A Daddy Sent By Santa

She’d had her share of difficult times as well. Like losing a husband. Being a single mother. Maybe Paxton wasn’t as soft as the fine cut of his coat or the brand name of his shoes implied. After the last few hours she suspected that, like his hands, his life had had some rough spots. “I need to make a phone call then I’ll go get that pizza. I’ll just step in the bathroom to talk.”

* * *

Paxton wasn’t sure exactly when he’d entered this surreal vortex in time and space where his life had gotten completely out of his control, but he had to find a way to take back some degree of it soon. If two weeks ago someone had predicted that he would be in Oklahoma stranded in a motel room with a pretty young woman who turned out to be his office nurse as well as his personal caretaker during a blizzard, he would have called them a quack. He should be on his honeymoon in the Mediterranean. With a cheat.

He listened to the soft burr of Lauren’s voice. “Hi, sweetheart. I’m not going to make it home tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow.” There was a pause. “I love you too.”

So she had a boyfriend. He noted she hadn’t told the guy she was spending the night with him in a hotel room. Paxton harrumphed. As if he could do anything about it even if he had a chance. All he could think about was getting a hot bath and climbing into bed. The medicine he’d been given made him want to do nothing but sleep.

When Gabriella had pulled her final dramatic stunt, he’d never believed it would lead to him having potential frostbite and spending the night in a seedy motel with a woman. He and Gabriella had been an off-and-on couple most of their youth. Their families were close, ran in the same social circle of longtime Bostonians with the correct pedigrees. As adults, it seemed that both sets of parents had expected them to marry. Paxton had cared about Gabriella and had believed she’d felt the same about him. His parents had been encouraging him to marry her for years. For once he had been doing something they blessed.

He’d always been a bit of a rebel in their eyes. He’d gone to a West Coast college instead of the Eastern one all the family members had attended. Between college and medical school, he’d secretly applied to the Peace Corps and spent a year helping in a North African medical clinic. His parents had been vocally displeased. They had anticipated he would finish his medical training and join the clinic that held their family name. Many a time he’d seen disapproval on their faces. It wasn’t until he and Gabriella had become engaged that he’d finally felt they were proud of him. Apparently, and most disconcertingly, Gabriella had found him wanting as a potential mate.

Lauren emerged from the bathroom, slipping her cell phone into her pants pocket. She definitely caught his interest with her glorious mass of long dark hair, smooth skin with cheeks still rosy from the cold and those dark eyes that were intelligent while at the same time tender and caring. Even with her heavy coat on, he suspected there were nice curves beneath. Lauren’s wholesomeness was appealing after Gabriella’s contrived sophistication.

“I’m going to go see about some food now. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Feeling a vulnerability he hated, he had no choice but to ask, “Uh...before you go, could you help me out of these damp clothes?”

Her eyes widened and her full-lipped mouth went slack.

Where had her thoughts gone? He held up his bandaged hands. “I don’t think I can unbutton my coat. Or my shirt for that matter.”

It rubbed him the wrong way to need her help. How did it look? Here he was the new physician in town who was supposed to take care of others and he couldn’t even take care of himself. He wasn’t making a good impression, he was sure. If he wasn’t careful Lauren would be the one people turned to instead of him.

Her look had changed from one of surprise to sympathy as she looked at his hands. “I’m sorry. I should’ve thought. Doesn’t make me look like much of a nurse.”

“I’d disagree with that. I saw you in action today.” He stood.

Lauren appeared small and fragile in front of him but there was strength there, he knew. Her warmth seeped into him as she continued into his personal space. A handful of her hair fell over her face, stirring his awareness further. What did it feel like? Was it as silky as it looked? He inhaled. She smelled of the outdoors. Fresh, clean. Alive.

“Well, let’s get your coat off, then I’ll help you with your shirt.” Her fingers worked the buttons of his jacket, opening all of them before pushing it off his shoulders and throwing it on the bed.

She hesitated before her hands moved to his shirt.

Paxton didn’t miss the tremor in her hands. “This isn’t your first time to undress a ma...uh, patient?”

“No. I trained in a big hospital.” A firmness had entered her voice. “Cut a number of patients’ clothes off as well.”

Was she reminding him this was strictly business for her? Which it should be. But her hair looked so silky. That wasn’t something he should be thinking. Even if being strangers was keeping them apart he still couldn’t take a chance on being rejected. His self-esteem was battered enough. Besides, they were going to be working together. “I don’t think that will be necessary this time.”

Her gaze held a twinkle as it met his for a second before she continued to work the buttons of his shirt. He couldn’t deny his body’s reaction to her standing so close. Whether he knew her or not. He suddenly felt warm all over. From his vantage point her movements were the efficient and functionary ones of a nurse except for the tremor of her hands. At least he wasn’t the only one affected. “I’m sorry you have to do this. It’s embarrassing to be so helpless.”

Lauren worked quickly. “Hey, it happens to all of us sometime. It’s just your turn this time.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

She smiled. It was a nice one. “I’d just put it down to this entire evening being unusual.” Her tone turned matter-of-fact.

As she finished he said, “Now I’m reaching for a new level of mortification.” Would his male ego survive this? “I hate to say this but I’m going to need help with my pants button as well.”

Lauren smiled. “I’ve heard that it’s good for a doctor to be a patient every once in a while. It gives them more empathy for their patients.”

“Then I’ll have that in abundance.” His disgust rang loud and true.

She freed his pants button. “I think you can handle things from here. And I’m hungry. I’m going after that pizza.”

He was hungry too, and on the verge of being turned on.

Seconds later a draft of wind brushed over him before the door closed and he was alone. Paxton eyed the bed. He was going to lie down while she was gone. His fingers tingled as if little pins were being pushed into his skin. Maybe if he raised them above his heart they wouldn’t hurt so much.

A bath could wait. He finished removing his clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. Removing the pants of the scrub set from the package, he pulled them on. Lauren could have the top.

He slipped between the cold sheets that made the skin of his bare back ripple. Piling one pillow on top of the other, he placed them above his head before he pulled the covers into place. He raised his hands and rested them on the pillows. He shivered until sleep took him. The only time he’d been warm in the last two weeks had been when Lauren had stood near him.

* * *

Lauren made her way across the parking lot, grateful for the chilling wind after the hot moments she’d spent with who was in essence her new boss, a stranger. Her credibility as a nurse had never been more in question than when she had been undoing Paxton’s pants. Thoughts that were better left dormant had been projected in 3D, full-color, jumbo size.

She’d glanced at Paxton to find a wicked gleam in his jade-colored eyes. Heat rushed to her cheeks at the memory. That had been no patient and nurse moment. It had been about two people attracted to each other on the most basic of human levels. She’d hurried through the process with shaking hands. Even as she’d unbuttoned his shirt her blood had hummed with ultra-sensitive awareness. She had left it hanging open, but not before she’d noticed his chest had a light dusting of hair over well-formed muscles. She forced herself to swallow.

It had been too long since she’d been with a man if her overreaction was any indicator. It wasn’t like her not to remain professional in that type of situation. It was a relief to get some fresh air, even if it was still snowing. There hadn’t been a time in her life she could remember when she’d been so affected by a man. Even undressing her husband hadn’t made her hands tremble. She and Paxton hadn’t come anywhere near having sex yet her nerves were still humming as if they had. This instant attraction wasn’t a feeling she was familiar with.

Lifting her face to the night sky, Lauren let the few flakes of falling snow settle on her hot skin. Paxton wouldn’t be the last doctor to fill in. He wasn’t going to stay long, and she certainly wasn’t going to let history repeat itself. She’d left town with a man before and she didn’t plan to do that again. With her next relationship, she would know the man long enough to know she could trust him. She deserved fidelity. Shawn needed a stable life. That she would give him.

Mark had been a brash young man who had come to town with an oil company. He’d led the team planning to take a number of the wells deeper. She’d been swept off her feet.

Before she’d known it, she was married and on her way out of town with him to his next assignment. She’d dreamed of leaving Last Stop all her life and when she’d got the chance she’d been thrilled. She’d happily packed her bags and left with fairy-tale dreams. At first, everything had been great. They’d moved every three to four months and she’d found every new place exciting but increasingly lonely.

More than once she’d feared Mark wasn’t being faithful. He’d always assured her that he was but while at a party she had been approached by a woman who’d told her she’d been seeing her husband. Their marriage had gone from bad to worse.

Only because they’d moved again and she’d discovered she was pregnant had she stayed. She’d told Mark the morning of the accident she was pregnant and had wanted him to find a job that would let them settle down, so they could work on their marriage and be a family. They’d fought, him stating he wanted no part in her plans. That afternoon he was gone. An explosion on the oil rig had killed him and five others.

Lauren had returned to the only place she’d ever really known as home—Last Stop. She’d used Mark’s life insurance money to finish nursing school and had made a home for Shawn and herself. He was her life now. No guy passing through town was ever going to turn her head again. Especially some fancy doctor from Boston.

Enough of those thoughts. She had food to get. The pizza place only had a lone young man working. She ordered a large pepperoni pizza and sat down to wait. It had been so long since she’d felt anything for a man. Henry had been asking her out for a couple of months and she had been putting him off. Then in had come a man she knew nothing about and bam! She’d babbled and tingled all over. It just wasn’t right. Yet there was an excitement between them she couldn’t deny.

Half an hour later she returned to the hotel room with a pizza box in hand and two cans of drink in a bag. She knocked lightly on the door, giving Paxton a heads-up that she was entering. Digging the key out of her pocket, she opened the door. She pushed inside, expecting to find him watching TV. Instead the chair was empty and Paxton was softly snoring in the bed. Compassion filled her. He must have been exhausted after driving all day, then the adrenaline rush of the accident followed by the dangerous brush with frostbite.

Lauren placed the food on the desk before taking the spare blanket off the top of the clothes rack. She spread it over him. He mumbled, shifted and settled again. Picking up the TV remote, she returned to the desk chair with plans to watch a show while she ate. Paxton could have cold pizza. He needed his rest.

She finished her food, then picked up the scrub top he’d left lying on the bed. Placing the back of her hand on Paxton’s forehead, she decided he was a little warm but not overly so. After turning the heat down in the room to a more reasonable temperature, she headed to the bathroom.

After the wonderful experience of a hot shower, she pulled on the scrub top, thankful it was extra-large and hung far enough down her legs to decently cover her. The idea of sleeping in her damp clothes or, worse, nude made her shudder. After hanging and draping their clothes around the room to dry, she sat on her bed. She’d decided that leaving the light on in the bathroom would make it easy to check on Paxton.

Lauren turned off the TV then looked at him sleeping in the next bed. He was resting comfortably. He’d turned on his side but his hands were still above his head. She could only think that they must have hurt. She couldn’t help but feel sympathy for his plight. He looked miserable with his bandaged hands. Taking a pillow from her bed, she raised his head and tucked it beneath before easing him down onto it. Satisfied she hadn’t disturbed his slumber, she adjusted the covers over his shoulders. Switching off the bedside lamp, she got into bed and was soon asleep.

A loud moan startled her awake. She jerked around to look at Paxton. He whimpered again, then kicked the covers back, leaving most of his body exposed. The scrub pants rode low on his hips. Climbing out of bed, Lauren reached out to touch his head. Heat surrounded him. Her heart thumped. He had a fever.

Grabbing her digital thermometer from her bag, she ran it across his forehead. It read one hundred and three point seven. She’d been afraid this might happen. Hopefully it would be a temporary situation and not require hospitalization. Returning to her bag, she found fever-reducing medicine then went to the bathroom, filled a water glass and returned to Paxton’s bedside.

Lauren shook his shoulder. His skin was hot and dry. She bit her bottom lip as anxiety flooded her. This didn’t need to turn into more than a fever. “Paxton.”

He groaned but didn’t open his eyes.

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