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It Started At Christmas...
Janice Lynn
All she wants for Christmas is…him!This Christmas, Dr McKenzie Sanders knows exactly what she wants in her stocking—her gorgeous colleague, Lance Spencer. He’s a sexy, brilliant, caring doctor and, best of all, he’s just as averse to walking down the aisle as she is!They agree to indulge in a sizzling fling that will absolutely not end in wedded bliss. But even the best laid plans can go awry… Will risking their hearts lead to wedding bells?
All she wants for Christmas is...him!
This Christmas Dr. McKenzie Sanders knows exactly what she wants in her stocking—her gorgeous colleague Lance Spencer. He’s a sexy, brilliant, caring doctor—and, best of all, he’s just as averse to walking down the aisle as she is!
They agree to indulge in a sizzling fling that will absolutely not end in wedded bliss. But even the best-laid plans can go awry... Will risking their hearts lead to wedding bells?
“You can have two months, but not a day more,” she said.
Staring at the oh-so-hot naked man in her bed, McKenzie clutched the sheet to her. Please agree with me, she pleaded silently. She couldn’t fathom not repeating the magic she’d just experienced, but she would do just that if he didn’t agree.
Already she was risking too much. She didn’t want a future that might lead her down the path her parents had taken. Bachelorettehood was the life for her, all the way. Hearing Lance agree that they’d end things in two months was necessary for them to carry on. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—risk anything longer.
“Promise me,” she urged.
“Two months sounds absolutely perfect,” he said.
Dear Reader (#ulink_01b01dc0-542a-518c-a98c-375d74533531),
Christmas time is here! I’m so blessed to be able to write another Christmas story. I love the holidays and romance, so what could be better than combining the two?
Dr Lance Spencer is a hero I immediately fell for. Kind, generous, fun, witty and a bit tortured, he stole my heart. Unfortunately it takes him a while to win over my heroine. Then again, McKenzie’s an independent woman who knows what she wants in life—and it isn’t to be tied down to a man. But the holidays sure are a lot more fun with Lance at her side, so McKenzie agrees to a two-month relationship that leads them down a path that ultimately makes every day feel like Christmas.
I hope you enjoy their story as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, I enjoy hearing from my readers at Janice@janicelynn.net. Happy Holidays—and I hope Santa is good to you!
Love,
Janice
It Started at Christmas...
Janice Lynn
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
JANICE LYNN has a Master’s in Nursing from Vanderbilt University, and works as a nurse practitioner in a family practice. She lives in the southern United States with her husband, their four children, their Jack Russell—appropriately named Trouble—and a lot of unnamed dust bunnies that have moved in since she started her writing career. To find out more about Janice and her writing visit janicelynn.com (http://www.janicelynn.com).
Books by Janice Lynn
Mills & Boon Medical Romance
The Doctor’s Damsel in Distress
Flirting with the Society Doctor
Challenging the Nurse’s Rules
NYC Angels: Heiress’s Baby Scandal
The ER’s Newest Dad
After the Christmas Party...
Flirting with the Doc of Her Dreams
New York Doc to Blushing Bride
Winter Wedding in Vegas
Sizzling Nights with Dr Off-Limits
Visit the Author Profile page at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) for more titles.
Janice won The National Readers’ Choice Award for her first book
The Doctor’s Pregnancy Bombshell
To Blake Shelton for retweeting me following his Nashville concert and giving me a total fangirl rush moment. Life is good.
Praise for Janice Lynn (#ulink_2eb762bf-9e0c-5f2d-aec3-11a1f3ba14f5)
‘Fun, witty and sexy... A heartfelt, sensual and compelling read.’
—Goodreads on
NYC Angels: Heiress’s Baby Scandal
‘A sweet and beautiful romance that will steal your heart.’
—Harlequin Junkie on
NYC Angels: Heiress’s Baby Scandal
Contents
Cover (#udc444687-3430-5654-8684-3f0597094ad3)
Back Cover Text (#u94763c98-b616-5985-83e1-87288fa6e583)
Introduction (#ueb040064-d287-5a61-b474-387863aa9b5b)
Dear Reader (#ulink_6b24a023-d51f-5c9d-af95-43e7197ebd23)
Title Page (#u5e50ba40-5201-5044-99fa-599e079a4007)
About the Author (#u0412de92-9b1b-5f2f-99a9-5b31aa9e561c)
Dedication (#ucd22518f-b877-5dde-be3c-1d9a6902d2c8)
Praise (#ulink_2bcc89fc-f78c-54f3-ad5e-a5032fda5764)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_a2618cb0-3e01-5871-97bd-a31489475033)
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_ab163390-e4a3-5ece-abf7-a554df8cada5)
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_3fbbed3a-a4ce-5151-82cb-addb0e9d41c6)
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_79549c7f-872d-59df-83a2-c5f82a5a0f91)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_33ffabe0-c7cb-52e2-8c48-2b8b51c3f260)
“OKAY, WHO’S THE HUNK that just winked at you?”
At her best friend’s question Dr. McKenzie Sanders rolled her eyes at the emcee stepping out onto the Coopersville Community Theater stage. “That’s him.”
“That’s the infamous Dr. Lance Spencer?” Cecilia sounded incredulous from the chair next to McKenzie’s.
No wonder. Her best friend had heard quite a bit about the doctor slash local charity advocate. Was there any local charity he wasn’t involved with in some shape, form or fashion? McKenzie doubted it.
Still, when he’d invited her to come and watch the Christmas program, she’d not been expecting the well-choreographed show currently playing out before her eyes. Lance and his crew were good. Then again, knowing Lance, she should have expected greatness. He’d put the event together and everything the man touched was pure perfection.
And these days he wanted to touch her.
Sometimes McKenzie wondered if it was a case of women-chasing-him-toward-the-holy-matrimony-altar burnout that had him focusing on commitment-phobic her. She never planned to marry and Lance knew it. She made no secret of the fact she was a good-time girl and was never going to be tied down by the golden band of death to all future happiness. After his last girlfriend had gone a little psycho when he’d told her flat out he had no intention of ever proposing, Lance apparently wanted a break from tall lanky blonde numbers trying to drag him into wedded “bliss.” He’d taken to chasing petite brunettes who got hives at the mere mention of marriage thanks to unhappily divorced parents.
Her.
Despite accepting his invitation and hauling Cecilia with her to watch his show, McKenzie was running as fast as she could and had no intention of letting Lance “catch” her. She didn’t want a relationship with him, other than their professional one and the light, fun friendship they already shared. Something else she’d learned from her parents thanks to her dad, who’d chased every female coworker he’d ever had. McKenzie was nothing like either of her parents. Still, she could appreciate fineness when she saw it.
Lance was fine with a capital F.
Especially in his suit that appeared tailor-made.
Lance was no doubt one of those men who crawled out of bed covered in nonstop sexy. He was that kind of guy. The kind who made you want to skip that heavily iced cupcake and do some sit-ups instead just in case he ever saw you naked. The kind McKenzie avoided because she was a free spirit who wasn’t going to change herself for any man. Not ever. She’d eat her cupcake and have another if she wanted, with extra icing, thank you very much.
She’d watched women change for a man, seen her own mother do that, time and again. Ultimately, the changes didn’t last, the men lost interest, and the women involved ended up with broken hearts and a lot of confusion about who they were. McKenzie never gave any man a chance to get close enough to change her. She dated, had a good time and a good life. When things started getting sticky, she moved on. Next, please.
Really, she and Lance had a lot in common in that regard. Except he usually dated the same woman for several months and McKenzie’s relationships never lasted more than a few weeks at best. Anything longer than that just gave guys the wrong idea.
Like that she might be interested in white picket fences, a soccer-mom minivan, two point five kids, and a husband who would quickly get bored with her and have flirtations with his secretary...his therapist...his accountant...his law firm partner’s wife...his children’s schoolteacher...and who knew who else her father had cheated on her mother with?
Men cheated. It was a fact of life.
Sure, there were probably a few good ones out there still if she wanted to search for that needle in a haystack. McKenzie didn’t.
She wouldn’t change for a man or allow him to run around on her while she stayed home and scrubbed his bathroom floor and wiped his kids’ snotty noses. No way. She’d enjoy life, enjoy the opposite sex, and never make the mistake of being like her mother...or her father, who obviously couldn’t be faithful yet seemed to think he needed a wife on hand at all times since he’d just walked down the aisle for the fourth time since his divorce from McKenzie’s mother.
Which made her question why she’d said no to Lance when he’d asked her out.
Sure, there was the whole working-together thing that she clung to faithfully due to being scarred for life by her dad’s office romantic endeavors. Still, it wasn’t as if either she or Lance would be in it for anything more than to have some fun together. She was a fun-loving woman. He was a fun-loving man. They’d have fun together. Of that, she had no doubt. They were friends and occasionally hung out in groups of friends or shared a quick meal at the hospital. He managed to make her smile even on her toughest days. But when it had come to actually dating him she’d scurried away faster than a mouse in the midst of a spinster lady’s feline-filled house.
“Emcee got your tongue?” Cecilia asked, making McKenzie realize she hadn’t answered her friend, neither had she caught most of what Lance had said as she’d gotten lost in a whirlwind of the past and present.
“Sorry, I’m feeling a little distracted,” she shot back under her breath, her eyes on Lance and not the woman watching her intently.
“I just bet you are.” Cecilia laughed softly and, although McKenzie still didn’t turn to look at her friend, she could imagine the merriment that was no doubt sparkling in her friend’s warm brown eyes. “That man is so hot I think I feel a fever coming on. I might need some medical care very soon. What’s his specialty?”
“Internal medicine, not that you don’t already know that seeing as he works with me,” McKenzie pointed out, her gaze eating up Lance as he announced the first act, taking in the fluid movements of his body, the smile on his face, the dimples in his cheeks, the twinkle in his blue eyes. He looked like a movie star. He was a great doctor. What else could he do?
McKenzie gulped back the knot forming in her throat as her imagination took flight on the possibilities.
“Yeah, well, Christmas is all about getting a fabulous package, right? That man, right there, is a fabulous package,” Cecilia teased, nudging McKenzie’s arm.
Snorting, she rolled her eyes and hoped her friend couldn’t see the heat flooding her cheeks. “You have a one-track mind.”
“So do you and it’s not usually on men. You still competing in that marathon in the morning?”
Running. It’s what McKenzie did. She ran. Every morning. It’s how she cleared her head. How she brought in each new day. How she stayed one step ahead of any guy who tried to wiggle his way into her heart or bedroom. She ran.
Literally and figuratively.
