Page 44 of A Very Naughty Christmas

“I’ve always regretted not having a chance to explain what went on that day. And you do have a nice ass, Dix. The truth doesn’t hide that fact.”

“Gee, thanks. I can now die happy knowing that you think I’ve got a great ass.”

“I said nice, baby,” he corrected with a teasing grin, “but upon further review, I could go with great.”

Her face flooded with heat. “Goodbye, Kyle.”

“Wait, I shouldn’t have tried joking to ease the tension.”

She stared at him, deadpan.

“Damn! I’m screwing this up. Give me a minute to explain.”

This time when she tried to pull free, the bells on the front door jangled. They both glanced up as a large, boisterous group of women walked in. It was enough of a distraction to twist out of his grasp and she sailed through the kitchen doors, not looking back.

She was spraying off her plate and loading it into the dish machine with the rest, when Janice came in a few minutes later. “What was that?”

“What was what?”

“You getting into it out front with hottie Kyle Prescott, MD.”

Her eyes came up at this revelation. “He’s a doctor? Do you know him?”

“Babe! Everyone in the Western Carolinas and East Tennessee knows him.”

“Yeah, well, we went to high school together. He’s not all that and the bag of chips people think he is.”

“Yeah… he is. And not only because he’s a bone doctor that travels abroad to fix up poor kids in foreign countries with birth defects. You know, like clubbed feet and that spinal deformity.”

“Spina bifida?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Plus, he’s hot and rich, and did I mention hot? Don’t know about you, but that’s a whole case of all that and a bag of chips, to me.”

Dixie didn’t reply. Last she’d heard, Kyle was a hotshot football player, nothing more. But the articles she’d read hadn’t focused on much more than stats, passing records, and his signing bonus.

“You didn’t know? Don’t you read the papers?”

Frowning, she shook her head. “I stopped getting it a few years ago.” About the same time Kyle was injured, and left the NFL and the spotlight.

“Any girl would kill to sit down in a cozy booth with Dr. Kyle. What’s wrong with you?”

She scowled at her friend. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m simply not interested.”

“Not interested in handsome and sexy? Not interested in generous and kind? Not interested in an eight- or nine-figure inheritance?”

“I don’t care if he’s rich, Jan.”

“So says the girl with student loan debt out her ass and no degree to show for it, working five or six days a week, and most of those pulling double shifts to make ends meet.”

“It’s not as bad as all that.”

Janice stared at her for a moment. “Will you be getting in that car of yours to get home tonight or are you walking in freezing temperatures because it got repossessed when you couldn’t keep up with the payments?”

“So what should I do? Jump his bones and spread for him to get access to his trust fund? Geez, Jan, that’s rather mercenary even coming from you.”

“Only way you’re gonna see the light of day in this Podunk town, babe.”

“Hey!” The bellow came from Pete, who was glaring at them through the order window. “You girls working tonight or did I miss my invite to the hen party?”

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