Page 30 of Santa Daddies

“I saw it coming, and that should have made it easier to handle when it happened, but it wasn’t. He cheated on me with someone at work who he claimed he wasn’t even attracted to. She was also outgoing, smart, and confident. Had this amazing sense of style. It threw my self-esteem in the garbage. Like if he lied so easily when he said he wasn’t attracted to her, maybe he lied when he said hewasattracted to me. Anyway, when Jettasked me out a few months later, and he wasn’t someone I would normally go for, I said yes.”

I ran a hand over my closely cropped beard. “What made him different?”

“Maybe the chemistry? I didn’t get that zing I normally would. He was nice, and polite. Couldn’t flirt to save his life.” She laughed. “Like he was abysmal at it. But he tried hard. He wanted to impress me. He wanted me to like him.” She looked at her lap, fiddling with the holes in her jeans. “I thought he might be more attentive, and he was at first, but then there was no effort. And if I wanted to do things, to spice up our life, he brushed me off. And I thought if I didn’t like him as much as I liked my ex, maybe he couldn’t hurt me the same way.”

“You wanted to be appreciated, cared for, and treated like a priority. And you were guarding your heart.”

She threw out her hands. “Yes!”

“And you thought in order to find someone who would treat you right, you had to lower your standards.” My brow arched. “And the rejection if it didn’t work out wouldn’t be as bad because you weren’t all that invested.”

She frowned. “When you put it like that, I sound awful.”

“Not at all. You sound like someone who’s been hurt before. But you shouldn’t have to lower your standards to be with someone who treats you right.”

The car pulled up to the front and I helped Emily out carefully. She winced getting out but didn’t complain aloud. I still didn’t like seeing her suffering though, so I scooped her up, ignoring her protests and brought her to the small infirmary. Setting her on the bed, I gathered the supplies. A bottle of antiseptic, some cotton pads for cleaning, an antibiotic numbing ointment, and some big square bandages.

When I turned from the cupboards to look at her, her lip was stuck out in a pout and she looked adorably nervous.

“Are you scared of Dr. Santa Daddy hurting you?”

Her eyes cut to mine. “Don’t be silly. I’m fine. Besides you’re not going to hurt me because I’m doing this myself.” She reached for the antiseptic, but I caught her hand.

“Nah, not happening, Little Red,” I said, releasing her hand and setting my own on my hip. “Drop those jeans so I can get at those scrapes.”

“Er… You’ve got things to do, and I’m not taking off my jeans for you so…”

“You gonna make me do it myself, Little Red? I’ve already seen you naked, remember?”

Her eyes suddenly flew to my right.

“Mem—what?”

I turned quickly to see Madeline standing there, her brow arched, her jaw shifting to the side and her fists on her hips.

“Madly!” Emily blurted and jumped off the table with a wince.

Madeline spun on me. “Did you just say you saw my baby sister naked?”

“No.” Emily threw her palms out flat and shook them in front of her sister. “He meant, he saw me with less on. I was wearing tights and a dress at the party last week, remember?”

Madeline’s eyes narrowed further, this time as if she might be contemplating the validity of her sister’s statement. Playing what she heard through her mind again and putting it together with the new information, all the while still not willing to drop her mama-bear look.

“Why do you call my sister Little Red?”

“She’s short and has red hair. Why do you call each other Madly and Memmy?” I wasn’t really asking, but pointing out that people do give other people nicknames.

“Because Emily couldn’t say our names when she was a toddler. Memmy was how she said her own name, and Madly was how she said Madeline. But we’re family.”

I couldn’t help but smile crookedly at the image my mind brought up of Emily. Madeline must have realized my smile was genuine because she smiled too. The only one not smiling was Little Red.

“Are you two done?”

Madeline ignored her sister and spoke to me. “I’m sorry I mistook what was happening in here. I’ve got this now though, so you can go do what you needed to do. I’m used to patching up my Memmy. She’s always been a bit of a trip-over-her-own-feet kind of girl.”

I glanced at Little Red. Her face was flushed, but when her eyes met mine and I could practically feel the pulsing sexual attraction between us.

Chapter Nine