The man was like a rabid animal, biting and cursing as he fought Thad off. But Jolie managed to wind the tape around his hands and feet. When she was done, she made a bow out of duct tape and stuck it to his forehead, like he was a Christmas present.
Thad laughed despite the gravity of the situation. “God, I love you.” He took the tape from her and kissed her soundly on the mouth. When he finished, she stared at him with wide-eyed surprise.
From a distance came the welcome sound of a chopper. Thad glanced at the snowmobiles and saw that their headlights were fading.
“Okay,” he said to Jolie. “We need to figure out how to signal the chopper.” He surveyed the area. “I’m thinking a bonfire is in order.”
Jolie gave him an enigmatic smile and said, “That might work for Papa Noel, but I’ve got my own ideas. Where’s the sled?”
Thad led her to where he’d hidden the dogsled in the trees and Jolie found her bag. From it, she withdrew a large metal kit. She popped it open and withdrew a small red pistol.
“A flare gun?”
“Yessir.”
“You are something else, you know that?” Thad kissed her again and then took the gun from her, shooting it off and interrupting the silent night.
“Hey, Thad?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Where are the dogs?” Jolie asked, a worried expression on her face.
He whistled twice. Digger came loping through the snow, head hanging, tail tucked between his legs. “Hey, buddy. Where’s your mama?” He whistled again and Humper appeared, walking slowly and whimpering.
No sign of Sue.
“I’ll check over here, you check over there,” Jolie said, pointing.
Thad started toward the quinzee, whistling and calling, a sick feeling scratching at the pit of his stomach.
“Thad!”
He ran toward her voice, finding her back toward the trees, sitting in the snow with Sue’s head in her lap. Jo looked up as he approached, tears coursing down her cheeks. “Oh, Thad. I’m so sorry. She was shot. This damn dog took a bullet to save my life.”
* * *
JOLIE HAD BEEN up for how many hours straight? She tried to count but her mind was too muddled because she was so tired. They’d gotten back to the ranch in the wee hours of the morning. Then they’d spent the better part of the day being interviewed by the FBI—the real FBI this time—and now she’d finally been released. Even though most of the guests had booked to stay longer, the Feds had insisted everyone who wasn’t involved in the incident go home, so Jolie never had a chance to say goodbye to Kaylee and Evan or Zak and Simon.
She’d have to get their contact info from Gloria, because, after all they’d shared and been through, they were family now.
Stumbling into her bedroom, Jolie collapsed onto the bed. She’d lie down just for a couple of minutes, that’s all, because she wanted to be there when Thad was done with his questioning.
However, when she woke up, her room was dark and for a second, she had no idea where she was. A thud from outside her French doors brought her to her feet. She drew back the blinds just as another snowball hit the glass.
She slid open the doors to find Thad sitting in the hot tub wearing a grin.
She pulled on her wool socks and padded across the deck. “Not a bad arm,” she said. “For a Most Wanted man.”
“Not anymore, I’m not.”
She sat on the edge of the hot tub. “Sure you are. You’re on my Most Wanted list.”
“Is that so?”
“Maybe.”
“Well now, why don’t you take off all those bulky clothes and show me what you mean by that statement?”
She laughed. “Aren’t you tired?”
“Naw, plenty of time to sleep when I’m dead.” He tugged on the hem of her sweater, snaking a wet hand up underneath.
She slapped his hand away. “That’s not funny, considering everything you’ve been through.”
“Everything we’ve been through.” He grabbed a handful of sweater again. “Now, you going join me in this soaker or am I going to have to pull you in, clothes and all?”
“I’m not wearing a bathing suit.”
“I seem to recall that not being a problem in the past.”
“Yes, but...” After glancing over her shoulder, Jo pulled her sweater over her head. “That was before there were federal agents milling about. After the last forty-eight hours, I don’t feel like being charged now with lewd behavior.” She paused, resting her hands on the band of her leggings.
“Ah, but the Jolie I know and love thrives on living on the edge, so...” Thad leaned out of the tub, offering to help pull down her tights.
“Did I just hear correctly?” She turned her back to him and shimmied the snug material down her legs. “Did you just tell me you loved me?”
“Don’t take it too seriously. I say that to all the women who save my life.”
“Must be hundreds of them.” She peeked over her shoulder and was rewarded by a lovely groan from Thad. Turning her back, she unclasped her bra and let it fall to the ground, then she inched her panties over her hips and down her legs.
“Heaven have mercy,” Thad whispered. “You need to get in this tub right now.”
Jo climbed the steps and slid swiftly beneath the water. She didn’t even get a chance to sit before Thad pulled her onto his lap, a warm hand cupping her head, drawing her close for a kiss. His lips were hot and wet and soft. When she pulled away, the playfulness was gone and she touched the lines beside his eyes. “You are tired.”
“I don’t care,” he said raggedly. “The truth is, Jolie, I’d be a dead man if not for you.”
She nuzzled her head into the lovely crook between chin and shoulder. “I saved your life, you saved mine. We’re even.” She breathed in the scent of his damp flesh.
“I didn’t save your life, Sue did.”
Jolie stroked Thad’s chest. “I’m so sorry about Sue.”
“Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“She’s going to make it. Her leg was shattered and irreparable, so they had to take it off. Poor thing’ll be a tripod dog, but she’s alive.” He looked away as his jaw tensed and air hitched in his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said a moment later. “I know she’s just a damned dog.”
“She’s not just a damned dog. She’s the best dog. Ever.”
Thad held both sides of her face when he kissed her this time. Against her lips, he whispered, “I don’t need to run anymore, Jolie.”
“I know.” She licked at the seam of his mouth, nuzzling against him.
“I don’t need to hide. Not from the authorities...” He took a deep breath. “And not from you.”
She nibbled his chin.
“And when a man gets a second chance in life—” he paused to pull back so he could look at her “—he doesn’t want to waste one second of it.”
She wriggled in his lap, rubbing his erection between her legs. But Thad took hold of her hips and held her still. “Before you kill me by doing that, I need to ask you something.”
“What?” She caressed the lovely muscles of his shoulders that peeked above the water level.
“I know it’s sudden and I know we haven’t known each other very long, but—”
“But...?”
“See, I don’t ever want you out of my sight again. I know it’s crazy, it’s just, I’ve never—”
She touc
hed his face, feeling an overwhelming connection to this man. “It’s the same for me.”
“Is it?”
She nodded. “I’ve never met anyone like you. I love being with you. But more important, I like the person I am when we’re together. I like her a lot.”
“I like her, too.” Thad ran his thumb across her bottom lip. “I more than like her.” He descended, groaning into her mouth as his lips slanted across hers, his tongue sweeping inside, searching for something with a desperation Jolie wasn’t used to but that she somehow understood.
“Where do we go from here, Jolie? I don’t know what the future holds.”
“I think we figure it out as we go. This is new, for both us, and...”
A pop followed by a whistling sound split the night. Then there was an echoing bang that sounded like a gunshot.
“What the hell?”
“Look,” Jolie said, pointing to the colorful sky to the north. “Fireworks.” She laughed. “Oh, my God. It’s New Year’s Eve.”
Jolie sat snuggled on Thad’s lap, her head tucked beneath his chin, his arms around her waist holding her close while they watched the fireworks display that must have been set off from a neighboring property.
“Happy New Year, Thad.” She turned to gaze up at him. “Happy New Life.”
“Right back at you, Jolie Duval.”
She settled herself comfortably against his chest. “I do love fireworks,” she said with a contented sigh.
“You want fireworks?” He kissed her neck while his hands slid from her waist to her thighs. “I’ll give you fireworks.” He turned her in his lap so that he could kiss her mouth. “Sha, I’ll give you more than fireworks. I aim to give you whatever you want.”
“All I want is you, Thad. That’s it.” She let him kiss her before she pulled away again. “Oh, and I want permission to write your story. I hope that’s okay.”
“I’d be honored.” He cupped her cheek. “You going to include all the good juicy bits between you and me?”
“No,” she said, “I think I’ll keep that just between us. But...”
“But what?”
“But I think I need more material. So...” Jolie had to bite her lip to keep her smile in check. In a husky voice, she said, “Tell me, Thaddeus Knight, you said you’re a hand. What does that mean, exactly?”
At first Thad frowned and then it was like a light came on as he remembered the entry in her journal. “I could tell you,” he said slowly. “But showing you would be way more fun.” His hands fondled her beneath the surface of the water.
She arched into him. “Then you’d better show me.”
“Oh, Jolie. It’d be my pleasure.”
* * * * *
Watch for the next Harlequin Blaze from Daire St. Denis, WILD SEDUCTION, coming soon.
Keep reading for an excerpt from from COWBOY UNWRAPPED by Vicki Lewis Thompson.
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Cowboy Unwrapped
by Vicki Lewis Thompson
1
WHEN JAKE RAMSEY pulled into the circular gravel drive in front of Thunder Mountain Ranch at sundown, he thought he’d stumbled onto the set of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. His foster brothers Cade Gallagher and Finn O’Roarke stood in the freezing cold struggling to untangle a string of Christmas lights while wearing thick gloves. Why they needed more lights was a mystery because the low-slung ranch house already looked as if Clark Griswold had been there.
Happy as Jake was to see those two cowboys after all this time away, his firefighter training took precedence over a sentimental reunion. He’d bet a month’s pay neither of them had bothered to check the UL ratings to see if the fuse box could take another strand of what looked like incandescent bulbs. Hadn’t they heard of LEDs? And was that an indoor extension cord connected to the net lights on a bush by the porch? Jesus.
He wondered if Damon Harrison had approved this setup. Damon, Cade and Finn had been the original three taken in by Rosie and Herb Padgett years ago when they’d decided to make the ranch a foster home for teenage boys. Cade had become a horse trainer who worked at the ranch, now a residential equine education center for older teens, called Thunder Mountain Academy. Finn had moved to Seattle and opened his own microbrewery. Those jobs didn’t qualify either of them to handle electrical installations.
But Damon and Philomena, who’d married this past summer, renovated houses here in Sheridan. Jake doubted they’d been involved in this fustercluck. It had Cade written all over it. The guy was great with horses but not so great with a toolbox.
Cade and Finn glanced up as he pulled up next to them in his F-250. They wouldn’t recognize the truck because he’d bought it since his last visit home in early March. Plus he hadn’t seen Finn in years. Finn and his fiancée Chelsea were spending Christmas at the ranch, which had added to Jake’s excitement about his first Christmas home since getting hired by the Jackson Hole Fire Department.
From the looks of things, they needed him here. Cade and Finn were fixing to burn down the house. He shut off the engine and climbed out, making sure his boots didn’t slip on the ice he knew would be under the thin layer of snow covering the driveway.
Then he buttoned his sheepskin coat against the wind and crammed his Stetson a little tighter on his head before walking around the front of the truck. He could see his breath. That was another stupid thing—putting up Christmas lights when the temperature was near zero.
“Hey, bozos,” he called out to Cade and Finn, who’d stopped what they were doing while they waited to see who’d driven up. “Why don’t you let someone who knows what he’s doing handle that job?”
“Jake?” Cade dropped his end of the lights into the snow and hurried toward him. “You got a new truck, man!”
“That I did.” He exchanged a hug with Cade.
“Jake Ramsey?” Finn tossed his end away and came over. “I haven’t seen your ugly mug since I left for Seattle! How the hell are you?”
Jake returned his hug. “I’m good, real good. Hated that I had to miss Damon’s wedding, but a couple of guys got sick and I couldn’t leave.”
“You would’ve loved it,” Cade said. “It rained like hell, the wind destroyed most of the decorations and we had to delay the ceremony until the
storm passed. Then we had to stand in the mud while Damon and Phil said their vows. It was epic.”
“Sounds awesome. Wish I’d been there. Speaking of the happy couple, where are they?”
“Wimping out in Florida with the in-laws,” Finn said. “They’ll be back tomorrow, looking all tanned and smug while the rest of us are the color of grubworms.”
“Real Wyoming cowboys don’t go to Florida for a winter vacation.” Cade tucked his gloved hands into his armpits and stomped his feet in the snow. “They tough it out like manly men.”
“Damn straight,” Finn said. “But I’m thinking we should tough it out inside by the fire for a while and finish this project in the morning. We don’t want to keep poor Jake standing out here shivering. He needs to head in and see the folks.”
“I want to see them, too,” Jake said, “but I have a question before we go in. Did you guys put up all these lights?”
Cade grinned at him. “You’re impressed, right? You didn’t think we could do it without Damon around to help, but there’s the evidence.” Cade swept an arm to encompass the glittering front of the house. “Damon’s gonna shit a brick when he sees this.”
“That’s for sure.” Jake walked over and fingered the indoor extension cord. “I take it you ran out of outdoor cords.”
“Yeah, but those work fine.” Finn shrugged. “We bought a bunch of extra lights and forgot about getting more cords, but we found those in the barn. They’re a little worn but we wound electrical tape around the parts where wires were sticking out.”
Jake did his best to control himself. “How many of these are you using?”
“I don’t know,” Cade said. “Six, maybe seven. We’re almost done, but I agree with Finn. We can quit now and finish up tomorrow. We have time before Damon and Phil get back.”
“You know what?” Jake was proud of himself. He didn’t yell and he didn’t cuss, although he desperately wanted to do both. “Before I go in, let me take a quick run into town. With tomorrow being the last shopping day, the hardware store should be open. I’ll just pick up a few outdoor extension cords.”
A Christmas Seduction Page 20