Festive Fling with the Single Dad Read online

  From festive fling...

  ...to forever family?

  In this Pups that Make Miracles story, single dad vet Aksel Olson doesn’t have time for romance; his recently discovered daughter is his priority now. But his vivacious new neighbor, physiotherapist Flora McNeith, is helping Aksel connect with his little girl in the way he longs to…and spending time together, neither he nor Flora can resist their attraction. Could a Christmas fling open both their hearts to a new beginning…together?

  Pups that Make Miracles

  Therapy dogs work their magic this Christmas!

  Welcome to Christmas at Heatherglen Clinic!

  Set in a beautiful castle, nestled in the Highlands of Scotland, it’s the perfect place for patients to recover and rehabilitate from their injuries.

  The medical professionals working at this exclusive estate are dedicated to mending their patients, but the magic of this special place and the clinic’s adorable four-legged therapy partners help heal even the most broken of hearts and bring happily-ever-afters to both staff and patients alike!

  Discover how healing pups help make Christmas miracles happen in this brand-new miniseries guaranteed to leave paw prints on your heart!

  Highland Doc’s Christmas Rescue

  by Susan Carlisle

  Festive Fling with the Single Dad

  by Annie Claydon

  Available now!

  Making Christmas Special Again

  by Annie O’Neil

  Their One-Night Christmas Gift

  by Karin Baine

  Coming next month!

  Dear Reader,

  Every book teaches me something, and this book was no exception. I wrote it while recovering from a back injury, and at times it felt that it would never be finished! So I’m truly grateful to everyone who helped me through to my own happy ending, the medical professionals who treated me, my family and friends who encouraged me, and to the Harlequin Mills and Boon editorial team who were enormously patient and supportive. I’m reminded that I can’t avoid the difficulties in life, but that the greatest blessing is to have people around me who will help me meet those challenges.

  And, of course, Aksel and Flora have their own challenges to face. They’ve both reconciled themselves to dealing with those challenges alone, and the realization that they’re stronger together comes as a shock. Can they put aside their fears and face the future together?

  Thank you for reading Flora and Aksel’s story. I hope you enjoy it!

  Annie x

  Festive Fling with the Single Dad

  Annie Claydon

  Books by Annie Claydon

  Harlequin Medical Romance

  London Heroes

  Falling for Her Italian Billionaire

  Second Chance with the Single Mom

  Single Dad Docs

  Resisting Her English Doc

  Stranded in His Arms

  Rescued by Dr. Rafe

  Saved by the Single Dad

  The Doctor She’d Never Forget

  Discovering Dr. Riley

  The Doctor’s Diamond Proposal

  English Rose for the Sicilian Doc

  Saving Baby Amy

  Forbidden Night with the Duke

  Healed by the Single Dad Doc

  From Doctor to Princess?

  Firefighter’s Christmas Baby

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  To Charlotte

  With grateful thanks

  Praise for

  Annie Claydon

  “This is such a beautiful story filled with lots of emotion as two people get a second chance at love and one that is so well deserved.”

  —Goodreads on Rescued by Dr. Rafe

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM A CHRISTMAS KISS WITH HER EX-ARMY DOC BY TINA BECKETT

  CHAPTER ONE

  UP CLOSE, HE looked even more...

  More outdoorsy. Taller and blonder and... Just more. A two-day beard covered a square jaw, and his mane of shoulder-length hair was tied at the nape of his neck. His casual shirt and worn jeans gave the impression of an off-duty Norse god, and Flora McNeith resisted the temptation to curtsey. It was slightly over the top as a greeting for a new neighbour.

  ‘Hi. I’m Flora. From next door.’ She gestured towards her own cottage, tugging at Dougal’s lead in a fruitless attempt to get him to sit down for just one moment. ‘Welcome to the village.’

  He looked a little taken aback when she thrust the food box, containing half a dozen home-made mince pies into his hands. It might be more than three weeks until Christmas, but the lights of the Christmas tree in the village had already been turned on, and in Flora’s book any time after September was a good time for mince pies.

  ‘That’s very kind.’ His voice was very deep, the kind of tone that befitted the very impressive chest that it came from. And it appeared that whatever kind of deity Aksel Olson was, language and communication weren’t part of his remit. He was regarding her silently.

  ‘I work at the Heatherglen Castle Clinic. I hear that your daughter, Mette, is a patient there.’ Maybe if she explained herself a little more, she might get a reaction.

  Something flickered in his eyes at the mention of his daughter. Reflective and sparkling, like sunshine over a sheet of ice.

  ‘Are you going to be part of Mette’s therapy team?’

  Right. That put Flora in her place. Apparently that was the only thing that interested Aksel about her.

  ‘No, I’m a physiotherapist. I gather that your daughter is partially sighted...’ Flora bit her tongue. That sounded as if everyone was gossiping about him, which was half-true. The whisper that Mette’s father was single had gone around like wildfire amongst the female staff at the clinic. Now that Flora had met Aksel, she understood what the excitement was all about.

  ‘You read the memo, then?’ Something like humour flashed in his eyes, and Flora breathed a small sigh of relief. Lyle Sinclair must have told him about the memo.

  ‘Yes. I did.’ Every time a new patient was admitted a memo went round, introducing the newest member of the clinic’s community and asking every member of staff to welcome them. It was just one of the little things that made the clinic very special.

  ‘Would you like to come in for coffee?’ Suddenly he stood back from the door.

  ‘Oh!’ Aksel’s taciturn manner somehow made the words he did say seem more sincere. ‘I shouldn’t... Dougal and I are just getting used to each other and I haven’t dared take him anywhere for coffee yet. I’m afraid he’ll get over-excited and do some damage.’

  Aksel squatted down on his heels, in front of the ten-week-old brindle puppy, his face impassive.

  ‘Hi, there, Dougal.’

  Dougal was nosing around the porch, his tail wagging ferociously. At the sound of his name he looked up at Aksel, his odd ears twitching to attention. He circled the porch, to show off his new red fleece dog coat, and Flora steppe
d over the trailing lead, trying not to get snagged in it. Then Dougal trotted up to Aksel, nosing at his outstretched hand, and decided almost immediately he’d found a new best buddy. Finally, Aksel smiled, stroking the puppy’s head.

  ‘I’m sure we’ll manage. Why don’t you come in?’

  Two whole sentences. And the sudden warmth in his eyes was very hard to resist.

  ‘In that case... Thank you.’ Flora stepped into the hallway and Dougal tugged on his lead in delight.

  He took her coat, looking around the empty hallway as if it was the first time he’d seen it. There was nowhere to hang it and he walked into the kitchen, draping it neatly over the back of one of the chairs that stood around the table. Flipping open a series of empty cupboards, he found some packets of coffee and a small copper kettle, which seemed to be the only provisions he’d brought with him.

  Dougal had recovered from his customary two seconds of shyness over being in a new environment and was tugging at the lead again, clearly having seen the young chocolate-coloured Labrador that was sitting watchfully in a dog basket in the far corner of the kitchen. Flora bent down, trying to calm him, and he started to nuzzle at her legs.

  ‘Kari. Gi labb.’ In response to Aksel’s command, the Labrador rose from its bed, trotting towards them, then sitting down and offering her paw to Flora. Flora took it and Kari then started to go through her own getting-to-know-you routine with Dougal.

  ‘She’s beautiful.’ The Labrador was gentle and impressively well trained. ‘This is Mette’s assistance dog?’

  Aksel nodded. ‘Kari’s staying with me for a while, until Mette settles in. She’s not used to having a dog.’

  ‘Part of the programme, up at the clinic, will be getting Mette used to working with Kari. You’ll be taking her there when you visit?’

  ‘Yes. I find that the canine therapy centre has some use for me in the mornings, and I’ll spend every afternoon with Mette.’

  ‘It’s great that you’re here to give her all the support she needs.’

  He nodded quietly. ‘Mette’s sight loss is due to an injury in a car accident. Her mother was driving, and she was killed.’

  Flora caught her breath. The rumours hadn’t included that tragic detail. ‘I’m so sorry. It must be incredibly hard for you both.’

  ‘It is for Mette. Lisle and I hadn’t been close for some years.’

  All the same, he must feel something... But from the finality in his tone and the hint of blue steel in his eyes, Aksel clearly didn’t want to talk about it. She should drop the subject.

  Kari had somehow managed to calm Dougal’s excitement, and Flora bent down to let him off the lead. But as soon as she did so, Dougal bounded over to Aksel, throwing himself at his ankles. Aksel smiled suddenly, bending towards the little dog, his quiet words and his touch calming him.

  ‘Sorry... I’ve only had him a couple of days, I’m looking after him for Esme Ross-Wylde.’ Aksel must know who Esme was if he was working at the canine therapy centre. Charles and Esme Ross-Wylde were a brother and sister team, Charles running the Heatherglen Castle Clinic, and Esme the canine therapy centre. ‘He’s a rescue dog and Esme’s trying to find him a good home.’

  ‘You can’t take him?’ Aksel’s blue gaze swept up towards her, and Flora almost gasped at its intensity.

  ‘No...no, I’d like to but...’ Flora had fallen in love with the puppy almost as soon as she’d seen him. He’d been half-starved and frightened of his own shadow when he’d first been found, but as soon as he’d been given a little care his loving nature had emerged. The strange markings on his shaggy brindle coat and his odd ears had endeared him to Flora even more.

  ‘It wouldn’t be fair to leave him alone all day while you were at work.’ Aksel’s observation was exactly to the point.

  ‘Yes, that’s right. I drop him off at the canine therapy centre and they look after him during the day, but that’s a temporary arrangement. Dougal’s been abandoned once and at the moment he tends to panic whenever he’s left alone.’

  Aksel nodded. A few quiet words to Kari, that Flora didn’t understand, and the Labrador fetched a play ball from her basket, dropping it in front of Dougal. Dougal got the hint and started to push it around the room excitedly, the older dog carefully containing him and helping him play.

  Aksel went through the process of searching through the kitchen cupboards again, finding a baking sheet to put the mince pies on and putting them in the oven to warm. The water in the copper kettle had boiled and he took it off the stove, tipping a measure of coffee straight into it. That was new to Flora, and if it fitted exactly with Aksel’s aura of a mountain man, it didn’t bode too well for the taste of the coffee.

  ‘I hear you’re an explorer.’ Someone had to do the getting-to-know-you small talk and Flora was pretty sure that wasn’t part of Aksel’s vocabulary. He raised his eyebrows in reply.

  ‘It said so in the memo.’

  ‘I used to be an explorer.’ The distinction seemed important to him. ‘I’m trained as a vet and that’s what I do now.’

  ‘I’ve never met anyone who used to be an explorer before. Where have you been?’

  ‘Most of South America. The Pole....’

  Flora shivered. ‘The Pole? North or South?’

  ‘Both.’

  That explained why she’d seen him setting off from his cottage early this morning, striding across the road and into the snow-dappled countryside beyond, with the air of a man who was just going for a walk. And the way that Aksel seemed quite comfortable in an open-necked shirt when the temperature in the kitchen made Flora feel glad of the warm sweater she was wearing.

  ‘So you’re used to the cold.’

  Aksel smiled suddenly. ‘Let’s go into the sitting room.’

  He tipped the coffee from the kettle into two mugs, opening the oven to take the mince pies out and leading the way through the hallway to the sitting room. As he opened the door, Flora felt warmth envelop her, along with the scent of pine.

  The room was just the same as the kitchen. Comfortable and yet it seemed that Aksel’s presence here had made no impact on it. Apart from the mix of wood and pine cones burning in the hearth, it looked as if he’d added nothing of his own to the well-furnished rental cottage.

  Kari had picked the dog toy up in her mouth, and Dougal followed her into the room. She lay down on the rug in front of the fire, and the puppy followed suit, his tail thumping on the floor as Kari dropped the toy in front of him.

  ‘He’ll be hot in here. I should take his coat off.’ Flora couldn’t help grimacing as she said the words. Dougal liked the warm dog coat she’d bought for him, and getting him out of it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Perhaps he’d realise that they were in company, and not make so much of a fuss this time.

  Sadly not. As soon as he realised Flora’s intent, the little dog decided that this was the best of all times for a game of catch-me-if-you-can. When she knelt, trying to persuade him out from under the coffee table, he barked joyously, darting out to take refuge under a chair.

  She followed him, shooting Aksel an apologetic glance. His broad grin didn’t help. Clearly he found this funny.

  ‘He thinks this is a game. You’re just reinforcing that by joining in with him. Come and drink your coffee, he’ll come to you soon enough.’

  Right. The coffee. Flora had been putting off the moment when good manners dictated that she’d have to take her first sip. But what Aksel said made sense, and he obviously had some experience in the matter. Flora sat down, reaching for her mug.

  ‘This is...nice.’ It was nice. Slightly sweeter than she was used to and with clear tones of taste and scent. Not what she’d expected at all.

  ‘It’s a light roast. This is a traditional Norwegian method of making it.’

  ‘The easiest way when you’re travelling as well.’ A good cup of coffee
that could be made without the need for filters or machines. Flora took another mouthful, and found that it was even more flavoursome than the first.

  ‘That too. Only I don’t travel any more.’ He seemed to want to make that point very clear, and Flora thought that she heard regret in his tone. She wanted to ask, but Dougal chose that moment to come trotting out from under the chair to nuzzle at Aksel’s legs.

  He leaned forward, picking the little dog up and talking quietly to him in Norwegian. Dougal seemed to understand the gist of it, although Flora had no idea what the conversation was about, and Aksel had him out of the dog coat with no fuss or resistance.

  ‘That works.’ She shot Aksel a smile and he nodded, lifting Dougal down from his lap so that he could join Kari by the fire.

  ‘You’re not from Scotland, are you?’ He gave a half-smile in response to Flora’s querying look. ‘Your accent sounds more English.’

  He had a good ear. Aksel’s English was very good, but not many people could distinguish between accents in a second language.

  ‘My father’s a diplomat, and I went to an English school in Italy. But both my parents are Scots, my dad comes from one of the villages a few miles from here. Cluchlochry feels like home.’

  He nodded. ‘Tell me about the clinic.’

  ‘Surely Dr Sinclair’s told you all you need to know...’

  ‘Yes, he has.’ Aksel shot her a thoughtful look, and Flora nodded. Of course he wanted to talk about the place that was going to be Mette’s home for the next six weeks. Aksel might be nice to look at—strike that, the man was downright gorgeous—but in truth the clinic was about all they had in common.

  * * *

  The first thing that Aksel had noticed about Flora was her red coat, standing out in the feeble light of a cold Saturday morning. The second, third and fourth things had come in rapid and breathtaking succession. Her fair hair, which curled around her face. The warmth in her honey-brown eyes. Her smile. The feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that he liked her smile, very much.