Darn Good Cowboy Christmas (17 page)

Liz carried sacks filled with boxes of assorted chocolates and cookies along with tins of popcorn painted with Christmas scenes into the house. Raylen unloaded the Christmas tree into the living room and put all the new wire ornaments on the porch until he ran out of room and had to set up the rest on the lawn. Then he helped Liz tote in the rest of the sacks.

When they finished, the two empty bedrooms were filled with sacks, wrapping paper, tape, ribbons, candy, and popcorn. She covered a yawn with her hand as she made her way back outside and noticed that it was two thirty in the morning. It had been a fantastic first date. She loved Olive Garden and couldn't wait to tell Blaze about it. Raylen had been so patient in Walmart while she wiped the shelves free of boxes of chocolates and tins of butter cookies and popcorn that he deserved a big gold metal on a velvet Christmas ribbon.

“All done!” He made it to the recliner where he plopped down.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You are very welcome. Shall we talk about those handcuffs now?”

She sat down in his lap and yawned again. “Rain check, please. I'm wiped plumb out.”

He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. “Thank God! I'm too tired to move.”

She pulled her knees up and snuggled down into his chest. “Pop up the footrest and push back so we can rest.”

I
wonder
what
sex
in
a
recliner
would
be
like. Oh, hush, I'm so tired, a bout of hot sex would kill me dead. And besides, I think Raylen is already dozing.

She meant to shut her eyes for only a minute. Just rest them long enough to garner enough energy to kiss Raylen good night. All good dates ended with a hot and heavy kiss that promised he would call again. At least they did in the movies. When she opened her eyes, sunlight was streaming in the window and Gemma was standing beside the recliner with her hands on her hips and a grin as big as Dallas on her face.

“Good morning?” Liz said weakly.

“Looks like it!” A smile covered Gemma's face and her eyes twinkled.

Raylen opened his eyes slowly. “Guess we fell asleep. What are you doing here?”

“Lookin' for you.”

“Why?” Raylen asked.

“Because you didn't come home last night and there wasn't a note or a message on the machine. Remember what we agreed? We are adults and we don't have to answer to each other for our time, but if we aren't coming home then leave a message so the other one doesn't worry,” she said. “So this is who you had a date with?”

“Yep,” Raylen said.

“A date or dating?” Gemma asked.

“I promised to leave a message. For not doing that, I'm sorry. The rest is my business,” Raylen said.

“I don't like it,” Gemma said.

“Get over it,” Raylen told her.

“Why?” Liz looked at Gemma.

“Because it complicates
our
friendship, Liz. You can't tell me details of your dates since it's my brother,” Gemma answered.

Liz grinned but she didn't move from Raylen's lap. “You want details? We went to the Olive Garden, and I had fettuccine and Raylen had spaghetti, and Becca showed up and she doesn't like me, but that's okay because I understand because Raylen doesn't like Blaze either, and I'm not sure Blaze is going to like Raylen.” Liz stopped and caught her breath. “And then we shopped at Hobby Lobby, where I bought that tree over there in the box. And then we went to Walmart, where I bought a truck load of presents. Are you any good at wrapping? You can help me get them done later today if you are. And then we came home and unloaded it all and fell asleep. Did I leave anything out, Raylen?”

“I kissed you in Hobby Lobby. I think if we kissed in Hobby Lobby, it's dating, not a date, isn't it?”

He squeezed her tightly to his chest. Part of what he said was a joke, part was truth. He wanted to be dating Liz, not just have had a single date with her.

Liz's expression went dead serious. “There's a sign on the Hobby Lobby door right under the one with the hours the store is open. It's written in that little bitty print that no one hardly ever reads, but I did before we went in.”

Gemma butted in, “What are you talking about?”

Liz held up a palm. “Let me finish. The print says anyone not dating will be charged with a misdemeanor and a hundred dollar fine if they are caught kissing in Hobby Lobby. But since Raylen didn't see the sign, maybe it isn't a law. I'm not sure if both parties have to see it or not.”

“Okay, Gemma, would you please go out in the barn, get the ladder, crawl up on the roof of the house, and yell that I'm dating Liz. That way all the other cowboys in Montague County can crawl off behind a mesquite tree and lick their wounds,” Raylen said.

“You two are nuts! I don't think you are dating at all. You heard me coming and you staged this just to tease me, didn't you? I'm going home to get ready for church. I'll be back after dinner. But just to pay you back, I intend to tell the whole family that you two are an item, and I may tell Becca too, since she never misses Sunday morning services,” Gemma said.

“Becca would be there if she had to crawl on her knees through six feet of snow, and all she had to wear was a little black lace teddy. She has to pray for a crop failure.” Liz's tone was frosty.

Raylen leaned back and drew his eyebrows down. “Crop failure?”

“Standard practice for those who sow wild oats on Friday and Saturday nights. They go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure,” Liz answered.

Gemma sat down on the sofa. “Well, damn! I didn't know I could do that.”

“Now you know, so go do some serious praying. And if you would tell Becca it will save me a phone call,” Raylen said.

“If I give you Blaze's number, will you call him? But not until after church. He'll be breaking at least one heart this morning before he gets busy tearing down the equipment to move it to Bowie,” Liz said.

Gemma shook her head. “You two can do your own announcing, but I am telling the family at dinner unless y'all beat me to it. So if this is a joke you'd better tell me now before I get to the door, or you're going to have some big explaining to do.”

“Have fun. We're going to be out cutting down a tree for the barn,” Raylen said.

Gemma stood up and headed for the door. “On that note, I'm leaving. I don't even want to know why you are putting a tree in the barn.”

When she was gone, Raylen hugged Liz even tighter. “Good morning, beautiful girlfriend.”

Liz wiggled down tighter into his embrace. “I like the way that sounds.”

“So do I, but darlin', it's gettin' to the imperative stage that I get to the bathroom.”

She giggled and stood up, surprised that she didn't feel like a pretzel after sleeping for hours in his arms with her knees all drawn up. Raylen pushed the footrest down and made his way down the hallway. When he returned she was opening the Christmas tree box with a kitchen knife.

“Hey, I'll do that later. Right now I'm going home, get a quick shower, and change into work clothes so we can go hunt down the best real tree in the county,” he said.

“You could shower here,” she said with a wicked gleam in her dark eyes.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard, his lips lingering on hers for so long that she thought for sure they were headed for another bout of shower sex. Her toes tingled, hot liquid desire turned her insides to mush, and chill bumps the size of mountains crept up her backbone in anticipation.

“If I shower here, there will be no tree because we'll spend the day in bed,” he said softly. “And there'll be no lights on the house or wire Santa Claus on the roof, or tree in the barn. Your choice, new girlfriend.”

“Shit!” she mumbled.

“That wasn't an option,” he said.

“How about when it's all done?” she asked.

“That is a promise!” He let go of her. “Be back in half an hour with an ax.”

“I'll be ready. The scarf will be tied to my bedpost.”

“Girl, you are evil,” he said.

“Just don't let Becca change your mind when you call her,” she told him.

He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again, his tongue teasing and tempting her until she was moaning. “When you call Playboy Blaze, you tell him how you feel right now this minute.”

***

Liz hadn't been prepared for so many cedar trees. She'd thought it would be like the Hobby Lobby store. A couple of dozen trees to choose from, and she'd stand back, eye them all at once, and pick out the one she wanted. But they'd traipsed through wooded areas with acres of mesquite and a cedar tree tossed in every few hundred yards, to scrub oak with a few more cedars fighting for a place, and then to an area that had dozens and dozens of trees.

Finally, she found one that appealed to her. She walked around the enormous tree and looked it up and down. With the decorations in the tack room and what she'd bought in her spare bedroom, she had plenty to decorate one that size plus the new one in the house.

“You'd have to get the ladder out to put the topper on it, but then I could see your sexy butt even better,” she said.

“Is my butt cute enough for that job?” he asked.

“I'm not sure. Maybe you better bare it and let me make sure,” she answered.

“Not in this cold wind, but later we'll talk about that idea. Is this the one?”

“Yes, it is. It's the one I want.” She looked up and saw a tiny room on stilts. “What is that?”

“That is Rye's deer blind,” he said.

“A what?”

“It's what Rye sits in and waits for a deer to come by so he can shoot it. See the slits in the side there? That's where you slip the rifle out,” he explained as he slung the tote bag from his back and removed a chain saw.

“I thought you were bringing an ax,” she said.

“This will do the job faster.”

“How do we get this thing back to the truck?”

He revved up the chain saw and yelled above the noise. “Drag it, darlin'.”

While he removed a few lower limbs and then cut the tree down, she meandered over to the deer blind. It didn't seem like a fair hunt to hide up in a place like that, and then shoot the deer when it wasn't looking. A true hunter should have to chase it and give it a fighting chance. She climbed the ladder to the landing and slung open the door. It was empty except for a folding chair in one corner with what looked like a sleeping bag thrown over it.

Raylen watched the cedar tumble to its side and hoped he hadn't broken any branches. Even if he dreaded meeting Blaze and her carnie family, he wanted everything to be perfect for their visit to Liz's house.

“Okay, now it's time to take it home,” he said as he put the chain saw back in the case and looked around.

“Liz?” he yelled.

“Up here in the tree house,” she said. “Come on up here. You can see all the way to the truck.”

He made his way up the ladder and inside where she was staring out the small, rectangular window.

“Why didn't you bring me up here to find the tree? I can see hundreds of them from here.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled up against her back. “Because your perspective is all off. How big does that one I just cut down look from this angle?”

“About three feet.”

She turned quickly and their lips met in a clash of passion.

“I wanted to do that the whole time we've been in the woods,” she whispered. “Your lips are cold but they make my insides feel all bubbling hot.”

“I know,” he said.

He smothered her with more kisses, each one hotter than the last. When she tugged at his coat and began to unbutton his shirt, he helped her and then together they quickly undressed Liz. He folded his naked body around hers and started another series of searing kisses.

“The sleeping bag,” he mumbled and walked her backwards until he could reach it. It almost covered the floor and there was enough to pull up over them when he laid her down.

He ducked under the covers of the bag and kissed her belly, her thighs, and even her knees.

“Whew, didn't know that knees could be sexy,” she said.

“Everything about you is sexy.” His voice was muffled under the down-filled bag.

The room swayed and she wasn't sure if it was real or her imagination. “Will this thing collapse if we…”

His head popped out of the camouflage bag at her neck level. He buried his face in the softness of her breasts and inhaled deeply. The last remnants of that exotic perfume she wore, plus coconut shampoo and the scent of Liz, aroused him to the painful level.

“The legs are set in two feet of concrete. It's not going anywhere,” he said hoarsely.

A niggling thought in the back of Liz's mind said that she needed to slow things down. Sure, he'd said they were dating and he'd called her his girlfriend, but everything about their relationship was a whirlwind. Liz pulled out an imaginary pistol and shot the niggling thought deader than a poor little deer walking close to the deer stand. She didn't want to slow anything down. She loved the way things were progressing and hoped that he was still her cowboy on Christmas day.

On the inside, her body was a pool of hot lava. On the outside it was cool, but his touch turned up the temperature so fast she was panting. Tucked inside the sleeping bag, they were face to face and one hand stayed on her back but the other wandered, caressing and jacking up the heat even higher.

The hardness pressing against her belly told Liz that Raylen was every bit as hot as she was. The tremble in his fingertips said that it wasn't easy to hold back. One of her arms was pinned under him, but she let her free hand roam over his chest and down to his erection, wrapping her cool hands around it.