Holiday in a Stetson: The Sheriff Who Found Christmas\A Rancho Diablo Christmas (15 page)

He nodded. “Thanks, Fiona.”

She smiled and patted his arm. Aberdeen said, “Good luck, Johnny.”

“This is the best Christmas ever because all our dreams have come true this year,” Diane said. And suddenly, Johnny knew the magic of Christmas had stolen his heart and given it to one very special woman.

“Merry Christmas, all,” he said to the room at large as he left, and the Callahans called back, “Merry Christmas, Johnny! May the mistletoe be with you!”

The Callahans were the greatest bunch he’d ever met, and they were also the most loving, and if he had his way tonight, he was going to fall in with their plan, the plan they’d had all along.

Which had turned out to be a great big dose of Christmas magic.

J
ESS DIDN’T WANT TO
turn off the Christmas tree lights. She hadn’t thought she’d be spending this night alone, but it was like any other Christmas, so why had she thought it might be different?

She was just a little down, and it wasn’t because she’d had to give up the beautiful gown. There was always another dress, she told herself, even if that one had seemed made for her. It was that she had no groom—and without the groom, the gown was a big fat zero. Useless.

She was afraid she very much wanted the groom. To be precise, she wanted Johnny Donovan.

She wasn’t like Wendy, who knew how to go after what she wanted—
who
she wanted. She was a little shy and not skilled with flirting, and Johnny
was much more than she’d ever imagined. It was like thinking you might wind up with the nerd in your class, only to find out you’d fallen for the prince who had everything, and still wanted only you.

It had all been too good to be true.

Jess thought she heard bells ringing, then dismissed that possibility. “Past time to check on Raj and go to bed, if I’m hearing bells.”

Then she realized she actually was hearing bells—sleigh bells, jingling on her front porch. Since she’d never had sleigh bells ringing at her door, she went to get a can of Mace.

One could never be too certain. Santa had done all his deliveries the night before, so the fact that it was very late on Christmas Day made her a little uneasy.

“Who is it?” she demanded.

“Santa,” said a man’s voice—and then she realized it was Johnny.

She jerked the door open.

“Merry Christmas,” he said. “Is that for me?”

She glanced down at the Mace can in her hand. “Not exactly,” she said. “Sorry about that. Merry Christmas to you, too.”

He came inside. “I meant to stop by and make you pancakes this morning, and I got cold feet.”

She nodded, gazing at him. He looked so big and strong and handsome, not like a man with cold feet at all, and she didn’t care, as long as he came inside and stayed with her. “I wasn’t hungry, anyway.”

“Then I thought,” Johnny said, “I’d wait for you to come by, make sure that you were okay with what was going on with us. But then I realized, after you
dropped the wedding gown off, that maybe you didn’t want to see me.”

“Oh,” Jess said, a little breathlessly, “I thought you might not want to see
me.
”

Johnny nodded. “But I did.”

She looked at him for a long minute, then jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He laughed out loud, and she kissed him to make him stop.

“I’m not good at this,” she said. “You’ll have to teach me how to be a good girlfriend.”

“Nah,” Johnny said, “I’m pretty sure you’ll do just fine, especially if you keep kissing me like this.”

She smiled, a little shyly. “I’m so glad you came over. But I don’t have a Christmas present for you.”

“Oh, yes, you do,” Johnny said, giving her a long kiss full of meaning, and Jess laughed, delighted, as her man from Wyoming carried her to bed.

T
HREE HOURS LATER
, Jess woke in Johnny’s arms. She propped herself on an elbow to smile down at him.

“That was different,” she said. “Much better than last time.”

He smiled at her. “You’re a great teacher.”

“I think I’ve become the student.” Jess kissed him. “Do you know it’s Christmas for another hour?”

He nibbled at her fingertips, lightly kissing them. “And do you know I’m not waiting till midnight to tell you that I love you?”

She drew in a breath. “That’s funny, Mr. Donovan, because I happen to love you, as well. I guess you could say I fell in love with a caveman, huh?”

He caressed her bottom, drawing a squeal from her as she shifted on top of him, straddling him.

“I knew you were the one when you pulled off your blouse to dry off Raj,” Johnny said. “Naked, you will get me every time.” He tweaked her bottom, his face lit with mischief.

“Maybe if you’re very nice, Santa,” she whispered against his lips, “I’ll see if I can find something else in my Christmas stocking for you.”

“Speaking of stockings,” Johnny said, “I have something for you.”

“I know…” she moved on top of him with sexy intent “…and I thank you very much.”

Heck, when she put it like that, Johnny thought, there was nothing a man could do but please the lady. Holding Jess was just about the best thing on earth, as far as he was concerned, and making her Christmas as merry as possible was all any red-blooded Santa should do.

T
HIRTY MINUTES LATER
, Johnny loomed over a satisfied Jessica, and grinned. “Merry Christmas once again.”

She smiled. “And to you, as well.”

He kissed her on the lips tenderly. “I was serious, Jess, when I said I’m in love with you.”

Her big blue eyes filled with happiness. “And I’m seriously, seriously in love with you.”

“So,” he said, nibbling gently at her lower lip, “what are we going to do about it?”

“What we’re doing?” Jess asked, giving him a kiss that blew his mind.

“I was thinking more of marriage,” Johnny said.

She sank back into the pillows. “Marriage?”

“Yeah, the kind with, you know, some rings, maybe one of those sexy thongs under a wedding dress?”

She gazed up at him, making his heart beat a nervous rhythm of sheer guy agony. Was there anything worse than waiting for the woman you loved to say yes?

Jess blinked. “I love you, Johnny Donovan. I’ll marry you. Yes,” she said, and then she smiled. “God, yes, I’ll marry you.” She flung her arms around his neck, and Johnny buried his face in her red hair, feeling as if he had run many miles and finally made it home.

“Thank heaven,” he said, “because I brought this gift with me, and I wasn’t sure what to do with it if you said no.”

She tugged at his long hair until he raised his head up to look at her. “Give me my present, Johnny Donovan. You’ve teased me with it long enough.”

Grinning, he got up to get it, and Jess thought watching him walk naked around their house, wherever it was, was going to be one of the highlights of her life. “Did I ever tell you that you have a great a—”

She stopped cold when he walked in with the garment bag she’d left on Fiona’s porch. “Is that—”

Johnny nodded, pleased at the surprised wonder in her voice. “It is.” He hung it on her door.

She leaped out of bed and jumped up on him, wrapping her legs around him just the way she had in her living room, only now it was better because she was naked, and Johnny smiled as she rained kisses on his face and neck.

“Merry Christmas, Red,” he said, and this time when he carried her to bed, Johnny knew that Jess was his, forever.

Christmas was, indeed, the season of magic—and miracles.

New Year’s Eve morning bloomed clear and bright at Rancho Diablo. It was, Johnny thought as he looked at his bride walking down the rose-strewn aisle toward him, the most beautiful place on earth.

“I love you,” he told her when she came to stand at his side under the white-rose-covered arch on Rancho Diablo’s grounds. He figured he might be scandalizing the clergyman by romancing Jess before the vows, but he couldn’t help himself. “You’re beautiful, and I’m so glad you’re marrying me.”

She smiled at him, and the wedding dress seemed to twinkle with joy and happiness, even though he knew that wasn’t possible. It had to be the sun glinting off the beads and sequins; he knew that. But the Callahans and all their talk of magic and mysticism had gotten to him—just a little—as had the fairy tales he’d been reading his nieces every night before he tucked them into bed. Johnny figured there was no harm whatsoever in believing in the Callahan way.

“Excuse me, Father,” he said, and kissed his bride. The guests laughed, and the matrons of honor—his sisters, Aberdeen and Diane—hugged Jess. All his
nieces were around the altar, too, gazing up at them, wondering what the adults were doing. They looked so cute in their matching, frothy white dresses that Johnny couldn’t believe his good fortune.

After the ceremony, when he and Jess had danced the first dance, shared delicious white wedding cake, and Jess had tossed the bouquet—which had been caught by Judge Julie, bringing
woo-hoo
!s and good-natured teasing to the judge—Johnny kissed Jess again, with a grin.

“This is my favorite part,” he told her.

“What is?” She looked at him with a mixture of laughter and wifely alarm.

“The garter. It’s all mine,” he said, as the Callahans put a chair nearby for him to help Jess perch on. “I’ve been thinking about running my hands up your skirt for the past two hours, and now all I have to do is concentrate on grabbing the garter off you and not your thong,” he whispered.

Jess giggled at his leer, her heart racing. She loved her big husband. He’d given her everything she’d ever wanted in life—himself and a huge family. He looked so happy about investigating what was under her wedding gown that she couldn’t help thinking that the honeymoon in Hawaii was going to be perfect. With his love of her scanty undies, he was going to be thrilled with the bikinis she’d picked out.

Still, she had to tease him. “Maybe I’m not wearing a thong. Maybe I’m wearing boy shorts under this dress. White and lacy, but offering complete coverage—”

He kissed her hand. “I’m getting excited just thinking about it,” he murmured, and Jess giggled.

“I’m not going to tell you what I’m wearing,” she said, “just to prolong the agony.”

“My own private scavenger hunt awaits me,” he said, kissing her palm, “and I
will
find the treasure.”

“Johnny,” she said, laughing, “the natives are getting restless. You’d better throw the garter.”

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw bachelor Callahans, Jess’s cousin, Gage and assorted Diablo gentlemen jostling for a premiere spot to catch the satiny trophy. “Maybe I’ll just keep it for myself. I don’t know that I like giving away anything of yours.”

“It’s all right,” she said. “I’ve got a special bridal baby doll nightie you’re going to love, if you hurry. Fiona and my mom went shopping together for it, and trust me, it’s quite itty-bitty.” She kissed him on the lips, trying to urge him to hurry.

“It pains me to do it,” Johnny said, slowly running his palm up his wife’s leg under the gown, “feeling all this smooth skin, and—”

He broke off when he got to her kneecap. “Shouldn’t it be right about here? I don’t want to scandalize the guests.” Catcalls and hoots were raining down on them, and touching Jess’s soft skin was frying his ability to think clearly.

“Other leg, sweetie,” Jess said, and he grinned at his bride.

“You little devil,” he said, “torturing me like this.”

“What’s the matter, Donovan? Can’t find the garter?” someone called, and Johnny made his way to Jess’s other leg, bringing more whistles down on him.

“I think I’m about to have heart failure,” he said, cresting her other smooth knee. “Are you sure you put it on?” There was only so much of Jess’s soft skin he could bear to feel; he wasn’t certain he was going to be able to stand up to toss the garter without embarrassing himself.

“A little higher, honey,” she said, with a teasing smile, and Johnny took a deep breath, finding the lacy thing north of Jess’s knee and just south of heaven.

“Jeez,” he told her under his breath. “Kill a guy, huh?”

Jess laughed, Johnny shot the garter off his forefinger like a slingshot into the crowd of jostling guys—Rafe, of course, being competitive, snatched it just before Sam could grab it—and then Johnny swept his bride up out of the chair and tossed her over his shoulder, caveman-style.

“This is what I should have done in the very beginning,” he said, waving at the cheering guests as he jogged down the road toward the parked truck he and Jess planned to use as a getaway vehicle. Her veil fluttered at his legs, and he couldn’t stop grinning as his wife giggled.

And just before he reached his truck—which the Callahans had completely redecorated with cans and Just Married signs and heavens knew what else—Jess reached down and gave him a well-placed smack on his trouser-covered behind.

“I love you, Wyoming,” she said, and Johnny grinned.

And if he thought he saw the mystical Diablos run
ning on the land just over the horizon, who was to say it wasn’t the magic of the Christmas season? Perfectly magical.