Barbara Dunlop - Hitched For The Holidays - Hitched For The Holidays / A Groom In Her Stocking

Tipping the valet double for letting him go to the lot with him, he got in his car and headed home. His next appointment with Peaches was going to be damned awkward after the chemistry of that kiss.

Eric called the Drummonds as soon as he got back to his office and was pleased to hear their border collie had given birth to five healthy pups without the difficulties of her first litter. He wouldn’t have to go out tonight.

It was too early for bed, and he was too restless to catch up on reading his professional journals. He checked the TV listings and decided he didn’t feel like watching some animal nut risk his life for the camera. He was always leery of shows that inspired kids to make friends with the neighborhood rattler.

He could pay the household bills or run a load of laundry, but it would take more than domestic drudgery to get his mind off Mindy. Funny, during her visits to the office with Peaches he’d never noticed the little dimple in her right cheek that showed when she smiled.

He wandered into his bedroom in his second-floor quarters. His mother had decorated the room where he slept as a housewarming gift when he opened the clinic. With a whole furniture store to choose from, she’d picked a bamboo and rattan dresser, night table, and headboard. The curtains looked like mosquito netting and the throw rugs were tawny shag, which reminded his Mom of a lion’s mane. He could live with the jungle decor, but the four sets of leopard and zebra print sheets had long ago lost their miniscule appeal. Cassandra had thought they were hilarious. One of these days he had to buy some restfully plain white ones.

Why did women assume he wanted to drape himself and his surroundings in animal images just because he was a vet? He tossed the doggie tie on the dresser and stripped down to his white cotton briefs. Someday he was going to yank off the border strip with silhouettes of African animals that ran around the tops of the walls. It belonged in a kid’s room, but he wouldn’t hurt his mother’s feelings by telling her that. Both of his parents doted on their only son, much to his discomfort sometimes. It never occurred to them he might want to be on his own, and he cared about them too much to enlighten them.

He flopped down on zebra-print sheets and pillows and flicked on a cable news station. Stocks down, temperatures up, politicians squabbling, nothing there to take his mind off Mindy. He surfed channels and wondered how he could possibly be attracted to another control freak. The woman had retied his tie. If that wasn’t an ominous sign, he didn’t know what was. Even Cass hadn’t tried to redress him, and she had their whole future planned like a paint-by-number picture in a kid’s coloring book.

A basketball game caught his attention, but the Suns were leading by thirty-two points. No excitement there.

The phone rang, and he reached over to the bamboo stand to get it.

“Eric Kincaid,” he said giving his name because patients sometimes called his home phone.

“Dr. Kincaid…Eric…It’s Mindy Ryder. I just wanted to thank you again.”

She sounded a little breathless which gave her voice a sexy quality he found disturbing.

“You don’t need to. I enjoyed…” He hesitated, not sure whether to admit he’d liked being with her. “The dinner.”

Which was, he thought with some consternation, only partly the truth. During the meal he’d caught himself hanging on everything Mindy said as though they were having a real date. He’d even gone out of his way to be congenial to Wayne, although he found her father good company except on the topic of his daughter’s love life.

“Dad’s gone to bed,” she said, “but he won’t take no for an answer about having you come sight-seeing with us. Can you help me out and give me a plausible reason why you can’t go? What do vets do on weekends?”

Good question. He had some tedious paperwork he’d been putting off, and he’d promised to go to a party Saturday evening.

“Tell him,” he began, then couldn’t think of a single reason why he wouldn’t be eager to spend the day with Mindy if she were his girlfriend.

“Tell him I’m not available tomorrow, but I’ll go along Sunday morning if he wants to wait until then.”

“Oh, I’m not trying to rope you into actually going.”

“You’re not roping me. I’m volunteering.”

Why, he didn’t know. Wayne would probably want to know everything about him from how often he brushed his teeth to whether he’d slept with his daughter.

“No wonder Peaches adores you,” Mindy said. “You are so nice.”

“No, I’m not,” he denied truthfully.

Crazy maybe, for having anything at all to do with a woman who liked to reform her men, but he had an ulterior motive. His mom was giving a little dinner party Sunday evening, and he very much wanted a reason not to go. She’d joined the Mesa Civic League to get acquainted in the new city and, typically, thrown herself into their activities. They held a big fund-raiser every December to raise donations for the Maricopa County Animal Friends. It was a good cause. The money was used to get homeless pets ready for adoption. That meant spaying, neutering, grooming, shots, licenses, all the costly essentials. Last year he’d gotten away with making a cash contribution. This year Mom wanted him on the committee, and the dinner was a meeting to finalize what needed to be done.

It was no coincidence that the committee was mostly women, many of them young, single and eager to meet Felicia and Ray Kincaid’s bachelor son.

“I don’t see how I can ask you to help entertain my dad,” Mindy said.

“I’ll enjoy the trip. We’ll make a day of it. Have dinner in Sedona before we come home.”

“If you’re sure….”

He wasn’t, but he could still feel her lips warm and soft under his. Pretending to be hot for her wasn’t a stretch. In fact, he wouldn’t mind a little more smooching—only to impress Wayne, of course.

“I’ll drive. How does ten o’clock Sunday morning sound?” he asked.

“Wonderful! If there’s anything I can do for you—I mean, anything professional. Organize your office, do your Christmas shopping…”

“No, that’s not necessary.”

Really not necessary! He’d rather let a pack of baboons loose in the clinic. Already he was afraid he’d made a big mistake by offering to spend the whole day with the Ryders. He couldn’t help being sympathetic to Mindy, but if she tried to smear sunscreen on his face or retie his shoes, he was bailing.

He hung up, decided it was late enough to go to bed, and was settling in when the phone rang again.

“Mom.” No surprise. “I was going to call you in the morning. About the dinner meeting Sunday….”

He made his excuse. Her voice became very quiet and reasonable, not a good sign.

“I know it’s a great cause, Mom, but I promised to spend the day with a friend…. No, not Guy…. Actually, it’s one of my patient’s owners…. I’m not breaking my rule about socializing. Just doing a small favor…. Okay, yes, a female friend.”

An hour or so later he pulled on a pair of gray sweats, a threadbare Iowa State University T-shirt, socks and his battered old running shoes. Maybe some cool desert air would clear his head and help him get to sleep.

SUNDAY MORNING Dad volunteered to take the dog for a walk, so Mindy used the opportunity to call her big brother. First Carly, her sister-in-law, let her talk with five-year-old Kim and Sam, who was almost three, although her nephew’s idea of a phone conversation was a spurt of excited babble.

“Hi, Min,” Dwight said, relieving his son of the phone. “How are you and Dad doing?”

“He’s fine. We went out for dinner Friday with my pretend boyfriend.”