A Cowboy For Christmas (13 page)

“
I’m sure we will someday.
And I guess you have a say in that now.” His tone wasn’t cold. But
they were on thin ice, she knew.

“
I still want to know what
you planned.” She wanted to be a part of the stables and the plans,
not take over.

“
I saw a vision of the
place, and that’s pretty much what it is right now. I have the
land, the horses, and the beach nearby.” His gaze dropped down to
the table. She didn’t think he was mad, but he was closing up in
himself. Something was off.

Ben.

They hadn’t spoken much
about her late brother. She couldn’t hold it against him, since
they hadn’t known each other for a long period of time. Things were
going well enough for her to want to stay on longer, and he seemed
to want that as well.

Something, however, still
dogged him. Why else would he avoid Dancer? Why else would he clam
up when she asked about the future?

She remembered the one and
only time she had asked him about Ben’s death. He’d refused to
answer.

Switching gears, she asked,
“Do you think I’ll be able to help with the tours this
spring?”

When his face came back up,
his eyes were clear. “I plan on it. Two of us always go with every
group, maybe more if it’s a large one. One leads the way, the other
brings up the rear.”

He’d worked with Ben
before. She could tell he didn’t want to talk about it. His hand
rested on the table, and she reached over and covered his with her
own. He didn’t pull his hand back, but stroked hers with his
thumb.

“
You seem to have a lot of
confidence in me,” she said. It gave her a warm feeling, but she
didn’t want his feelings toward her to cloud his judgment on
this.

“
You still have time,” he
reminded, still stroking her hand. “For your first few times, three
of us can go. It’ll work out fine. I can tell by watching you ride
now.”

Their meals arrived and
they ate in silence. They’d planned on a movie afterwards, but she
couldn’t sit next to him in the dark and watch a movie. “Would you
like to go to my place for wine?” she asked as they walked to the
truck.

He must have seen right
through that. Teasing her, he said, “Didn’t you just have wine with
dinner?”

After he opened her door,
she slid in and waited until he sat behind the wheel to ask, “Then
would you like to come back to my place and kiss me?”

“
Just one kiss?” He started
the truck and put it in reverse. The music played and she scooted
in the middle for the trip back. He smelled like pure pleasure, she
thought as she leaned her head against his shoulder. She was a
sucker for his wide shoulders.

“
Missy?”

She shot up at his
questioning tone. “Yeah?”

“
Thanks for . . . for the
way you are.”

What could he mean by that?
“My sultry good looks or my amazing charm?”

He chuckled. “I like a
woman with a good self image.” He rubbed her with the arm he had
wrapped around her. “But I meant for your understanding. I thought
you’d change everything. Now I’m not sure why I was so against you
coming here.”

She could remind him that
he’d just lost a good friend, and she came looking for money. But
she didn’t just remember those things. How could she forget how
hurt and angry she felt?

“
Wasn’t the best way to
meet, was it?” she said, her voice quiet and sad.

He turned down the ranch
road, passing under the
Ocean View
Stables
sign, passing his own house and
drove to hers.

“
You’re not leaving once
you drop me off, are you?” Oh, boy, that sounded like panic in her
voice. After all her daydreaming, she needed him in the most
intimate way.

“
I’ll stay, go, do whatever
you want.”

That innuendo didn’t escape
her notice. And after looking at him, she knew he meant it. Time to
put it to the test.

“
Come on, cowboy.” She
started to slide over to the passenger door.

His hand on her arm stopped
her. “It’s closer this way.”

Surprised, she turned to
him just as he pulled her up into his arms. “Let’s hurry, it’s
cold.”

He took her right in and
set her on her feet inside the front door.

Shutting the door behind
her, she leaned against it, looking into his blue eyes and then
that mouth waiting to take hers. Powerful urges burned inside her,
keeping her from moving.

“
Missy?” His voice washed
over her, making her shiver. “Are you cold?”

She shook her head and
watched him step next to her. He touched her cheek, her neck, and
leaned in to kiss her. Moaning, she fell against him and wrapped
her arms around his neck. His face was just a bit rough under her
lips. Enjoying the texture, she ran her lips over his
whiskers.

In contrast, his neck felt
like silk, right down to his collarbone. She undid the top several
buttons of his shirt and ran her hand over the thin chest hair
underneath. She shivered with pleasure. While she wanted to touch
every inch of him, right now, she needed to savor. The last buttons
went and she pushed his shirt open.

She’d thought a lot about
trusting him with this. If she thought he’d understand, she’d tell
him what a big step she was taking. To understand that, however,
he’d have to know why she was afraid to trust. Shame kept her from
doing that.

His hands sculpted her
waist, running down to the dip before her hips. She could trust him
this way. Her heart would be another matter.

“
All this comes off,” she
told him with one brow crooked suggestively.

“
Does it?” He threw her up
into his arms again and carted her back to her bedroom.

Chapter Eight

Brent hadn’t slept that
good in ages. Walking to the stables in the soft morning light, he
felt renewed. He might have slept better if he’d stayed with her,
but he’d gotten the sense she wanted him to leave. They had lain
together for a while, until he was about asleep, when she pulled
away.

Since he wanted to respect
her, and continue to build her trust in him, he’d dressed and
headed for home like that was the natural thing to do.

It wasn’t his natural
reaction. He’d wanted to hold her all night, listen to her breathe,
and kiss her neck in the morning. He’d never felt love like this
before. Wait. Love?

Love. That was the only
word for the overwhelming emotions raging inside him. It’d been in
there somewhere, hiding, waiting for the right second to spring
itself on him. Then, suddenly, while holding Missy and making love
to her, he knew.

He might have even said it
out loud. If he did, she hadn’t heard. That was a miracle. How
would he explain that to her?

“
Morning, Dale,” he said
and wished he hadn’t sounded so happy. If Dale noticed anything, he
was gentleman enough not to ask. With the sun coming out, Brent
felt like spring was coming early.

They transferred the horses
to the back section of the pasture. The recent rain had started a
puddle that turned into a small lake.

He waved to Dale and went
back for his truck. He needed to make a run for sawdust before the
pasture got any worse. When he returned, he spent an hour spreading
sawdust. H stood back for a break when Dale pulled up with another
truckload of it.

“
We could just keep them
off this section.” Dale looked over the mushy mess, his mustache
twitching.

“
We’d still have a mess
come spring.” There’d be even more rain then.

“
Here comes Missy,” Dale
jerked his head her way. “To help, I think.”

Brent turned around to see
Missy walking down to them. She wore rubber work boots with a pair
of Wranglers and a heavy coat.

“
Cute, isn’t she?” Dale
grinned at him. “So you two getting to be pretty good
friends?”

“
It’s way past being
friends.” He allowed himself one knowing look directed at his
friend. “But I don’t kiss and tell.”

Dale tried to wiggle the
smile off his face before Missy got there. “You just did,
buddy.”

With Missy several steps
away, all Brent could do was send Dale a warning look to keep
quiet.

“
Want some help?” she asked
by the truck.

“
Couldn’t hurt.” He watched
her come the rest of the way over, but she didn’t look his way.
He’d expected at least a shy smile. Nothing?

They worked together and
talked to Dale like things weren’t different between them. Coldness
settled inside him. Dread of loosing what little they had scared
him silly.

They emptied the truck in
half an hour with two extra bodies. Dale acted overly excited about
leaving for lunch. Maybe he felt something off with Missy, just as
Brent had.

“
Let’s take the horses
out.” He took her shovel and laid it in the truck bed.

“
A ride, now?” she asked,
like the idea was from left field.

That tone seemed too normal
after the night they’d shared. He opened the passenger door and
guided her in. Like it or not, they were going for a ride. And they
were going to talk.

With her brows creased and
her lips parted, she looked startled when he got in, but maybe he
needed to shake her up a bit.

He steered the truck down
to the stables and parked it. Missy jumped out and headed for the
tact room. She could saddle her horse like nothing now. Just like
anything else around the stables that needed done.

She’d promised to learn
fast. And she had. But maybe he was a slow learner because he was
missing something here.

“
Ready?” she asked from
atop her horse. He mounted and nodded.

He rode close to her side
as they took the path into the forest. The breeze rattled the pine
branches, sending droplets down like rain. Didn’t matter. They were
dressed for wet weather.

“
All right, no one’s
listening. What’s going on with you today?” He hadn’t meant to
sound so demanding. Did he care, though?

“
Is there something you
should tell me?” she said, concern in her voice.

“
You’re acting different.”
He nudged Jeffery closer.

“
I’ve been thinking about
last night.”

This wasn’t good at all.
Maybe she had heard his confession of love, and it had scared her
off. That or he wasn’t any good in bed. After the way she moaned,
he doubted that was the case. “Second thoughts?”

“
No.” She laughed, looking
him over from his boots to his hat. “Reliving it. I didn’t want us
going all goo-goo in front of Dale.”

He let out his breath in a
half laugh.

“
Don’t worry so much, Mr.
Serious Cowboy.” She lifted an eyebrow at him and turned the
serious discussion into play. Trotting ahead, she glanced back.
“Coming?”

He’d never heard a laugh
like hers. Quiet, yet suggestive. Relieved, he kicked up the pace
and caught her.

They came back muddy and
soaked, but he hardly felt it. Even the horses didn’t seem to mind.
He brushed them and checked them both over.

“
You sure take good care of
these horses.” Watching him, she patted Speckle.

“
Some might think I overdo
it.” He turned his back to pull up Jeffery’s hoof. “But it’s best
if you catch things before they fester.”

He straightened and found
her face had gone serious.

“
You thinking things over
again?” He didn’t need to think after watching her ride. He needed
to kiss her all over.

“
Oh, I’m thinking about
Dancer.”

Dancer. Guilt spiked
through him at the horse’s name. “Yeah, I’ll ask Dale to take him
for a ride soon.”

He couldn’t go near the
horse, couldn’t think about Ben. Or that day when he should have
been driving the truck and trailer. He felt how she watched him.
This wasn’t the time to tell her.

“
You sure got dirty.” He
grinned at her muddy clothes. Sure, he had to force the grin, but
she relaxed.

She fluttered her lashes.
“Maybe we need a bath.”

He grabbed her hand so
quick, she gasped. He whipped them outside and straight to his
house.

“
Brent?”

“
You said you need a bath.”
He lifted one side of his mouth, then looked her over. Talk about
hot.

He threw open his door and
pulled her inside. She tried to kick off her boots, but he yanked
her into his arms.

He pulled off his Stetson
and dropped it on the floor. Their lips met, hers feeling hot
against his mouth. The clothes were in his way, so he pushed her
coat off her shoulders.

She moaned into his mouth
as he kissed her. Pulling his hands back, he jerked his coat off,
tossing it over his shoulder to land on the floor behind
him.

“
Bathroom,” he
growled.