A Perfect Holiday Fling by Farrah Rochon

pleaded—“Kiera.”
    Thank God .
    The relief that washed over him was so all-consuming, he would be kidding himself if he tried to deny the reason behind it. He’d been hoping that Callie Webber was available from the moment he saw her. Now that he knew she was, he was going for it.
    Stefan crossed his arms over his chest and matched her pose, leaning against the side railing. “So, no patients this morning?”
    “Actually, I’ve seen nearly three dozen patients this morning. I’m just getting back from vaccinating some of the animals out in the more rural areas. I’ll be on my way to the clinic in just a bit. It’s Monday,” she said with much more excitement than most people contributed to the start of the week. He rolled a kink out of his shoulder as he waited for her to expound. “Neutering day,” she said with way more glee than was necessary.
    “Ouch.” Stefan winced. “You don’t have to look so happy about that, Dr. Webber.”
    “Just doing my part to control the pet population.” That smirk on her face had to be the sexiest thing he’d seen since he’d come to Maplesville. His body responded with an arrow of arousal that shot straight to his groin.
    Stefan gestured to packages at her feet. “Do you need help bringing those into the house?”
    Yes, he was fishing for an invitation to follow her inside.
    She didn’t bite.
    “Thanks, but I can manage,” she said.
    He shrugged. “Just being neighborly.”
    Her head tilted, her eyes questioning. “Are we neighbors? I’d never seen you before the day you came to the clinic.”
    “I’ve only been here a few weeks. I’m living at my sister’s place on Magnolia Drive, looking after her son while she’s deployed in Afghanistan.”
    Empathy blanketed her face. “Oh, that must be so hard for her to be away from her baby, especially at this time of the year.”
    “It is.” Stefan nodded. “But thanks to modern technology, she’ll be able to see Jacob open his presents on Christmas morning. Skype is a wonderful thing.”
    Callie motioned to his shirt. “Is your sister in the Navy, too?”
    He shook his head. “Army nurse. She works in the ICU at Maplesville General, but she’s in the Reserves. She’s on a six-month deployment.”
    “So your time here is temporary.” It was a statement, not a question, but Stefan answered anyway.
    “I’ll be leaving when Stef gets back in the spring. Possibly as early as January, depending on…well, a few things.”
    Like whether or not he decided if he was done with the Navy. Or, more accurately, whether the Navy decided whether or not it was done with him. The results he would receive in a few days when he went back to the VA clinic would make his timeline a lot clearer.
    A brisk wind blew and Callie pulled her jacket more securely around her. Stefan tried not to grimace. It felt as if his sweaty shirt had turned to ice against his skin, and he was suddenly missing the sweatshirt he’d left on his sister’s porch.
    “It’s very noble of you to sacrifice half a year out of your life to take care of your nephew,” she continued.
    He shrugged. “He’s a good kid. We’re still feeling each other out, but I think we’ll survive. I probably scored some brownie points by rescuing Sandy.”
    Her eyes lit up at the mention of the cat. “And for allowing him to name her. That was sweet of you.”
    “Sweet.” Stefan tested the word on his lips. “You know, that’s the second time you’ve called me that, and probably the second time I’ve been called that in my entire life.”
    A single, skeptical brow lifted over her smiling brown eyes. “That’s hard to believe. You rescue injured cats, volunteer for months of babysitting duty, and help neighbors carry their packages from the car. That sounds like the very definition of sweet to me.”
    No, sweet was the smile that traced across her lips. Stefan had to physically stop himself from closing the short distance between them and finding out just