“Did you need something, Mrs. Kelly?” Avery asked. Paloma might have been Boots’s ex-wife but she took her role as matriarch of Whiskey River very seriously. And she wouldn’t tolerate any of them calling her by her given name.
“Not at all, Avery,” Paloma said, coming over to give her a formal hug and then did the air kiss thing. “I wanted to congratulate you the event. It is fantastic.”
Avery kind of tried to participate but she had the martini glass in one hand and Avery felt like she probably had just made it awkward for both of them.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Avery said. “Everyone on the committee has worked so hard to make this a success.”
“They have. I wondered if you’d be able to coax Logan into coming by our Secret Santa lunch. One of my cousins is coming in for the holidays and would love to see him,” Paloma said. “She knew his mother.”
“I’ll ask him,” Avery said, knowing she wouldn’t. Logan wasn’t going to want to go to a Secret Santa lunch filled with a bunch of women and Paloma’s relatives. And if she asked, he’d say yes. And he deserved a break from the WOWR.
“Thanks, Avery. These cocktails are very nice too,” Paloma said.
“Thanks. They were a group invention between myself, Savannah and Rachel.”
“You three do seem to come up with lots of good ideas,” Paloma said. “I’m sorry, dear, but there is Mayor Jacobs. I really do want a word with him.”
Avery just smiled as Paloma moved off toward the mayor. Grateful to be left alone. She finished her martini and once again her gaze fell on Logan. The ballroom was crowded he shouldn’t be the only man she kept catching a glimpse of. But he was.
She sighed as the band started to play A Sunday Kind Of Love and the female vocalist was back on lead. Logan glanced at her, holding out his hand, and she nodded and moved toward him. Their fingers brushed and he pulled her into his arms. They didn’t talk, but he held her gaze with his. She saw things in his eyes that she wanted to believe. She knew he was an actor. A good one if the buzz was to be believed. A man who’d left the bed of a starlet before coming to Whiskey River and throwing her life into chaos. But none of that seemed to matter.
He danced her smoothly around the floor avoiding good old boys dancing with their women. He sang under his breath and of course, he had the kind of tenor voice that sent a chill down her spine. Was there anything about him she didn’t like?
Hell.
“This is a mistake.”
“This is a dance.”
Startled she laughed. “I’ve been told I take things too seriously at times.”
“I have noticed that,” he said. “You like things to go to your plan.”
Was he right? She had never thought of it that way before this moment. “Maybe.”
“No maybe about it, Ave.”
“Ave?”
“I figured you’d object to sweet lips,” he said.
She shook her head. “What is bringing this on?”
“Tonight, I’ve danced with girls who ignored me in high school, women I’ve never met before, old biddies—I mean older high society Whiskey River ladies who thought I wasn’t good enough and they have all told me how great I am,” he admitted. He swung her around, pulling her closer to him and off of her feet, and she felt safe in his hold.
“And now you believe it?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I know they were just blowing smoke up my—well you know where.”
“What makes you so sure they weren’t sincere?”
“You.”
“Me?” she asked. “Why do I have anything to do with how they see you?”
“You treat me like a real person. If I annoy you, you let me know. If I do something you like you say thanks. You’re my touchstone for the rest of Whiskey River.”
“So that makes you want to call me sweet lips?” she asked, because if she gave what he’d just revealed too much importance she had a feeling she wasn’t going to be able to say no to him ever again.
“Yes. I like your lips and they are very sweet when I kiss you,” he said.
“That was a very specific sort of compliment,” she said.
“You have a sharp tongue,” he said.
“Sometimes you need it,” she sassed back.
“Indeed,” he said. “But I prefer it when you are kissing me.”
“You are determined tonight,” she observed, as he continued dancing them around the floor toward the edge. As the music ended he took her hand and led her through the crowd toward the large Christmas tree that was nestled in one corner.
She followed him as the band switched vocalists and a man came on singing a rendition of Leon Redbone’s version of Christmas on Christmas Island.
He stopped a couple of feet from the tree under an archway and then pointed up.
She tipped her head back, noticing the mistletoe ball hanging there in the arch and then as she turned her head, he was there. Their lips brushed and the kiss she’d been both craving and running from was there. And it was better than before.
*
Logan knew that he had to keep the kiss light. He’d been teasing her when he’d spotted the mistletoe, but somehow when their lips met all common sense went out the window. This was Avery. She screwed up his self-control in a way that nothing and no one else ever had. Their tongues rubbed over each other and he was aware of people behind them, knew they weren’t alone. He felt his erection and knew he had to end this now before he did something really crazy like tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her out of here and back to that storage closet they’d been locked in when they’d come for the site tour.
But she put her hands on his face, those long fingers of hers holding his jaw as she deepened the kiss and his common sense disappeared as his erection lengthened. He couldn’t think of anything except the scent of her, the taste of her, having more of both. Taking her clothes off and spreading her out on his bed and learning every damned inch of her and then starting all over again because once was most definitely not going to be enough to sate him. He wasn’t going to be satisfied until they’d made love again and again and neither of them could move, they were so exhausted.
He heard people moving closer, knew she’d be embarrassed and tried to decide if that mattered. His gut said hell no but his heart said yes. When had his heart ever had a say in anything?
He pulled back and looked down into her eyes, which were half closed. Her lips were swollen from their kisses and her lipstick gone and he heard people saying that he was used to women falling at his feet, and he knew that was the truth but this was Avery—not just another woman—and he wanted others to see the difference.
So he stood up and drew her next to him, leading her away from the mistletoe. Why had he thought he could kiss her and keep cool at the same time? That was totally not in his programming with her. She was like a role that he couldn’t figure out the key to unlocking. No matter what he thought he needed to be around here, there was always something else that he uncovered. Some other way he needed to be.
“I’m—”
She put her fingers on his lips and a zing went straight through him.
“Don’t say you’re sorry. Let me have that,” she said. “I think it’s safe to say you’ve earned your reputation.”
“What reputation?” he asked.
“One of the online gossip sites said that women’s panties melt off when you walk by,” she said. “Damn if kissing you doesn’t have the same effect.”
“Avery—”
“I have to go. It’s almost time to announce the winners of the silent auction items.”
“Avery, wait.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I wanted to be different from everyone else. Not just one of those women who look at you and see that hot bod and lose all sense, but I guess I’m not.”
She walked away and he let her leave. She was different but he doubted arguing that letting him kiss her like that in front of everyone at Felicity’s Ball
was the way to make her see that.
He stood there just watching her walk away until a guy came up and handed him a highball glass. “Jack and Coke. You looked like you needed one.”
“Thanks,” he said. He didn’t know this guy. “You’re not from Whiskey River are you?”
“Not originally. Nicholas Blue,” he said, holding out his hand. “One of Boots Kelly’s bastards.”
Logan chuckled before taking a long swallow of the drink. “Logan Calloway, just a bastard according to many.”
“Not in this room,” Nicholas said. “Everyone has been singing your praises. I was like that sumbitch can’t be all that, then I saw your girl give you the cold shoulder and I knew you were okay.”
“You’ve been left alone like this?” Logan asked.
“Only by the one woman I didn’t want to leave me,” he said. “But we’re married now. That was a while ago. Now she thinks I hung the moon.”
“Are you spouting lies again?”
A bubbly redhead came up and put her arm around Nicholas’s waist. “I’m Reba.”
“Logan.”
“We wanted to talk to you about the program you are starting with the Barrels Winery for the kids in town. Reba and I are both old rodeo riders and I have a bull-breeding program I’ve been getting off the ground, so if any of those kids want to work livestock instead of the land, maybe we could partner up.”
Logan liked the idea of that. He reached into his pocket for one of his business cards but instead of handing out the one with Avery’s number on it, he handed Nicholas the one with his personal number. “I like the idea. I grew up here and I know that the kids in the Barrels just need a chance to get out of town and away from everything.”
“I grew up with a single mom and no dad, so I get what you’re saying. A positive male influence to show these kids the value of working hard.”
“Exactly,” Logan said. “I think this could be a good partnership. Thanks for coming over.”
“No problem,” Nick said. “But the wife wanted to meet you.”
“You did?”
“Yeah,” Reba said. “Nick said I should pretend not to know who you are, but…”
“It’s cool,” Logan said.
“No, it’s not,” she said. “But I had to have that one fan girl moment.”
“Just one?” Logan asked.
“Yeah, buddy, just one,” Nicholas said.
Reba laughed and kissed her husband on the cheek and then whispered something in his ear. “Talk later, Logan.”
Nicholas and Reba walked away, arms wrapped around each other, and Logan knew that was what he wanted; but he had no idea if he’d ever find it. Kissing Avery had felt different to him. He knew she was special but she felt like one of the crowd and he’d never been good at making anyone feel special.
*
Avery looked around for Savannah or Rachel but couldn’t spot either of her friends so she ducked into the ladies’ room to fix her lipstick. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and she was worried about everyone getting home. She needed to get out there, announce the winners of the silent auction items and then go home. She planned to take a cab home. She’d had too many martinis and too much Logan. He’d rattled her.
Her lips were still tingling and there was a pulsing in her center that was definitely sexual in nature. She wanted to ignore it but couldn’t. Lust. That was the easiest explanation but if it had been lust she would have dragged him back to the storage closet and taken care of it. This was more.
She cared what he thought about her. She wanted to see him tomorrow and the next day…hell, she was going to see him every day until January 4 when he went back to the West Coast.
“You think she’d have some shame. She threw herself—oh, hi, Avery. Didn’t see you in here,” Regina said as she came in with one of the other women on the WOWR committee. She was newer and Avery wasn’t sure of her name.
She smiled at both women, pretty sure they’d been talking about her and Logan.
“Hi. It’s almost time for me to close down the silent auction,” Avery said and bolted out of the bathroom. She was pretty sure she’d just sounded like a moron but she was flustered.
Again he’d shaken her and left her with nothing but a mess of confused thoughts in her head. Her parents would be so disappointed. They had tried so hard to teach her to be logical.
She went into the area where all the silent auction papers were and saw Mandy—one of the WOWR committee members. “I collected these for you.”
She handed them to her.
“Thanks, Mandy. Did we get a lot of bids?” Avery asked.
“Yes, we did. And one bid completely put us way over the top of our goal,” Mandy said. “But I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you.”
“Was it for the date with Logan?”
Mandy giggled. “Yes. There was a flurry of activity as the clock was approaching nine.”
“I bet,” Avery said. “No one wanted to miss out on an evening with one of the sexiest men alive.”
“All of the prizes performed well,” Mandy said. “I’ll send emails out tomorrow morning to the winners and collect their payment information as well if I don’t have it already.”
“Thanks, Mandy. You’ve been a wonderful help with this process.”
“No problem. I loved it.”
Avery took her time going back into the main room. She didn’t bother looking through the bids and winners—Mandy was very efficient and she would have everything organized for her.
She signaled to the band leader to take a break after his current song and moved around toward the raised stage and the podium that had been set up. She was still embarrassed by the kiss she’d shared with Logan and mad that she was embarrassed. She saw him standing in the back of the room talking to Nicholas and Reba Blue. She liked the young couple. They were a big help with the Calloway Foundation when she had kids who wanted to ride. One of the things that Logan had established was that elementary kids could send a request via their teacher for whatever activity they wanted to try and they’d make it happen. Reba and Nicholas were both former rodeo champions who kept a stable of horses on their ranch and offered kids the chance to come out and ride.
The Blues also had the cutest little girl who Avery liked to dote on when she visited them on their part of the Kelly Ranch.
The band finished their song and the leader announced that the silent auction had closed and that an announcement would be made shortly with the winners’ names.
Avery took a deep breath. Public speaking didn’t bother her but she was agitated. Probably part of that was sexual frustration.
She put a smile on her face and climbed the stairs to the podium.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight and helping to make Felicity’s Ball such a success. The money raised from the event is going to do a lot to benefit Whiskey River. I want to thank all of the local businesses who were so generous when I reached out to ask if they’d donate something for the auction. Can we have a round of applause for them now?”
Everyone clapped and a few of the rowdy guys whistled loudly.
When the applause died down, Avery continued. “There were a lot of generous corporations who also donated their time this year and the Women of Whiskey River will send them a formal thank you note.
“Now it’s time to announce the winners of the items,” Avery said, starting with the Lavender Dreams basket. She moved through the local businesses to the corporate sponsors. There were over fifty items so when she flipped over to the last page—the dinner date with Logan—she was glad to see it.
She glanced at the total and almost blanched when she saw that someone had bid ten thousand dollars on a date with him.
“Wow, the date with Logan Calloway brought out the bidders and I’m happy to announce that the winning bid of ten thousand dollars was made by…” She lifted the folded bottom of the paper and did a double take.
She had to be reading that wrong. She had
n’t bid on a date with Logan but her name was listed next to the winning bid.
“Uh…me. I won a date with Logan.”
There was a round of applause and some laughter and Avery wondered what she was going to do on a date with a man she’d been hoping to avoid except at work. It seemed no matter how hard she’d tried to distance herself from Logan she kept finding herself back in his arms. And it was a battle she was tired of waging.
Chapter Nine
Using his celebrity to get a room when everyone was trapped at Harwood House didn’t seem like a nice thing to do so, instead, Logan was glad he’d had his truck brought over earlier. The Lincoln SUV was equipped for all weather conditions and would safely get them back to his place.
Avery stood there on the step of the converted barn, wrapped in her coat and his scarf watching him. Her lips were still full and swollen from his kisses and he wanted nothing more than to be in his own bed with this woman.
He pulled the truck as close to the barn as he could get it. The ice pelted down hard on the back of his neck as he left the engine running and ran around to her. “Do you trust me?”
She chewed her lower lip and then nodded hesitantly. He picked her up, cradling her close to his chest as he ran to the cab of the truck. He opened the door and set her on the seat, closing the door before running back to the passenger side. He got inside and sat there shivering as the icy rain continued to drip from his hair down his neck and back.
“They didn’t have any rooms,” he said. “They offered to bump someone for me, which was sweet, but I’d have to be even more of an ass than rumor has it for me to do that.”
“You’re not an ass,” she said. “Are we spending the night in this truck?”
“No. I am going to drive us back to my place,” he said. “This truck has four-wheel drive and all-weather traction tires.”
Once Upon a Texas Christmas Page 8
