Christmas with a Cowboy

by Brown, Carolyn

  “You sound surprised.” Tucker stood upright and took her hand to help her up.

  “Well, I guess this is a generalization, but cowboys don’t strike me as great housekeepers. Or decorators.”

  “Yeah, Mom helped me out.” He led her into the living room, his hand at the small of her back. “But I’m pretty neat on my own. Don’t like things in a mess.”

  “Clearly.” She wandered away from him, admiring the fireplace mantel, which had been adorned with pine branches and sprigs of holly and twinkling white lights. In the corner next to the hearth stood a modest but beautiful Christmas fir, covered with colorful ornaments, some that appeared to be antiques. “You picked out a tree.”

  He came to stand next to her. “I showed my mom some pictures at the hospital. She wanted this one.”

  “It’s perfect.” Simple but thoughtful. Kind of like him, actually. Kenna glanced up at his face. There was that fluttering in her stomach again. If someone would’ve told her she was in danger of falling for Tucker McGrath, she would’ve told them they had another think coming. But that’s exactly what was happening. It made her want to run and fall into his arms at the same time. But what would falling for Tucker mean? What would it mean for her? For the boys? Especially when he’d already told her he didn’t fall for anyone?

  The risk suddenly seemed too great. She simply wouldn’t let herself fall for him. She would let loose and have some fun with him tonight, and then she would have to back off before her heart got involved.

  “Why don’t you sit?” He led her to the couch. “I’ll get a fire going.”

  Caught up somewhere between hope and doubt, Kenna sank into the soft leather and watched Tucker work. He positioned some kindling around a crumpled newspaper and lit the edges. Once the flames caught, he wedged a couple of logs on top.

  The fire gave the room a mesmerizing glow that seemed to seep into her very soul. Peace trickled through her, catching her by surprise. She hadn’t gone home with a man in years, yet he made it so easy for her. Easy to talk, to be heard, to let emotions come. For once, she shoved aside the doubts. Doubts about herself, about whether she could love someone again. Doubts about whether he could love her. Like Everly had said, the answers to those questions didn’t matter. She wasn’t here to find love. She was here to have fun.

  “Are you hungry?” From his spot on the floor, Tucker turned to face her. “I have leftover minestrone soup in the refrigerator.”

  She dragged her gaze up his body and looked into his eyes. “You cook too?” As if she needed more incentive to find him attractive.

  “Hell no.” He stood and walked to the couch. “It’s Everly’s soup. I buy a whole container of it every week in the winter.” A smirk lit his eyes. “But if you wanted me to cook for you, I’d sure try.”

  His heated gaze made her feel sexy and alive, which made it that much easier to push away those nagging doubts. “I’m not hungry,” she murmured, the ache of desire starting in her throat. Every part of her seemed to tighten in anticipation.

  Tucker must’ve heard the eager notes in her voice. That same awareness flashed in his eyes when he sat down next to her. He eased his arm around her, gathering her in closer. “Tell me about Christmas when you were a kid.”

  Kenna rested her head on his shoulder. “It was simple, but so magical. My parents didn’t have much money, but they always managed to surprise us with the most amazing gifts. Not expensive ones, but thoughtful ones. Like one time they got me this cheap plastic microphone that sounded all crackly and staticky, but they knew how much I loved to sing.” It was the best gift she’d ever gotten because it was the most thoughtful.

  “That sounds like my childhood Christmases.” He massaged her shoulder, and she leaned into his caresses.

  “We never had that much either, but it didn’t matter. We were happy. Before my dad left. Before my mom got sick. We didn’t need much because we were happy.”

  She had been too. Once. “I think I’ve forgotten all about that. How simple it can be. How complicated I’ve made it in the past with all of the running around and the pressure to make everything perfect.”

  “It’s easy to complicate things.”

  She turned fully to him. “You don’t seem like a very complicated man.” He was straightforward and confident, and she needed more of that right now.

  “I know what I want,” he said, running his hand up her thigh.

  Kenna inhaled with the exhilaration of that simple touch. Forget everything else. Forget what might happen tomorrow. Tonight she needed his touch, needed him to remind her how good she could feel. “I’m glad. Because my life has been far too complicated lately, and it feels good to escape. To step away from it all.” She looked deeply into his eyes. “It feels good to be here. With you.” Her heart was doing things she’d been sure it would never do again.

  “It feels real good,” Tucker agreed, leaning in to kiss her. This time there was more purpose behind it, more deliberation. His movements were swift and sure. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I want new memories.” She unbuttoned his shirt, her fingers grazing the skin all the way down his chest. “I want to feel something again.” Her hands got shaky as she slid the shirt off his shoulders to reveal the muscled torso beneath. There was so much power in him. So much strength.

  Tucker eased back against the cushions, and she moved to straddle his hips. “What do you want, Tucker?”

  “That’s easy.” He propped himself up on his elbows and grabbed the hem of her sweater in his fist and pulled her down to him. “You,” he murmured in her ear. “I just want you.” His lips grazed her neck on their way back to her mouth. He peeled off her sweater and pulled it up and over her head and Kenna reached around to unclasp her bra. Tucker watched, his eyes growing darker and darker.

  Slowly, she inched the straps down her shoulders and tossed it aside.

  Tucker sat up, too, bringing his mouth level with her breasts. He kissed and licked and sucked, until her head fell back and she was reduced to gasps. It had been so long since she’d been touched.

  “You sure about this?” Tucker asked, peering into her eyes. “Because if you’re not, now would be a good time to stop.”

  Stop? Oh no. They were not stopping. There was no stopping that drumming in her heart, the burn of desire swirling low in her belly. “I’m sure.” Her voice sounded as sultry as the heat from the fire across from them. “I’m very sure.” She unclasped his belt. “I want this.” The rush, the intimacy, the euphoria.

  With a grin, Tucker lowered his mouth back to her breasts. Somehow, he shifted and stood up, still holding her, still kissing her, before he gently set her feet on the floor. The waist of his jeans gapped where she’d undone his belt, displaying hard muscle stretched between his hip bones.

  She got a little shaky just looking at him.

  “Has anyone ever told you how damn sexy you are?” His eyes worked their way over her, seeming to take in every inch.

  “I don’t think so.” Mike used to call her cute, sometimes adorable. But then he’d never had as much intensity as the man standing in front of her.

  “Well you are.” He dropped his hands to the button on her jeans, ripping it open. “You’re so sexy I can’t think.” His hands worked her jeans down over her hips, then moved to cup her butt. “So sexy you’ve got me aching.”

  “I’m aching too,” she assured him. Every part of her ached with need. She wriggled until her jeans slid down to the floor; then she stepped out of them.

  The fire’s flickering light made Tucker’s eyes look even darker when his gaze drifted down her body before slowly coming back to hers. “I was wrong. You’re not sexy. You’re hotter than sin.”

  “The same could be said about you.” She moved closer to touch him—running her hands lightly down his abdomen to where his jeans splayed open. Her fingers fumbled with the rest of the buttons, inching them down, down, before slipping into his boxer briefs. That seemed to make him extra impatie
nt. He shoved his jeans and underwear off and stepped out of them in one motion, and whatever strength she’d had left in her knees completely dissolved.

  Tucker didn’t give her much time to admire him. He stepped up to her, sliding one arm around her waist to pull her up against his body. The feel of him hard against her amplified every sensation until her entire body shook with anticipation. Breathless, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

  A rough and manly moan escaped his mouth as she slid her tongue against his. His hands slid lower to her hips and then nudged her legs apart. When his fingers grazed her hot wetness, she dug her fingertips into his shoulders to keep her balance.

  Tucker secured his other arm around her waist while his fingers teased, sliding in deep and then back out, all the way to graze her most sensitive spot before doing it again. “You’re ready for me, aren’t you?” he asked in a low growl.

  “Yes,” she gasped. “Oh God, yes.” She’d been ready for him since he’d kissed her in the sleigh. Hot and wet and desperate.

  Tucker located his wallet and pulled out a condom. After he had it on, he lifted her against his body again, securing his hand under her butt and kissing her neck while he walked them over to the dining room table. He set her on the very edge and moved in between her legs, guiding her hips up to meet his as he pushed into her.

  “Aw, hell.” Tucker’s breathing had gone ragged. “You feel so good, Kenna.” He palmed the back of her head and brought her into another kiss, slow and deep, rocking his hips to match the rhythm.

  Kenna braced her hands on the table behind her to hold herself up while she arched to meet his thrusts.

  “That’s it, baby.” He rocked faster. “Let yourself go.”

  For the first time in so long, she could. She could give herself over to him, over to passion, over to the deepest physical connection possible. “My God, you’re good at this,” she panted.

  Tucker laughed. “We’re good together.” He dipped his finger between her legs, rubbing at that spot again to completely shatter her control.

  “Tuck—” She couldn’t even get his name out before her body clenched around him, drawing him in as deep as he could go. His arms pulled her in tighter while his hips pumped harder, triggering aftershocks one after another until his body convulsed, emptying into her. Somehow they ended up leaning into each other, arms tangled, Tucker’s forehead on Kenna’s shoulder. When her breathing recovered enough that she could speak, she raised her head. “That was the most fun I’ve had in a really long time.”

  He smoothed her hair away from her face and kissed her lips before lifting her into his arms. “We’re just getting started.”

  Chapter Nine

  In one night, Tucker had pretty much broken every rule in the casual hookups handbook.

  He’d told Kenna things about his dad. Things he’d never told anyone else. Like how they used to play the guitar together and how he still couldn’t hear a John Denver song without thinking about his father. Then he’d gone and asked her to stay all night, which was how they’d ended up here, all snuggled up together on the couch.

  She still slept soundly in the fire’s dull glow. He’d been awake for well over a half hour, noticing things he’d never bothered to notice about a woman—like the way her chest felt as it rose and fell against his, the way she looked like she was smiling even though she still slept so soundly, the way her soft hair spilled over his shoulder.

  At some point last night after they’d been too exhausted to keep their eyes open any longer, he’d pulled a soft fleece blanket over them. It still covered most of them, but one of Kenna’s legs—the one that was draped over his leg—stuck out, giving him the perfect view of that creamy skin. So soft. He was tempted to run his hand up her thigh, but he didn’t know what would happen if he woke her. This was all foreign territory to him. It hadn’t necessarily occurred to him in the moment because he’d been seriously distracted, but sex with Kenna had been different somehow. Still hot and heady, but more intimate because of the time they’d spent talking in between. Over the hours he’d seen her heart open to him, but touching her and pleasing her had allowed him to ignore the undercurrents of panic running through him.

  Now, though, the panic had returned.

  What the hell had he done? There was no playbook for this. For what to do when he’d let things go too deep. He’d never found himself here before.

  Before he could figure something out, Kenna started to move against him. First one leg, then the other. “Mmmm.” She yawned and opened her eyes.

  Damn she was gorgeous. Even more so with her hair all wild and her eyes still sleepy. A strange sense of content gripped him, and he realized he didn’t want her to go. Didn’t want last night to be over. That meant something, right? It meant maybe he shouldn’t run this time. Maybe he shouldn’t have the talk about how he really wasn’t looking for a commitment. Maybe for once he didn’t need a next move. Maybe he just needed to let this ride.

  Maybe that was a hell of a lot of maybes…

  “What time is it?” Kenna asked, arching into an adorable stretch.

  “Almost eight.” Tucker started to trace his fingers down her arm, but she sat bolt upright, eyes as wide as if she’d just woken from a nightmare.

  “Eight? Seriously?” She wrestled herself out of the blanket and flailed to get off the couch.

  Whoa. It definitely didn’t seem like he’d have to give her the talk, even if he’d wanted to. Suddenly Kenna didn’t seem to want to talk at all.

  She rushed around collecting various articles of clothing off the floor and clumsily putting them back on.

  He guessed that was his cue to get moving too. After locating his boxers on the center of the coffee table, he rose to put them on. “I thought Everly wasn’t expecting you to pick up the boys at the café until nine.” In his estimation they could get in another round and still be on time.

  “But I have to go home!” She pulled on her shirt without bothering to clasp her bra. “I have to change! And take a shower! Oh my God. I shouldn’t have stayed here all night.”

  Um…what was he supposed to say to that? Usually he was the one rushing off in the morning, not the other way around. “Why not?”

  “Because! My car was parked at the town hall all night. That’s right in the middle of town! Do you know how many people probably drove by and saw it there? They’re going to know. Everyone’s going to know.”

  “Know what? They can’t possibly know you were here with me.” And so what if they did?

  Instead of answering the question, Kenna tossed him the rest of his clothes. “Get dressed. I have to go. Last night was fun, but I have to get back to reality.”

  Back to reality. Tucker pulled on his jeans and shirt. He got it. Her reality and his were worlds apart. She didn’t even want her friends to know they’d spent the night together. Waking up with her in his arms had brought a rush of thoughts and feelings that temporarily tricked him into thinking this thing between them might have potential to turn into more than a fling, but she’d set him straight real quick. Well, good. That meant she was willing to keep things in the fling territory exactly like he wanted. Yep. That’s what he wanted. Something simple and clean.

  Except it didn’t seem to sit right with him this time. Rather than unpack why, he stuffed his wallet into his back pocket and grabbed his keys. “Come on, I’ll take you to your car.”

  They both pulled on their boots and winter gear before wading through the layer of new snow that had fallen overnight. He opened the passenger door of his truck and helped her climb in. Once he settled in beside her, he started the engine and blasted the heat.

  She remained as quiet as he did on the drive back to town. Tucker glanced at her a few times in between turns and stoplights, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

  “Where’s my Jeep?”

  He’d been so busy trying to figure her out, he hadn’t realized they’d already reached the town hall. But she was right. Her Jeep w
asn’t parked where it had been when they left last night. There was, however, a rectangular bare space next to the curb with snow piled up around it.

  “Where’s my car?” she asked again, sitting straight and tall, gaping out the window.

  “I don’t know.” Tucker pulled over behind the bare space and let the truck idle.

  Kenna tore off her seat belt and bolted out of the truck. “Where could it be?”

  He got out too. She’d parked it there. He saw it himself when they left last night. It had been right there…

  “Do you think someone stole it?” She whirled to him, her face gripped by genuine panic.

  “No. There’s no way.” Not in Topaz Falls. Though it might have been better if it had been stolen. He had a bad feeling. She might not want her friends to know she’d spent the night with him, but the way things went in Topaz Falls, he was afraid they’d all find out. “I need to call Dev. See if he knows anything.” He pulled out his phone and dialed the deputy’s number but it went right to voice mail. “He’s not answering. I’ll bet he’s at the café.” Tucker headed for the driver’s seat, but Kenna hung back.

  “I can’t show up at the café with you! The boys are there!” Now instead of panicked, she looked downright horrified. “This was supposed to be a fun fling, but now the whole town will be talking and speculating and reading into things!”

  He didn’t argue with her. Hell, last night had him reading into things. “You can wait in the truck.” He tried to speak calmly. Someone had to stay calm. “I’ll go in and find Dev.”

  They endured a silent five-minute ride to the café. He didn’t think it wise to share his speculations before they were confirmed, and Kenna seemed to be in no mood to hear them anyway.

  Doing his best to keep their cover intact, he parked at the far end of the café’s lot and left the truck running while he ran in. Kenna had been right. The place was packed. There wasn’t even a spare table. Luckily, Dev was at his usual table and the seat across from him was empty. “Hey,” Tucker said as he sat across from Dev.