Daddy for Christmas (Naughty & Nice Daddy Christmas Collection)

Chapter 1

One

Kendall

“A peppermint mocha?” Dalton grinned, his blue eyes sparkling as he took another sip. He was everyone’s favorite medic for a reason. “Did the Christmas spirit hit you early, prancer?”

I loved being teased by him. It was probably the highlight of my days and my nights.

There was an easy charm about him that let him get away with calling pretty much anyone in town a pet name.

From some people, it bothered me, especially older men who used nicknames or pet names to be condescending, but Dalton?

Dalton could call me whatever the hell he wanted, and I’d still giggle like a schoolgirl.

Referring to me as prancer gave me another dose of holiday cheer.

“The server at Dunkin saw me in my uniform and gave me an extra treat,” I said sweetly. “I figured you’d like it.”

“It’s my favorite.” He winked. “What are you doing Saturday?”

Oh my god. After all this time, was he asking me on a date!? “Um, I’m off.”

“Do you like to dress-up?”

“I do.” I ran one of my fingers down his arm. “Are you talking about some frisky role-play session?”

Dalton shot me a coy smile before casually taking a few sips from his cup. “As fun as that might be, I was trying to talk you into playing Mrs. Claus at the holiday fair.”

I’d read his flirty banter as the start of something more, and my elation immediately dipped. No, he was roping me into some lame costume. Mortification burned through me and I was sure my cheeks were red.

“I’m suddenly busy,” I mumbled. “Enjoy the coffee.”

I scurried away from the situation, my comfortable nursing sneakers squeaking against the linoleum floor.

“Kendall!” Dalton called after me.

He didn’t chase me like I wanted him to. I clearly wasn’t worth the hassle.

I waved over my shoulder without turning around.

Dalton was one of the sexiest men in all of Falcon Creek, and I’d jumped to a false conclusion.

My new friend Emma was right. I had been acting horribly lately, and she witnessed me throwing nasty insults at our best friend, Marissa.

Emma said I was jealous that I couldn’t land one boyfriend, let alone two.

I was doomed to be alone. She said it at a party after my friend Tanner was attacked.

Once things settled down and everyone was okay, I started taking a hard look at my current state.

It wasn’t good, and I’d pushed away the terrible thoughts.

Several of my friends had recently found themselves in tripods—two men, one woman relationships. They all seemed happier than ever. I grumbled to myself, Bah-fucking-humbug.

The upcoming holidays did nothing to brighten my mood. I had three hours left on shift and then I was going to my favorite bar, The Kicking Donkey. I had plans to get drunk, which wasn’t the best sort of plan, but maybe something would change tonight.

Dalton

Sitting at The Kicking Donkey, a bar owned by my friend, Grant Lancaster, I replayed my interaction with Kendall over and over again.

Typically, when someone stomped away from me, I ran after them to fix the situation, but I was on duty.

Somehow, I’d find a way to get her alone and figure out what was bothering her.

I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with me, but she seemed to be directing her anger my way.

I scanned the menu, my gaze flickering between the beers or a martini.

I wouldn’t have more than one drink, so I was going to make it a good one.

“She clocked her head.” A young blond waitress named Tessa sounded worried as she spoke with Grant. “I stopped serving her an hour ago, but someone else was buying her shots.”

I didn’t love the tense way she spoke, clearly upset. I set the menu down since I had a feeling of what was coming.

“She should get looked at, but she doesn’t want me to call anyone,” Grant grumbled within earshot of me.

Bingo. It wasn’t a bad idea. Besides, if her injury was serious, an ambulance would be required.

“Hey, Dalton.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I gathered some patience, realizing the night would not play out the way I’d hoped. “Hey, man. What’s up?”

“Would you come to my office and check on Kendall? She was dancing on a table and slipped. I think she’s all right, but I’d feel better if someone medically minded at least looked at her.”

I was the last person on earth she’d want poking around her body, but she didn’t have much choice. My paramedic skills were unmatched in our town and everyone knew it.

“Of course, I can.”

“You look like you’ve had a rough day.”

“Not rough, but far from boring.”

“And not in a fun way, I bet,” he said, chuckling.

“No, not fun at all,” I replied. I’d wanted to get a buzz, turn off my brain, and then go home. Taking care of Kendall put a damper on the original plans, but perhaps we were being brought together for a reason. I certainly wasn’t upset at her.

Backing away from the bar, I followed Grant down the hallway to his office.

He bought the space years ago when it was a run-down buffet and created the best small-town bars I’d ever been to.

It was one of my favorite spots to escape from the world.

I enjoyed Grant’s company, and he created a great atmosphere.

We found Kendall stewing on a small couch, arms folded across her chest, and her legs were tapping up and down.

She immediately balked. “I don’t need help.”

“If you saw someone tumble from the height you were at and then land the way you did, what would you suggest?” Grant posed the question while she looked back and forth between the two of us.

“I don’t need a sexy medic—” Kendall swallowed her words. Though I very much wanted to tease her, I let the statement go since she sounded like she’d had more than a few drinks. “If someone can call me a cab, I’ll go home.”

“If I don’t at least get you checked out, it’s a liability. Humor me, okay?” Grant winked.

“Fine.” She stopped tapping her legs, but her expression didn’t change.

“What happened?” I went into first responder mode instead of addressing her issue from earlier. Not to mention that she’d flirted with me and then called me sexy. I’d obviously been on her mind as well.

“I was dancing on top of a table, and uh, lost my balance.” She shrugged. “I smacked my head on a chair on the way down. Grant carried me here.”

“Does anything hurt?” I didn’t have my gear on me, but it was in my car if I needed to grab something.

“My pride,” she lamented.

“Ouch,” Grant agreed. “But you managed to sneak in a few shots after they cut you off.”

“I can’t help the fact that everyone was offering me drinks like they were going out of style.” Kendall rolled her eyes.

“May I see if anything is broken or bleeding?” I found a pair of gloves in my inside jacket pocket and tugged them on. I treated her as if she were any other patient of mine.

“Sure.”

I started at the top of her head, along the back, feeling for bumps or cuts. Nothing seemed off. I ran my hands down her neck, over her shoulders, and downward, continuing a basic assessment until I reached her feet and crouched in front of her. “Did you lose consciousness?”

“No.”

“Is anything physically hurting you?”

“My right ankle. I stupidly wore heels and when I went to stand up after I fell, I twisted it.”

“Is that why you’re barefoot?” I shook my head. Taking her tiny foot in my hand, I rolled it gently, feeling for anything out of place.

“Yeah. Are you done?”

I shot her a look as I straightened to my full height, but I had no business lecturing her. She had done nothing wrong other than drink a little too much. Still, it worried me. If she was engaging in this sort of behavior after her outburst earlier, then something deeper wormed at her.

“You seem all right, but if your ankle swells or your head hurts, you should consider making an appointment with your doctor.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Kendall stood up. She put pressure on her ankle and winced. The motion did not go unnoticed. She plucked a pair of high heels and her purse from the other side of the couch while pretending that she was completely fine. I saw right through it.

“Do not put those spikes on again, Kendall.”

“I won’t put them on, but these are my favorite.”

“I filled out an accident report.” Grant handed her a clipboard, interrupting our back and forth. “Will you please sign it for me? If anything comes up later, I want to protect us both.”

“Sure, I can do that,” she answered flatly, as if placating him.

“And I better not see you trying to drive home tonight.”

“I’ll drive her home,” I offered as I removed the gloves and threw them in the trash. Kendall’s eyes went wide, but she signed the document on the clipboard and handed it back to Grant.

“I’d rather crawl.” Her words were slurred.

A flirty, albeit cocky, retort was at the tip of my tongue, but she was not in a joking mood at the moment. I clenched and relaxed my jaw, thinking of a way to earn her cooperation. Grant beat me to the punch.

“I’ve been a bit short staffed lately, or I’d bring you home, Kendall.” Grant handed her the copy of the paperwork. “Unfortunately, I’ve got the closing shift tonight and I won’t be leaving here till close to four in the morning. Besides, I can think of worse things than Dalton driving me home.”

I glanced at Grant, wondering what the hell he meant by that.

He wasn’t into men as far as I could remember, but we hadn’t talked about relationships.

Was he being funny to ease Kendall’s worries?

He looked me up and down slowly, and though I flirted with nearly everyone in our small ass town, I never considered our banter anything more than playful conversation. Perhaps I’d missed some obvious signs.

“I misunderstood an interaction that he and I had earlier, but you’re right.” She addressed Grant and then turned toward me. “Thanks for the offer, Dalton. I’m sure you had more important things to do tonight.”