Free McDonald_NoELFngWay_GEN_Dec2015 by Donna McDonald Page B

doubt,” Dash said, sighing at his mother’s chastising look. “Did Dad ever mess things up between the two of you?”
    “No dear,” Cupid said. “However, I managed to routinely do that myself for a couple of years when we were dating. You see… I’d get these ideas in my head about how things should have been between us. Often I couldn’t see how wonderful things already were because of it. I’m lucky your father loved me enough to not give up until I had gotten a handle on my expectations.”
    “Do you really think what I did was wrong?”
    “Right and wrong are just perspectives. All that really matters is how you two feel about each other at any given moment. You and Vixen are both bringing a lot of hurt into your current relationship. Each of you is going to have to learn to let go.”
    Dash nodded. “When I think about it, a lot got erased for us Tuesday. Being with her felt like it was just meant to be. Everything was just… easy… natural. We’re well suited in lots of ways. Maybe I was arrogant enough to think Tuesday was enough proof of my feelings. That’s partly why I was so shocked at her extreme reaction today.”
    “If she wasn’t raising a daughter whose father didn’t want either of them, Tuesday might have been enough. She’s had to become less trusting to survive.”
    Dash nodded. “Okay. I get that. I do.”
    “Good,” Cupid said. “Now talk to Blix. That old charmer is hard to say no to.”
    Dash grinned. “Are you still saying no?”
    “That would be between me and Blix. My love life is off limits to my son,” Cupid declared with a laugh.
    “How is that fair? You know everything about mine—evidently.”
    Cupid smiled. “When Nicky gets older, you’ll understand.”
    Dash sighed. “Well, I hope he has better luck with women than I have. Getting them was never my problem, but keeping a good one has always been a challenge.”
    ***
    “Now I get why you sent him packing. What the hell is a pause?” Blix asked.
    Vixen snorted as she shrugged. “I concluded it was just Dash’s bullshit way of saying he wanted to break up with me. He tried to deny it, but I saw where it was going. After all the work he did to charm me, suddenly he didn’t want us to see each other again until after Christmas. It was just a repeat of the past for me.”
    “Seems strange for him to do something that drastic. Did something serious happen between you two?”
    Vixen laughed dryly and studied the ceiling in her uncle’s office. She’d spent all day yesterday, all night, and all this morning trying to convince herself sleeping with Dash hadn’t been serious. It was going to take months… maybe even years… to forget what had been the best sexual experience of her life. Too bad it had to be with a jerk.
    “What I think is important is apparently irrelevant. Nothing important happened by Dasher Sleigh’s standards, which is why he came to break up with me. There for a day or two I thought I might have been falling…”
    Falling in love with him again? Vixen found she couldn’t speak the truth aloud, so she let loose the sigh she’d been holding inside with the rest of her tension.
    “The breakup wasn’t even about us, Uncle Blix. There’s not enough of an ‘us’ to merit a breakup. Dash’s visit was about his son. I knew that the moment he asked me if I’d read Nicky’s letter.”
    “This is about Nicky? I thought the boy liked you.”
    Vixen nodded. “Yes, the boy does like me. In fact, Dash broke up with me to keep Nicky from liking me too much. You see, Nicky wrote to Santa and asked for a new mom for Christmas. Dash found the idea of his son assuming I might fit the new mom role to be appalling enough to ask for… a pause .”
    Blix sighed and shook his head. “Hell. Poor kid. Dash must be worried Nicky’s going to have more of those meltdowns he used to have. No wonder the man is acting stupid where you’re concerned. I’m sorry he hurt you. I’m sure that wasn’t