by Amanda Renee
“I can’t believe this is your life.”
“What do you mean?” Dylan asked. He shifted slightly, causing more of his body to press against hers. Emma wanted to rest her head on his shoulders, but feared she’d miss something along the way if she did.
“You live in a winter wonderland. It’s like Doctor Zhivago meets Frozen.”
“As beautiful as the snow is, winter can also be harsh and cruel in these parts. You have to stay prepared all season and it is a long season.”
“It’s not like Chicago, though. We have dirty snow.”
Dylan laughed. “Give it a few days and you’ll see dirty snow here, too. Of course, fresh powder will probably fall on top of it within a day or two, but it does get dirty every now and then.”
They stopped at the same spot they had the other night, only tonight they could see the town with its moonlit mountains magically rising behind it.
“This would be the perfect location for an outdoor wedding chapel. Can’t you just picture it right here? With a few modifications to some of the more private cabins, this could be the quintessential wedding destination in all of Saddle Ridge. It would draw people in year round with that backdrop.”
Dylan could picture it very easily with Emma by his side. “I don’t remember an outdoor chapel in your proposal.”
“It hadn’t occurred to me until now. I was remembering the first time I came to Silver Bells to meet Jax. This was the first place he showed me. Of course, in my mind I saw dollars signs and ways to capitalize on the view. I had considered another lodge of sorts right here, taking advantage of the landscape, but no matter what I came up with, they all ruined the beauty of what drew me here in the first place. That’s why there aren’t any new structures in my proposal. After sitting here now and the other night, I see much more. This is God’s country and what better way to celebrate that than with love and marriage. I totally get why you’re so protective of this place.”
Dylan wrapped his arm around her and tilted her chin toward him. “I think that’s the best idea you’ve had yet.”
His lips brushed hers, gently at first before becoming more demanding. She returned his hunger as desire coursed through her veins like venom seeking a beating heart. The fervent need to make love to a man she had just gotten to know a few days prior lustfully beckoned while mocking her sensibilities. Powerless against the seduction, yet more impatient with each breath she took, for the first time in her life, Emma wanted to completely surrender to another person...to Dylan.
“Emma,” he gasped. “What are you doing to me?”
“Are you asking me to stop?” She ran her tongue over his bottom lip, daring him to take her higher than she’d ever been.
“Absolutely not. I just need to know if this is leading where I think it is.”
“I don’t want to stop or let go of this moment. It may be all we ever have. It may be more. Whatever it is, I want to share it with you...right here under the stars in the place you love more than life itself.”
Emma knew her heart would never be the same after tonight. But she was recklessly willing to take a chance on the man she suddenly didn’t want to live without. She longed to be a part of his hope for the future. To share in those dreams and help him realize them without limitations. Heaven help her, she wanted Dylan Slade, in every way.
* * *
MAKING LOVE TO Emma under the Montana night sky hadn’t been on his evening itinerary. Unable to resist the woman who intrigued him more than any other had, he willingly gave her the piece of his heart he hadn’t believed still existed. Each kiss had driven them deeper into complete abandon. And when they had finally broken apart, his desire for her grew stronger.
Swathed in layers of warmth, he began to believe the odds were turning in their favor. Between some of Emma’s proposal ideas and the wedding chapel, a clearer vision for the ranch developed in his mind. But it wouldn’t be complete without Emma. He wanted to finalize the plans before asking her to stay in Montana again. He needed to offer her more than just talk and concepts. Emma required stability for her and her daughter. He couldn’t ask anything of her without it.
“I promised you a Christmas tree.” Dylan kissed the top of Emma’s head, relishing the feel of her body against his beneath the blankets.
“No, you said we’d cut down a tree. You promised tonight would be fun.” Her voice was laced with seduction, commanding his body to attention. “You definitely kept your word.” Emma straddled his lap, and for the second time that evening, he lost himself within her.
By the time they arrived back at the house with their tree in tow, Dylan could barely stand. Between the day’s earlier tension and the sex, all he wanted to do was crawl in bed and sleep.
“I have to tend to the horse and sleigh.” Dylan kissed her in the doorway. “Will you stay the night?”
Emma nodded, her eyes heavy with sleep.
“The bedroom is at the end of the hall. It’s the only one on this floor.” He wanted to lift her in his arms and carry her to bed, but he knew he’d never make it outside if he did. “I’ll be back shortly.”
She disappeared inside as he carried the tree onto the porch. Decorating could wait another day. Tonight, he wanted to hold Emma in his arms and forget the world around them.
After unhooking the sleigh and settling his horse down for the night, he climbed in beside her sleeping form. A soft breath escaped her lips with each exhale. Not quite a snore but more of a wildcat purr. Not that he’d had the opportunity to lie down next to a wildcat. It was just the sound he imagined them having. And she had been a wildcat tonight. His wildcat.
He brushed the hair from her face and kissed her cheek goodnight. Yeah, he could definitely get used to sharing his life with Emma.
EMMA AWOKE ALONE. Had last night been a dream? She looked around. No, she definitely wasn’t in her room at the lodge. The faint sound of whisking came from the kitchen. Emma tossed on the sweatshirt she found on a chair next to the bed and padded down the hallway.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.”
“Morning.” She wrapped her arms around Dylan and snuggled against his chest. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Almost nine.”
“Nine? What are you still doing here?” She looked up at him, loving the day-old scruff along his jawline. “Don’t you have to work?”
“I’ve already been out and back. Wes is handling some things for me while I take the rest of the morning off. A little break is long overdue, considering I’ve been pulling my weight and his around here.”
Charlie’s voice nagged at her from the recesses of her mind. She didn’t want to hear it. Not now when things were blissfully happy between her and Dylan. “Are you making French toast?”
“I am. I know it’s your favorite.” He kissed the top of her head.
Emma yawned and sat down at the table. “A woman could get easily spoiled this way.”
Dylan smiled, but didn’t ask her to stay as he had the other night. Not that she expected him to again. Although, it would be nice to hear. The thought had crossed her mind a few times during their evening. Moving to Montana would be ludicrous and bold, even for her. She took risks in business but rarely in her personal life. As much as she had grown to admire the ranch’s beauty, she still couldn’t see herself living there.
“After breakfast, I thought we’d decorate the tree. Unless you have other plans.”
She did. She had a date with her credit card and a baby store she saw on her way back to the ranch yesterday. But shopping could wait a little while longer. So could telling Dylan about the new offer. “Um, sure.”
He expertly flipped the toast in the pan with the flick of his wrist. “That wasn’t the reaction I had expected.”
“I need to tell you something. Two things actually, but I don’t want it to break
the mood.”
Dylan shut the burner off on the stove and faced her. “You have my full attention.”
The smile he’d worn seconds earlier had faded into seriousness. She inwardly groaned. “I had inquired about the horses, even though you asked me not to. The horses they didn’t keep would have been sold at auction. I informed my office that was unacceptable and told them it was an absolute deal-breaker. They countered and said the horses would be excluded from the deal, allowing you to decide where they went.”
“That’s a significant contract change.” Dylan turned the burner back on and continued cooking. “I appreciate the effort. I’m still not changing my mind, but I’m glad to hear they were open to it just the same.”
“Okay, well that’s the one I thought would upset you.”
“I’m not upset at all. I’m disheartened that your company has a complete and blatant disregard for animals, but it doesn’t surprise me. They may or may not know what goes on at horse auctions. Some choose to ignore it. I’m glad you didn’t. Thank you.” Dylan slid the toast on to a plate and set it before her. “What’s the other thing you wanted to tell me?” He sat down across from her.
“Aren’t you eating?” Emma asked.
“I already did, while you were sleeping.” Dylan hopped up from the table, opened the microwave and removed a small bowl. “I almost forgot. I heated up some syrup for you.”
“Thank you.” Emma hated when people watched her eat, but breakfast smelled too good to resist. She took a mouthful and almost dropped her fork. “These are heaven. Is that cinnamon I’m tasting? And a hint of nutmeg?”
Dylan’s smile lit the room. “Now that you know my secret ingredients, I’m going to have to find a way to keep you quiet.” He winked. “There’s a tablespoon of sugar in there, too and one other ingredient, but I’m not telling.”
“That’s not right.” Emma playfully nudged him with her bare feet.
“Sure it is.” Dylan caught her foot in his hands and began kneading it. There was nothing like an orgasmic foot massage while eating your favorite breakfast after a night of repeated sex on the back of a one-horse open sleigh...in the snow. Yep, she’d found heaven.
“God, that feels good.” The man sure knew how to treat her like a queen. “The other thing was, I told my boss about your ex-employee who got injured. The firm would like to donate twenty-five thousand dollars to his family and I will need their contact information so we can set that up for them.”
Dylan stopped massaging her foot.
“Okay, that wasn’t the reaction I had expected.” Emma tucked her feet under her chair. “What is it?” She already knew the answer because she’d felt the same way when Charlie told her the amount. It felt like a payoff of some sort. They wouldn’t have needed to worry about medical bills if Emma and her company hadn’t swooped in and tried to buy the ranch.
“I don’t know how Billy’s wife will react to the money.” Dylan jumped up from the table again and poured a cup of coffee. “She was outspoken against Jax for a while. Billy had had to run interference between the two. He hadn’t liked the situation, but he understood Jax owned the ranch and could do with it as he pleased. It was no different from other corporate buyouts. Only most of the time those people kept their jobs, or at least some did.”
“I get it. I’m the enemy.”
Dylan reached across the table for her. “No, you’re not. You were doing your job.”
Were doing? She was glad she held off on mentioning the offer until later. He might reconsider the enemy part. For now, or at least for the morning, Emma wanted to leave their responsibilities behind and get lost in a little Christmas spirit.
Chapter Ten
Dylan hadn’t expected to choke up while unboxing the Christmas ornaments. He hadn’t realized how many his uncle had from Dylan’s childhood. The realization his mother hadn’t taken any of them with her to California surprised and upset him. Then again, she’d left town the day after his father’s funeral. She’d put the ranch up for sale weeks later and that was when he and his brothers realized she never planned to return to Saddle Ridge.
“Some of these look really old.” Emma carefully unwrapped a wad of tissue paper, revealing a delicate pale pink glass ornament.
“That was my grandmother’s. No, wait. It was my great grandmother’s on my mom’s side.” Dylan sighed. “I remember my mom hanging them high up on the tree when we were kids, for fear one of us would knock them off.”
“Five boys must have been a handful.” Emma rubbed her baby belly. “I’m still trying to grasp the concept of having one child, let alone that many.”
“You’ll do just fine.” Dylan sat on the couch and reached out for her hand, pulling Emma onto his lap. “I have faith in you.”
“I can’t even choose a name. I thought I had one, but the more I say Vienne Sheridan, the more it sounds like a hotel in France.”
Dylan couldn’t help laughing. “It kind of does.” She swatted him and attempted to squirm off his lap, but he wasn’t letting her go. At least not any time soon. “You could always name her Montana.”
“What would be the significance?” She reached for another wrapped ornament. “She wasn’t conceived here and she won’t be born here.”
Dylan’s heart dropped into his stomach like a bowling ball in a vacuum. Granted, they hadn’t settled on anything permanent, or even discussed it further, but he’d thought she would have at least considered the possibility of moving to Montana if things progressed with their relationship. He realized they had only given it a two-week timeline, but even he had hoped it would last longer than that.
“I guess you’ve made up your mind.”
Emma stilled. “About what?” She turned in his lap to face him. “Us?”
He nodded.
“Our two weeks have just begun. I don’t think that’s really fair to ask me. My home is in Chicago and so is everything I own. At some point, I have to go back. I may not have a definitive birthing plan, but my doctor and my parents are in Illinois, so yes, I intend to give birth on my home turf.” Emma sat the ornament on the coffee table. “Does that bother you?”
“I don’t know.” Dylan eased her off him and onto the couch. “I guess it does. After last night and... I don’t know. I kind of wanted to be there.”
“For the birth?” Emma’s brows rose. “Seriously?”
Dylan had never felt more like a fool. He had no business being anywhere near the delivery room, nor did he have any claim to her child. “It was a thought. A bad one, apparently.”
She reached for his hand as tears trailed down her cheeks. “Dylan.”
“Emma, what is it?” He knelt before her. “Don’t cry, baby.”
She struggled to regain her composure. “I never thought,” she said between sniffles, “that another man would want to be there for my baby that way.”
Now it was Dylan’s turn to breathe a sigh of relief. “Honey, babies are the most innocent creatures on earth. Just because she was conceived with someone else doesn’t mean I don’t have the capacity to love her.”
The realization of his words almost knocked him out cold. He reached for the coffee table behind him to steady himself. He had done the one thing he swore he’d never do again. He’d fully accepted another man’s child, and he hadn’t even met the butter bean yet.
“Are you okay?” Emma asked, concern etched across her face. “I think I need to get you some water.” She rose from the couch.
Dylan grabbed hold of her hand before she could walk away. “I don’t need water.” He needed something much, much stronger. “The past twenty-four hours have caught me off-guard. Your presence in my life was a complete surprise. When I’m with you, I feel like a super hero one minute and a lovesick teenager the next. You’ve changed my life in ways I hadn’t thought possible. You opened
my heart after it had been welded shut. I’ve devoted so much time to this ranch, I had forgotten what living feels like.”
“I don’t know what to tell you beyond today.” Emma remained standing. “I feel guilty in so many ways.”
“Why?”
“I aggressively sought out this ranch and targeted your uncle. In the process, I disrupted your life along with everybody else’s who works here. I ignored my own child’s needs because of this deal. I should be working on a way to convince you to sell instead of being here decorating the Christmas tree. But the truth is, I would rather be here than any other place in the world.”
“I feel the same way.” Dylan stood to meet her.
“I’ve gone from workaholic to I need a break in a matter of days. And while I’m sure a lot of that had to do with my labor scare, there is a whole other side of me that’s tired. I’m tired of the uncertainty and the stress. I’m tired of constantly trying to get ahead. And even though I’ve been trying to change your mind about the ranch over the past four days, there’s been a sense of relief knowing you never will. There’s also deep loss I still haven’t wrapped my head around. By accepting your refusal to sell, I accept that I failed. And that failure directly affects my child. That’s a hard pill to swallow. And while I’m learning to love it here, I don’t think I can honestly say I’m ready to give up walking up and down three flights of stairs to get to my apartment. Or hailing a cab to buy groceries. Or listening to my neighbor’s kid learn how to play the saxophone. I love Chicago. I love the noise, but I don’t miss going into my office, or any of that stress. I love more about Saddle Ridge than I thought I would. And now I have a decision to make of my own. And it’s a tough one because I fell hard for a cowboy.”
“Really, you fell for me?” Dylan attempted to lighten the burden she carried with a bit of levity.
“Look, I realize I’m unmarried and pregnant and we just had sex on a sleigh, but I assure you, I don’t make a habit out of sleeping around. I’ve had three relationships in my life, this being the third. I don’t take anything that has happened between us lightly, but I have to ask myself repeatedly how much of it is real and how much are my hormones running in overdrive?”
