“Who knows? I think they are just feisty hound dogs who like people.”
Natalie Clark never did believe that stuff her mother said about animals. Still yet, there was that crazy thing with the chickens.
Grady reached for both dogs when they were out of the room. “Y’all go on back and have a dance or two. Me and Noah will take care of these critters. I swear if I could find the way they’re getting out of that pen, I’d concrete it shut.”
As they passed the bathroom door, Natalie could hear Sonia’s girls reassuring her that her dress wasn’t even torn and that they’d washed all the dog slobbers and dog pee from her leg.
“But my shoe?” Sonia yelped.
“It’s only one spot and it’s already dry,” Melody said.
“Could we try this one more time?” Lucas asked. “May I have this dance?”
Natalie put her hand in his. “My pleasure, sir.”
Chapter 10
Joshua fretted and chewed at his fist the whole time that Natalie changed his diaper and dressed him in zip-up pajamas. When she sat down in the rocking chair and touched the bottle nipple to his lips, he latched onto it with a sigh and shut his eyes.
“Some party cowboy you are.” She laughed.
He snuggled down deeper into her arms.
“You fall asleep before it’s in full swing, forget about your ten o’clock snack, and now at eleven you want to eat.”
He grinned around the nipple, but he didn’t open his eyes.
The noise of the party filtered down the hall and she heard the deep timbre of Lucas’s laughter. Henry said something but she couldn’t make out words, only distinct and separate tones. Boots on hardwood sounded like drumbeats at the beginning of a county song. They stopped one door short of her bedroom and the bathroom door opened. How in the world they’d managed to get through the night with only one bathroom in the house was a miracle. The barn where they held the party in Silverton had cowboys and a cowgirls restrooms and each one could accommodate three people at a time.
Joshua finished his bottle, burped one last time, and went limp in her arms. That meant he was fully asleep and she could put him back in the crib, but she held him a few minutes longer.
***
Lucas scanned the room every few seconds to see if Natalie had returned. He hadn’t expected to be mesmerized by Josh’s brown eyes staring intently into his when he took him from Natalie’s arms that evening. Hell, a week ago, he hadn’t even planned on ever touching that kid. Now, he wanted to tiptoe into their bedroom and tell him good night. And that was just after toting him around the room for a little while. How would he feel at Christmas when Hazel came back and Natalie left?
When he’d drawn her close to dance and had buried his face in her hair, the whole room disappeared. They were on a cloud with nothing but the sounds of a tinkling country piano in the background. And he’d felt complete for the first time in his life.
He’d had his first date at fourteen when he’d asked Melody to the Valentine’s dance at school. There had been three fairly serious relationships before Sonia. And then the next several years, he’d thought he was in love with her.
He checked the clock on the mantel above the blazing fireplace: eleven thirty. So many nights he’d shut his eyes in the unbearable heat over there and thought about a cold winter night with the sound of a wood fire crackling. He could visualize each and every ornament on the tree, hear all the stories about them, and Natalie was always there beside him.
Then I see her for the first time with a pistol in one hand and a baby in the other. That’s reality, folks. He scanned the room one more time.
Each click of the clock’s second hand lasted hours, and minutes were eternity plus four days. He’d given up on seeing her again that night when she touched his elbow and said, “I believe it’s midnight and this is our dance.”
He barely heard the music go from country music Christmas songs to a slow waltz when he she wrapped both her arms around his neck. The world disappeared as he drew Natalie close with his arms around her waist. They fit together so well that he didn’t even have to bend to whisper in her ear or smell the sweet fragrance of her perfume.
“Look at those three guys in the corner. They’re watching every move we make,” she whispered.
“We both know they are playing matchmakers, Natalie. What we have to do is ignore them and make up our own minds about our relationship,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have a plan worked out with the DJ tonight.”
“Is that Anne Murray?” he asked. “I remember this song. Dad used to play it when I was a kid.”
“Yes, it’s Anne, and the song is from the early eighties. It’s Momma and Daddy’s song. They’ve been dancing to it since before I was born. When I ask Momma about it, she just smiles and says I’ll dance to it someday and understand,” Natalie said.
Anne sang that she would always remember the song they were playing the first time that they danced and she knew that she had fallen in love. She asked if she could have this dance and if he would be her partner for the rest of her life.
“Listen to those words. They are meddling big-time, aren’t they?” Lucas said.
“Oh, yeah!”
“They’re grinnin’ like a bunch of possums eatin’ grapes through a barbed wire fence,” Lucas whispered.
“It’s cute, isn’t it?”
“What? Them or the picture of the possums?” He held her closer.
“Both. My granddad says things like that about possums. Sometimes he gets a helluva lot more graphic.” Natalie toyed with his hair. “We might as well give them something to grin about.”
He brushed a kiss across her lips when they were under the mistletoe. “Grinnin’ like a possum pickin’ seeds out of a fresh cow patty?”
She giggled and planted her feet firmly.
“What?” he asked.
She pressed her body so close to his that she could feel his racing pulse and drew his lips to hers for a longer kiss.
“Do you know what you are doing to me?” he drawled.
“I know what you are doing to me. If it’s the same thing, then it’s a wonder the heat isn’t melting those little white berries on the mistletoe,” she said.
He chuckled. “You got that right.”
The song ended way too soon. He could have held Natalie in his arms all night right there in the middle of the living room floor. He wouldn’t care if the same song played over and over for hours. And he’d gladly dance with her the rest of his life.
Whoa, hoss! His thoughts came to an abrupt halt. You’re not ready for that kind of commitment.
***
The guests were all gone. The caterers had packed up and left. Like cowboys in a Wild West bar, Henry, Jack, and Grady each had a beer in their hand and their boots propped up on the bare table nearest the Christmas tree.
“Whew, doggies, I believe that’s the most people we’ve ever had at a party. I’ll be glad when they bring my recliner back in the house tomorrow,” Grady said.
Jack nodded. “Food is all gone. Bar is almost wiped out. And we got church tomorrow mornin’, so we better guzzle these beers and catch a few hours of rest.”
“Yep, we should or we’re going to be the most wore out lookin’ old wise men in the church play,” Henry said.
Natalie didn’t mean to groan but she did.
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.
“We don’t have to go. I expect these wise men can worship baby Jesus without us there.” Lucas yawned.
“Ain’t happenin’.” Jack shook his head from side-to-side. “If we’re goin’ to be wise men, then Joshua is coming to church to see us.”
The hair on Natalie’s arms prickled. Somehow she knew by the way Henry was beaming what wa
s coming.
“Who is playing baby Jesus?” Lucas said.
“Some little girl’s doll baby. Mary Alice and Jake got a girl and she’s one of them fussy kind, so they’re playin’ Mary and Joseph, but the baby is going to the nursery. Little girl’s name is Ziva and that don’t seem right for a baby Jesus no way,” Grady said.
“It is an Israeli name,” Natalie said defensively.
“I don’t care what kind of name it is. It’s a girl baby. God might send lightnin’ down through the church ceiling. Jesus was a boy baby, a king, not a queen,” Henry said.
Henry yawned and said, “Now it’s time for me to go home. Jack, you can drive me. It’s just a little way farther down the road than your place, and I don’t see none too good at night. Natalie, honey, don’t bother with breakfast. We’ll just all meet up at the church at eleven sharp.”
“I’m ready for bed too. I’m glad that bunkhouse ain’t a mile away. Been a long couple of days, but the party was worth it,” Grady said.
Jack slung his boots off the table, finished his beer, and stood up. “Forgot to tell y’all that I had the crew put my stuff back in my house while they were moving things around. House is all yours again, son. Natalie, you can spread out across the hall if you want to. I’m all moved out.”
Natalie covered a yawn with her hand. “Good night. I’ll see you all tomorrow morning.”
She was halfway to her room when the music started playing again and Lucas tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around at the same time he took another step forward and they collided. The only thing that kept her from falling was his arms tightly around her. Fall or burn with desire: both choices would make for a long, long night.
“Looks like I’m fated to keep falling into your arms,” she said.
“May I have this dance, ma’am? One without an audience and music of our choosing,” he drawled.
He two-stepped backward with her into the living room as Randy Travis sang “Honky Tonk Moon.” He sang about pool table, cue balls, and troubles seeming to melt away through the smoky haze. A country piano player tickled the keys as the lyrics said that his arms were around his baby shuffling on the floor with the honky tonk moon shining and everything was all right.
“You telling me that you want to play pool?” Natalie teased.
“You play?”
“Oh, yeah, I play. You got a table hiding somewhere?”
“No, but I know a little bar just like Randy is singing about and I betcha we could find a honky tonk moon. We’ll have to go some time.”
“Why, Lucas Allen, are you askin’ me for a date?” she flirted.
“I am. I bet the three wise men will watch Joshua for us to go shoot a few games and have a beer or two,” he said.
She giggled. “Where is this honky tonk?”
“Between Savoy and Bells. We’ll try to go on a Friday night since that is karaoke night. You going to sing?”
“Hell, no!” she said. “Are you?”
“I bet you I can whip your ass at pool and if I do you have to sing,” he whispered.
“If you beat me, I will. If I beat you, you have to sing, so you’d best be practicing all week in the shower. Momma taught me how to shoot a mean game, and I’m damn good, cowboy,” she said.
“Your momma must be a pistol,” Lucas said.
“Yes, she is, but Granny is the boss. She can handle a rope, work cattle, cook a meal fit for a king, and believe me, she can outshoot either me or Momma,” Natalie said.
She looked up to see what kind of reaction that brought from him. His eyes were half-shut with dark lashes fluttering toward his cheeks. She moistened her lips and got ready for the kiss but nothing prepared her for the sizzle when his mouth found hers and the song started all over again.
She listened to the words about a blue smoky haze. She wondered if the singer had experienced the same kind of emotional roller coaster she’d been on for two weeks. Was the smoke a result of the fire in his kiss? Did the honky tonk moon bring out the scorching desire in the people in the song?
The first kiss was sweet. The second one was hungry and hard. His tongue teased her lips apart and he made love to her with his lips and tongue as they clung to each other in a darkened living room.
She leaned into his hard chest and God help her, but she wished they were lying down rather than standing up. Their feet stopped moving to the beat of the music. His hand cupped the back of her neck, and his fingertips gently massaged that soft skin right below her ear. She leaned in to get the full effect and his mouth left hers and went to the soft part of her long, slender neck. He could have set up shop right there for the rest of the night because his lips sent bursts of heat through her body with every kiss. But just when she thought she’d explode, he trailed hot, steamy kisses up to her ear, across her eyelids, and back down to her mouth.
He sat down in a chair and drew her into his lap. Travis had started singing “Forever and Ever, Amen.”
Yes, oh yes, keep this up forever and ever, she thought.
He pulled her shirttail out of her jeans and then his hands were on her bare rib cage, skimming them like butterfly wings. They circled around to the back when they hit the band of her lacy bra and went to the hooks in the back. She leaned back and looked up at him.
The question didn’t need words. If she shook her head or said “no,” he’d kiss her good night. Like a gentleman he would lead her to her room door and kiss her again. But without blinking, she reached up and unfastened the top button of his shirt and worked her way down, one button at a time. Between buttons she kissed that broad, hard chest, teasing his nipples into taut little knots. When the last button was undone, she laid her cheek against his chest.
“Your heart is pounding,” she whispered.
“It’s just keeping time with yours,” he said.
He scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the hall and laid her gently on a king-sized bed covered with a soft brown comforter the same color as his eyes.
“You are so damn beautiful,” he whispered hoarsely.
“Still got five pounds of baby fat.”
He drew his hands back and said, “Oh my God! Is it too soon for this?”
She shook her head. “Joshua is almost three months old. I could’ve done this three weeks ago. It’s not too early.”
He stretched out beside her and pulled her close again. He took his time removing her shirt and bra, teasing her skin with strings of kisses on her ribs, her breasts, and that tender part of the neck right below her ear. She trembled and arched toward him, and he hadn’t even gotten around to taking her belt off.
“I feel like I could catch on fire any minute,” she said.
“Darlin’, I mean sweet cheeks, I’m already on fire,” he said.
She straddled his waist and quickly stripped his shirt off his body then tasted every inch of his skin from the waist up. His belt wouldn’t pull from the loops when she got the buckle open, so she left it hanging and unzipped his jeans. He was erect and ready when she slipped her hand inside.
“Commando?” she asked.
“It’s a hell of a lot more comfortable. Now my turn again. It’s been a long, long time, Natalie. I’d like to play a lot longer, honey, but I’m already about to explode,” he groaned.
“Me too on the exploding issue,” she whispered softly. “And it’s been a long time for me too. I was too wiped out to even remember much about the last time.”
He shifted enough to finish undressing her but not so much that she had to remove her hand. He tossed her jeans to one side and brought her underpants down an inch at a time, caressing and tasting as he did. He kissed her toes and then worked his way back up. By the time he got to her lips, she had wrapped her long legs around his waist and their tongues were doing a mating dance.
“First time might not last long,” he warned her.
“I can count to ten,” she panted.
“What does that mean?”
“I bet the tenth time lasts a long, long time.” It came out of her mouth a word at a time between more hungry, demanding kisses.
He slid into her with a long hard thrust. She groaned and worked with him, rocking at the right time to bring them both the most pleasure. He took her to breathtaking heights half a dozen times and then backed off before the thrusts finally became shorter and faster.
“God, that feels so good,” she said.
“I know,” he panted.
“I’m going to fall off this cliff and die,” she moaned.
“Ready?” he panted.
Lord, the man even drawled when he was having sex. She managed to nod, but she didn’t have the breath to say another word.
He slipped his hands under her bottom and with a dozen fast and furious thrusts, he brought her right up to the biggest climax she’d ever known before he said something that sounded like her name and collapsed on top of her.
“Holy hell!” The words came out in a deep throaty grown when he could breathe again.
“Mmmm!” She tightened her legs but there were no words to describe the weightlessness that she felt. She didn’t want him to leave. Never, not in any experience, had she felt such passion, and she didn’t want it to ever end.
“That was… wow!” she finally said.
“It’s because it’s been so long,” he said.
“No, it was awesome. I’ve never…” she panted.
“Never what?” He toyed with an errant strand of hair that had fallen across one eye.
“Never ever felt like my body and soul separated and I was floating.” She inhaled deeply and straightened her legs. He rolled to one side and gathered her tightly in his arms. She was reminded of a scene on a television show where the couple fell back on the pillows, stared at the ceiling, and panted. The viewer knew what had gone on before that big moment even if they hadn’t seen it. Until that night she’d figured those times really only existed in scripts for actresses and actors.
The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby Page 14