Page 30 of Merry Little Heartbreak

Dalton muscled his way in to enter the room, looking for some of the residents. “All right, thank you Dr. Maguire for that fascinating lesson. Back to work, doctors,” he said, ushering them out. Nina brought Sophie a pink teddy and a purple balloon.

“See, Mama? All better.”

Izzy swiped at fresh tears and hugged Sophie while Margo followed Drake to the sink.

“Thank you,” she said clearly, still worried.

He gripped her wrist before she could step away.

“About that kiss . . .” Drake said.

But Margo shook her head. “It’s fine. You were asleep and didn’t know who I was.”

“No, I knew exactly who you were. I had just been dreaming about you, and I’m not apologizing.”

Her eyes grew big, but then Sophie interrupted.

“Auntie, do you do what Dr. Drake does? Cuz I want to be a doctor like him one day,” she said.

He let his grip on Margo go, but not before he whispered in her ear, “This is not over.”

If she thought he was going to pretend they didn’t just have the most emotionally charged, passionate kiss, she was about to have a rude awakening. Because that kiss made it clear Margo still had feelings for him, which completely contradicted what he believed since she broke his heart.

But now, he was seeing both their recent kisses from a new lens. Her annoyance with him was because of their attraction, not her distaste for him. When he touched her, she didn’t balk. If anything, she leaned into him. He had taken advantage of the opportunity to kiss her the first time because he had been so jealous seeing her with another man that he was blind to her reaction. But now, after this sobering kiss, he could recognize her kissing him back, see the emotions in her eyes.

Margo Monroe wanted him, and he was going to find out why she was set on pretending not to.

Chapter Thirteen

Margo

She couldn’t believe how badly her emotions were unraveling. Not only was she stuck with Drake working in her ER, but when he touched her, she wanted more. When he kissed her, it was like time stood still. Nothing else mattered, and she wanted to close out the world. His warm hands pulling her into him had been so welcome, she’d leaned into him and kissed him back this time.

Even now, her cheeks heated up just thinking about it.

That was a day ago, and she’d avoided him since, but today was the designated date to fully decorate the doctor’s lounge, and nurses’ stations in the ER. The hospital made them wait until the first week of December because some offices would either leave up decorations all year or start too soon.

Okay, she would start too soon. But she couldn’t resist the red and green, and holiday cheer most years. It was the one time of year she could believe in happily ever afters, and she’d clung to that since she was a kid.

But this year seemed different, everything was muddled with her trying to cope with working with Drake. She was so fixated on avoiding him she’d lost sight of some of her favorite aspects of the holiday season. Cinnamon spice donuts, secret Santa gift exchange, and visiting the shops downtown for the annual ladies’ night, Christmas shopping events. There were always good sales and unique finds. She went every year, but this year she was too hell-bent on scheduling the ER decorating event on Drake’s day off to focus on what mattered.

She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to sign up to help out on the decorating committee. Why would he want to spend more time with her? Granted, he’d been antagonizing her since he’d arrived in the ER, and they were thrown together for work, but signing up for her event meant he was volunteering his personal time to be with her.

But this was her ER and her committee, because Christmas was her favorite holiday, and Drake knew that. Some might find it childish how much she loved the lights, the music, the decorations, the fake Santas on every street, and the magic. But now, as she attempted to untangle the strings of lights from the bunches of tinsel that were poorly packed last year, she was not feeling holly or jolly.

“Reporting for duty. What can I do?” Drake said, walking into the doctor’s lounge and invading her solitude.

“Ughhh.” She let out a groan, unable to mask her annoyance.

No one else had signed up to help decorate, but she suspected once word got out that Dr. Hotness was actually there, they’d get another half-dozen volunteers. The female population in the hospital had an uncanny ability to know where Drake was at any given time, and they would appear out of nowhere to chat with him or try to get his attention. They had dubbed him Dr. Hotness, and she couldn’t help but agree with the accurateness of the name, even if it was infuriating.

Standing in the dimly lit space with the light of the hallway behind him, Drake looked like a gift from heaven in jeans, a black fitted long-sleeve shirt, red scarf, and a big sly smile.

He was carrying two coffees and his puffy winter coat. The several days’ worth of scruff and a beanie cap covering his dark hair accentuated his square jaw. This man was so handsome it physically hurt to look at him for too long.

“You really intend to help me decorate on your first day off?” She huffed and attempted to throw down the tinsel, but it was wrapped around the lights, which she successfully got her arms and feet tangled in.

His deep laugh sounded closer as he set the coffees on the conference table.

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