A Daddy Sent By Santa. Susan Carlisle

night,” Paxton stated.

      “Don’t have but one,” the man said off-handedly.

      Lauren had been afraid of that.

      The man continued, “The storm has us all full up tonight.”

      “We’ll take it,” Paxton said before she had a chance to say differently.

      She pulled her wallet from her bag.

      “I’ve got this.” Paxton put a card on the counter.

      Regardless of the circumstances, it didn’t quite sit right with her to have a man she hardly knew pay for their hotel room for the night. Somehow it seemed sleazy. She was a professional taking care of a patient who happened to be a male, she sternly reminded herself. There was nothing immoral about that. It was necessary.

      A minute later the man returned Paxton’s card and gave her a plastic keyring with the number three on it. “The heat won’t be on, but it shouldn’t take long for it to warm up.”

      She shuddered at the thought of going back out in the frigid night and to a cold room but she had no choice.

      Walking under the awning, they made their way to Room Three. Her feet were wet and cold and all she wanted to do was have a hot bath, call Shawn and crawl into bed. She was pretty sure Paxton had a similar desire.

      Unlocking the door, Lauren pushed it wide and let him enter, then quickly closed the door behind them. It wasn’t much warmer inside than out. She left Paxton in the middle of the room lit only by the porch light coming through the thin curtains. Going to the lamp sitting on the table between two beds, she clicked it on. The room was much as she had expected.

      The beds were standard size with headboards fixed to the wall and a small, well-worn sofa set against a wall with a cheaply framed picture above it. There was a built-in desk with a chair and beside it a clothes rack attached to the wall, level with her head, to serve as the closet.

      She was confident it was a major step down from what Paxton must be used to. To his credit, his face didn’t look as disgusted as she expected. It leaned toward pitiful. He’d had a hard first day on the job. Yet he’d been more than efficiently competent under the circumstances. Too bad his tenure at Last Stop would be brief.

      He sank onto the side of the bed closest to the door.

      “Let’s get some heat going in here.” She hurried to the wall heater located under the only window. It made a clang when she turned on the fan and cranked the thermostat up as high as it would go. “Hopefully it won’t take too long for it to heat the place.”

      “That would be nice. I’m starting to fear that I might never be warm again.”

      “I’ll see if there’s a heater in the bathroom.” Somehow she had assumed personal responsibility for him. He was new to town. She wanted him to appreciate where she lived, to make a good impression. Even though he was only going to stay a short while she didn’t want his time there to leave negative memories. Granted, it had been his choice to come to Oklahoma but still she wished it could have been more welcoming than the last few hours had been.

      It was a relief to see there was a heater in the bathroom as well. She turned it on high. When she returned to the main part of the room Paxton still sat in the same spot. That could only be an indication of how bad he felt.

      He looked at her. “Sorry about the room situation but at least you don’t have to get out in the cold to check on me. We’re both adults, I believe we can handle one night together in a hotel room. You needn’t worry. I’m no threat, especially tonight.”

      She wasn’t as worried about him as she was about making a fool of herself around him. A shiver went up her spine. He was watching her.

      “I can handle it if you can. Uh...you hungry? I could call for some takeout. There’s a pizza place next door.”

      “Yeah. I could do with something to eat.”

      “Pizza do?”

      “Sure. Anything at this point would be great.”

      She clasped her hands in front of her. “I’m sorry. This wasn’t an ideal way to start a new job. Not very hospitable of the weather.”

      “Can’t control that. I’ve been through difficult times. Let’s just say that today was mild compared to some things I’ve dealt with.”

      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