Cowboy Firefighter Christmas Kiss

by Kim Redford

  “Please.”

  She glanced over at him. “Really, Slade, are you in pain?”

  “Yeah, but you’re making it all better.”

  “Be serious.”

  “I am.” He gave a sincere smile.

  “I don’t know what to believe.” She picked up his plate and fork. “I probably should just send you home.”

  “Please?”

  She walked over and knelt beside the sofa, mentally shaking her head at her own susceptibility to him. “Open up.” She cut off a piece of pie and gently eased the tip of the fork into his mouth.

  He closed his lips around it and sucked off the piece, eyeing her the entire time as if he was tasting her and not the pie.

  She licked her own bottom lip in response, hardly realizing she’d done it until he looked at her mouth—and gave a satisfied smile. She gently pulled back the fork and picked up another piece of pie. Two could play at this game. She put that piece into her own mouth and slowly chewed, never taking her eyes from his blue gaze that grew increasingly hot. She tucked the last piece onto the fork and held it out to him. When he took the pie into his mouth, he continued to watch her until she couldn’t take the heat anymore. He was making her want so much more than food or laughter.

  After he swallowed, he held out his hand, beckoning her closer. “That’s the sweetest piece of pie I ever ate.”

  “It was good.” She set down the plate and fork, then leaned toward him, letting him enclose her fingers in the warmth of his hand.

  “Want to know why?”

  She shrugged, not sure if she wanted to know what was on his mind now that they were getting past teasing each other.

  “You’re sweet.”

  She simply sat there, not sure what to say, because “sweet” was a fine, old Texas endearment.

  “You ate from the fork first.” He pushed his explanation.

  She nodded, feeling warm all over from his words.

  “You made the pie sweeter than anything I could ever make.”

  “You’re sweet, too.”

  “Really?”

  “You ate from the fork first.”

  He chuckled, grinning at her.

  “That means you made it sweetest of all.”

  He laughed harder. “You’re not going to let me get away with anything, are you?”

  “Somebody’s got to keep you in line, right?” She squeezed his hand, picked up the plate, and stood.

  “They keep trying, but you may be the only one who can do it.” He threw off the blanket and sat up.

  “I was kidding.” She quickly turned away and set the plate and fork on the table.

  “I’m not.”

  She glanced back. He was serious again.

  He limped over to her, took her face in his hands, and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I’m going now.”

  “But I thought—”

  “I thought so, too, but trust me, it’s best if I go.”

  “Will you be okay to drive?”

  He nodded as he took a step back. “Yeah. It’s eased up now. I’ve been worse.”

  “But you didn’t tell me about the trouble on your ranch.”

  “Look, it’s bad. I’ve been trying to forget it, but I can’t.”

  “Let me help…at least I can listen.”

  He hesitated, then gave a sharp nod in agreement. “Here’s the deal. There’s this pedigreed Angus bull named Fernando.”

  “Fernando?”

  “Yeah.” He winced as if in more pain. “My niece, Storm, named him. He’s massive. She’s tiny. But they’re friends.”

  “What happened?” Ivy tensed, fearing the worst.

  “Cattle rustlers got him today.”

  She put a hand over her heart, this time feeling pain for a little girl’s loss. “How do you get him back?”

  Slade gave a harsh exhale. “Don’t know. Sheriff Calhoun is on it. But I have to admit the chances aren’t good.”

  “I’m so sorry.” She reached up and hugged him, feeling his sorrow in the tenseness of his body, then stepped back so she could watch his face.

  “I told Sydney, her mother. She’ll tell Storm, but tomorrow I’ll still need to explain and give my niece hope. I dread it.”

  “You’ll do fine.”

  “There are a lot of things in life I’m ready to handle, but to see the sadness in a little girl’s eyes is almost too much.”

  “She’s your niece, so she’s strong and resilient. Don’t doubt her ability to handle this loss.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  “Yes. I’m sure.”

  He glanced toward the door, as if needing to get away after sharing his vulnerability about his family.

  “You’ll do fine. If I can help, let me know.”

  He shuttered his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he looked at her again, his normal emotional defenses were firmly back in place.

  She understood and didn’t blame him one bit. He’d need all his strength to help his niece and everyone else.

  “Thanks. I’ll handle it.” He backed up a step, glanced down at his wrist, and snapped her hot-pink ponytail holder against his skin. “I like your hair better down, so I’ll keep this for you.”

  “Plenty more here.”

  “Maybe I ought to confiscate them, too.”

  “Just try.” She was grinning when she said it, because they needed to lighten the moment. Besides, she knew he wanted to take something of hers with him, and it touched her as deeply as everything else he’d done and said since they’d met.

  He grinned, too, as he took another step back.

  “I’ll walk you to your truck.”

  “Stay here, where I know you’re safe.”

  She realized she didn’t want him to go. She put her arms around his neck and pulled his head down so she could kiss him—too little, too late, but with oh so much promise. He returned her kiss with a fire of his own before he stepped out of her embrace.

  “I’ll be back.” And he was out the door, down the stairs, and lost in the Park’s darkness.

  And she was left in a house that felt way too empty without him.

  Chapter 11

  When Slade got to his pickup, he leaned against it to ease the pressure on his hip as he looked up at the dark sky and the sliver of new moon. He was definitely starting something new, so the moon was in the right phase, but still…this something new stood every chance of blowing up in his face if he didn’t slow down or at least practice a little patience and caution. But where Ivy Bryant was concerned, he seemed to have only one speed—full throttle.

  He’d like nothing better than to sleep on her sofa, because he didn’t want to be apart from her. But if he hadn’t left, it would’ve been difficult to resist her bed, even with a saggy mattress. And that was way too fast for her, no matter how she was responding to him, because she was uneasy and off-kilter from being thrust into a new business and location. He needed to give her time to get her feet under her, but that required patience he didn’t know if he could muster.

  Anyway, he had plenty of his own irons in the fire that needed to be addressed in addition to the little detail of his old injury flaring up. Storm and Fernando were at the top of that long to-do list. He’d do his best for them, but he feared the worst. With everything going on, he wouldn’t have been at his best tonight, so he’d made the right decision in leaving. He looked back to where he could see the light on her house glowing yellow. He’d make sure she had more outdoor illumination tomorrow. He’d do whatever it took to keep Ivy safe.

  He glanced around the Park to check the perimeter. All looked fine, but he hesitated to leave because he still had an uneasy feeling about the area. He gave the wisp of hot pink on his wrist a snap for motivation. At the same time, he felt a little movement of air over his
head, as if a bird had flown by unusually low. He looked up, but he didn’t see anything. Maybe a bat…a bug…a night bird. Nature at its finest.

  He started to open his truck, but instead, he walked down the length of it, letting his hand trail over the smooth finish till he reached the long bed that carried a toolbox and a sack of feed. He glanced around again. A single amber light on a tall pole shed muted light over the front of the parking lot near the dance hall, but the asphalt was as empty as it had been earlier.

  Something felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He always trusted his instincts, but it’d been such an unusual day that maybe he was too tired and off-center to trust them now. He just needed to get home, get in bed, and get some sleep before he had to hit the ground running tomorrow.

  As he clicked open his door, he heard an engine start up nearby out on Wildcat Road. He jerked around in that direction, listening and watching but staying still to be less visible. He waited for the truck, because it sounded like a pickup, to drive by the honky-tonk, but it went the other direction so he didn’t get a look at it. Still, he waited until he couldn’t hear the engine anymore.

  He’d been right. All was not as it should be here. Of course, anybody could’ve stopped for any reason out on the road and then started up again and driven to their destination. But anybody could also have been parked out there, watching from the vehicle or sending someone in on foot to reconnoiter. If there’d been no cabin fire or cattle rustling earlier, he might’ve shrugged off the vehicle, but they’d had too much trouble to discount something that raised his hackles.

  He glanced toward Ivy’s cabin, then back at his pickup. He clicked the lock, sure of one thing—he wasn’t leaving her alone tonight.

  He took the long way around to get there, walking the parking lot, past the Hall, between the cabins, stopping and listening every few feet, but he heard nothing and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Suited him fine. By the time he reached Ivy’s cabin, he was limping worse and wishing he was at home in his own comfortable bed.

  “Ivy! It’s Slade.” He rang the doorbell, but he wanted her to know who was at her door before she even thought about opening it.

  After a bit, she slowly pulled it ajar and peeked out, blinking at him as if she was already half-asleep. “I thought you went home.”

  “I…decided you weren’t safe here alone.” He didn’t know how much to tell her because there wasn’t much to tell her, and he didn’t want to worry her. “Mind if I borrow your sofa for the night?”

  “But I’m fine,” she said, looking puzzled before she stopped and stared at him. “Something happened, didn’t it?”

  He nodded, suddenly feeling the day crashing down on him.

  “You’d better come inside.” She backed up toward the kitchen.

  He stepped over the threshold and locked the door behind him. He needed to sit—and fast. He limped over to the sofa, where she’d left the pillow and quilt, then eased down until he felt the cushion give under him as he let it take his weight. Finally, the pain eased up, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

  “You’re hurting again, aren’t you?”

  He glanced up, instantly forgetting about pain and danger in the wonder of Ivy. She must’ve taken a shower and gotten ready for bed, because she was wearing nothing more than an oversized, crimson T-shirt with Wildcat Hall’s logo emblazoned across the front. Underneath, she was braless, since he could see the taut tips of her full breasts, and her long, bare, shapely legs seemed to go on forever—or down to her high-arched feet with tangerine toenail polish.

  He forgot about sleep. He was so hot and hard that he didn’t even feel any pain…or at least none that she couldn’t make better.

  “It’s not even midnight,” she said. “I think this may be the longest day of my life. It just will not end.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Not your fault. You’re trying to help.” She walked over to the sink. “I’m going to make tea.”

  He groaned at the idea. “See if there’s any of my muscadine wine in the cabinet. That’d help a lot more than tea.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him, grinning. “I see your point.” She went up on tiptoe, lifted both arms, and reached up, causing her T-shirt to ride up all the way to her bottom.

  He groaned again. She was wearing something else all right, but the tap pants didn’t conceal the little half-moons of her firm, round butt. If possible, he got even harder at the sight. He needed to be home, or he needed to be at the new ranch house, or he needed to be anywhere except staring at Ivy’s nearly naked body. He grabbed the quilt, tossed it over his lap to conceal his condition, and thought about ice and snow—but he didn’t stop looking, because he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her luscious beauty.

  “We’re in luck!” She grabbed a bottle, dropped back on her heels, and down went the T-shirt.

  He should have felt relief, but instead, he felt a sense of loss. “Need me to open the bottle?”

  “Just stay where you are. I’ve got it.”

  “Good.” He was in no condition to move, so he adjusted the pillow, leaned against it, and tried to relax.

  She poured wine into a couple of heavy glass mugs with Wildcat Bluff logos emblazed in red and gold before she came back. She handed him one, then sat down on the other end of the sofa, tucked her legs under her, and pulled her T-shirt down to cover most of her legs.

  He took a big gulp of wine and enjoyed the taste of something familiar as well as good. This wasn’t his latest batch, but it was a fine one. He was getting better at it all the time.

  She sipped from her mug, then nodded at him. “This is great.”

  “Thanks. I try.”

  “More than try, I’d say.”

  “It’s a learning curve, but I enjoy making wine.”

  She sniffed the liquid, then took another sip. “I can see why.”

  “Listen, there’s not much to tell you.” Now that he was here, he felt a little foolish at his concern, but he still wouldn’t be anywhere else. “A pickup was parked out beside Wildcat Road near the dance hall.”

  “Did you recognize it?”

  “I didn’t see it because it drove off in the other direction.”

  “Folks don’t usually park beside the road, since there’s plenty of room in the parking lot, do they?” she asked.

  “Right. And the Hall’s closed this week.”

  “Maybe not everybody heard about that.”

  “Maybe. But still, why park on the side of the road?”

  “I guess there could be lots of reasons.”

  “True.” He sipped wine, felt the warmth ease his aches and pains, and grew more relaxed. “I checked the grounds again. Everything looks okay.”

  “That’s good.”

  “I just didn’t want to leave you alone, not after the fire…and the theft.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled at him, then sipped her wine.

  He turned his mug around and around in his hands. “Cattle rustlers struck about the same time as the fire.”

  “That’s odd.”

  “Or intentional.”

  “You think they’re related?”

  “Maybe. We can’t rule it out.”

  She leaned toward him. “If so, that’d mean it didn’t have anything to do with me or Wildcat Hall Park.”

  He wanted to reassure her, but he had to be realistic, too. “And yet, there’s a connection because of the fire.”

  She sighed, pushing back a strand of hair. “No way to know, is there?”

  “Not yet. We just need to take precautions.”

  “Okay. I’ll just make it one more thing in my long list of things to do for the Park.”

  “I’ll help.”

  “Thanks. You’ve been so good to help me. But you’ve got troubles, too. How may I help you?”

&
nbsp; He just smiled at her, thinking about all the ways she could help him right on the sofa, but he didn’t go there. He wasn’t in any shape to do more than admire her tonight. When they got to the place he wanted to go, he’d make sure it was an unforgettable experience for them both.

  “What are you thinking?” She chuckled as she cocked her head. “You look decidedly mischievous. I offered to help.”

  “I’ll let you know if there’s anything you can do. I just wish we were on the other side of this mess.”

  “Yeah. Me, too.” She stood up abruptly.

  He got another flash of long legs that set him on fire again, so he downed the rest of his wine to ease the blaze.

  “Do you want more wine or do you want to go to sleep?”

  “Let’s finish the bottle, then sleep.”

  “Okay.” She walked into the kitchen, picked up the bottle, and came back. “But I’m warning you that I’m so tired I may fall asleep in the middle of a conversation.”

  “That’s fine.” He held up his mug for a refill. “I’ll just tuck you in.”

  She poured wine into both their mugs, then put the empty bottle in the sink.

  “Come sit beside me.” He patted the sofa near him.

  “Are you still in pain?”

  “A little.” He patted the cushion again. “Distract me. Tell me about yourself.”

  She sat down and eased back, cradling her mug in both hands. “Not much to tell. I’m pretty boring most of the time. I create websites.”

  “Do you like doing it?”

  “Yes. It’s creative and it helps people build businesses.”

  He put his arm on the back of the sofa, then down around her shoulders and tugged her to his side. When she snuggled against him, he spread the quilt over their legs. “What kind of food do you like?”

  “Barbecue. Tex-Mex. Hamburgers. Most anything, really.”

  “And pecan pie.”

  She grinned at him. “You know I’m partial to pie—your pie in particular.”

  “Glad to hear it.” He rubbed a hand up and down her shoulder, enjoying the simple companionship. “Wait till you taste my barbecue. I swear it’s the best in the state.”