The Maverick's Christmas to Remember

by Christy Jeffries

  A pained expression crossed Craig’s face and his jaw hardened to a rigidity Caroline had never seen on him before. Not that she knew him well enough to be an expert on his moods.

  What she did know, though, was that even with his grandparents’ perpetual squabbling—which she was pretty sure was mostly a ruse to gain attention from their grandchildren—she’d never had a better Thanksgiving. His huge family was loyal and hardworking and loving and everything she’d ever wanted to be a part of. However, if Craig was determined to leave, then she would stand by him.

  “I can drive if you really want to go home tonight.” Caroline placed her arm on his biceps, which was even more rigid than his jaw.

  “Out of the question,” Craig gritted out.

  Caroline got the feeling that his determination didn’t have anything to do with her head injury, yet, as an outsider, she wasn’t sure what it was. Something wasn’t right and she couldn’t fix the problem unless she understood the source. And she wouldn’t understand the source unless she got Craig to relax and tell her what was wrong.

  All that muscle clenching was apparently taking its toll because Craig reached behind his neck and pressed three fingers to the base of his scalp. Since they were standing side by side, he must not have seen Caroline’s hand lift up, causing him to give a slight jolt when she began to massage his neck. But at least he didn’t move away. Taking that as a good sign, she stepped in front of him, forcing him to look at her.

  “Honey,” she started, smiling encouragingly at him until she had his undivided attention. “I’m fine with staying the night here.”

  “Don’t you need to work tomorrow?” he asked, a muscle ticking along his upper jaw.

  “I have the day off.”

  “But you didn’t pack an overnight bag.”

  “She can borrow something from C.C.,” his mom said from behind Caroline. “I’ll go get some stuff now.”

  “See, I can borrow something from your sister,” Caroline repeated, wanting Craig to understand that she was truly fine with staying the night. Rudy followed his wife out of the dining room, leaving Caroline and Craig alone.

  Some of the tension eased from Craig’s face and he lowered his voice to a whisper to ask Caroline, “But where will you sleep?”

  Caroline thought she’d been in control until that point. Heat flooded her body and she licked her lips.

  “She can sleep in your room,” Meemaw said, coming out of the kitchen with the pink bakery box from Daisy’s. “Anyone want more pie?”

  * * *

  Even though they were “engaged” and it was no secret that Craig had been shacking up with Caroline at her tiny rental house, Craig’s mom knew the truth and insisted on her oldest son giving Caroline his room and sleeping in Jonathan and Will’s old bedroom.

  It was really for the best, Craig thought, staring blankly at the shelf containing Will’s 4-H trophies and Jonathan’s science fair award. Caroline fitted in so perfectly with his family and it had been all he could do to keep his hands off her since that interrupted kiss on the front porch this morning. But then Rob had gone and made that joke about robbing the cradle and Craig’s pride—as well as his prior aches and pains—had flared up, and suddenly, he’d never felt more like an old man. An old man who was taking advantage of a much younger, much more naive woman. A woman who was under the mistaken belief that he planned to marry her.

  The truth was, Craig didn’t plan to marry anyone. He’d had his shot at the perfect partner with Tina, but all of that had crashed around him. Literally.

  Seeing Caroline at his family’s ranch only served to remind him that she was too young, too feminine, too citified to ever suit this life. Working on a ranch required commitment and strength and hard work and... and...proper footwear. Did the woman even own a pair of boots?

  Granted, she didn’t buckle under the pressure of his grandparents. However, Caroline was a tiny, dainty thing with a closet full of high heels and a bathroom full of beauty products. She had to be miserable being stuck out on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention meeting his entire family must’ve been a total overload for her recovering memory. He was supposed to be keeping things calm for her so her head injury could heal, not bringing more chaos into her life.

  If she’d had her tiny little European car here, she probably would’ve been gunning its four-cylinder engine down the driveway the second Rob had called him a fuddy-duddy. Actually, probably well before then—like when his elderly grandparents practically knocked each other over in their race to get the seat next to Caroline at the dinner table.

  Craig scratched his head, wondering if he could actually use his boisterous and pushy family to his advantage. Perhaps the more time she spent here, the sooner Caroline would come to the conclusion that they were worlds apart. That they were never meant to be together.

  Although, she had been so diplomatic and understanding with his ornery grandparents when she didn’t have to be. Then she’d been helpful to his parents in the kitchen when she could’ve just sat back and been a guest. Caroline had also demonstrated complete ease with his siblings and their spouses, asking them questions about their jobs and their hobbies.

  Another thought took root. As an experienced party planner, perhaps Caroline had simply switched into professional mode and spent the day dealing with his family as though it was some sort of pro bono requirement. It was hard to read someone else’s thoughts when they didn’t even know their own mind. Maybe she’d been miserable the entire time.

  Regardless of whether it was all a performance on her part, the fact remained that Craig had invited her here. He was supposed to be acting as her host and he couldn’t fall asleep if he kept pacing around his brothers’ room all night, worried about her discomfort. Opening the door, he peeked out to see if everyone else had already gone to bed. Pulling off his boots, he hoped his socks muted his footsteps on the old squeaky floorboards as he sneaked down the hallway.

  Craig lightly tapped on the door to his own bedroom and when Caroline opened it, he sucked in his breath. Not that she looked breathtakingly sexy with her hair pulled into a high ponytail and dressed in a borrowed pair of pajamas covered with dancing pugs in Santa hats. No, his lungs refused to work because she was giving him that wistful smile again, the one that looked so happy. So comfortable. So confident that he couldn’t possibly stay away from her.

  Instead of asking her how she was, he stepped over the threshold and placed his hands on either side of her face, leaning down to claim the kiss that had been interrupted this morning when they’d first arrived.

  As his lips melded to hers, he felt her arm against his waist before hearing the lock behind him click into place. Craig had been so absorbed in the taste of her, he’d lost all foresight to keep this late-night meeting private. That was the thing about Caroline—she knew things about him and she knew what he wanted, without even asking him.

  He finally pulled away, studying her face for any signs of discomfort. Her eyelids were heavy and her lips were full and swollen, a hint of a smile still playing at their corners. His pulse picked up tempo and he had to command his hands to keep her at an arm’s distance until he could get his breathing under control.

  “Before I went to bed,” he started, then made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder and toward the foot of his own queen-size mattress. The hammering in his heart spread to his lower extremities, and he had to shake his head and clear his mind before he could continue what he was saying. “I just wanted to check and make sure you were comfortable in here. Is there anything you need?”

  With her face turned up to his and her eyes focused on his mouth, she tugged her lower lip between her teeth, then released it. “Only you.”

  Craig groaned and pulled her against him. The next kiss was deeper than the first and in that loose pajama shirt, it was easy for his hands to slip underneath the hem.

 
; Just for a second. He would only let his work-calloused palms stroke the intoxicating silkiness of her skin for a second. But it wasn’t enough time.

  Just another inch. He would only move his thumbs up another inch. But then the rest of his fingers followed suit and he was splaying his hands on either side of her rib cage.

  Just hold still. He wouldn’t go any further. In fact, now was the time he should stop this maddening kiss, as well. But Caroline dragged her head away first, breaking her lips apart from his long enough to pull the pajama top over her head.

  Just make her yours already. It was his last thought before he totally consumed her. His mouth slanted over hers, coaxing her tongue deeper inside so that he could suckle it.

  She wasn’t wearing a bra and, while he hadn’t been able to get a good view of her chest before she’d immediately plastered her body against his, her rounded breasts easily filled his hands and her nipples tightened into tiny buds against his palms.

  Caroline’s soft little moans increased and he felt her pulling against his belt buckle. Anticipation raced through him as she got the first button of his fly undone. When the backs of her warm fingers dusted the tip of his erection, an electric current shot through him.

  Craig was trying to shrug out of his own shirt when a deep, scratchy meow sound stopped him cold. His head whipped up and he saw Tiny Tim using his sole front paw to claw, press and reshape the stacked pillows on his bed. “What’s my cat doing in here?”

  “Well, this is his room, isn’t it?” Caroline looked over her shoulder at the overweight tabby, who was now pacing in circles around the comforter and scowling at them. “He looks pretty mad at us for waking him.”

  “Actually, he looks like that when he’s happy, too. But I think you’re right about his level of annoyance at this moment. He’s not used to having a lot of late-night activity going on in his bedroom.” Then Craig winced at his own implication. Only an old fuddy-duddy would admit to going to bed alone every night with his cat.

  “Maybe we should move to your brothers’ room and let Tiny Tim get his sleep.” Caroline’s thumbs were still hooked above the fly of his jeans, her breathing still shallow.

  It took every last drop of strength he possessed to encircle her wrists and drag her hands away. “Honey, we can’t.”

  “Do you not want to?” she asked, staring at him with such a deep longing, Craig felt completely exposed. “Or is it that you don’t want to right now?”

  “I think you just felt how much I want to,” he replied before buttoning his jeans back up so that the evidence of his desire wasn’t further tempted. “But when I make love to you, I want you to know who I am.”

  “So you’re saying that as soon as I remember, you’ll finally make love to me?”

  If you still want me to, he thought. But all he said was “Yes.”

  She sighed and backed away, but there was a promise glinting in her eyes. As he walked back to his brothers’ room, he wondered if he’d just made a deal with the devil.

  Because if Caroline Ruth finally learned the truth and she still wanted him, Craig would do much more than make love to her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I think I may be in way over my head,” Caroline confided to the palomino in the stall before her. She’d already admitted as much a few hours ago to Tiny Tim—who’d ignored Craig’s commands to follow him down the hall to a different room last night. The cat clearly regretted his choice in bedmates because after hours of Caroline’s tossing and turning and talking out loud about what she should say to her pretend fiancé, Tim began scratching at the door, demanding to be let outside well before dawn.

  But at least the cranky tabby had led her to the stables, where there were more pairs of triangle-shaped ears to listen to Caroline’s venting. Obviously, she knew the animals couldn’t really understand her, but growing up, she’d moved too often to keep a pet and she’d never had a sibling to use as a sounding board. She’d always been able to talk out her problems with her parents, then with her sorority sisters and, more recently, with her boss, Vivienne. But none of them were currently around, so these new four-legged friends—or three-legged in Tiny Tim’s case—would have to do.

  Caroline stroked the horse’s silky blond muzzle as she went on. “I mean, how embarrassing and frustrating that he got me all worked up like that last night. And then he simply walked away, leaving me breathing all funny and wanting more.”

  The horse snorted in response.

  “I know,” Caroline continued. “You get it. You’ve probably had a stallion or two come sniffing around your stall. Maybe nipping you in the neck to get your attention. What I wouldn’t have given for a good neck nip last night. Anyway, this might sound totally human of me, but this attraction I’m feeling for him? It’s more than just the physical. I’m worried that if I lose him, I’ll also lose all of this.”

  The mare’s soulful brown eyes followed Caroline’s arm as she gestured toward the rest of the ranch outside. She wanted Craig, but she also wanted the holiday dinners with all of the Cliftons and her own children carrying on their family’s legacy. She didn’t know it twenty-four hours ago, but his perfectly happy home out in Thunder Canyon, Montana, contained the entire life she’d always envisioned for herself and didn’t know existed.

  “I was trying to seduce him last night, I’ll willingly admit that.” At least, Caroline would admit that to a stable full of animals who couldn’t reveal her secret. “But only because I was hoping to make him want me as much as I want him. Instead, all of his damn restraint and chivalry are now only making me fall harder for him.”

  The horse gave a little whinny, throwing back her nearly white mane and stomping her forelegs, probably in a show of sisterly solidarity.

  “You’re wearing jeans.” Craig’s voice surprised her and she caught her toe on the lower rung as she hopped down from the stall. The sun was starting to rise outside and his gaze traveled over her in the dim light, making her shudder in excitement. “And boots.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” she whispered into her new friend’s fury neck before turning toward Craig. “C.C. loaned everything to me.”

  “Everything except for the jacket,” he replied, using his chin to gesture at the coat made of faux red leather with faux fur lining.

  Caroline pulled it closer around her torso, feeling like a complete faux herself. She wished she had brought suitable attire with her to the ranch so it didn’t appear as though she was overplaying the roles of both fiancée and cowgirl.

  “I saw it on the hook by the back door and assumed it was your sister’s, as well.”

  “Nah, Meemaw just thinks she’s of a similar age as you and C.C. and shops accordingly.”

  Caroline’s steps faltered as she thought about the way Craig’s body had stiffened beside her last night when his brother Rob had made the joke about him robbing the cradle. She’d never really given his age any thought, but it was interesting that she and his so-called “baby sister” were only a year apart.

  Yet, as she approached him, Craig stared at her legs encased in the tight denim as though he wasn’t thinking of either his sister or grandmother at that exact second. A jolt of hope surged in Caroline’s veins and she asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “I guess I’m not used to seeing you in anything but skirts and dresses and high heels,” he replied, rubbing the scar along his neck. “You almost look like you could fit in here.”

  “Almost?” Seeing the dark circles under his eyes put a little more swagger into her walk. Not that she wanted to see him exhausted, but it was somewhat of a relief to know they were both on a level playing field as far as lust-filled sleep deprivation went.

  “I mean, we’d have to get you on a horse to really be sure.” He smiled and she wondered if he was hoping to avoid any conversations about how hot and heavy things had gotten between them la
st night.

  Recklessness coursed through her and she rested a hand on a jutted-out hip. “Is that an invitation to ride?”

  “You actually want to go for a ride? On a horse?”

  “Show me where you keep the saddles.”

  Caroline followed Craig to the tack room and looked at the rows of reins and bits hanging from the walls. This ranch operation of theirs was definitely bigger than she’d first thought. If she wanted to get to know the man, then she really needed to get to know all aspects of him, including his land. A little thrill of excitement shot through her.

  But it sputtered to a halt when he patted a leather horn. “This one should fit you okay.”

  “It’s a Western saddle, though.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she studied her choices. Sure, the one Craig had picked out was smaller than most of the others, but it was still huge. Maybe she’d gotten a little too cocky when she’d suggested going for a ride. “Do you have an English one by any chance?”

  “Wait.” Craig did a double take in her direction. “You know the difference?”

  “My parents were at Oxford when I was eight and then again when I was fourteen. I took equestrian lessons both times.”

  Craig studied her before finally hefting the smaller saddle onto his shoulder. “Trust me. Since we’re not doing any show vaults or playing polo today, you’re gonna want the bigger one to distribute your weight.”

  “And do you have a horse in mind for me to ride?” Caroline asked as she picked up a plaid-patterned saddle blanket and followed him out of the tack room.

  “I figured you’d want to take Marley out this morning. Looked like you two were pretty deep in conversation when I walked in.”

  Despite the low temperatures outside, heat filled Caroline’s cheeks. Lord, please tell me Craig was too far away to hear what I was saying to the mare.

  But the only answer was his boots crunching along the straw-covered concrete. With his arm lifted high to balance his load, the hem of his work jacket rose above the waistband of his worn jeans, exposing his well-muscled rear end.