License to Love: Holiday Box Set (Contemporary Romance)

by Kristen James

  Did her cold cowboy just warm up to her? Instinct almost made her jump for a smart remark, but another part of her—the bigger part—was tired of keeping up the front.

  “Thanks for walking me.” She paused at the door and looked at him in the porch light. He’d pushed his hands down in his jeans pockets, but pulled one free to nudge his hat back. She didn’t want him to go just yet. “I’ve been wondering . . . What are your plans for this place?”

  A sudden smile brightened his face. “I could talk on that all night. Ben and I used to talk about it while we rode over the property, about buying more horses, maybe more land later on. We want to make this into a real resort with cabins.”

  His excitement dimmed. She felt his loss then, remembered at the same minute that Ben wasn’t here for those future days. They nodded before she went in. Inside, she leaned against the closed door and heard his first steps as he left.

  * * * *

  The picture seemed off... she leaned against the corral rail, but the ground wasn’t dusty and the sun didn’t beat down on her.

  Instead, tall cedars surrounded them, with graceful limbs bowing as they leaned out. Wispy clouds lay up in the sky like streaks of whipped cream while the sun warmed her skin. She smelled salt in the air, mixed with forest scents. The oddity was completed by the seagulls that called out to each other. She looked down from the birds just as Brent led Jeffrey out of the stable entrance.

  Brent’s jeans hugged his legs all the way up. Then his shirt molded to his trim waist before stretching across his shoulders. She looked at the horse as he drew closer so he wouldn’t see the way she admired every inch of him.

  “I’m going to ride your horse?” Could it be a good sign? Or did he plan a big joke on her? She hated uncertainty worse than anything, and he put her on shaky ground time and time again.

  “I trust him, and believe me, you’ll want a horse we can trust.” He motioned for her to come over. That authoritative gesture sent hot licks of want up her. The sensation shocked her senseless for a minute. He motioned again.

  “Okay, okay.” Keep your senses about you, girl. The speckled monster pawed the ground and looked her over. She joined Brent on the horse’s left side.

  “Offer your hand, like you did before.” Brent instructed. “He senses your fear.”

  Fear? She wanted to argue, but she wasn’t much of a liar. After she looked at Brent, she held out her hand and Jeffrey rubbed his soft nose in it.

  “All right, boy,” Brent soothed. “This lady needs to learn how to ride, and you’re just the horse to do it.”

  After he reassured the horse, he turned to her. “You said you’re fast learner, right?”

  Was that a dare? “I am.”

  “We’ll get you up there, then you can get used to how it feels. Next you’ll practice leading him with the reins. Now watch.” He grabbed the saddle, put his foot in the stirrup, and swung up. After he dismounted, he nodded for her to try.

  Just like that, huh?

  “Hand here.” He took her hand and pulled it up. She jumped at his touch. A small jump, but she felt it all the way through her.

  His hat threw shade over his eyes, but she was pretty sure he’d seen.

  “Foot there,” he said. She nodded and pretended not to hear the amusement just begging to slip through his steady voice. She did as instructed and placed her foot in the stirrup.

  “Up and at ‘em.” He swatted her bottom as she started up.

  “Ahh!” Her foot came back down and she spun around to stare at him, open-mouthed. No other man had ever made her body tingle like this so she couldn’t tell if it was frustration or heat running through her.

  “Sorry, ma’am, just messing around.” His dazzling smile faded into a remorseful grin. She licked her lips and tried to make it look like an angry gesture. Brows scrunched, she placed her hands again and tried to do what he’d shown her. She made it halfway up before the thought of him behind her, so close, sent her right back down.

  “Darn it!” Not only did Brent laugh, but the two men joined in from the other side of the fence. She hadn’t been aware they were watching her.

  “Ignore them.” Brent rested an arm against the horse, then rested his forehead against his arm. He couldn’t be fed up with her already, she worried, before gritting her teeth and waiting. This could not be that hard.

  “Let’s just breathe.”

  Did he say breathe? She crossed her arms, but he straightened up and grabbed her wrists, pulling them to her sides. He’d trapped her so she had to look at him. Even with the shade on his eyes, she could see their cool blue color and knowing look.

  “Just like that, Missy. Now close your eyes.”

  “What?”

  “Close them.”

  They snapped shut. Knowing he was inches from her face, watching her, made her breathe faster and faster. She couldn’t hear anything but the air she sucked in.

  “I want you to stay just like that until you calm down.” His hands softly squeezed her arms. She could do this, she could! Sounds of the countryside became louder as her breathing became quiet. But his strong, quiet voice still sounded in her head.

  She never liked it when men told her what to do, so she didn’t understand the pleasant chills his commands sent through her or the surprising comfort she felt from his hands.

  “Calm now?” His voice sounded so near. Close enough to tilt her mouth up and kiss him. No, no, no! Breathe.

  She nodded to his question after several deep breaths.

  “Good, now open your eyes and try again.” He let go and stepped back, ending the closeness.

  Now steady, she felt riled for reacting to him that way. But she was back in her game.

  “I’ve got it,” she said, determined.

  He raised an eyebrow at her, like he was questioning her cockiness.

  “You sure you’re cut out for this?” His teasing tone was back as he watched. She swung up and made it this time.

  After the men whooped, she said, “I’m glad I’m at least giving you some entertainment.”

  Jeffrey snorted, but remained still. She became fully aware now that she had a live animal under her, one that had a mind of his own.

  “Yup, now you’re in the saddle,” Brent said from below. “Do you know what to do up there?”

  “What?” Her concentration went to crap. Jeffrey decided to show her what to do and started moving slowly around in a circle.

  “Grab the reins!” One of the men yelled from the fence.

  “I got it.” She declared again to all three men and the horse. “I watched you guys do it, I read how to do it, and now I’m going to do it.”

  “All right, Missy, do you know how to lead him?” Brent prompted her and then watched.

  “Pull in the direction I want to go, right?”

  “Hope you kept your job back home,” he joked.

  “No.” She kept her mind on her task this time. “The jackass I worked for sent me packing when I told him to cool things.” Her hands gripped the reins like she was hanging over a cliff, but the horse let her lead. She relaxed and quickly fell into a rhythm, smiling at the sudden thrill of it. This wasn’t that hard, once she realized she could do it. She risked a quick glance over at Brent to grin in victory. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  He looked displeased about something.

  “You slept with your boss?”

  “Huh?” Her horse took the opportunity to turn the other way. She had to twist her head sharply to look at Brent. “What are you talking about?”

  “What you just said. He fired you over it.”

  “That’s not what I said!” She jerked the reins and the horse snorted. Oh crap. Jeffrey jerked upward.

  Heart flying up her throat, she bit off a scream.

  “Calm now!” Brent called in a mellow voice. “He’s playing around.”

  Since she had to keep both hands on the reins, she couldn’t rub her chest like she wanted.

  “That
wasn’t what I said,” she said again, irritated to the point of overheating because he had misunderstood her to such an extent.

  “Calm down, keep leading him around.”

  Brent stood back and watched her. If he was nervous about her riding Jeffrey, it didn’t show. Thankful for his calmness, she felt herself relax.

  “You’re doing good.” That came from one of the men by the fence. When she rode by them, both said hello.

  “This is Dale.” Brent introduced him. “And this tall guy is Ivan.”

  “Howdy, ma’am,” Dale said, touching his hat.

  She glanced over and nodded. She was heading away from them when she heard Brent say, “You two should be working, not gawking.”

  With the sun shining brighter than before, she grew warm. She’d dreamed the night before that she fell off while Brent watched. But so far, so good. Missy only wished she wasn’t such a novice. How was she going to convince them she was serious about this when she had so much trouble just getting on a horse? Okay, it was a little rough at the beginning, but she enjoyed this.

  Dale and Ivan had left but Brent leaned on the fence rail and watched for a while, until she rode up alongside him. She gave him a sweet smile. “This isn’t hard after all.”

  He nudged back his hat to look up at her. “You’re done?”

  That was a trick question, but she did want back down on the ground.

  “Yeah, are you going to help me?”

  A smile tugged on his lips. What else could she do? She’d rather ask for help than land on her butt trying to get off by herself.

  “You want my help?” he asked as he held her gaze. “That means I’ll have to touch you.”

  The word ‘touch’ rolled off his tongue as if he’d said ‘caress’. She knew he was teasing about her reaction to his rear swatting, but she wouldn’t react this time around.

  She asked, “Afraid of my cooties?”

  She made light of his comment, but her body was on a completely different wave length as she thought about his hands on her. Listen up, she thought to herself, he’s a man, just a regular guy working a ranch. A regular guy with a sexy, quick grin, and a voice that could soothe her rattled nerves back from the edge.

  “Grab the horn and swing your leg back over.” He stepped close, ready to ease her down. She gripped the pommel and swung her leg over like he said. Just then he pressed his hand against her hip. “Easy now.”

  That was not - was not! - the place to touch a woman while telling her to take it easy. She felt her traitorous body jerk and could only pray he didn’t notice.

  She slid against him the entire way down, and fell back into his chest. They both knew she could have done it without him. He hadn’t moved, so she couldn’t either. Her heartbeat jack hammered into overdrive as her back pressed into him.

  Could be worse.

  Could be her front pressed into him.

  “I . . . I, ah, need a bath.” I need out of here! His arms encircled her and she couldn’t look away from his bare forearms. Lightly tanned. Strong.

  “A bath?” he asked as if he’d been thinking about it.

  She recognized the bedroom voice. “I’ve never been on a horse before. It tends to make a person sore.” Her voice came out sounding stiff, killing the building mood. Good. It seemed like a dangerous path to go down.

  She hadn’t spent that much time on Jeffrey but it was a pretty good excuse. Missy dared one glance at him, and Brent seemed to catch the questioning in her look.

  He eased back, holding the reins, and gave her room to step away. The flirtatious glint in his eyes faded away.

  “Would you like to see how to take the tack off and cool down the horse before you go?” he asked with a hand on her shoulder to guide her back a step.

  “Sure.” She walked beside him into the stable yard, glad for the space between them. This touching didn’t mean anything. At least it shouldn’t.

  She didn’t say much while she helped him, but her mind ran around in circles. How could she have accidentally mentioned Russ and what happened at her old job? After that, Brent had turned on the charm. Now probably thought she was easy. She couldn’t let that kind of thinking ruin things here.

  “Well, that was fun.” She walked briskly away like she had important things to do.

  * * * *

  She didn’t do bad at all in the end, he thought as he watched her go. So why did she turn into a stiff greenhorn when he brought Jeffrey out? He wouldn’t have thought he could make her that nervous . . . or that he could calm her down like that.

  He’d gotten an aching erection while he watched her breathe with her eyes closed. Luckily, as far as he could tell, no one saw. Boy, he’d never hear the end of it.

  “That little lady’s got you already.” Dale’s voice boomed from behind him. Brent turned, giving the robust man a hard look.

  “I can’t send her away.” He yanked his gloves off and stuffed them into his jean pocket. “I explained it to you.”

  “You said she’d be helping out around here. Looks like she don’t know a lick about horses.” Dale shook his head like this was one of the worse offenses committable.

  “She’s learning fast.” Was he defending her?

  “What about our work?” Dale pressed.

  “Hey, I’ll handle it.” After a pause, Brent added, “I saw you and Ivan watching her today.”

  “Yeah, you aren’t the only one.” Dale seemed to think it was funny. He had a mustache, black like his hair, and he always had a half smile on his face.

  It wasn’t that he wanted her, Brent just didn’t want anyone saying something suggestive about Missy. “Listen, you’re right about how much work we have to do around here. Let’s get to it.”

  “So leave the drooling to you?”

  “This isn’t funny.” At least, only in a really irritating way. “I’m not drooling over her. I’m showing her what we do around here so she’ll see she isn’t cut out for it.”

  “Oh.” Dale gave him a conspiracy-style nod before going into a good belly laugh. Brent turned and strode away, straight for Ben’s house.

  But it was Missy’s house now. Everything felt out of whack with Ben gone. With Missy around. No joking with Ben, riding together, talking about next year and their dreams for their ranch.

  How was he supposed to feel about the woman?

  He banged on her door twice and waited, but she didn’t answer. He knew she’d gone inside, so he cracked it and called her name.

  A muffled noise came back. Irritation made him itch all over as he wavered at the door.

  Cursing himself, he quietly walked across the front room to the hallway. She’d made a good dent in the mess, he saw, by stacking boxes and papers in the corner. “Missy?”

  “Brent?” she called from the bathroom. He heard either surprise or panic in her voice. “Do you mind? I’m taking a bath.”

  “Oh.” He tried to remember why he came. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Now?” She sighed. “Well, you’re here. Start talking.”

  “For a city girl, you don’t have much class.” That didn’t sound as funny out loud as it had in his head. It was suppose to lighten the mood.

  “I’ve got a surprise for you, cowboy. I grew up in a small dirt town.”

  She did? She didn’t look like it, though she didn’t exactly talk like city dweller, either. “My men spent all day watching you instead of working.”

  “So talk to them, not me.”

  He opened his mouth, an argument in mind, but just then his mind came up with a picture of Missy on the other side of the door . . . in the bathtub . . . surrounded by pretty pink bubbles. A nice hot bath sounded pretty darn tempting at the moment.

  “Are you still there?” she asked through the door.

  “Uh, sorry. I was thinking about what I’d say to Dale and Ivan.”

  “Hmm, I bet.”

  Now what? He tried to think up a comeback, but what could he say to a naked woman in the tub? Can
I join you? He spun around and headed out, wondering if he imagined the feminine laughter chasing him out the door.

  Chapter Three

  The darkness, the cold, but mostly the quiet didn’t make for a good evening as Brent stood with Dale outside the stables. He thought about inviting him up to the house, but while he thought about it, Dale excused himself to go home. He wanted to see his girl, Alice.

  Brent had wanted a family of his own just a few years ago, but he hadn’t been interested in dating since Kathryn left. Ben always kept him company when he got down about it. They kept busy with work too, their dreams, and having a good time with Dale and Ivan. They had some pretty wild poker nights. He didn’t exactly need a woman in his life.

  This holiday season would be tough without Ben around. Sometimes he wished for a special someone in his life, especially this time of year, but he didn’t need to think like that.

  He sighed and walked through the stables to say goodnight to the horses. Missy hadn’t asked which ones had been Ben’s, meaning they were hers now. Seemed odd to him. If she wanted money, she could sell them. He didn’t like that thought one bit.

  Dancer snorted at him, like he was asking where Ben had gone.

  “Sorry, buddy.” Sorry Ben’s not here. He faced forward, and though he wanted to turn and look at the stallion, he couldn’t.

  Shaking his head, he left. How had he gotten so spooked about the whole thing? The horse couldn’t blame him. No one did. So why did he feel so guilty about Ben?

  Outside again, he headed for his house, but he spotted Missy walking on the road, bundled up in her red coat and a scarf. Guess the cougar comment hadn’t scared her enough to keep her inside after dark.

  “Want company?” he called out because she looked lonely. How could she not be when she’d left her life to come out here? It looked like she shrugged, so he jogged over. “What are you doing out here by yourself? It’s late.”

  “It’s seven in the evening.” She rubbed her nose in the cold.

  “And cold.”

  “You’re out here, too.” She blew out a breath. If she hadn’t run earlier, he might have asked her to go into town for a movie or dinner.