Carter Bravo's Christmas Bride

by Christine Rimmer

  Dawn wiped at her eyes again. “Well, I guess you’re right about that.”

  “Yes, I am. And I’m not going to hurt Paige.”

  She gave him her best tough-girl scowl. “You better not.”

  “I promise I won’t.”

  “Good. Because you’ll really be in trouble with me if you do.”

  “Point taken. Eat your burger.”

  She grabbed it off her plate and took a giant bite, chewing aggressively and swallowing hard.

  He suggested mildly, “Please don’t choke yourself.”

  She reached for her Cherry Coke, sucked down about half of it and set the glass back on the table with purpose. “I do love you, Carter. I’ll probably always love you, no matter what you do. And so will Paige. But you really need not to screw this up, okay?”

  “I won’t screw it up,” he promised, and thought about the property. His mother would be back from Mexico in six days and Paige needed to know everything by then. “You can count on me,” he added strongly, because he was going to tell Paige before Friday. He would get totally straight with her, lay everything out. “I mean that.”

  “Great.” Dawn tried a wobbly little smile and then ate more of the burger, chewing more slowly this time. He went to work on his food, too. Eventually, she offered in her best peacemaking voice, “Share the hazelnut cake for dessert?”

  He grinned wide, relieved and grateful that she wasn’t staying mad at him. “What’s lunch at the Grille without hazelnut cake?”

  By the time they got in the pickup for the ride back to Justice Creek, Dawn’s usual sunny spirits had returned in full force. She cranked up the radio and sang along to the holiday tunes while he griped that if he heard “White Christmas” one more time he just might lose his mind. It had been snowing on and off all day. Halfway home, the snow started coming down again.

  They reached Justice Creek at a few minutes of four. The dogs greeted them at the door. No sign of Paige yet. She’d said she was going to BCC that day and probably wouldn’t be home until five or six. He helped Dawn haul all her loot up to her room. She gave him a hug and then went to Molly’s.

  Carter drove over to his place. He transferred the minifridge from the back of the pickup to the floor of his garage, dropped off his bags full of Christmas stuff, grabbed a change of clothes and returned to Paige’s, where he took the dogs out for a walk in the snow.

  When he got back to the house, the outside lights were on. So was the tree in the living room window. Paige must be home. He walked faster, eager to get to her, impatient with having to pause on the front porch to knock the snow off his boots.

  He was just reaching for the door when she pulled it open.

  God, she looked good. The light behind her brought out the shine to her dark hair, and those brown eyes were bigger than ever. Her fine mouth curved up in a smile just for him. How was it that the house always seemed warmer and brighter when Paige was in it?

  “It’s freezing out there. Get in here.” She grabbed him by his heavy jacket and pulled him over the threshold. The dogs whined in greeting and danced around them as she shoved the door shut, turned the lock and engaged the chain.

  Then came the best part. She melted into his arms.

  The woman could kiss. How could he have lasted all those years without ever once having her tongue in his mouth? He loved the taste of her, the feel of her body under his hands, pressing against him. The smell of her—vanilla and coffee, something a little spicy, just so damn good.

  He was hard in an instant.

  She laughed. “It’s nice how glad you are to see me.”

  “And to feel you...” He buried his face against her neck, scraping his teeth there, then licking the spot, too. She moaned.

  And the dogs kept whining. Biscuit went up on his hind legs, pleading for Paige’s attention.

  Sorry, buddy. Me first. He lifted his head long enough to tell them both firmly, “Down. Go.” Biscuit dropped to all fours again. With one more whine each, both dogs turned away. Their paws tapped the floor as they trotted to the kitchen and a happy reunion with their water and food bowls.

  She asked, “Good day shopping?”

  “The best. And that’s saying something, given that I’m a guy and guys hate shopping.”

  “Dawn called. She said she had a great time, too. And she’s spending the night at Molly’s.”

  He bit her neck again and then whispered against her soft skin, “Good. Tonight I can see you naked in front of the fire.”

  “Where you’re going to see me naked always seems to be a priority for you.”

  The stairs were right behind him. He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it over the newel post. “That’s because I’ve got my priorities in order.” She wore a soft blue sweater dress, belted, with black tights and tall boots. He went to work on the belt, getting it undone and off her in seconds flat.

  She slapped at his wrist. “Handsy much?”

  He gave her his best wounded look. “I can’t help myself.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Because there are so many places I want to see you naked and so very few hours in a day...”

  She laughed as he undressed her, lifting her arms so he could whip off the big sweater, turning obediently to let him unhook her lacy pink bra. He got a little distracted from his purpose when he started kissing her breasts. She wrapped her hand around his head and held him close and whispered his name while he bit her nipple—gently—and flicked it with his tongue.

  Eventually, he realized he had yet to reach the main goal. “Sit here.” He took her by the shoulders and guided her down to sit on the stair so he could pull off those tall, sexy boots. Then he took her hand and stood her up and got to work on the tights. When she stepped out of them, he hung them on the newel post over his jacket.

  That left only her little pink panties. She took them down for him and tossed them over her shoulder. “Ta-da!”

  He bent and grabbed her around the waist, lifting her in a fireman’s carry and heading for the living room as she laughed, kicked those long, silky legs and pounded his back with her fists.

  When he set her down in front of the fire, she went right to work helping him get naked, too. He took the condom from his pocket and set it within reach as they stretched out on the rug together.

  It was so good, better even than he’d imagined it might be, lying with her in the glow of the fire, snow falling outside. He kissed her, top to toe, and then he buried himself in her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him close to her, whispering his name.

  At the end, she said the L word. “Love you. Oh, Carter, love you so much...”

  He didn’t say it back to her. He couldn’t, somehow. Even though he knew what he felt. Knew what he had with her. Knew without any doubt that she was the one for him.

  And had been for a lot longer than he’d ever let himself admit.

  He lifted himself up on his arms and stared down at her, rocking into her, loving the way her pale skin flushed burning pink.

  “Love you...” She opened her eyes then, and she looked right at him. “Love you,” she whispered, still contracting around him. She closed her eyes, turned her head to the side.

  “Don’t...” He bent closer then. But she kept her face turned away from him. So he caught her chin and made her turn to him. He covered her mouth and kissed her until she opened for him.

  That did it, somehow. Her tongue came out and tangled with his and that tipped him over. He surged into her, kissing her so hard and deep as his climax shuddered through him.

  * * *

  It was all so romantic, Paige thought. Perfect really. Paige and Carter, all cozy, on a snowy winter’s night.

  But in spite of all that perfection, she wanted to cry. She really hated that she was sta
rting to understand exactly, up close and personal, why all his girlfriends turned into drama queens eventually.

  He was the greatest guy in the world—helpful, tender, smart. Funny, sexy, attentive.

  But he just wouldn’t let a woman get too close. And that was beyond frustrating. It made her want to yell at him and start throwing things.

  Carter whipped up some pasta with marinara sauce for dinner. Paige had brought home a fresh loaf of sourdough. She cut up a salad.

  They ate in the breakfast nook, sharing a bottle of red, with candles on the table and the snow drifting down outside. The food was delicious.

  And she was with the man she loved.

  Perfect.

  Except for that little problem he had with the word love. Except for how all of it was only a test drive with a plus-and-minus review waiting at New Year’s.

  Yep. She really got it now. Why all his girlfriends ended up throwing tantrums and calling him names. She felt more sympathy for them than ever lately. She thought of them fondly, wished them all well.

  And she reminded herself that she’d gone into this knowing exactly what was up with him. She really did love him. And even if it didn’t work out in the end, she was not going to regret this time they had together.

  She was going to enjoy it, put her hurt feelings away and focus on the good stuff.

  Because there was plenty of good stuff.

  After dinner, they lingered at the table over second glasses of wine.

  “I gave the books a good going-over at BCC today,” she said. “We are so in the black.”

  “And that makes you happy.” He gave her a relaxed smile. “I love it when you’re happy.”

  “Good. Because I am happy.” About BCC’s success, anyway. “And I’m thinking maybe we should go forward with the Arrowhead Drive property. I can tell Kelly to up our offer, see if we can seal the deal before Christmas, after all. That way we can probably make the move by the end of January.”

  He had the strangest look suddenly. Vague and wary, both at once—and maybe just a little...what? Guilty? She was about to ask him what was going on when the look vanished and she wondered if she’d seen it at all. He drank some wine and settled back in his chair. “I don’t know. What’s the big hurry? Why not just wait like we planned? I don’t want to pay more than it’s worth.”

  She laughed. “You’re kidding, right? You never worry about the money.”

  “Well, I just think our plan to wait till after New Year’s is a solid one, that’s all.”

  Good thing she’d checked with him before making a move. “It’s always possible someone will come along and scoop it up while we’re waiting for the owner to get reasonable about the price. You’re okay with that?”

  He looked out the dark bay window, where the snow was starting to pile up on the sill. “Paige, the property’s been sitting there with no action for over a year. It’s not going anywhere. And it’s only a few weeks till the New Year.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  He stood, rounded the table and got behind her.

  She tipped her head back to look up at him. “What are you up to now?”

  Those gorgeous moss-green eyes held hers. He smiled a slow upside-down smile. And then he put his big hands on her shoulders, bent close and whispered in her ear, “Forget the property for now. It’s all going to work out, you’ll see...” He tucked a sweet kiss right there, behind her ear.

  Her blood got thicker, her body felt warmer. Intelligent thought deserted her. “If you say so...”

  “Um.” He nibbled his way down the side of her throat. “Let’s go upstairs.”

  “Why? You’ve already seen me naked up there.”

  “Exactly. And that’s how I know it’s something I really need to see again...”

  * * *

  Yeah, all right. Carter felt like a first-class douche canoe for not busting to the truth about the property when Paige had given him the perfect opportunity to tell all.

  He could so easily have said, We’ve already got the property. My mother bought it for us as a wedding present. He should have said it, and then gone on to explain the whole truth.

  But that was the problem: the whole truth didn’t look so good.

  What if she didn’t believe him when he said the property had nothing to do with their sudden engagement? And already, he’d waited too long to tell her. That alone would make her wonder...

  He decided not to think about it. Not right now.

  He still had a week to figure out what to do.

  Instead of getting honest, he took her upstairs and straight to bed, where he unwrapped her like a present—the best present ever. She was the gift that kept on giving. Every day, every hour, every minute he had with her only made him more and more certain she was exactly the woman for him, right for him in every way. Paige was totally no drama, the sanest woman on the planet.

  Also, the sexiest in the most down-to-earth, real way. And funny and smart. He never got bored just hanging around with her. And now that she was his, he was never doing anything that might make her go away.

  Sunday, they spent the whole day together, doing pretty much nothing. They walked the dogs, hung out with Dawn and Molly. They wrapped Christmas presents and piled them high under the tree. He stayed the night, same as he had every night since he’d finally gotten his ring on her finger. Daily, he moved more and more of his stuff to Paige’s. Why would he want to be at his place, when he could be at hers, where it was cozy and homey—because Paige was there?

  The week passed so quickly. He kept reminding himself he had to get honest with Paige before Willow got home. But then, all at once, it was Thursday and he still hadn’t said anything.

  And then on Friday morning, the day his mother was due home from Mexico, when time was seriously running out, Paige buzzed him in the shop. “I need a few minutes. My office?”

  “Something wrong?”

  “It’s about the property.” Crap. He and his two other mechanics, Jake Lindell and Billy McClesky, were pulling the original engine from a little bit of automotive history, the first of the muscle cars, a ’49 Oldsmobile Rocket 88. “Carter. You there? I’ve got our Realtor holding on the outside line...”

  “Uh. Right here. Sorry.” Billy and Jake could manage without him. “I’ll be right in.”

  Dread forming a hot, hard ball in the center of his chest, he got out of his coveralls and cleaned up fast at the sink.

  Paige’s office door was open. She was still on the phone, but she saw him and gestured him in. He hung back in the doorway, reluctant to find out exactly what was going on, as though by not entering the room, he could somehow forestall the inevitable. “All right,” she said—to the Realtor, he assumed. “No, Kelly. Uh-uh. Don’t even blame yourself. He told you he would let you know if there was another offer. It’s on Kritinski that he didn’t even bother to give us a chance at it and we didn’t find out until now...” Alan Kritinski was the owner of the property on Arrowhead Drive. Or had been, anyway, until Willow made her move. “Yes.” Paige slid another glance at Carter. “He’s here now. I’ll talk it over with him and then we’ll let you know what we want to do next...Thanks.” She hung up and gave him a distracted frown. “You’re lurking. Come in and shut the door.”

  He obeyed, shoving the door closed behind him, dropping into one of the two chairs that faced her desk. “What’s up?” As if he didn’t know.

  “You won’t believe this. Kelly was checking the listings and discovered that the Arrowhead Drive property’s been sold—and, Carter, you’ll never guess who bought it.”

  And there it was. Yet another chance to come clean. He opened his mouth to tell all.

  Nothing came out.

  Paige said, “Carter, you’re gaping.”

  “Uh, yeah. J
ust surprised.” He ought to be ashamed of himself. And he was. But that didn’t stop him from asking, “Who bought it?” as if he didn’t damn well know.

  “Brace yourself.”

  “Hit me with it.”

  “Your mother bought it.”

  “Wow,” he said lamely, because he knew he had to say something. “That’s bizarre.”

  Paige shook her head. “I don’t get it. What could Willow possibly want with an empty factory building, a big parking lot and some office space?”

  “Not a clue,” he lied some more. Because why stop now?

  She chided, “I told you we should move on it.”

  “And I guess you were right.” He put on a regretful expression. It wasn’t all that hard. “Sorry. I screwed up.” In more ways than one.

  But then Paige smiled. It was a real smile, an easy one. The knot of dread in his chest loosened just a little. She shrugged. “Yeah, but it would have been too late anyway. Willow bought it weeks ago, before Thanksgiving. She must have struck the deal just a day or two after Kritinski turned us down.”

  He rubbed a hand over the back of his head. “She’s my own mother and still, I will never understand what drives that woman.” That, at least, was true.

  Paige nodded. “Totally concur. What was she thinking?”

  And that was when it came to him. Right then, as Paige agreed with him about Willow. He finally saw the perfect solution to this sticky problem that had so far only kept sucking him down deeper and deeper into lies and evasions.

  It was so simple. He should have thought of it before.

  Paige never needed to know.

  Willow could give them the property as a wedding present, as promised—and keep her mouth shut about the rest of it.

  Everybody wins.

  Paige was already moving on to the next supposed step. “So we’ll have to start looking again. I’m sure Kelly can find us something that will work for us.”

  He spoke up then. “Before you turn the Realtor loose, let me talk with my mother.” And tell her she’d better not say a damn word.

  “What good will that do?”