Sleigh Bells in Crimson

by Michelle Major

  “I’m going to end up taking you in the hall if you do that,” he said, his voice hoarse.

  “We should start with the bed,” she answered, and a moment later they were in his bedroom again. He set her on her feet, the backs of her legs bumping the mattress.

  “You’re so damn beautiful,” he whispered, and she knew the words should have thrilled her. What woman didn’t want to receive a compliment from a handsome man who’d just given her the greatest orgasm of her life?

  But a part of Lucy wanted to believe Caden saw her for more than just what she looked like. Her beauty was genetic, inherited from a mother who’d wielded her looks like a weapon. Even though Lucy knew she wasn’t cut from that same cloth, she hated being judged on her looks alone.

  As if reading her mind, Caden pressed a hand to her chest where her heart beat against his palm. “In here,” he whispered. “Your spirit is beautiful, Lucy. You have a huge heart, and you’re smart and talented. There’s so much more to you than you even know.”

  Do you really think so?

  She wanted to ask the question out loud, but that would make her needy and pathetic. And right now she didn’t feel either of those things. She felt strong and cherished and truly seen by this man.

  It was everything.

  She laced her fingers with his and moved onto the bed, Caden following until his body covered hers. He kissed her until she was practically senseless, her body humming with need. “I want you,” she whispered. “Now.”

  He reached to the nightstand, pulled out a condom packet, and tugged it open with his teeth.

  “Let me,” she told him, and rolled the condom down his length. He entered her in one thrust, and Lucy had never felt so complete as she did with Caden filling her.

  “So good,” he whispered. “You feel so good.”

  “It’s not me,” she answered, meeting his gaze. “It’s us.”

  His eyes went dark at her words, and when he kissed her it was like a promise between them. They moved together as if they’d known each other for ages. Brilliant pressure built in her body as Caden both took her out of herself and kept her tethered to reality with the sweet words he whispered against her skin.

  It wasn’t long before Lucy broke apart again, an explosion of light and color surging through her body. A moment later she felt Caden tremble, and he let out a low groan and dropped his head into the crook of her neck.

  He lifted his head a moment later and gave her a goofy half smile. “I like everything about you, Lucy. Especially having you come apart in my arms.”

  “I like you, too,” she whispered and pretended her mind didn’t want to substitute a different l word entirely to describe her feelings for this man. She’d settle for like. After all, settling was something she did quite well.

  * * *

  Caden watched the light turn from gray to pink as he held Lucy in his arms. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic, her body warm and pliant tucked into his.

  He’d always been an early riser, convenient when living on a ranch, but this morning he wished he could stay in bed all day. He figured maybe then he could gain some kind of control around this woman. Or not, if last night was any indication.

  After that first time, they’d dressed and gone back downstairs to check on Cocoa and her puppies. The dog and the six little pups already seemed bigger. Caden had attached a different-colored piece of rickrack around each of their necks to tell them apart, and it was funny to already see distinct personalities emerging.

  He knew it still bothered Lucy that Cocoa had lost one of the puppies, but Caden realized how lucky they were that the others were healthy. He and Lucy had shared a simple meal of sandwiches and salads as they watched the animals. He’d worried that the intimacy that had rocked his world might have comprised their tentative friendship, but instead he felt even more connected to Lucy.

  When Cocoa and the pups were settled again, Lucy had taken his hand and led him back upstairs. They’d undressed each other slowly, hands and mouths exploring. He wanted to know every part of her, and for the first time he was willing to share pieces of himself he’d kept hidden.

  Even when she’d run a hand over the tiny scars below his shoulder blade, he hadn’t tensed.

  “They look like...” she’d whispered, her voice trailing off. He understood from her tone that she’d realized exactly what had made the marks.

  “Cigarette burns.” He’d supplied the words she couldn’t seem to form. It was the first time he’d named the scars to anyone other than Tyson. “Such a cliché, but my foster dad had a thing for that movie The Breakfast Club. There’s a scene where one of the kids in detention talks about his father putting out a cigar on his body as punishment for a spilled can of paint. It was twisted, but he wanted to recreate—”

  “Stop.” Lucy had placed her hands over his back like she could erase the truth of what had happened to Caden after his mom died and he got sucked into the foster-care system.

  “Don’t be sad for me.” He’d flipped her onto her back and wiped away the tears that slipped from the corners of her eyes. “Tyson lost his mind when he first saw the scars. I think he went home to Garrett that night and made the case for me coming to live on Sharpe Ranch.”

  He smiled, trying to take the edge off the horror of what he’d shared with her. Lucy’s mom might be a gold digger, but from what he could tell she hadn’t exposed her daughter to anything like what he’d experienced.

  Lucy thought she understood him, but she had no idea how broken Caden was on the inside. “In some ways that bastard did me a favor. It got me out of there and gave me Garrett and Tyson.”

  Her mouth pressed into a thin line. “It never should have come to that. You were a kid.”

  “Bad things happen,” he said simply, the only truth that had remained indisputable for his entire life.

  “Good things can happen, too,” she countered. “You deserve the good things, Caden.”

  He sucked in a breath as his heart leapt. The feeling was a strange mix of hope and caution because he’d found happiness to be all too fleeting. Besides, he wasn’t sure he agreed with that statement, but he didn’t bother to argue. Not when Lucy was staring at him like she could see all the way into his soul.

  He dropped a kiss on her shoulder now, but she didn’t stir. Her breathing changed to a soft snore that made him smile. It was difficult to believe how badly he’d misjudged her. Lucy was a light in the darkness of his lonely life. He could far too easily come to depend on her radiant brightness.

  He climbed out of bed, grabbing his clothes and taking them downstairs to dress so he wouldn’t disturb her. He couldn’t help but think that if he’d gotten her personality and intentions so wrong, maybe he needed to give Maureen a chance.

  Caden had thought he’d found love with Becca, until he’d realized she was only using him to hurt Tyson. Although it was too soon to put a name on what he felt for Lucy, his heart told him this was the real deal.

  He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so damn happy. Even more than the happiness—not to mention the afterglow from the best sex of his life—there was a peace inside him. It was as if all the jumbled parts of himself that had been clamoring around inside for years had finally found a home. He fit together now because Lucy was the piece he’d been missing.

  Was it possible that Maureen did that for Garrett? They’d all lived in the halcyon shadow of Tyson’s mother for so many years, it was difficult to believe Garrett could find happiness with another woman, especially someone like Maureen Renner.

  But no one deserved happiness more than Garrett. If he had it with Lucy’s mother, maybe Caden needed to have a little faith in his father’s judgment.

  Chapter Ten

  After finishing his chores the next morning, Caden drove into Crimson. He knew Lucy would want to spend
the day watching over Cocoa, so he planned to pick up breakfast, lunch and something easy to make for dinner.

  To his surprise, he was greeted with hugs and a chorus of excited congratulations about the weekend’s adoption event from the ladies behind the counter at Life Is Sweet.

  One of the baristas took great pride in showing him photos on her phone of the cat she’d taken home on Saturday and immediately dressed in a superhero costume.

  “I named him Wayne,” she confided with a goofy grin. “He’s the best.”

  “He looks good in a cape,” Caden agreed, not sure what else to say.

  The young woman scurried back around the counter to take an order as Katie and Noah Crawford walked out from the back of the store along with their toddler daughter, Ryan. Noah wore his olive green forest-service uniform. He’d been managing the local ranger district since he moved back to town a couple of years ago.

  Katie wore a striped apron with Ask about My Sticky Buns embroidered across the front. He’d known both of them since middle school and would never have expected the soft-spoken baker to make a match with Noah, who before Katie had quite the reputation as a ladies’ man. But contentment was written across both their faces and a little pang of envy shot through him at the sight of it.

  “You’re toast,” Noah told him. “Everyone in town has seen your soft underbelly now. There’s no going back to scowling, scary rancher man.”

  “I don’t have a soft underbelly,” Caden argued. “And I wasn’t trying to scare anyone.” That wasn’t exactly true. He liked keeping people at a distance. It worked for him. At least, until Lucy had blown his defensive walls to smithereens.

  Katie laughed. “You didn’t have to try.” The little girl perched on her hip stretched out her arms and dived toward Caden.

  “Ryan,” Katie cried. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  He scooped up the girl, with her riot of soft blond curls and a smudge of blueberry on her cheek. She poked at his Stetson. “Hat,” she told him.

  “My hat,” he agreed and, balancing her in one arm, took the hat off his head and perched it on hers. She giggled as it covered her eyes.

  “Ryan’s hat,” she shouted.

  Noah glanced behind him to the coffee bar. “Now you’re good with kids, too. Dude, you’re going to be swarmed by single women.”

  Caden followed Noah’s gaze and saw the three women behind the counter staring at him with looks that ranged from mildly interested to positively predatory. Uh-oh.

  “I’m not on the market,” he said quickly, placing the hat back on his head and handing Ryan back to Katie.

  “Perhaps because you’re already off the market?” Katie asked, one brow raised.

  “I don’t know... I mean, I’m not...” Caden blew out a breath. “I just want a bag of muffins,” he said helplessly.

  “I like Lucy,” Katie said, leaning forward. “She’s a good fit for Crimson.”

  “I’m not sure about that,” Caden said. “She’s used to living in Florida. Colorado winters might not be her thing.”

  Katie shook her head. “I mean she’s a good fit for the community. For you.”

  He felt his mouth drop open and quickly snapped it shut. “She’s too good for me,” he muttered.

  Noah dropped a smacking kiss on the top of his wife’s head. “Those are the best kind,” he offered.

  “I’ll get the muffins,” Katie said with a laugh.

  “You know,” Noah said quietly, leaning in closer, “guys finding a woman better than we deserve is sort of a thing around here.”

  “I get that,” Caden agreed, thinking of the men he knew and the women who loved them. “But there’s not being good enough and there’s being emotional napalm.”

  “Which are you?”

  “Everyone knows what happened between Tyson and me,” Caden said through his teeth, hating to discuss the rift with his brother but at the same time needing someone to understand. “I made some really stupid choices. People got hurt. My brother died.”

  Noah took a step back. “You can’t blame yourself for that. I was on duty out at Cherokee Ridge when the call came in from his buddies. The search-and-rescue captain told me it was a freak accident.”

  Caden’s heart, which had been so full after last night, went cold at the reminder of the circumstances of Tyson’s death. “If I’d been there—”

  “Nothing would have changed,” Noah interrupted. “You couldn’t have saved him.”

  “I could have tried.” Caden met Noah’s blue gaze, daring the other man to argue.

  Noah only inclined his head. “Guilt and I are old friends,” he said quietly. “I can tell you she’s not worth the trouble.”

  “Here you go,” Katie said, approaching with a pink bag that had the bakery’s logo on the front. “I threw in a chocolate croissant because that’s what Lucy always orders.”

  “Thanks,” Caden told her, reaching for his wallet.

  Katie held up her hands. “No charge today. We had several new customers come in yesterday from the adoption event. Think of the muffins as a referral fee.”

  Caden wanted to argue. He didn’t like to be indebted to anyone, but Noah was staring at him like he wasn’t done with the conversation about Tyson.

  Caden was done.

  He leaned in and gave Katie and Ryan a quick hug. “Thanks again,” he said and walked out of the bakery.

  He was halfway down the street when a man called his name. He thought about ignoring the greeting. This morning had already been too much.

  But he turned and held out a hand when Derek Lawson approached. “Morning, Derek. How are things?”

  Derek ran a hand through his thinning hair, looking more agitated than Caden had ever seen him. “You tell me, Sharpe. I got a call from some chick I’d never met playing twenty questions about the way I keep your dad’s books. What the hell is that about?”

  Caden felt a muscle tick in his jaw but forced a casual shrug. He took a calming breath and glanced down the street toward the park that spread across an entire city block in the middle of town. There was an enormous Christmas tree decorated with handmade ornaments from kids at the elementary school and a big star on top.

  A few feet from the tree was an ice-skating rink, several families were already twirling on the ice. Maybe he’d bring Lucy into town for an afternoon of holiday fun. He’d never been much for the town festivities. Never had a reason before now.

  “The daughter of my dad’s fiancée,” he explained, keeping his voice steady.

  “The one you think is after your dad’s money?” Derek asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “He’s happy,” Caden answered noncommittally. When Garrett first brought Maureen home, Caden had confessed his fear over her intentions to Derek. In specifically unflattering terms. Terms that would light up Lucy’s temper like a powder keg if she ever knew. Although still not a fan of Maureen, he now regretted opening his big mouth.

  “Lucy is staying at the ranch while Garrett and her mom are in New York City. She has a background in finance and he asked her to take a look at things just to give her something to do.” The truth was, Caden had forgotten that his dad had given Lucy access to the business accounts. She’d done so much last week for the adoption event, he hadn’t realized she was also reviewing the books.

  “I didn’t like the way she was talking to me,” Derek told him, falling into step with him as they neared the truck. “Seemed like just as much trouble as her mom.”

  “Lucy’s not—”

  Derek stepped closer, lowered his voice. “Did you ever consider that this was the plan all along? I mean, what sort of financial background are we talking about?”

  “I don’t really know,” Caden admitted.

  “Exactly.” Derek shot a finger in the air like Caden
had just proven some kind of important point. “Could be this Lucy chick is casing the books for her mom to see how much the old man’s truly got in the accounts. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to act like things aren’t right.”

  He crossed his thin arms over his chest. Derek had been a friend of Tyson’s from high school. His family owned the hardware store in town and he’d gotten an accounting degree, then come back to run the business when his father had a stroke.

  He’d offered to help with the Sharpe Ranch finances in the aftermath of Tyson’s accident. “Wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to throw me under the bus. That’d be convenient, right? She could make up issues with what I’ve been doing so that they can get their hands on the money.”

  If Derek had made his accusation against Lucy a week ago, Caden would have jumped all over it. But things had changed. He’d changed...because of her.

  Yet a sliver of doubt snaked through his veins. He’d been a fool for a woman before with grave consequences. Could Lucy actually be orchestrating a con while he played right into her deception?

  “She has no reason to—”

  “Come on, man,” Derek urged. “Don’t let some woman lead you around by your junk. How many times has the mom been married?”

  Caden swallowed. “This would be number four.”

  “Your dad hasn’t been himself since Tyson died. We both know that. It could have been different if you’d been on the trip with him, but you weren’t. Now we both need to look out for Garrett’s best interests. It’s what Tyson would have wanted.”

  Derek’s careless words were like a punch to the gut. As much as Caden appreciated Noah Crawford’s claim that there wasn’t anything that could have been done differently to save Tyson, everyone knew it wasn’t true. Derek had just proved it. Caden also knew that he had to protect his father against any more pain.

  His feelings for Lucy had made him lose sight of his purpose for a moment, but he had to refocus on what was important in his life.