Merry Cowboy Christmas (20 page)

What if she finds someone like a fancy lawyer?

A wave of hot jealousy covered him. With every jab of the scraper against the layer of ice, he gave himself another lecture on how he had no right to be jealous because she'd been up front and honest about her future. And that did not have a rough old cowboy in the picture.

He finally finished the job, waved at her, and trotted back to his truck. He waited for Fiona to back the car out and start moving slowly toward home before he followed at a safe distance behind her.

Déjà vu!

He held his breath when she went into a long, greasy slippery ride toward the ditch at one point, but she got control and made her way around the next turn into the lane to home. She applied too much brake when she reached the yard, but it was far enough back that when the wheels came to a stop, she was still two feet away from the white picket yard fence.

“That was close,” she yelled as she crawled out of the car and started to run toward the porch.

He slammed the truck door and was only a few steps behind her when she slipped on the slick sidewalk and went down, arms flailing as she tried to latch on to anything to break her fall. Before she hit the ground, he reached forward to scoop her up in his arms like a bride, but leather-soled boots and ice do not make for a perfect situation. He managed to pick her up but then he went down in a sideways roll where he landed on his back with her on top of him.

His cowboy hat sailed through the air, landing on a fence post and twirling several times before it stopped to hang there, waiting for him to reclaim it. He became the sled and she was the rider as they slid across the ice-covered yard toward the post where the hat had come to rest. They came to an abrupt stop when she threw out her hands and grabbed the trunk of an old pecan tree in the front yard. With the speed they were picking up in another five seconds, his head would have brought them to rest on a fence post.

“I think you might have saved me from a fractured skull,” he said breathlessly.

“You probably saved me from a broken arm or neck,” she panted as she rolled to one side.

“Are we going to attempt standing up or just lie here and turn into Popsicles?”

“I was thinking icicles,” she huffed. “But if you want to get up real slow like and brace your back against that tree trunk, I might let you help me to my feet.”

He chuckled as he eased up, one tiny bit at a time.

“What's so funny?” she asked.

“That was one wild ride, but it wasn't as wild as last night,” he answered.

“Honey, if it had been as hot as last night, we would have melted this ice and stopped a lot sooner. Look, it's snowing again.” She brushed a flake from his hair.

He grabbed her hand and held it against his face. “I can't believe you are so calm about us not using birth control. I was freaking out.”

“So was I at first, but what's done is done and can't be undone. I did stock up on condoms while I was cleaning the bathrooms at the store this afternoon, though.” She grinned.

“So does that mean…”

“What in the world is going on out here?” Dora June called from the open door. “Lord, I'm glad we don't have close neighbors or the gossip would run rampant by morning. Get on in out of the cold. Supper's ready.”

“What the hell?” Truman yelled over her shoulder. “Good God almighty. Kids these days! Shut the door, Dora June, before you let all the warm air out.”

Jud rolled to one side and sat up. “You think they're going to ground us?”

Fiona used the tree to pull herself to her feet. “I hope they let us eat supper before they send us to our rooms, but I don't mind being grounded for a week or even more.”

“How many condoms did you buy?”

“Plenty enough for even you, cowboy.”

It was a bad idea. No, it was a damn horrible idea to continue on this path they'd started, but he could no more stop it than he could a mad Angus bull coming at him at full speed. He'd suffer the consequences later, but right now, he wanted nothing more than to be grounded to his room for the next week.

“I expect we'd better get started early, right?” he asked.

She pointed toward the porch where her hobo bag had come to a stop when it stopped sliding.

“Thank goodness nothing flew out,” he teased. “It would put a whole new meaning to ‘a cold one.'”

She giggled. “Let's get inside before we freeze to death and Truman has to dig two graves.”

“I bet he'd bitch us back alive,” Jud laughed as he slung an arm around Fiona's shoulders, grabbed his hat, and then slowly walked with her to the porch where she retrieved her purse.

“Let me see,” he whispered.

She opened the cloth bag and he gasped. It was half full all right, but they were all glow-in-the dark condoms and even through the wrapper, they lit up the whole inside of her purse in neon green, yellow, pink, and blue.

“What's wrong? Does the big sexy cowboy not like pink?” she asked with a slight giggle.

“Hell no, I've just never been real partial to yellow,” he answered.

O
nly sixteen more shopping days until Christmas,” the DJ on the store radio said. “For all you folks on the road trying to get some shopping done this morning in central Texas, drive safe and keep your radio tuned to…”

Fiona blocked out the DJ's voice and tried to decide if she liked blue or green better, or if one color made hotter sex than the other, when Sharlene came out of the women's bathroom at the convenience store and threw her hands up in anger. “Are you aware that the condom machine in there is empty?”

“Try the men's bathroom,” Fiona said without taking her eyes off the coffee stains she was washing from the table.

“I did and it's empty, too.”

“Must be this weather. Folks got to stay warm somehow,” Fiona laughed.

Maybe she should ask the man who filled the dispensers once a week if he had some in Christmas red and green.

“Well, dammit!” Sharlene huffed. “I'm out and my boyfriend is planning to be here tonight and tomorrow. I've closed down the day care until Monday with this weather and that leaves us lots of time to play around in the bedroom. Don't suppose you'd share any of your personal stock, would you?”

“Why would I have any? I don't have a boyfriend.” Fiona skirted the issue. “And why doesn't he buy them?”

“He usually does, but I've always kept a backup stock on hand. Oh! Oh! I forgot about Nadine's. There'll be some in the machines in her bathroom and I have a key.” Sharlene wiped her brow in a dramatic gesture.

“Well, aren't you lucky?” Fiona said at the same minute the bell above the door let her know someone was entering the store. She glanced over her shoulder and caught Jud's gaze and wicked little crooked grin. The blush started at the base of her neck and rapidly traveled to her cheeks.

“You are flushed,” Sharlene said. “That heater vent right above you has made you too hot or maybe”—she lowered her voice—“it's the customer. You want me to buy a few extra things from Nadine's bathroom so you'll be prepared?”

“No, thanks,” Fiona whispered.

“Hey, Jud Dawson, what are you doing in town?” Sharlene asked.

“On my way to Lizzy's for a pickup load of feed and thought I'd take her a cup of hot chocolate,” he said smoothly.

“I'm amazed that she's keeping the store open in this weather,” Sharlene said as she dropped her hand and reached for the doorknob. “Does she have a machine in her bathroom, Fiona?”

“Of course. The deliveryman has to have at least two stops to even drive all the way up to Dry Creek. You should put one in the bathroom at the day care,” Fiona said.

“I'm sure that would go over real well with preschoolers.” Sharlene left the store and hurried on down the street to Nadine's café.

“I don't think she's talking about a candy dispenser, is she?” Jud continued to grin.

“I think you know what kind of machine she needs.” Fiona started toward the front of the store and he opened his arms.

She walked into them and inhaled slowly, taking in the remnants of that morning's shaving lotion on his face, the cold air still lingering on his coat and the smell of coffee on his breath.

“Last night was amazing,” he whispered.

“I think we need some red and green for Christmas day. I could wrap them and put them under the tree,” she teased.

“When I open them, will you blush?”

“Probably but then so would you.” Fiona took two steps back when a truck pulled up to the gas pumps. In a minute, she was at her place behind the counter and Jud was heading back to the coffee machines. He pumped out two cups of hot chocolate and took them to the counter.

He was putting the change from a five-dollar bill into his pocket when Deke pushed his way into the store.

“Man, this warm feels good. I'm never complaining about the heat of summer again. This chills a grown man to the bone. At least in the summer, we just sweat a lot and drink more beer. I want a big cup of hot chocolate,” he said. “And I need to make a run through the bathroom.”

“Machine is sold out. Sharlene tried both bathrooms and said there's none left,” Fiona said.

“Looks like folks are finding one way to stay warm,” Deke chuckled. “I'll just have to leave early tomorrow night and drive into Wichita Falls to a drugstore and stock up. Y'all want me to get you a box while I'm there?”

One of Jud's sexy eyelids slid shut in a sly wink. Fiona could feel the high color in her cheeks but there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

“I cannot believe we are discussing condoms like we would doughnuts and coffee. And the answer is no. I do not need a box.” She hoped that her comment would justify the crimson in her face. She hadn't blushed in years, so it had to be living in Dry Creek that brought it on so often.

“You should stock some on the shelves. I bet you'd make a lot of money.” He pulled out a couple of dollars and handed them to her to pay for the hot chocolate that he'd drawn up.

“And get sued for causing the old ladies in town to drop dead with heart attacks in my store,” Fiona said. “It's a wonder any of them even use the bathrooms.”

“Maybe they don't know what those machines are dispensing,” Jud said.

Deke chuckled. “Don't fool yourselves. I bet they're the ones guilty for the machines being empty. Can't you just see Truman wearing one of those new glow-in-the dark—”

Fiona leaned all the way across the counter and put her hand on Deke's mouth. “Enough! It'll take all day to get that image out of my head.” She shivered.

“I was thinking about Dora June's face if he rolled on—” Jud started.

“Both of you”—Fiona pointed at the door, her face burning red hot—“out, right now!”

Their laughter still echoed in the store five minutes after they'd gone. She refilled her coffee cup and carried it to the back room, where she turned on the computer and went to work on her second job.

The weather in Texas is as predictable as a seven-month pregnant woman. It changes its mind constantly and is never happy, so when the sun came out that Thursday afternoon, no one was surprised. There was more than one sigh in Throckmorton County and lots of hopes that they'd seen the last of snow, sleet, and ice for a long time.

In spite of the sun, no one else came into town that whole day after Deke and Jud had been thrown out of the store, so Fiona got completely caught up on her work by closing time. The roads were still slick, so she drove home slowly, glad that she'd be there in time for supper since she'd missed lunch and was starving.

The sweet smell of cinnamon welcomed her into the house, but neither Dora June nor Truman were anywhere in sight. She sniffed the air again and sure enough, it was cinnamon, so she followed her nose to the dining room where she found a note propped up beside a platter stacked high with snickerdoodles.

“They've gone to a Christmas party at Henrietta's, whoever that is, and we have the house all to ourselves for about two hours,” Jud said from the shadows.

Her heart leapt into her throat and the note fluttered to the floor. “You scared the hell out of me.”

In a blur he was across the room. He scooped her into his arms and carried her up the stairs. “I had something better in mind for our time than scaring you,” he whispered.

She laid her head against his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. She gasped when he opened the bedroom door. Curtains had been drawn, a dozen jar candles were burning around the room, casting their yellow glow, and there were rose petals strewn on the bed—there was no way in hell she could back out of a deal like that. She could hardly even hear for the humming noise her hormones made in her ears. When he laid her on the bed, the fresh smell of roses washed away every sane thought in her head.

“How did you do that? These smell like roses but they are silk.”

“Magic.” He kissed her long, lingering, and hard. “Only our lips can touch.”

“Who said?”

“We are going to make love, Fiona Logan, not have sex,” he whispered.

“Is there a difference?” she asked.

“You tell me in two hours.”

“How many times have you made love instead of having sex?” she asked.

“Never, and this time we are going to take it slow. It's going to last all night,” he said in a husky voice as he bent forward to kiss her on the lips.

Her hands ached with desire to tangle themselves in his hair. Her body wanted his hands to roam over her like they had two nights before. She promised she wouldn't even laugh at glow-in-the-dark protection if he'd take her clothes off and satisfy the deep need threatening to devour her.

“One article of clothing at a time,” he said. “You first.”

She thought about it, wanting it to be his jeans, but she'd never get them down past his boots. She decided to start with his shirt. Two could play this game even if she was a beginner.

She undid the three buttons at the top of the oatmeal-colored thermal knit shirt and slowly tugged it free of his jeans. Then she pulled it up over his head, stopping to kiss each nipple and his neck on the way. When it was fully off his body, she took time to fold it perfectly and lay it on the end of the bed.

“Aha!” He grinned. “Trying to torment me?” He flashed one of those devastating, heart-stopping smiles that heated her insides. “Just remember, darlin', don't dish it out if you can't take it.”

He removed one of her boots and then the other and was starting to take off her socks when she shook her head. “That would be two articles, so only the boots.”

“Okay, darlin', if that's the way you want it.” He massaged her calves through the fabric of her skinny jeans and her feet through her socks.

She'd had massages of all kinds. Full body, hot rocks, the whole works. But nothing affected her like sinking into the depths of his brown eyes as he worked all the kinks from her lower legs and feet. Lord, if the look in his eyes really held the promise of what was to come, they might really wake Dora June with all the noise. Her soul hovered up there near the ceiling somewhere and her heart told her repeatedly she was a fool if she ever let this man get away from her.

“Do we have a time limit between takeoff and the next turn?” She gasped when he bent and strung soft kisses from the top of her sock to below her knee.

“Three minutes or we'll lose too much time,” he drawled.

“My turn.” She sat up, pushed him back on the bed, and straddled his waist. The silver buckle of the leather belt hooked into a hole, so it was easy to undo. Getting it through the loops with him lying on his back was another thing but she managed with thirty seconds to go. She covered the bulge behind his zipper with her hand and massaged gently.

“Oh. My. God. That's not fair,” he groaned.

“All's fair in love and war.” She leaned forward and claimed his lips with a long, hot kiss.

“Love and war?” He teased his tongue between her lips.

“Right now the lines are pretty blurred,” she said breathlessly when the kiss ended.

He chose her shirt next and proceeded to kiss every inch of flesh above her bra. She fought the urge to shuck her bra and throw it across the room. A few more minutes of that and she was fully well ready to forget about making love and go back to plain old cowboy hot sex.

By the time they were both fully naked, every nerve in her body tingled. Every hormone hummed.

“Please,” she said.

“Now?”

“God, yes.”

He pulled a condom from the nightstand and she watched him unroll it onto his erection.

She slid into position and locked her legs around him. “I want you, Jud.”

With a firm thrust, he entered her and they rocked together in perfect tempo to the buzzing in their ears. Then, just as she was ready to dig her fingers into his back and squeal his name, he slowed down.

“No!” she whimpered.

“We still have thirty minutes.” He smiled.

“I'll be nothing but a pile of ashes on your sheets in thirty minutes,” she said breathlessly.

The tempo sped up. The noise in her ears got louder and louder. Sparks bounced off the walls and then he said something that had the word
love
in it, or did he? She might have imagined that part in her flight to the top of the sex mountain, where she plunged off the side of the cliff into the cool lake below.

“Holy shit!” she muttered.

“Beats the hell out of sex.” He rolled to one side but kept her in his arms.

All the sparks in the room blended together to make a blanket of satisfaction that surrounded them like the warmth of a hot summer night under the stars.

“I've never…,” she said.

“Me neither.” His lips closed over hers.

Her last thought as she fell asleep in his arms was that she never wanted to leave, not this bed, this house, or Dry Creek.

On Friday, Jud awoke and watched Fiona sleep for several minutes before he eased out of bed, took a quick shower, dressed, and went to breakfast. He would have far rather spent the whole day in bed with her than have breakfast with Truman and Dora June and then go feed goats.

This thing he felt for her went deeper than anything he'd ever experienced. If this was love, no wonder his cousins were willing to hang up their party boots and settle down. He wanted to awake every morning with Fiona curled up beside him. He wanted to talk to her every night before they went to sleep. Did that mean he was falling in love?

Love!

His fork stopped midway to his mouth.

“What's the matter with you?” Truman asked gruffly. “Got something stuck in your craw?”

Jud downed half a glass of orange juice before he stopped. “Yes, sir, I did but it's better now.”

“Well, don't go gettin' sick on me just because the sun is out a little bit today. That don't mean it's not cold as ice cubes out there.”