A Cowboy For Christmas (10 page)

“
Do you miss him?” she
asked, then answered herself. “Of course you do. I’m sorry if it’s
hard having me here, instead of him.”

He stopped to look at her.
“Listen, the circumstances aren’t great, but I’m glad you’re
here.”

“
You are?” She turned this
time, and her eyes had that same lost look he’d seen the first time
they spoke. “I wish I'd gotten my priorities straight and come for
a visit sooner. He invited me. I guess you don’t know that since he
didn’t even tell you about me.” She turned back to her
work.

“
Missy, he didn’t tell me
about the rest of his life. That’s how men are. He didn’t know much
about me before we became friends. Even when Amanda left, he didn’t
ask me to explain.”

“
Amanda?”

Shoot, he’d just blown the
mood, and now he had to explain. “She’s the reason I have that
house. She was a part of this when it started, but she took off
after two months. I guess that’s why I thought you’d see life on a
ranch and head back to the city.”

“
One woman, all women, huh?
I’ve made the same mistake about men.” She flicked a look over at
him, and he decided to take that as apology for her turning him out
the other day. He’d heard enough to know her old boss had taken
advantage of her.

“
So are you heading
anywhere for Thanksgiving?”

She looked surprised at the
change in subject, but didn't call him on it.

“
I don’t do much for any
holiday. Maybe watch football.”

Was he supposed to laugh at
that? He’d never heard of a woman who didn’t celebrate the
holidays. “I wasn’t sure if you have family in the
area.”

“
I don’t have family
anywhere, not anymore.” She moved on to a new horse and began to
brush, as if this wasn’t a heavy conversation. But it wasn’t the
weather and it did matter.

“
I guess I forgot to tell
you.” He started talking while he thought it through. “If you’re
here on the ranch, you have to celebrate with us.”

“
That’s a ranch
rule?”

“
Yup. Dale and Ivan and me,
we all thought maybe we could get the little woman to cook for
us.”

She whipped around and
threw hay at him. “So that’s what this is about?”

“
Well, we’ll all pitch in.
Isn’t that the true spirit of Thanksgiving? We can cook at my
house. Watch the game. Drink some beer. It’ll be fun.”

A smile brightened her
face, warming her eyes as well. It was the first real smile he’d
seen on her since before they’d kissed and that was something he
shouldn’t be thinking about. If he wanted her to feel comfortable
about joining them, he needed to be a friend.

“
Well . . .” she said,
biting her lip. Keeping his gaze off her mouth, he decided he could
be a gentleman for a day. Not think about her lips, or brown eyes,
or that petite body.

“
Make that a yes, and I’ll
buy the turkey and everything to go with it.”

“
I actually can cook a
turkey,” she said. He lifted his brows in disbelief. “I can. I’m
better at big dinners than preparing an everyday meal. Just wait
and see.”

He had her. Or so he
thought. Maybe she had him.

Chapter Six

At the rumble outside at
eight in the morning, Missy went to the window and found Brent
turning off his truck and stepping out. Why did the man have to be
so breathtaking? So cool and hot at the same time?

She opened the door.
“That’s an awful big alarm clock.”

“
Weren’t you
up?”

“
Yeah, I was.” Barely.
She’d just finished breakfast. “What’s up?”

There had to be a reason he
had his truck here. He nudged his hat back and walked up the steps.
“If it’s okay with you, I’ll haul off some of this
junk.”

“
Oh.” They both knew the
junk meant Ben’s things, but she could see in his face that he
needed to keep it light if he was going to do this. “That’d be
fine. I put everything I don't need in his bedroom.”

“
Mind if I look through all
of it?”

She wanted to wrap her arms
around him as she sensed his pain. “Of course. You don’t have to
ask me that.”

They’d talked about hauling
all the papers off to the dump, but she hadn’t rushed him on it.
She carried out the smaller boxes while he took the heavier ones.
Brent didn’t stop to look at anything until they came across a box
full of photos in the bedroom.

She paused in the doorway
when she saw him, sitting on the floor to look through the
pictures. Leaving quietly, she waited in the living room. Twenty
minutes passed before he carried the box out. She didn’t plan to
say anything about it, but he stopped beside her.

“
You might want to keep
that one.” He handed her a picture.

It showed her standing
beside Ben, both with uncertain smiles on their faces.

“
Thanks . . . this is when
we met. We didn’t know what to think of each other.”

Her emotions seemed in
check till she heard her shaky breathing. His arms came around her
in that instant and she didn’t debate this time before falling into
his arms.

His breath came out shaky,
too. She cried for a brother she hardly knew . . . while he mourned
a friend. Thank heaven he never pointed that out, not since the
first day.

Those thoughts dropped from
her mind when she smelled his freshness from a shower, the soapy
smell of his skin. His well-toned body felt strong against her.
Minutes slipped by and she didn’t care, not with her eyes closed
and their hearts beating against each other.

“
Well . . . I should get
going. I’ll be back, though.”

* * * *

Three hours later, Brent
backed his truck up to Missy’s steps so they could unload the bed
he’d bought. Missy still hadn’t gone into Ben’s room, so he wanted
to get her a new bed. Maybe that would help. Finding it hadn’t
taken three hours, but he’d needed some time to think about what
he’d found in Ben’s things.

He turned off the truck’s
engine and looked down at the papers in the seat beside
him.

A will. His messy,
unorganized friend had started a will. Since it was hand written,
and not notarized, it might not stand up legally, but it had been
Ben’s wishes just the same. Now what would he do with
it?

If Missy read it, she might
leave.

The front door of the house
creaked and he stuffed the papers in his glove compartment.
Hitching an arm out the window, he watched her walk down the
steps.

“
You didn’t have to do
this.” She pulled on her red coat. He stepped out and met her at
the back of the truck.

“
I wanted to.” The wind
caught her hair and whipped it in her face. He watched the silky
strands feather on the breeze, then pushed aside his fascination
with her hair to answer, “It’s overdue. I shouldn’t have left you
with all of Ben’s things.”

He knew Ben had been her
brother, but since she hadn’t known him all that well, this was his
responsibility.

“
I’ll pay you
back.”

“
No need.” He stared at her
too long.

She shifted her weight,
signaling her discomfort, so he lowered the tailgate and they
carried it inside together.

They worked well together,
whether caring for the horses or moving furniture.

Just imagine what they
could do . . . together . . . in the bedroom.

He stood back, looking at
the bed, all ready with the mattresses on it. They were alone in
her bedroom, and his mind wouldn’t behave.

“
Brent?” Missy asked, her
voice soft and shy. Biting his tongue, he hoped she hadn’t caught
the look in his face as he imagined them naked together on the
bed.

Turning, she looked unsure
of herself with a little smile tugging at her lips. He lost the
power to think as he looked at her, those lips and big brown eyes
full of questions, so he raised his eyebrows and made a
noise.

“
I haven’t been horseback
riding on the beach yet.”

“
No?” he asked, wanting to
stare at her all day, but he noticed her smile fade. Oh, yeah, time
to answer the question. “Sure, we can go. Is now okay?”

She flashed him a relieved
smile. “We could pack a lunch,” she suggested.

Hiding his own smile, he
said, “I’ll fix it.”

When he teased her, her
unease seemed to melt and she nudged his arm. They left her
bedroom, grabbed their coats, and headed for his house.

This being friendly worked
out pretty well, except for when his imagination put together
different scenarios of how he could get her clothes off.

She wandered around while
he fixed sandwiches. When he didn’t hear her, he stepped to the
hallway and saw her looking at the fireplace - his favorite place
in the house.

He liked to sit there with
a beer, watch the flames, or read a magazine. Though, with Missy
with him, he’d have different things to do.

Almost laughing at himself,
he turned to finish making their lunch. They needed to hurry so
they could have some daylight to enjoy the beach.

“
Ready?” he called as he
retrieved their coats from the closest. He grabbed a ski cap he
kept on the closet shelf and pulled it on her head when she came
over.

“
You might want that. The
wind can give you an ache in your ears and jaw.”

“
Thanks,” she said,
fingering the wooly material. It came down to her brows, framing
her face. She didn't seem to know how beautiful she looked. Or she
didn’t until she saw the look on his face. He could tell she
noticed when her cheeks turned pink.

He gave her hair a gentle
tug and opened the door. For one second, he wondered if she would
stay around or run off. But he ignored the thought, choosing to
enjoy the day. They headed to the pasture where the horses were
grazing.

“
I can tell why we separate
the stallion from the mares, but why do you keep the geldings
apart?” she asked as they reached the fence.

“
They can still try to pull
rank. The stallion will fight the geldings, too.” He paused to open
the gate. Several horses came toward them, including Jeffery and
Speckle. “I like to play it safe since we take on boarder horses.
The last thing our reputation needs is a wounded
boarder.”

They led their horses to
the stables to saddle them. When her gaze met his, he felt an
immediate physical reaction, right where she could see it if she
looked down. She sure could turn him on, but he didn’t let her
know. No, he wanted her to trust him.

Since it’d reached late
afternoon already, he picked up the pace along the trail. “How does
it feel?” he asked.

“
Fine. Speckle shows me
what to do.”

That was what he wanted to
hear. “We keep a slow pace when we take tourists out, but I don’t
want to be too late today. Wouldn’t do for Speckle to stumble in
the dark and pitch you on your heard.”

Mist came in from the
river. It added more moisture to the air, making it feel thick and
heavy. A soft silence enveloped the forest except for the noise
they made.

As they neared the top of
the hill, he slowed so they could see the ocean. Today the mist
blocked most of their view.

Brent glanced at Missy as
they guided the horses down the beach trail. She sat comfortably in
the saddle, although focused on the trail.

“
Nice work,” he told her.
“You’ve got it.”

Scotch Broom bushes lined
the path until the bottom of the trail before it opened and they
were on the beach. Missy pulled in a breath at the view. Sand
stretched out all around them and waves pounded the beach
ahead.

Pulling up beside him, she
said, “It’s loud.”

He liked the wonder in her
eyes, and how red her lips were from the cold air. It took him a
minute to see she had turned her gaze to him.

“
I’ve been biting my tongue
and not telling you how beautiful you are,” he said with reverence.
There wasn’t any change in her expression, but she didn’t look
away, either. “Caught you by surprise?” he asked.

She laughed. “You do that a
lot.” Her breathless voice stirred his passion. Should he tell her
what she did to him?

No, he’d learned his lesson
when he rushed her before, so he’d take it slow. “Want to ride down
the beach a ways?”

Excitement lit up her eyes.
She nudged Speckle and they set off, nice and slow to enjoy the
ocean. He’d been around the cold ocean, the sea gulls, the foghorns
all his life, but he could tell it was new for her. She watched the
birds as they swooped and darted over the endless banter of water
and sand.

“
Here comes a big one,” he
said.

“
How do you
know?”

“
It’ll be the seventh.
Everything’s got a pattern.” He paused alongside her horse. The
next wave rose up higher, crashed, and came racing up the
sand.