A Cowboy For Christmas (18 page)

“
You poured me a glass of
milk. I thought it was pretty funny after the way you treated
me.”

“
Mmm, mmm.” He’d bitten
into a cookie as she spoke, so he couldn’t answer right away. “Oh .
. . you looked so worn and tired.”

“
Gee, thanks.” She nibbled
on her own cookie.

“
You looked hot, I won’t
deny that, but you just looked like you needed something.” He
decided not to tell her about the puppy comparison. She might not
bake him any more treats if he did.

“
You think I’m hot?” She
dipped her cookie in milk and nibbled.

Watching her mouth, he
said, “Hot and ready to take over my ranch.”

“
I wasn’t after your
ranch.” Her voice lowered to a husky drawl. Brent sent the rest of
his milk down, following his cookies, and stared at the glass while
deciding how to tell her.

“
Is something bothering you
today?” she asked before he could even start.

“
That obvious, huh?” He
raised his gaze to meet hers. “It’s about you, and what you told
me. I talked to Nick about it. ”

“
What?” Her brows raised
and her eyes widened.

“
I can’t hear something
like that and not do anything.” He should have seen this mess
coming. Too late to reconsider now.

“
Why didn’t you at least
ask?” she demanded, holding her hands palms up. Tears of hurt swam
in her eyes, slamming instant guilt into his gut. She added, “Why
Nick?”

Maybe now he could explain.
“He’s a lawyer. I didn’t tell him to gossip about you. I wouldn’t
do that to anyone. I asked him to look into this Russ
thing.”

Her nostrils flared and she
planted her hands on the edge of the counter, like she needed
something to hang onto. When she blew a breath out her mouth, he
stepped closer.

“
Don’t close up on me,
Missy,” he pleaded, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning
his face onto her shoulder. He’d done this to her, and he’d hold
her while she worked through it. She could push him away, but he
wouldn’t leave.

On a sob, she asked, “What
am I supposed to think?”

“
How about justice? Getting
your good reputation back?” he asked, just as his own tunnel vision
hit him. If she got this mess cleaned up, she could return to Las
Vegas and get another advertising job. Had he just given her the
perfect out?

Once again, too late to
consider that. He loved her and had to do this for her, no matter
what happened between them.

She hadn’t answered, so he
said, “Missy?”

“
What do you want? Do you
want me to press charges? Pull my humiliation out again for
everyone to see? He lied, I have nothing to stand on. Especially
since I ran.”

“
You do!” He twirled her
around and brought their faces close. “He’s been indicted for
sexual harassment. You can add your say in with the other women who
are pressing charges.”

Her mouth fell open and new
tears sprang into her eyes.

“
Yeah, sweetie, the truth’s
out. Everyone knows what a scumbag he is. And he’ll pay for hurting
you and others.” He pulled her into his arms.

The strength of her sobs
and her body shaking took him by surprise. He saw that he hadn’t
fully understood what this had done to her.

Even if she left his life,
this would always be there. He’d hold onto the fact that he’d
helped her. He’d given her something.

“
It’s all right now.
Everything will get fixed,” he murmured into her hair. Holding her
felt so good, he pushed away the urge to ask her if she’d
stay.

* * * *

A fire blazed in the
fireplace as Brent paced in front of it, waiting for Missy. Weren’t
they done yet? He should have stayed with her while she talked to
Nick and the detective. So what if she didn’t want him
there?

Okay, he had to respect her
wishes, even if it tore him apart. He wanted to be there for her
now.

The phone rang. Would she
call from her place and tell him to come over?

“
Hello?”

“
Is Miss Nelson
available?”

Nerves prickling, he asked,
“Who’s calling?”

When he learned it was the
firm Missy had worked for in Las Vegas, his nerves settled. But
something else awakened. “Can I also tell her the reason for the
call?”

“
That depends upon who you
are.”

“
I’m dating her,” he
declared without a thought about it. They were doing something,
even if they’d never defined it. “I know what’s going on, and I
don’t want you harassing her.”

“
Of course not. After we
learned what happened with Russ Faraway, we’d like to make things
right. We’re offering her a job, with a raise, of
course.”

Well, there you go. He
would lose her for sure now. After the phone call, he couldn’t pace
around his living room, waiting for them to finish. He grabbed his
coat and slid his arms inside of it on his way down his front
steps.

At her house, he rapped on
the door and opened it. Inside, he found Missy sitting at her
kitchen table with both Nick and the detective.

Nick stood. “Hey, Brent.
This is Detective Anderson.”

“
Hey,” he said while all
three looked at him. “Missy, he said, “Your old firm called . . .
to offer you a job.”

“
Oh.”

He could tell she didn’t
know how to react. Nick and Anderson watched her, waiting. At least
Missy knew why he’d come right over. This meant leaving the
stables, leaving him.

Missy knew he’d been afraid
of this very thing happening.

After glancing at the men
sitting at the table, she asked, “Did the person offer to call
back? Or am I supposed to call them?”

Call them? Now he had a
delayed reaction. Staring at her, he didn’t want to believe what
he’d heard. “I gave him your number.”

Even with his gaze trained
on Missy, he could tell the other two men were looking between the
two of them. The room felt too small.

While he gazed at her,
wondering about her decision, she simply stared back at him with a
slight frown. She seemed to be searching his eyes for some kind of
answer. Didn't she want to stay with him?

Life without her would be
like days without sunshine . . . a sky without stars . . . he’d
live his life without any
life
in it.

She wanted the job. He'd
feared this, but he didn't expect it.

His world didn’t feel
right. And to think, he'd handed this right to her by calling in
his lawyer. Everyone still stared at him. After he nodded at them,
he turned and left, walking down to the stables.

Dale was headed that way,
leading a horse back inside. “Hey, what’s up?”

His tone of voice asked
what was going on, why Brent was dashing down there like God
himself had sent him. Without breaking stride, he said, “I need
something to do.”

“
Got plenty of that.” Dale
muttered after him.

He worked a good two hours
before saddling Jeffery. It was mid December and biting cold, but
he didn’t care. Hardly felt it as they cut through the fields and
took off up into the hills.

He didn’t want to think
about the stables without Missy around. Maybe she’d come back to
visit, but that would be more heartache.

He felt out of control once
again. He couldn’t make her stay. He wouldn't want to make up her
mind for her.

But he sure as hell wasn’t
going to sit back and not fight for her.

* * * *

The man mystified her.
Didn’t he decide to dig into this? Didn’t he call Nick and ask him
to check up on Russ?

She walked along the main
road, her hands stuffed deep in her coat pockets, while a cold wind
pushed at her back. Why did Brent go to all the trouble he did,
then avoid her? Did he want her to accept the position in Las Vegas
and leave the stables?

Before she learned about
the job, she’d already decided she wouldn’t stay unless he wanted
her there. If he loved her.

When had that become the
issue? She kicked a rock and turned toward the path to her front
door. Inside, she picked up the phone.

He didn’t sound happy when
he answered.

“
Hey . . . do you still
want me to decorate your tree with you?”

“
What are you waiting for?
You don’t have to call,” he said, his voice sounding more like him.
She hung up a minute later, her chest hurting. Her heart
hurt.

She loved him.

Did he know
that?

She walked to his house.
When he opened the door, he pulled her into his arms and kissed
her, but it felt like he held back.

During the last three days,
she’d had trouble finding him. Maybe he thought they were over and
this was a goodbye for him.

No, she couldn’t think like
that. With his arms around her, she nuzzled into the soft shirt he
wore and breathed in his smell.

“
Come on, I’ve been
waiting.” He led the way to the tree, which stood in front of the
window in the living room. It stood in the stand, but without any
decorations on it.

He kissed her cheek and
said, “I’ll get the decorations.”

She went to the fire while
waiting for him. She loved this house, and would miss it if she had
to leave. But not anything like how she’d miss Brent.

Music came on and she
turned. He carried a huge box over and set it on the floor in front
of the tree.

Joining him, she sat while
he opened it. She expected him to ask about the job offer or how
the trial was progressing. A date had been set and she had a rough
idea of when she’d need to fly to Las Vegas to testify. Brent,
however, didn’t seem interested. Not enough, anyway, to ask about
it.

Or was he afraid? He didn’t
look at her like he normally did, and remained quiet as they hung
ornaments together. Most were plain globes of red or green, but a
few were unique and he told her about them.

Other than that, they
didn’t talk. The daylight faded by the time they
finished.

“
It’s beautiful. Just needs
the lights turned on.”

Walking behind the tree,
Brent plugged it in and light sparkled forth. It sent colors across
the carpet that blended with the glow from the
fireplace.

Standing still before it,
she stared at the picture it made. She wanted to see his face, to
know what he was feeling, but he’d moved back. When she turned, he
was laying a blanket out on the carpet.

“
Would you like a glass of
wine?” he asked.

Taken back by the blanket
and his question, she mumbled, “Sure. That’d be nice.”

Wine? A blanket? She’d
missed something. Maybe he wasn’t mad at all. Maybe he didn’t want
her to leave. Or maybe he wanted to make love one last time before
she did.

He returned and set their
glasses on an old chest before sitting down. “Come on, join
me?”

They sipped wine and looked
at the tree. The fire warmed her, and so did sitting next to him.
Longing filled her . . . for something more. She'd come to the
stables and found a home, but suddenly felt something lacking,
especially as she thought about the holidays.

He lay down and gave her
arm a small tug.

“
Do you think it’s silly?”
she asked, leaning back into the crook under his arm. He’d spread
the blanket almost under the Christmas tree, so she could look up
into the lights.

“
Laying here with you?
What’s silly about that?”

“
I meant the tree, the
season.”

“
Silly? Celebrating family
and being together? No.”

Leaning on his elbow, he
looked at her with such love. He showed her everything inside him
and looked all the more manly because of it. His strong mouth so
temping . . . she brushed her hand down his narrow face, the face
she dreamed of at night and thought about during the
day.

“
I love you, Brent.” She’d
caught him off guard and watched his face grow soft, his brows
lift.

“
Missy, I love you so much
it wakes me up at night. I think your name in the shower and have
to suck in a breath. I’ll never get you out of my
system.”

Tears came to her eyes. She
loved him so much, it felt like it’d always been there. She pulled
his mouth to hers and kissed him deeply.

He pulled his mouth an inch
back from hers. “I have to give you one present early.”

“
You have no
choice?”

“
No, ma’am. The law says
so.” He rose and reached for her hand, pulling her to her feet and
a step closer to the tree. Still holding her hand, he guided it
under a branch near the top to a small box.

How had he hidden it there?
The film of liquid in her eyes grew into round tears and rolled
over her lashes. She wiped at them. Once he’d settled it into her
open hand, she studied it for a long minute.