Promises to Keep (13 page)

Hearing car tires head over the snow and ice
outside, Hayley pulled back the drapes in her room in the owner’s suite and saw
Cole getting out of the truck with a bunch of flowers in his hand.

She slipped into her pumps and headed downstairs to
greet him. He took her breath away. His winter coat was now open, revealing
black pants, a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, and of course, what
she loved most, his cowboy boots and hat.

He smiled and held out the flowers to her.

They were a beautiful collection of roses and
daisies. It made her long for spring so she could see the garden blooming
again.

“I’ll just go put these in a vase. Thank you.”

He followed her through to the kitchen. She’d missed
having him around for the last few days. Shame the broken furnace hadn’t lasted
just a tad longer.

“So you ready for the afternoon tea next Saturday?”
he asked her. “I’ve finally talked Jon into playing doorman, and Nina a server.
And all three of my sisters will be by as customers.”

“I can’t wait to meet them. And I can’t wait to see
you as Santa,” she said, filling a vase with water.

“Which reminds me, don’t let me leave the fire
department tonight without the costume.”

Hayley grabbed her coat from the peg by reception
and Cole held it while she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

“Have a nice evening,” said Mrs. Davis, looking up
from her magazine.

“We will, and remember I’m just a call away if you
have a problem,” said Hayley.

Mrs. Davis motioned with her hand for them to hurry
along.
“Nothing out there that I can’t handle.”

****

In a way this was good because it was all new. He’d
never attended one of these events with Amanda, so he had no memory of it. Of
course, if it wasn’t for Amanda and the accident he wouldn’t know these guys in
the first place.

“You have to try one of these. They’re delicious,”
said Hayley, handing him what looked like a slice of cucumber with cream cheese
piled on the top.

He opened his mouth and let her put it on his
tongue. She was right. As it melted, he tasted the salmon that was obviously
mixed with the cheese.

“Good to see you, Cole,” said Stewart, one of the
fellow volunteer firemen.

“You too,” he said, shaking his hand.

“Have you met my wife, Jenny?”

“No, I don’t think I have,” said Cole, extending his
hand to a short, grey haired lady. “And I’d like to introduce both of you to
Hayley. She runs the Rustic Inn.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Jenny, shaking Hayley’s
hand. “Rustic Inn, is that the B and B on the edge of town?”

“The one and only,” said Hayley.

“My great-grandfather used to own a farm that was
adjacent to the land the inn was built on.”

“Really,” said Hayley.

“Yes, if you ever want to know the history of that
whole area, I have books you can borrow.”

“I’d love to, and if you’re interested, I’m putting
on a Christmas themed afternoon tea next week, complete with Santa, who will be
played by a very handsome man.”

Hayley pointed to Cole.

“Well, then, I can’t miss that,” said Jenny. “Will I
be able to sit on your lap and tell you what I want for the holidays?”

Hayley laughed, and Cole knew he was blushing. He
hoped not all the old ladies would want to do that.

“I’m not that sort of Santa,” said Cole.

“Come on leave the poor guy alone,” said Stewart.
“Nice meeting you, Hayley.”

They walked away and Hayley took a sip of her wine.
“This is great too,” she said lifting her glass. “Sure you don’t want just one
glass?”

He shook his head. He’d told her he didn’t drink
alcohol. She was probably wondering if he had a drinking problem. He probably
should sit her down and tell her the whole story, especially if the
relationship was going to continue.

****

Hayley was having the time of her life at the party.
She and Cole had won a stuffed bear in the raffle, and everyone was nice and
friendly. She’d met six ladies who’d promised to attend next week’s tea. And
here she was slow dancing to Christmas songs with Cole. They pushed their
bodies closer together as they moved around, trying to avoid bumping into the
other couples.

He had a monster erection and it almost made her
want to drag him back to the inn right that minute so they could make love
again. She’d never been a big fan of holiday tunes before, but tonight she’d
grown to love them. Now when she heard each one played on the radio it would
make her think of Cole and this moment in his arms.

She jumped when she heard the alarms sounding in the
main station, and then there was a frenzy as most of the men took off.

“Accident on Highway 25.
A
car’s on fire.” She heard a man shout above the music.

Cole suddenly shook in her arms and dug his fingers
into her forearms. It was like he was chilled to the bone. She expected his
teeth to start chattering any second.

“You okay?” she asked him.

He’d also lost the color from his face.

“Cole, is everything all right?”

“What, yes, sure, sure it is.”

He took hold of her hand and squeezed it. “Do you
mind if we head back to your place now?”

****

It was stupid of him.
To go the
long way home.
Hayley must have thought it weird that they were taking
the back roads and not the freeway which was the shortest route to Rustic Inn.
A billow of smoke drifted up from the direction of Highway 25, even though it
was dark.

“Geez, that looks bad. I hope everyone’s okay,” said
Hayley.

He couldn’t respond because his vocal cords were dry
and numb. He tried to swallow and just couldn’t.

His hands began to tremble. He should have pulled
the truck over but he didn’t. The wheel slipped and it suddenly veered over on
the shoulder.

“Cole, are you all right?” asked Hayley.

He put the car into park. He should have told her he
was perfectly all right but that would be lying, and he always wanted to be
honest with Hayley.

Instead he burst into tears, suddenly sobbing as he
set his head down on the steering wheel. This was the time of the year when he
was at his lowest. He’d been bottling up, and unfortunately the sorrow had
broken forth. He’d ruined Hayley’s evening.

She’d reached across and turned off the ignition.
She rubbed his back but didn’t pry.

“When you’re ready to talk about it I’m here for you,”
she finally said.

She was quite a woman, patient and kind, and he was
so lucky to have found her. He had to pull himself together.

He lifted his head, knowing that the tears were
rolling down his face and that he probably looked stupid and less than a man
should.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what?”

“Ruining your evening.
Acting like this.”

“Cole, we all have moments when we want to just sit
and cry…and yes, men are entitled to do that, too.”

She’d put her finger on his lips to prevent him from
saying anything else, as if she knew he was about to apologize for his behavior
yet again.

“Has it got something to do with the accident and
fire on the freeway?” she asked.

He bit his bottom lip.

“If you’re not comfortable telling me, that’s okay.”

He got hold of her hand and held it to his chest.

With her other hand, she wiped away a tear from his
cheek.

“My wife died in a car accident on Highway 25 about
this time of the year.”

“I’m so sorry. That must be horrible for you.”

“She was coming back from doing some Christmas
shopping in Cheyenne.”

He hadn’t spoken about it for years, and here he was
reliving that fateful night close to the third anniversary of losing her.

He took a deep breath. “A drunk driver was going the
wrong way and hit her head on.”

Hayley reached over and hugged him.

“It’s the reason I don’t drink. Not that I was ever
a big drinker, but I can’t even think about it now.”

She rubbed his back.

“She didn’t die straight away. She was pinned in the
car…”

It was what they’d told him.

“The fire department was called to try and cut her
out, but she’d died while they were helping her.”

“Oh, Cole, I’m so sorry. I had no idea it was so
horrible.” Hayley was crying now, too.

He wouldn’t tell her that a fireman had kindly held
Amanda’s hand so she wouldn’t be scared and alone when she passed. Or that with
tears in his eyes, he’d told Cole that Amanda had told him to make sure Cole
knew she loved him and always would. No one, not even his sisters or Amanda’s
parents knew that. For three years it had been his secret.

“It’s why you volunteer at the fire station?” asked
Hayley.

He nodded.

“You want me to drive?” she asked.

He didn’t want to admit defeat, but right now his
hands were shaking too much to be of any use at the wheel.

“Sure.”

****

Hayley made the best hot chocolate in the world. And
no, he hadn’t tried every one in the universe, but he was guessing hers would
be up there. He watched as the mini marshmallows melted across the top of the
liquid.

“You feeling better now?” she asked.

“Much.”

“That was the first time I’d driven a truck, so I’m
sorry about grating your gears and leap frogging for the first couple of
yards.”

He was mid-sip and laughed, sending marshmallow foam
flying.

She laughed too. “You’re probably thinking women
shouldn’t be driving men’s toys.”

He lifted his hand. “I wasn’t thinking that at all.”

“You were too.” She ran her foot under his pant leg
and it sent shivers of a very good kind up and down his spine.

He’d felt garters and stockings when they’d danced
together earlier that night. And now he could see their outline clearly through
the black dress as it stretched over her thighs.

She was sexy. The hot chocolate had relaxed him and
put him in a good place. He lifted her leg and put it on top of his knee,
getting a flash of her garter tops and panties in the process.

Running his hand up and down her calf, he looked
over at her. He’d ruined her evening so she deserved a reward.

“How about I have a dress rehearsal wearing the
Santa suit? You can sit on my lap and tell me what you want for Christmas.”

Chapter
Fifteen

Cole was the sexiest Santa she’d ever seen.

“Do you think we’ll need to put a pillow under the
jacket to give you a nice round belly?” she asked, patting his stomach.

“If I eat any more of your cookies and pancakes I
won’t need to.”

“Can I see what it’s like to kiss Santa? Does his
beard tickle?”

Cole grabbed her hand, sat on the bed, and pulled
her onto his lap.

They kissed and she’d been right, Santa’s beard
tickled, and yeah, itched a little too.

“Santa likes garters and stockings, so he’s likely
to grant you lots of wishes.”

Cole inched his hand up under her dress, running his
fingers over the lace at the top of her legs.
 
“I bet you were cold tonight in these?”

“I was, but I’m sure you can warm me up.”

He lifted the elastic that ran from the top of the
stockings to the bottom of her panties.

“I’m guessing, and without peeking, that these are
Santa’s favorite color, red.”

“I’m not telling,” said Hayley. “You’ll just have to
wait and see.”

He kissed her again, nibbling on her bottom lip just
a tad while he lifted the edge of her panty so he could ease his finger
underneath it. She loved his calloused hands. They added a roughness that made
her skin tingle and her pussy anticipate being touched.

She kissed him as he edged his finger closer to her
folds and clit. She bit him, not hard, but just a little as he played with her,
swirling the very tip of his index finger along the edges of her folds, and
catching her pussy in the process.

He moved higher, finding her clit. It was already
pulsing from anticipating what he was about to do. She closed her eyes for a
few seconds and then opened them while lifting her head, giving him an
opportunity to kiss her neck and run his tongue along its center.

Shit, the combo of having her clit massaged, and her
neck sucked was almost too much.