The Mistletoe Effect (11 page)

Last night, she and Decker had had a great time together, but she doubted he ever
didn’t
have a great time when it came to women.

She hugged the clipboard. “He looks like he’s managing fine. I think I’ll let him be.”

Alex unwrapped her arms and yanked the clipboard out of her grip. “Don’t be pathetic. He’s here for you. And I know that because he told me so. He said he’d come to escort you home.”

Home.
A tingle swept through her. Those bridesmaids might have his attention now, but she was the woman going home with him. Tonight, and every night until Christmas.

She cleared her throat. “He said that?”

“I’ve got this. Go.”

“But your babies. You’re the one who needs to get home.”

Alex waved off her concern. “Xavier texted me earlier. Both babies are screaming their little heads off. Ivy won’t take her binky and Isaac’s constipated. Xavier’s mother is staying with us to help out, but that just means she and Xavier are at each other’s throats day in and day out. You think I want to walk into that mess? I’d rather deal with a mother-of-the-bride any day.”

Carina knew Alex too well to buy that excuse. She straightened his tie, then smoothed a strand of his black hair back into place. “You’d never leave Xavier in a lurch like that by avoiding going home. You two have been waiting too long to have babies for one bad night of crying to make you dread being around them. And I’ve met Xavier’s mom and she’s lovely. What’s really going on?”

Alex fought a grin. “All right. You win. The truth is, I like you with Decker. You had a spring in your step today that I hadn’t seen in a while. You’re too young to not be taking chances and having fun. And I have it on good authority that Decker’s looking out for you, and everybody needs that—even you, Ms. Modern Woman. Xavier and I are solid. He knows you need this, too. We’re behind you all the way. Plus we’re both afraid of Granny June.”

“There is that.”

“Go. Get lost. Have fun. And when you speak of me, do so kindly.”

“Always.”

Walking across the room toward Decker, she became suddenly and acutely aware of how flat her hair was after her long day of work, how smeared her makeup must look, too. She’d never made it back to her place to change, so she still wore his modified tux and her day-old Halloween panties. Not exactly sex kitten material.

Butterflies took over her stomach and she had to force herself not to pivot toward the nearest exit and make a break for it. Apparently, their one night of mind-blowing sex hadn’t been enough to reverse nearly ten years of being intimidated by his good looks and playboy attitude.

When he noticed her walking his way, he shifted his attention to the bridesmaids who flocked around him and said something that made them wave and start to walk away. He didn’t watch them go. Instead, he rose to his full height and offered Carina a heated, intimate smile that softened the chiseled cut of his jaw and added tiny wrinkles to the corners of his eyes. His attention remained solely on her, even when one of the bridesmaids kissed his cheek before she joined the others.

Carina had watched him with a lot of women over the years. It never filled her with jealousy but rather a kind of emptiness that wasn’t quite sorrow and wasn’t quite longing. If she had to name it, she’d say it was frustration. She wanted a life. Heck, she
deserved
a life. She loved sex and she loved getting dressed up and going out to fancy dinners or the movies or strolling the River Walk in San Antonio.

She was a hotel heiress, damn it. But though Haylie had bought into the Paris Hilton heiress lifestyle, Carina wasn’t capable of ignoring the needs of her family. During the winter months, those needs were astronomical and came at the expense of everything else, including a social life. Maybe Alex was right. It was time for her to let her hair down and have fun.

Decker headed her way, removing his hat as he walked, and met her on the edge of the dance floor. “Hi.”

“I didn’t mean to drive your new friends away.” The words had come out sounding far more passive-aggressive than they had in her mind. With a small head shake, she set her hand on his forearm. “Wait, no, that’s not true. What I meant to say was ‘good riddance, bitches.’ ”

Chuckling, he dropped his hat on her head. “I don’t think you mean that, either.”

Sharing his smile, she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, finding it far easier to talk to Decker than she’d anticipated while psyching herself out on her walk across the room. “I never was good at being mean.”

“I like that about you.” He adjusted the brim of his hat on her head. “Are you done working? May I take you home now?”

“Yes. Alex offered to wrap up the reception so you and I could get out of here.”

“I always liked that guy.” Decker took her hand in his big, strong, rough one and cradled it as though they belonged together. “Let’s get going on to the Briscoe family compound before it starts snowing like the weathermen are predicting.”

Oh.
He was escorting her home. Literally. She pasted a smile on her lips as disappointment flared inside her. The promise of twenty-five days of sex and companionship with Decker had been the one part of the whole cockamamie Mistletoe Effect jinx prevention scheme that had made it palatable. Not only that, but how were they going to convince the hotel guests and employees that they were married if they weren’t living together?

No more than a few steps through the crowd, he patted her hand. “You remember when you promised you’d tell me what you wanted?” At her nod, he added, “This is one of those times. I can tell you’re thinking something that you’re not telling me, so speak up, woman. I am a terrible mind reader.”

Rather than try to explain herself over the din of the music and wedding crowd, she waited to answer until they were heading down the grand staircase that led to the lobby. “I want to stay at your house. Husband and wife, like we agreed on.”

Judging by the way he flinched and stopped with one foot on the stair below them, her candid answer caught him by surprise. “I guess I was unclear about what was happening tonight. Sorry. I got a little flustered seeing you and it didn’t come out right. Let me try again.”

Decker, flustered?
That would be the day.

He stepped fully onto the lower stair and spun to face her, their faces almost level. Bracing his hands on her shoulders, he locked gazes with her. “Carina Decker …” He gave her time to roll her eyes as the new surname before continuing. “You are coming home with me tonight and every night until Christmas. Before we get to that, I thought we might ride to your place and pack you an overnight bag so you don’t have to modify any more of my clothes to fit you tomorrow morning. I figured you could take your time packing for the long term when you got a break in your work schedule over the next few days.”

She ran a finger along his jaw, trying and failing not to smile at his earnest declaration. “Oh. Okay, then.”

His gaze flitted to her mouth; then he leaned in, notching his lips with hers in a sweet, soft kiss that was light-years away from last night’s wicked kisses.

When the kiss ended, he slid his hand into hers, twining their fingers. “Let’s get out of here. I’m ready to have you to myself.”

Decker led the way through the employee offices on the main floor to the exit door that led to the employee patio. Once outside, Carina stopped short at the sight of two of the ranch’s horses, saddled but unmanned, both tethered to a tree. There wasn’t a golf cart or truck in sight.

She motioned to the horses. “When you said ‘ride,’ this isn’t what I had in mind.”

As if he’d understood her, the chocolate-colored gelding on the right snorted and gave a shake of his head. Decker smoothed a hand over the horse’s mane. “How long’s it been since you’ve been riding?”

She thought back, way back, but couldn’t picture the last time she’d done more with a horse than admire from a distance how fine a figure Decker cut while astride one. “I work six days a week. Except for the month of December, when I work seven.”

“I know that.”

She hadn’t meant to sound defensive. Funny how often that seemed to happen when she talked about her job.

“All these years, I’ve been watching how much of yourself you put into this place,” Decker said. “I know how hard you work. I thought you might appreciate a ride tonight, is all. If you’re too chicken to take a chance on ol’ Snowflake, here, then we can call for a golf cart. But the deal is you have to tell me straight up. None of this pussyfooting around the truth like you did before you were a Decker.”

Before she was a Decker
. She loved the way that sounded, as though she belonged to him, which didn’t make sense, because she was filled with Briscoe pride through and through. She’d assumed that when she got married she’d retain her maiden name. Then again, she and Decker weren’t really married and playing the role of Mrs. Decker turned her on something fierce.

“So I’m changing my last name now?”

“I hope you don’t mind, because, uh, I might have declared just such a thing today.”

Carina failed to suppress a groan. “Did Granny June corner you with the journalists? Sorry about that. Granny can be a little too …” Carina hunted for the right word.

“Charismatic?”

“I was thinking ‘off her rocker,’ but yes, she’s pretty charismatic, too.”

“What’s the plan? Are we riding or are you chicken?”

“I’m not chicken. We’re riding.” Declaring it evoked that same giddiness that was usually reserved for pulling on inappropriately themed underwear or watching Haylie stand up to their dad. It was the same thrill Carina had gotten when striking the temporary marriage bargain with Decker.

“Good answer.”

Draped over Snowflake’s saddle was a long coat. Decker picked it up and held it open for her. She slipped her arms into it.

“You didn’t take my suit jacket this morning, and I didn’t want my plan ruined because you didn’t have time to stop at home today for a coat. Mine is way too big on you, but …”

His voice faded off as his gaze raked over her body as he buttoned the coat. If she had to guess, she’d say he was ruffled by the sight of her in his coat and hat.

“Damn,” he breathed. He bunched the front of the coat in his fist and pulled her into another kiss, this one urgent and filled with wicked hunger.

The hat toppled from her head, but that hardly mattered, because she was in Decker’s arms again. She pushed to her tiptoes and lassoed her arms around his neck, opening her mouth, giving herself over to the bliss of it. His mouth was masterful, demanding, taking her right back to all the many things he’d done to her with that mouth, that tongue, the night before.

He released the coat collar and stepped away, scooping up his hat and setting it on his head. “That’s enough of that,” he said with a gruff lack of composure she was starting to identify as a sign of his arousal. “It’s time for us to hit the trail.”

Chapter Five

Decker loved the grounds after dark, especially in winter when it seemed that every building, tree, and shrub on the property was trimmed with white lights. Over the breeze and all around him in the cold night air, he could almost hear the echo of the carolers the resort kept on retainer for the season and could smell the scent of pine trees wafting from the winter wonderland garden.

The clouds hadn’t seen fit to release any snow yet, not that it usually stuck to the ground long, but it’d been a particularly cold winter with a higher than average snowfall, so he had high hopes for a rare white Christmas. The thought that he’d be spending it with Carina this year filled him with an even higher than usual level of holiday spirit.

Coming to work at the resort as an angry twenty-one-year-old had restored his love of the holiday season. After his dad had died a few days before Decker’s seventeenth birthday during one of the hottest and driest Decembers on record—the December that destroyed his family’s ranch—he’d thought he’d never see the joy in Christmas again. He’d thrown himself into adulthood believing in nothing except that life was unfair, so why should he bother caring about anything?

For all the Briscoe family’s faults and quirks, they’d given him chance after chance to turn his life around. And as his eyes opened to the possibilities of his future, they also opened to the beauty around him, including Christmas. Nobody did Christmas with as much flair as Briscoe Ranch Resort.

He’d chosen Snowflake for Carina because he was one of the gentlest and most dependable horses of the resort. Because Decker worked at the stable, he’d already known when he’d asked her that Carina hadn’t ridden in way too long—at least, not on Briscoe property, which she never seemed to leave.

He hadn’t meant to get her defenses up with the question about when the last time she’d ridden was. All he’d been trying to accomplish in his own lunkheaded, guy way was letting her know that he’d been paying attention to what she liked and what her habits were. He knew she liked to ride because she used to do it all the time back before Ty Briscoe made that speech a few years ago at the employee appreciation luncheon that she was the future of the company and the keeper of the family legacy, then promoted her to the special events manager position right there in front of God and everyone. Seeing as how Briscoe Ranch Resort was one big ol’ perpetual special events destination, that was a high honor and high responsibility promotion.

Being on a horse seemed to be coming back to her in starts and fits, and by the time she and Decker had passed the base of the hill leading up to the chapel—the site of their so-called wedding the night before—she seemed almost comfortable in the saddle. Even so, she didn’t seem capable of both riding and carrying on a conversation at the same time. Decker enjoyed a nice stretch of comfortable silence as much as the next guy, but he could barely stem his impatience to learn more about Carina.

The compound was separated from the rest of the resort by three acres of rolling hills, perched on the edge of a cliff with a sweeping view of hill country. The place was so secluded that most everyone at the resort didn’t have a clue the compound existed unless they took to exploring the property on foot or during one of the daily horseback-riding tours Decker and his stable employees offered. When Decker thought of the term
compound,
he envisioned high concrete walls, armed guards, and barbed wire, but the place that Ty and the rest of the Briscoe clan called their family compound boasted only a decorative black wrought-iron fence around the perimeter.