"Excuse me?"
"You have some nerve blaming everything on me for there being no communication and you getting your damn panties in a twist."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm sorry, but I could have sworn all those damn outgoing e-mails were from me to you, not the other way around. At least, that is, until they began to be sent back as undeliverable."
"Really? So what that means you should be an ass when you see me? Is that why you came, hoping to find someone else who would actually spend her days following time with you glued to her computer to make sure she didn't miss an e-mail from you?"
"What do you care?" he thundered. "Your position is perfectly clear. Message received."
"You jackass. What the hell do you think I do all day?"
Conall blinked, barely aware of his friends standing there watching this. "You said you were a forest ranger. I don't know, a few tours, talks with children, things like that."
"Really. Wow. I guess because I have tits I can't do anything but how you see it on television, is that it?" She fisted her hands and settled them on her hips. "Let me tell you something, Mr. Don't Tell Anyone You Own The Company Lennox, I work out in the boonies. We're choppered in and I'm there for months at a time. We get groceries every other week. I don't have Internet, or the latest smartphone. We have a damn good radio system so if there is trouble we can call back for help. Which takes a good long time, even by chopper. I live in a small cabin, two bedrooms, with another ranger."
He licked his lips and shifted his feet. Shit, he’d had no idea.
"When I'm done with my tour out there, I have two days, get that, two days to shift gears from having been around one person for months to leading white-water rafting. Once that season is done, I'm back out in the middle of nowhere. I don't carry a laptop on rafting trips and I don't think much about e-mail. I am sorry you sent all those, but I just am not a technology person. Don't need it. Never have."
Fuck it all, he wanted to be angry, but really, how could he. "I tried to call. No one gave me your number."
"I have an unlisted number, and my ranger information isn't given out. But I get it now. You are mad and hurt. Ego, or what-the-fuck-ever. Your deal. I just wanted you to know it isn't right for you to be so pissed at me. I don't go home at night to a cushy house with a pool or hot tub. I forget to check that stuff. It wasn't a slight, but this…" She shook her head. "Never mind."
Conall watched her walk away, his feet frozen to the ground.
"Fuck."
He knew it was Steve who said it, but Conall didn't even acknowledge the word. He was correct in using it.
"You acted like she ignored you on purpose."
"He didn't know."
As his friends argued behind him, Conall battled with himself. She was pissed, as he'd been. She had every right to be. The question now was…
"What are you going to do?"
"Go after her!" Travis and Ben said in answer to Steve's question.
They were absolutely right. He wasn't about to lose her a second time. Without a word to his friends, he headed off back inside. In the lobby, he scanned the area, looking for her. A few people came and went, but there weren't that many.
He moved by the front desk and had headed for the elevators when he spied her. She stood talking with a group of four others. An older couple, a younger woman who was dressed in brilliantly colored tight clothing, and a man who seemed extremely agitated.
Conall approached and the younger woman noticed him, her brown gaze moving over him with blatant appreciation and invitation. He dismissed her and focused on the woman who had turned his world upside-down with nothing more than a look.
"For the record," he began, "I came back this year in hopes you would be here as well."
All conversation ceased and Conall became the center of attention. The others didn't matter to him; only Sage did.
"Conall," she said with a slight shake of her head.
"I thought about you day and night since you left. I've never wanted anyone half as much as I do you." He took her hand and brushed a kiss over the back of it. "I'm so sorry I acted like an ass. I was just so worried when I couldn't get in touch with you after you sent that e-mail."
Her eyes sparkled, and he wondered if they were tears. Without releasing her, he addressed those around them. "Excuse me, I need to steal Sage for a moment. I'll bring her right back." That said, he moved them a bit away from the others, although he knew they watched.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"In my own fucked-up way, I'm asking you to be mine." Her tongue snuck out and dampened her lower lip. "I fell in love with you, Sage. I know it was quick and I know we've been apart for a year, but I feel even more strongly about you now. I missed you, and I thought about you every day."
"You’re asking me…to be…yours?"
He lowered his lips until they brushed hers. So soft. So pliant. So perfect. She opened beneath him and he sank his tongue into her waiting mouth. Her taste swarmed him and he felt himself hardening. He wanted more. Of her. Of them. Of everything they could be together.
"Mine," he whispered against her lips.
"Who are you to be kissing her?" a man demanded.
Conall raised his head and turned it to the side to find the other man glaring at him. "None of your business."
"I'm making it mine."
Sage slid her arms around Conall’s neck and brought his attention back to her. "Go away, Charlie."
"Yes, Charlie," Conall said. "Go away." Conall kissed her again. He would never have enough of her kisses. "Who was he?"
"Ex." She drew back enough he could see her amazing eyes.
He scowled and glared back to the man still staring at them. "I mean it, go away and never bother her again. You won't like the outcome if I see you around her again."
Charlie stepped forward, but Conall stood tall. In his peripheral vision, he saw his friends waiting there as well. He well knew the impression the four of them made, especially working construction and being in good physical shape.
"Are you serious, Conall?"
"Might I intrude and learn the name of the man kissing my daughter?"
Both of them froze, having quickly forgotten others were around. Sage barely looked from his face. "Papa, Mama, I'd like you to meet Conall Lennox, owner and operator of Lennox Construction in Taos. Conall, my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Addison."
Drawing her tight with his left arm, he reached out with his right. "Sir. Ma'am."
"I'm her sister, Opal."
"The one who bought her the pink hat with the pompoms?"
Opal smiled. "Yes. That's me. See, don't you think she would look better in a bunch of bright colors?"
"I think she's beautiful in anything she wears." Conall looked back at the woman who still watched him with a bit of caution in her gaze. "Marry me, Sage."
"Living arrangements?"
"We'll work it out. Say yes."
Her fingers curled through his hair, and he was having a hard time concentrating on manners. Lord knew, he wanted to bite her neck, back her into the nearest wall, lift her up and…well, do things he would be arrested for in public. She drew his head closer, stared at him for a moment, and nodded.
His grin filled his face. "Really?"
"I love you, too."
He cupped her face with his hands and planted a kiss on her lips, a kiss like he'd never given to anyone else before. Sweet merciful heavens, he'd never known such bliss. Their tongues danced and stroked along one another as they stood there, lips locked. It wasn't until they broke apart that the sound of cheering registered.
"So, a wedding then, is it?" a large barrel of a man asked.
"Yes sir. Taken me a whole year to get her to say yes."
Sage opened her mouth to comment but held it when Conall winked at her. His friends however had no problems saying anything that came to mind.
"Only because you were busy throwing tantrums."
“Yeah, like a spoiled
brat.”
Sage lifted a brow at that and Conall shook his head, even as he reminded himself to kill his friends later.
"I'm Reverend Martin. I was on my way to perform a wedding, but the couple has been snowed in from wherever they were flying from. Are you planning on marrying here?"
Conall stared at Sage. There was no fear or hesitation in her gaze when she gave him a nod.
"Why not? We met here." She pursed her lips. "Wait, what about your family?"
"They'll throw us a party later. I don't have a ring for you."
"There's a jewelry store in Starview," Travis commented.
"What about a dress?" her mother asked.
"No," Sage spoke. "I'm fine marrying him right now."
After those words came from her mouth, things kind of blurred for him. They were separated, and his friends put him in a suit. Within the hour, Conall was waiting for her in the banquet hall so they could go through with the wedding. The doors opened, and Sage walked in with her family.
He found it difficult to breathe. She wore a skirt and a lovely blouse. He knew it had to have been her sister's, or recently purchased. The skirt was white with a slit in the front for her leg to flash through as she walked. The blouse she wore showed off her breasts to the best advantage, and her hair fell free around her face, the gradient cut softening the lines of her face.
"Beautiful," he mumbled.
Her father walked her to him and handed her over. The actual ceremony was also a blur, right up until the part where the minister said, "You may kiss the bride." And Conall did, with vigor.
"I love you, Sage Lennox."
"I have a question for you, husband."
Husband. He loved hearing that from her lips. "Ask."
"Whose room is closer?"
Laughter erupted from his chest and he leaned close to kiss her again. "Let's go."
They signed the papers and hurried on their way. Her family followed. He stopped at the door to his suite and looked at them all.
"This is where we say good-bye."
"But we need to have a party," her mom said.
"About to do that, but it's a private one."
Conall kissed Sage again, adoring the way she completely melted into his touch. She nipped his lower lip and he felt her hand sneaking into his shirt and working its way down.
Tearing his mouth from hers, he panted, "Yes. Gotta go. We'll see you tomorrow." Staring down at the love of his life, his gorgeous wife, he smiled. "I think this needs to be taken inside away from prying eyes."
He lifted her with one arm and pushed through into the room. The staff had stopped by and had left them some gifts in celebration of their marriage. He would look and be thankful later. Right now, he had something else on his mind.
"Wife."
She tucked some hair behind her ear. "Husband."
"I love you."
Her smile kicked him in the chest. "I love you, too."
Who knew if they'd leave the room tomorrow? Perhaps it would be the day after. All he knew was he had the woman provided by a holiday liaison and he couldn't be happier. He stepped toward her, but she shook her head and put her hand on the slit of her skirt.
"This is for you."
Sage drew her hand up and he groaned at the site of the white garter around her firm thigh. Conall dropped to his knees before her and went after it.
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Table of Contents
O, Come
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Rekindling Christmas
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Holiday Liaison
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Wonderland Page 29