“Nothing could be worse than Violet singing,” she murmured.
He gave a gruff laugh. “I’m not sure about that.” It had been years. “Besides”—he glanced at the clock behind her—“it’s about time for pickup anyway.”
“Come on, Tucker.” Her teasing tone was driving him wild. “Won’t you play the guitar? For me?”
“That depends.” He couldn’t help but tease her back. “On whether or not I get to see you alone soo—”
“Hi there!” A woman came out of nowhere and traipsed between them.
“Hi, Carly.” Kenna’s smile noticeably faded. “Have you met Birdie’s son? Tucker McGrath?” Kenna asked the woman.
“Not officially.” She reached out her hand and shook his. “But it’s nice to meet you. I’m Violet’s mom. Carly Lammers.”
Ah. That made sense. Tucker looked back and forth between Violet and her mom. They seemed to have the same intense personality.
“So you two are running the pageant together this year, huh?” Carly’s smile showed off her overly white teeth.
“Yes.” Kenna’s jaw seemed to have tensed right along with her shoulders. “With his mom in the hospital, we volunteered to take over so she can focus on getting better.”
“Oh, I’m so glad, Kenna,” Carly gushed, patting Kenna’s shoulder. “I’m sure it’s nice for you to have something to focus on during this difficult time. At least you won’t be sitting at home all alone.”
Well now he got why Kenna had made that speech on the porch last night. No wonder she was sick of everyone treating her like she was broken. “She definitely won’t be sitting at home all alone,” Tucker agreed, sliding his gaze to Kenna to make sure she caught his drift. He’d make sure she didn’t sit home alone at all.
If the reappearance of Kenna’s smile was any indication, she knew exactly what he meant. “Okay, well, I guess rehearsal is over for tonight.” A full blush engulfed her cheeks. “Violet! Come on over here, sweetie! Your mom is here!”
Other parents streamed in behind Carly, and as usual things got chaotic. A couple of the kids couldn’t find their coats while others kept Tucker busy helping them search for a lost mitten. Finally, the last of the kids followed their parents out. Well, everyone except for Benny and Jake. They stood with Kenna, pulling on coats over their costumes. Tucker was about to go tell them goodnight when Everly Brooks rushed in. “Hi! Sorry I’m late.” She shook the snow off her coat.
“Mrs. Everly!” Jake opened his coat. “Look at my wise man costume! Isn’t it cool?”
“It sure is.” She reached down to straighten his crown. “And, Benny, that’s quite the halo you’re wearing.”
The boy grinned—looking every bit as innocent as an angel, if you asked Tucker.
Everly turned to Kenna. “Does it still work for us to take the boys overnight tonight?”
Hold on. Overnight? Tucker eased in a few steps closer so he could hear better.
“Oh God.” Kenna dropped to her knees so she could help Jake zip his coat back up. “I forgot all about that. I’ve had so much going on. I didn’t even pack their stuff.”
“That’s okay.” Everly gathered Jake and Benny to her side. “Mateo’s waiting in the truck. We can swing by and grab whatever they need. Is the key still under the flowerpot on the porch?”
“Yes.” Kenna followed the three of them to the door while Tucker hung back. “I have some cleanup to do here, so don’t wait for me to come home.” She bent to kiss each of the boys. “You two be good. Listen to Everly and Mateo.”
“We always do,” Jake assured her.
Everly smiled. “It’s true. These two are an absolute joy to have around.”
Tucker couldn’t agree more. Though he had to admit, he wouldn’t mind having Kenna all to himself for a while. Her fling proposition had inspired some late night thoughts about what kind of fun they could have.
The boys waved goodbye to him, too, before they left with Everly. After the door slammed shut, he didn’t waste any time. “So it sounds like you’re free tonight,” he said, helping Kenna pull the front pews back into an orderly row. “Do you feel like having a little fun?”
“That depends.” The smile she’d tortured him with last night slowly rose to her lips. “What did you have in mind?”
A lot. He had a lot in mind. “I can’t tell you. It would ruin the surprise.”
“I like surprises.” She walked around the pew and came to stand across from him. “Do I need to bring anything special for the surprise?”
“No.” He couldn’t resist touching her. Settling his hands on her hips, he drew her in closer. “Just you and me and a whole night alone. That’s all we need.”
Of all the places Kenna thought Tucker might take her, she definitely hadn’t expected to wind up in the barn on his ranch.
As far as barns went, this one wasn’t half bad—at least it had electricity. And who was she kidding anyway? At the moment, she honestly didn’t care where they were. She was with Tucker. Alone. Which meant there would be no interruptions. No one would walk in on them. They wouldn’t have to hide their feelings from anyone or pretend they didn’t desire each other with an intensity that was getting harder to control. At least for her it was. On the drive over, Tucker had simply rested his hand on her thigh and her body had been simmering ever since.
Tucker finished rummaging through a bin of supplies on a shelf and came to stand behind her, threading his arms around her waist. “Close your eyes and let me lead you somewhere,” he whispered in her ear. “Once I get you settled, keep them closed until I tell you to open them.”
All Kenna could manage in response was a weak. “Mmm-hmmm.” He smelled so good—like fresh-cut wood melded with something citrusy. He felt good, too, holding her from behind, his chest a solid wall against her back. It had been so long since a man had engaged all of her senses.
She turned into him, bringing his face in line with hers. “Are you leading me somewhere fun?” That last word hit a low, sultry note. “Because that’s what you promised. Fun.” Not to be impatient, but she’d gotten some ideas about what that fun might include…
“I always keep my promises.” Tucker leaned in and kissed her, chasing the chill off her cheeks with his insistent heat. “We can have as much fun as you want,” he murmured before taking the kiss deeper and grazing his tongue against hers.
“That was fun,” she uttered when he pulled back.
“There will definitely be more of that later.” Tucker’s smile grew. “Now close your eyes.” He slipped his glove-clad hand into hers and guided her forward.
She squeezed them nearly shut but kept one eye open a slit so she could see.
“All the way,” Tucker said, his face very close.
“Fine.” She’d meant to sound ornery, but her voice always went breathless when Tucker got close.
Slowly, he led her onward, their footsteps clunking on the old wooden planks. Somewhere nearby, a horse whinnied. He stopped abruptly, causing her to bump into him. “Okay, I’m going to pick you up. Just hold on.”
“I’m sorry, wha—” Before she could finish, Tucker swept her up into his arms and climbed a few stairs. Whatever he was standing on creaked and wriggled as he lowered her to sit on something cushy.
“Don’t open your eyes,” he reminded her. “Not yet.” There was more movement, and he tucked what felt like a thick woolen blanket around her. “I’ll be right back.”
Doing her best to grasp at patience, Kenna strained her ears to listen. There was more creaking—maybe a metal gate? And a horse or two snorting. Then the clomp of horseshoes came closer and closer until she was sure the animals had to be standing right in front of her.
“This’ll only take a minute.” Tucker’s words sounded strained, and she could hear him huff out a breath. What on earth was he doing? There were more clomps and snorts. Wood creaked, and the bench she sat on shuddered. It seemed to go on and on before Tucker finally climbed up next to her.
“Okay,” he murmured, his mouth close to her neck. “You can open your eyes.”
It took a second for her vision to adjust in the dim light, but when everything finally materialized, she gasped. They were sitting in a sleigh. A genuine red snow sleigh that looked like it had come straight from the North Pole. Two beautiful white horses were hitched to the sleigh, pawing at the ground impatiently like they couldn’t wait to take off.
Kenna gaped at him. She couldn’t help it. “Is this yours?”
“It was my grandpa’s.” Tucker clicked his tongue and jostled the reins, and the horses strained forward. At some point, he must’ve opened the double-wide doors at the back of the barn, and the sleigh’s metal runners glided easily over the wooden floor and then out onto a snow-packed road that took them deeper into the cold night.
“I can’t believe you own a sleigh.” She admired the little bench they sat on, which had been finished with a luxurious red-velvet material. Tucker McGrath, the man who didn’t exactly love Christmas, had Santa’s sleigh hidden away in his horse barn.
“My grandpa built it.” He settled back against the cushion and steered the team toward the woods up ahead as though it was second nature.
With the gentle snowflakes falling all around them and the full moon’s light beaming down and the gentle whooshing of the sleigh’s runners through the soft, powdery snow, Kenna felt a space deep inside her open up. Almost as though he truly were carrying her away from the financial stress, from the pressure of delivering a perfect Christmas for her children when she simply wasn’t feeling it. Almost without meaning to, she let go of a sigh and settled in against him, warm and content.
“We used to take it out every Christmas Eve,” he said. “We’d all crowd in here and take a midnight ride through town before going to my grandparents’ house to get some sleep and wait for Santa.”
Hearing that reminded her that there was so much about Tucker she didn’t know. Given that he didn’t seem to talk much about his past, the words felt like a gift. “That sounds like the perfect Christmas,” she murmured dreamily. Like something you’d read about in a heartwarming Christmas story.
“I looked forward to it every year.” He slowed the horses as they disappeared into the trees.
Kenna inhaled the crisp, cold air. Moonlight slanted through the evergreens, casting a dim glow on the snow-laden branches. It looked like another world, like they were inside a snow globe. “When’s the last time you took it out?” she asked, mesmerized by the reverent quietness around them. “The sleigh, I mean.”
“It hasn’t been used since the last Christmas my old man was around. When I was seventeen.”
“Seventeen?” She sat up straighter, inspecting the upholstery and the fine detail on the carved wood. “It’s in great shape for not getting any use all those years.”
“Yeah, I’ve kept it up.” He jerked the reins, steering the horses left and up a hill. The animals moved slower through the deeper snow, chugging out breaths while they climbed the steady incline. “Over the last few years I worked on refinishing the whole thing.”
“But you never wanted to use it?” She couldn’t believe he’d spent all that time working on something he never used.
“I couldn’t bring myself to.” His lazy drawl had tightened. “Memories and all that. I’ve never wanted much to do with reliving the past.”
It wasn’t likely something he shared with just anyone, and Kenna suddenly realized they were walking a fine line with their whole fling agreement. But maybe he’d chosen to tell her because he knew she could relate. “It’s painful.” Reliving all of those moments when life had been the way it should be, full of happiness instead of fear and uncertainty and pain. Somehow, betrayal tarnished every single memory, even the good ones. She knew that for a fact.
But the more the sleigh glided, the more her own memories felt further and further away, lost in the dusting of powder behind them. “I guess that’s why you have to make new memories.” Like her and the boys cutting down that tree themselves. Though it hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time, it had been a pivotal moment for all of them. A way to bond and to forge their future together. They’d been so happy and proud. “The day-to-day struggle of living in survival mode makes it easy to ignore the fact that you have a future waiting for you,” she admitted. It felt so open-ended and scary, especially when the past still haunted you.
“I wish I’d realized that a long time ago.” Tucker clicked his tongue at the horses, steering the reins to the left around a thick stand of trees. “That the future matters more than the past. If my mom wouldn’t have made it, I would’ve had all these regrets. Because I couldn’t let go of the past. Because the holiday didn’t mean anything to me anymore. I haven’t gotten her a Christmas gift in fifteen years.”
Kenna searched his face and found his eyes empty and dark.
“Then this seems like the perfect Christmas to find her the perfect gift,” she said, easing her arm around his waist. “The perfect Christmas for you both to move forward.” For her too. “We should make a pact not to look back this year. At least not until after the holidays.”
Tucker tugged the horses to a stop and turned to face her. “You think it’ll be that easy?”
“Sure,” she bluffed. “Anytime you start to think about the past, do something that makes you focus on the future instead.”
“Something like this?” He dropped the reins and palmed the back of her head, bringing her lips to his.
Yes. Exactly this. Kenna let herself go, edging up against the hard muscle of him and fisting his coat in her mitten-clad hands. His lips were cold, but when he opened his mouth to her, a charge of warmth enveloped her entire body and made every part of her simmer. Tucker took his time with the kiss, keeping it slow and sensual, like he had all night to explore how she liked to be kissed. Her heart melted. They did have all night. All. Night.
Tucker kissed her until the fire burning in her lungs spread all through her, but then he pulled back. “You haven’t even noticed the view yet.”
“View?” What good was a view when he had a mouth like that? To humor him, she followed his gaze, fully prepared to go right back to kissing him, but wow. That really was some view. “You can see the whole town from up here.” Lights twinkled in the valley below, festive and colorful and welcoming.
“My dad showed me this spot,” he said quietly. “When I was a kid. It’s cool in the summer, but in the winter—around Christmas—it’s—”
“Magical,” she whispered. Everything about this night was magical. The sleigh and the snow and the horses. The lights far off in the distance. Kenna turned back to Tucker, feeling the magic reach deep inside of her. “You really know how to show a woman a good time.” Her tone teased him, but in reality Tucker was the one teasing her. Every time he touched her, every time he kissed her, her body responded with tingles and flutters and a growing desire to feel more…everything he could give her.
He leaned in to kiss her, then traced his lips along her jaw all the way to her ear. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he whispered.
“I need to see.” Taking his jaw in her hands, she brought his lips back to hers. This time the kiss escalated so fast it drove the breath out of her lungs. Beneath the blanket, Tucker moved his hands slowly up her thighs and over her hips. He grabbed her butt, urging her to wriggle into his lap. Even through the bulk of their clothes, she could feel the hard bulge at his crotch grind against her.
A moan escaped her lips. “Take me back to your place.” She couldn’t wait any longer.
Chapter Eight
The second Tucker steered the sleigh into the barn and pulled the horses to a stop, Kenna ripped off the blanket and tossed it onto the bench behind them. “That was quick.” Thank God. After that little make-out session in the woods, her body quivered with impatience.
Tucker hopped down from the bench with a grin. “Yeah, those horses were in a hurry.” He walked around the other side of the sleigh and slid h
is hands onto her waist, prompting her to jump down to the ground and land up against his body.
She fastened her hands behind his neck and pressed her hips against his. “I’m sure it was all the horses.”
“Actually, it was all me,” he rasped, kissing her again. The scruff on his jaw tickled her cheek, only adding to the sensations building inside of her. “I don’t think you understand how much I want you, Kenna Hart.” He pulled back and lowered his gaze down her body, and then swore under his breath. “I have to get the horses settled.”
“Right.” She let go of him and tried to breathe normally again, but Tucker had everything taken care of before her lungs could calm. He clasped her hand in his and pulled her out the door.
The wind had picked up, blowing the snow in swirls around them. Tucker pulled Kenna close against his side, ducking their heads together as they stomped through a layer of new snow up to his house. Nerves fluttered in her stomach, and it wasn’t the typical butterflies. It was wild anticipation and desire and also fear all swarming together. How long had it been since she’d gone home with a man? So long she couldn’t remember. What if she said the wrong thing? What if she completely chickened out?
Tucker didn’t give her enough time to dwell on the what ifs before he urged her up the steps that led to his front door. She couldn’t see much of the outside, but his place had a nice rambling front porch that had been decorated with colorful lights.
Once they were safely inside, a cozy warmth seeped into her. She shed her coat and mittens before stooping to remove her boots while Tucker did the same. Her hands trembled, making it hard to work the laces. “You have a nice place,” she said to distract herself from the nerves. The house wasn’t big, but it was nice and well kept. Beyond the small entryway, the space opened up into a living room with a stone fireplace. The uncluttered kitchen tucked into the far corner looked like it had recently been redone with gray cabinets, pristine white countertops, and a subway tile backsplash. Dark oak floors gleamed, and it seemed nothing in the whole house was out of place. She finally pulled off her boots and lined them up neatly next to his.
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