. I’ve fallen victim to temptation twice, and barely lived to regret it both times. I go into anaphylactic shock and my throat starts to close up.”

Stefan slid his plate closer to his side of the table. “Nothing is worth that kind of trouble.” He set his fork aside and picked up his bottle of the strawberry lager brewed in nearby Abita Springs. “So, other than not being able to eat the seafood, how was it growing up around here?”

“Your typical childhood, I guess. This is just home for me,” she said with a shrug. She reached for her wineglass and took a sip. “I know the people. They know me. There’s something very comforting about that. You know, I lived in Baton Rouge for eight years while going to college and med school and I didn’t even know my postman’s name. After eight years.”

“Maplesville is definitely the type of town where you know your postman.”

“His oldest son was my prom date,” she chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong. Living in a small town like Maplesville can sometimes feel…I don’t know…claustrophobic. But the people become a part of your extended family. The town becomes a part of you.”

“I’m happy my sister and Brandon found this place. They could have lived in New Orleans, but Stef didn’t want Jacob growing up in the city. She wanted somewhere smaller, safer. The kind of place where you know your postman by name,” he said with a grin.

“Well, she found the right place. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather live,” Callie said, but then her face suddenly sobered.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“No, something got to you just now. What is it?”

She set down her wine glass and crossed her arms on the table. Releasing a deep breath, she began, “I’ve been contemplating the idea of closing down my practice and moving back to Baton Rouge. A colleague has offered me a place in his veterinary practice.”

Stefan’s head reared back. That wasn’t what he’d been expecting her to say.

He also hadn’t expected the sudden ache that spread throughout his chest. He’d only met Callie a few weeks ago. How could the thought of her possibly leaving have such an effect on him?

Stefan forced himself to maintain a neutral expression as she told him about the multi-person practice she’d been invited to join.

“It sounds like a good opportunity,” he said.

“It has its plusses and minuses. I’m more than happy to give up all the headaches that come with running my own practice, but the thought of having to work for someone else…I just don’t know.” She shook her head. “This year hasn’t been the easiest, so maybe the change of scenery would be good for me. And, it’s just me. It’s not as if I would be uprooting a family.”

“What about pets?”

“Actually, a good friend just told me today that she’s opening her own clinic here in Gauthier. Right across the street, as a matter of fact. So my patients in Maplesville won’t have to travel too far.”

“I meant your own pet.”

She frowned, then said, “I don’t own a pet.” She put her hands up. “I know. I know. What veterinarian doesn’t own a pet?” She finished off what was left in her wineglass with a grimace. “I lost my Bichon Frise in the divorce.”

“Ouch.” Stefan flinched.

“Tell me about it.” Her mouth twisted as if she’d just swallowed castor oil. “Louisiana is a community property state, which means that my husband was entitled to half of everything we owned. He offered not to come after the house if he could have the dog. He knew I didn’t have the money to buy him out of his half, so I agreed.”

Callie shrugged. “He traded a house for a dog. Some would say that was decent of him.”

“I don’t know,” Stefan said. “Still sounds like a bastard to me.”

“Yes, he is,” she agreed with a sharp nod. “The only reason he took Atticus is because his new girlfriend wanted him, which makes it so much worse. She probably has frilly ribbons tied around my dog’s ears.”

“That would be tragic, especially if he’s stuck with a name like Atticus, too.”

“Hey, I named him after Atticus Finch from
To Kill a Mockingbird
. It’s a noble name.”

“Whatever you say.” He hunched his shoulders as he took another draught from his beer. He pointed the bottle at her. “It sounds to me as if you’re lucky to be rid of your ex.”

“I am, for a number of reasons. And now I have another,” she said. “If I were still married, I wouldn’t be here with you tonight.”

The heat that shot to his groin was instant and scorching. Why did her voice have to take on that ultra-sexy lilt?

Stefan drained the rest of the beer in an attempt to cool himself off.

Callie brought her elbows up on the table and set her chin on her folded hands. “You know, this is the first date I’ve been on that I was actually looking forward to, because it’s something that
I
wanted to do, and not something that well-meaning friends set me up on.”