Unforgettable Christmas Dreams: Gifts of Joy

by Rebecca York

  Cass was pulling the man toward her and all Simone wanted to do was escape.

  She could see Cass’s mouth moving—the hostess was obviously trying to tell her something. But the blood was rushing through Simone’s head and she could only distinguish one word.

  “Gideon.”

  ***

  Gideon was stunned.

  The sounds and movement of the club receded as he came face-to-face with the woman he’d thought was out of his life forever.

  He couldn’t stop staring at Simone. She’d matured into an exquisite beauty. Her dark hair hung in long waves over her dark green gown—the same startling green as her eyes.

  Taking the final step down toward him, Simone held on to the railing as if to steady herself. She was taller than Gideon remembered, maybe five feet eight or nine, and her curves had matured—full breasts, trim waist, round hips.

  It really was his Simone. He’d known her as Simone DeNali, not Simone Burke.

  “Mrs. Burke,” he said, trying to keep his voice pleasantly neutral as he glanced at her left hand, which had a white-knuckled grip on the railing.

  No wedding ring…

  So she’d removed it.

  “Is there something I should know?” Cass asked, looking from him to Simone.

  “I imagine if there were, you would already know it,” he said casually.

  Cass sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you it doesn’t work that way?”

  Simone blinked and seemed confused. “What doesn’t work what way?”

  “Cass’s—”

  “Intuition,” the hostess finished for him, then rushed on to add, “Simone is the public relations person for the Chicago Philanthropic Club.”

  “Doing a fine job as far as I can see.” He didn’t take his gaze off Simone.

  “How would you know what kind of a job I’m doing, considering we just met?” Simone asked.

  Her familiar low, throaty voice made the skin along his forearms prickle with goose bumps. That voice had always turned him on. Now here she was challenging him, Gideon realized, trying to get him to say something to admit they knew each other.

  Or was she?

  “It was lovely meeting you, Gideon,” Simone said, suddenly seeming distracted. “Congratulations on the success of Club Undercover.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes when she said, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to circulate.”

  She floated off into the crowd without so much as a glance back his way.

  “What was that all about?” Cass asked.

  “If you don’t have anything to keep you busy, I’m sure I could find something.”

  “Uh, right, I get the hint. But if you want to talk about her…”

  Gideon didn’t answer and Cass didn’t wait around for another invitation to leave. The second she moved off, Gideon tried to find Simone in the crowd, but she seemed to have disappeared.

  Again…

  She could destroy everything he’d worked for. She could destroy him.

  All she had to do was tell her brother, Mob boss Michael DeNali, that he’d returned to Chicago. Michael had sworn to kill him before he’d disappeared several lifetimes ago.

  But he wasn’t running anymore, not ever again.

  Continue reading Red Carpet Christmas at Amazon…

  Other digital novels by Patricia Rosemoor

  See Me in Your Dreams (The McKenna Legacy 1)

  Tell Me No Lies (The McKenna Legacy 2)

  Touch Me in the Dark (The McKenna Legacy 3)

  Never Cry Wolf (The McKenna Legacy 4)

  Mysterious Stranger (The McKenna Legacy 5)

  Cowboy Protector (The McKenna Legacy 6)

  Wolf Moon (The McKenna Legacy 7)

  In Name Only? (The McKenna Legacy 8)

  Rescuing the Virgin (The McKenna Legacy 9)

  Fake ID Wife (Club Undercover Book 1)

  VIP Protector (Club Undercover Book 2)

  Velvet Ropes (Club Undercover Book 3)

  On the List (Club Undercover Book 4)

  Red Carpet Christmas (Club Undercover Book 5)

  Sheer Pleasure (Chicago Heat 1)

  Improper Conduct (Chicago Heat 2)

  Hot Zone (Chicago Heat 3)

  In Dreams (New Orleans Heat)

  Andrei (Gypsy Magic 3)

  Rico (Renegade Magic 3)

  Zachary (New Orleans Magic 3)

  Pushed to the Limit (Quid Pro Quo 1)

  Squaring Accounts (Quid Pro Quo 2)

  No Holds Barred (Quid Pro Quo 3)

  Quid Pro Quo Boxed Set (above 3 books)

  Drop Dead Gorgeous (Dangerous Male 1)

  Lucky Devil (Dangerous Male 2)

  Dangerous Male Duet (above 2 books)

  Crimson Holiday (Crimson Duet Book 1)

  Crimson Nightmare (Crimson Duet Book 2)

  Crimson Duet (Crimson Holiday & Crimson Nightmare)

  Ticket to Nowhere (Double Trouble Book 1)

  Torch Job (Double Trouble Book 2)

  Heart of a Lawman (Sons of Silver Springs Book 1)

  The Lone Wolf’s Child (Sons of Silver Springs Book 2)

  A Rancher’s Vow (Sons of Silver Springs Book 3)

  The Silent Sea

  Haunted

  SKIN

  Hot Corpse (Short Story)

  From other Publishers

  Animal Instincts (Kindred Souls Book 1)

  Animal Attraction (Kindred Souls Book 2)

  Eyes of the Tiger

  Written in the Stars

  About the Author

  New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author PATRICIA ROSEMOOR has had 101 novels and more than seven million books in print. She’s fascinated with “dangerous love” – combining romance with danger, bringing a different mix of thrills and chills to her stories. Patricia has won a Golden Heart from Romance Writers of America and two Reviewers Choice and two Career Achievement Awards from RT Book Reviews, and in her other life, she taught Popular Fiction and Suspense-Thriller Writing, credit courses at Columbia College Chicago.

  Contacts

  Find more about Patricia’s work at:

  her Website or at her Facebook page and at her Twitter page.

  Sign up for her newsletter, Dangerous Love.

  A RANCHER IN HER STOCKING

  A Rancher In Her Stocking

  Leanne Banks

  New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2002 and 2019 Leanne Banks

  Book Description

  When a holiday-happy school teacher gets stuck staying with a sexy, grumpy rancher at Christmas time, can she persuade him to embrace the season – and her?

  When a fire renders her temporarily homeless, pretty school teacher Amy Winslow finds herself sharing the home of grumpy rancher Lucas Bennet for the holiday season.

  Lucas has plenty of sad Christmas memories, but can Amy get him to open his heart to holiday joy – and to love?

  Dedication

  This story is dedicated to the special people who have always helped make Christmas such a magical, loving time—my family.

  To Mama, Daddy, Karen, Janie, Tony, Adam and Alisa,

  thank you from the bottom of my heart….

  Praise and Awards

  New York Times Bestselling Author

  USA Today Bestselling Author

  “When life gets tough, read a book by Leanne Banks.” ~ Janet Evanovich

  “When everything goes wrong with your day, you need a dose of loving warmth from favorite author Leanne Banks.” ~ Romantic Times Book Club

  “Queen of the feel-good contemporary romance.”~ Booklist

  Chapter One

  Christmas gave him heartburn.

  Lucas took a deep swig directly from the bottle of antacid as he stood in the darkened kitchen of his ranch. It was midnight here in Kent, Missouri, and he’d just driven one hundred miles to finalize the sale of several hundred head of cattle to a rancher who wore a Stetson that played “Jingle Be
lls” every time the man touched it—and he touched it a lot. Lucas usually enjoyed talking with Ben Ericson, but the constant reminder of the holiday season had made his gut knot and burn.

  Lucas had a legitimate reason for disliking Christmas, but he didn’t want to stop the holidays for anyone else. He just wanted to be left alone.

  He heard a sound from the stairs and figured he must have awakened his longtime housekeeper, Flora. Screwing the lid on the medicine bottle, he strode into the hallway, ready to reassure Flora.

  From the side of the steps, he watched a pair of slim, silky legs descend the stairs, and his words stopped in his throat. Lucas took in bare feet, trim ankles, shapely calves and flashing glimpses of creamy thighs as a short silk robe caressed ivory skin.

  No disrespect intended to his housekeeper, Lucas thought, but Flora sure as heck didn’t have legs like that!

  He craned his neck to get a better look. His gaze skimmed up the curve of the mystery woman’s hips and waist, lingered on the swell of her breasts, then wandered higher to a face that somehow managed to combine the look of a wide-eyed elf with a full mouth designed to fuel a man’s most forbidden fantasies. The fact that her auburn hair stuck out in no less than eight different directions didn’t stop a surge of unbidden heat inside him. Lucas cleared his throat.

  The woman gasped and jerked her head toward him, clutching her robe to her throat. “Who…oh…are you Debra’s brother? Are you Lucas Bennet?”

  Lucas pulled his brain out of his jeans. Debra was his sister. So she was behind this. “Yes, I’m Lucas. And you are…?”

  The woman bit her lip as she descended the rest of the way down the stairs. Her face wasn’t classically beautiful in the same way as his former wife’s. This woman was more well, cute, he guessed, but her rapid-fire change of facial expressions was compelling. “You didn’t get the message she left on your cell phone, did you?”

  Lucas shook his head. After hearing “Jingle Bells” until he was gritting his teeth, he hadn’t wanted any noise. He’d turned off the radio in his truck, as well as his cell phone and cherished blessed silence.

  The woman winced. “Oops. Well, I had a problem with my house and—”

  “Problem?”

  “There was a fire,” she said, a trace of sadness darkening her eyes. “It will take some time to figure out what’s salvageable and what isn’t.”

  “Sorry,” he murmured, immediately wanting to know more. Lucas was a volunteer fireman for the community. “Do you know what caused it?”

  She lifted her shoulder in a gesture of uncertainty. “They mentioned something about faulty wiring.”

  “Were you there at the time?”

  She shook her head. “It happened while I was at school. I’m Amy Winslow, the new elementary schoolteacher. Your sister Debra wanted me to stay with her, but her house is crowded since her mother-in-law is visiting, so she assured me that you had plenty of room and wouldn’t mind my staying here temporarily.”

  He felt her green gaze search his face and swallowed an oath. His sister knew damn well that all he wanted during the holidays was to be left alone.

  “If I had family, I could go home, but…”

  Lucas could have sworn he felt the weight of a noose around his neck. “No family?”

  She shook her head, her auburn hair fluttering around her face. “My parents have been gone a long time. If my staying here is a problem…” she began, her voice trailing off uncertainly.

  Lucas stifled a groan. It definitely was a problem, but Lucas knew how hard the small rural community had worked to attract a schoolteacher. Most teachers fresh out of school couldn’t be less interested in accepting a position in a small community deep in the ranch country of Missouri, where a hot time in town was defined as the monthly dance at the community center. Now that the small community of Kent had a teacher, folks would do everything they could to keep her, and Debra would expect him to do his part. Plus it would be flat out cruel to turn the woman away.

  She looked as if she were determined to remain calm, but Lucas had seen enough people rendered homeless from fires to know that shock would follow. Amy technically had no one.

  He shelved his own needs. “It’s not a problem. I’ve got plenty of room.”

  “It’s just until I find another place to live,” she promised, and Lucas blinked as a plump calico cat scampered down the steps and rubbed against Amy’s ankles. Her gaze locked with his, guilt glinting from her eyes. She bit her lip and quickly picked up the cat. “Oops. Debra told me you don’t like cats. I’ll try to keep Cleo in my room.”

  “Cleo,” he echoed, still staring at the cat. Lucas had never understood the appeal of cats. Felines reminded him of fickle women. He was a dog fan through and through.

  “I’ll just be here through Christmas,” Amy reassured him earnestly. “I’m a big believer in Christmas, so I’ll make sure it looks, sounds and smells like the holiday season.”

  Lucas’s gut twisted. “That’s not necessary.”

  Amy shook her head emphatically. “Oh, I absolutely insist.” She tilted her lips in a lopsided smile, and her entire face lit up. “I love Christmas. It’s my favorite time of the year.”

  Lucas sighed. Oh, goody, he thought. He was stuck with a Christmas nut whose body could rewind the clock of every man in town. Maybe he should sleep in the barn.

  The following morning, Lucas rose earlier than usual and wandered into the kitchen for his first cup of coffee. Amy stood by the counter sipping a cup of coffee and nibbling on a piece of toast. Her hair damp waving from a recent shower and face scrubbed clean of makeup, she wore a pair of low-slung jeans and a chunky celery-green sweater. She looked like she was thirteen years old.

  Except for her mouth, he thought, watching as she pursed her lips to blow, cooling her coffee. She turned to look at him. “Good morning.”

  He nodded. “Mornin’,” he said. “You’re up early.”

  “I’m going to my house. A fireman told me I would probably be able to get a few things today.”

  “I’ll go with you,” he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. His training made safety a priority.

  “That’s not necessary. I don’t want to interrupt your schedule.”

  “You’ll have to interrupt someone’s schedule if you’re going to go prowling around a house that was on fire yesterday. I’m a volunteer fireman. It may as well be me.”

  She blinked. “Oh.”

  “You look surprised,” he said, curious despite himself. He took a gulp of the hot black liquid, and felt it burn all the way down.

  “I was told that you own the biggest ranch in the county. I wouldn’t think you would have time for fire fighting.”

  “Luckily, there aren’t that many fires to put out. We’re a small community, and we try to look after each other, so a lot of us cover more than one base.”

  Amy smiled. “I keep being surprised by the differences between living in the city and the country.”

  “You miss the city?”

  “Not much so far. Every once in a while, I crave a little retail therapy or would like to see a movie before it’s two months’ old.”

  He gave her an assessing glance. “Our winters can get a little tough.”

  Amy heard a combination of doubt and challenge in his deep voice. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of Lucas. So far, he seemed the polar opposite of his friendly, outgoing sister. He hadn’t cracked a smile since she’d met him; however, he emanated strength, both in his imposing, muscular frame and rock solid character. Here was a man who wouldn’t be easily shaken, but something about the way he looked at her made her feel jumpy.

  Amy ignored the sensation, met his gaze and was momentarily distracted by the thick fringe of his eyelashes. For such a hard man, he had killer eyelashes. She shook off the thought and answered his doubt. “I can handle a tough winter. I’ve got a good winter coat, a sturdy pair of boats, lots of warm socks and a humdinger of a recipe for hot chocolate.”

&n
bsp; Taking another drink of coffee, he gave a nod, but she could tell he wasn’t convinced. If Missouri needed a poster boy for the state slogan Show Me, then Lucas was their man.

  Amy stiffened her already hard resolve. She would show him and everyone else who doubted her. “Just curious. Do you have a stainless-steel throat, or is there some secret to how you can swallow scalding coffee?”

  His hard mouth twitched, and his eyes glinted with a hint of humor. “Practice.” As if to prove his point, he finished the cup. “We can leave as soon as you dry your hair.”

  “I never dry my hair in the morning,” she said. “I can leave now.”

  “Didn’t your mother ever tell you going out in cold weather with a wet head is a great way to get sick?”

  “No,” she said. “My mother relinquished care of me to the state when I was four years old, and I lived in foster care until I left for college.”

  He was quiet for a long moment and studied her. “Well, you’re on my time now. So dry your hair and we’ll leave.”

  “Your time?”

  He nodded. “My sister put you in my care. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you while you’re in my home.”

  Amy felt a burst of feminist outrage at the same time she was utterly confident that if any man could keep a woman safe, it was Lucas. Irritated, she lifted her chin. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”

  “Every mother in this community will have my head if I let anything happen to the new teacher they’re all raving about. If you’ve been taking care of yourself for a long time, just look on this as a little break,” he said with a shrug.