“Close?” He slipped a hand underneath her skirt, rubbing his roughened palm over her thighs. “They say close only counts in hand grenades, Red.”
She felt herself blush. “My hair’s not really red.”
“Don’t tell me that,” he said, teasing her nipple through her blouse. “I have a thing for red ponytails.” He tugged her close. “Yours is the only one I’ve ever seen. That makes it special. Unique. And I like it.”
He kissed her, and she heated up like Fiona’s gingerbread. “Johnny,” she said with a gasp, pulling away, “I have to tell you something. Gage is my cousin. He’s not really a date at all.”
Johnny laughed, and the sound was low and husky. She gave a squeak as he tugged her over him. She felt an exploring finger dangerously near her thong.
“I know, my sweet,” Johnny said. “I asked Sam who Gage was before I chased you down into the basement.
He happened to remember him from a cattle deal they did together a long time ago.”
“That’s not fair,” Jess said. “You’re not supposed to stack the deck in your favor.”
Johnny massaged her thigh as his lips took a dangerous trail down her neck. “I wasn’t going to let you get away. And the uniform’s lucky that he’s related to you.”
“Why?” Jess asked. “I don’t like jealous men.”
Johnny chuckled, and the sound made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
“I was going to send him on a really long errand for more ice for the party.”
“The only place that sells ice anywhere around here is the bait store, and they’re closed for the holidays. Everyone is here,” Jess said.
“Right,” Johnny said. “And I’d have you all to myself.”
“Would you really have sent him off on a wild-goose chase?”
He’d made his way down to where her bra hooked together under the silky blouse, with a diamante, bow-shaped clasp. Jess was suddenly anxious to take the garment off for Johnny.
“Sure,” he said. “I’d have done that. Fiona totally endorsed the plan.”
“Oh, Fiona.” Jess straightened. “I forgot about Fiona!” She jumped from Johnny’s lap. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
He shrugged and followed her to the door. When he pushed the button, the door opened and the stairs slid down.
Jess looked at him, outraged. “You knew all the time that we weren’t trapped in here!”
He grinned and gave her a tiny swat. “You have boy-sweeps-girl-off-her-feet fantasies. I’ll see what I can do about that.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll go down first, thanks.”
“Don’t trust me?”
“No,” Jess said. “I know you’ll look up my skirt.”
“Hell, yes,” Johnny said with a wink. “Ladies first.”
He really was annoying, Jess decided as she made her way down.
“Hey,” Johnny said from the top of the stairs, “don’t you need to find the next all-important clue?”
She blushed. “Okay, that’s embarrassing,” she admitted, going back up the ladder. “If you’d just stop kissing me so I could think—”
“Right,” Johnny said as she crested the stairs, and swept her into his arms.
Honestly, it’s like being hunted by the big bad wolf, Jess thought, kissing him as if she hadn’t seen him in years. But I think I like being caught.
Chapter Five
The last thing Johnny wanted to do was stop kissing the armful of sexy redhead currently flattened up against him, matching him hot kiss for hot kiss. It was astonishing how much the woman liked to kiss.
He couldn’t get enough of her. “I could do this all night,” he said, “but I have to deprive you of your pleasure. Sorry, doll.”
Jess gave him an impatient eye roll as he set her away from him. Oh, if she only knew how much he hated to release her.
“What are you talking about, you big ape?” Jess demanded.
A grin split his face. He couldn’t help himself; she was just so darn cute, and when she glared at him all mock-offended like that, it just tore him up. “I’ll let you kiss me like a starving woman later, and I may even kiss you back. But I just heard the gong, and according to the rules, the gong signals an hour left until midnight. You know what that means, don’t you?”
“That I’m going to smack your big pumpkin head?” Jess asked, not even bothering to wipe the disappointment from her face, which he thought made her even more cute, if that was possible. “Or that you’re going to turn into a rat, like the one that drove Cinderella’s carriage?”
“Now, now,” he said, giving her bottom a slight pat. When he’d discovered her sweet little butt was practically bare except for that tiny thong underneath that short, belled skirt, well, his palms just itched to stroke those juicy cheeks. He’d spent a good portion of the day watching her bounce up and down on the back of a horse, and he knew exactly how sweet and sassy her derriere was. “If you can keep from smooching me, we’ll see about winning this scavenger hunt.”
“I can keep from kissing you, you big lug,” Jess said. “Whether I can keep from killing you is another matter.” But she went back over to the tiny Christmas tree and picked up a small gift. “This has my name on it.”
“See how easy this is when you pay attention? Mine is right here.” Johnny reached for a small red box with a gold ribbon. “I saw these earlier.”
“You already knew they were here?” Outrage returned to Jess’s voice. “We’ve been losing precious time!”
He shrugged, which he knew would get her goat even more, and he really liked doing that because she got all bent out of shape. She was so tiny, and thought she was so tough. “You kept kissing me. I didn’t want to spoil your fun.”
Jess glared at him and ripped her box open. A key fell into her hand. “It matches the one I already have. I thought I was looking for a lock, but it’s another key.”
Johnny tore open his box. “Keys seem to be the theme of the night. Let’s go,” he said, dropping his key into his stocking. “Unless you want to take my lips for another spin—”
“I don’t.”
She was so flustered she let him go down the ladder first. Naturally, he had to watch her come down—just because she’d taunted him about sneaking a peek up her skirt—and earned himself the erection of a lifetime. He caught her in his arms when she was halfway down the ladder. “That was the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen,” he growled into her ear. “If you’re trying to drive me wild, you’ve just succeeded.”
“Isn’t this a merry Christmas?” Fiona asked cheerily. “Is everyone having a good time filling up their stockings?”
“Indeed,” Johnny said as Jess wiggled out of his arms.
“No,” Jess declared, glaring at him as she smoothed down the emerald-green skirt.
“That’s nice, children,” Fiona said, sailing past them with a delighted smile on her face. “One hour to gather all the goodies you can!”
“Read the next hint,” Johnny suggested, but Jess left in a huff, striding off in her high-heeled silver sandals. “She’s crazy about me,” he said to no one, and read the next clue to himself.
None of the rest of his hints led him back to Jess. At midnight, everyone gathered back together to discuss their winnings, including Gage and Jess. Wendy stuck to Johnny’s side like glue.
“I lost you, cowboy,” she said. “But look what I found!” She held up a beautiful turquoise necklace, clearly delighted with it. “I’m going to let you put this on me later.”
He gulped. “Um…”
Wendy gave him a possessive wink. “Actually, would you put it on me now? It’s so lovely, it’s a shame not to wear it.”
Johnny knew he couldn’t refuse—it would be rude—so he took the necklace and fastened it at the back of her neck. He did so as quickly as he could, trying to keep his fingers from even accidentally brushing her skin, but she caught his hands to her neck and gave them a squeeze. “I’m so happy you invited m
e,” she trilled, her voice carrying across the room.
Of course Jess took that moment to disappear with her date. Good and trapped with Wendy, Johnny shook his head, scarcely aware that Fiona and Santa Burke were tossing candy and trinkets to the revelers.
“Merry Christmas!” Fiona called. “Rancho Diablo wishes you the happiest and brightest holidays of all!”
The merrymakers filed out with lots of good wishes and laughter. Wendy clasped Johnny’s hand in hers. “That was so much fun!” she gushed. “Drive me home, and let’s see if I can make your Christmas even brighter!”
He let out a groan when, at the stroke of midnight, he saw Jess running across the lawn. She lost a silver sandal when it sank into the drive, but Gage picked it up for her—and then gunned his truck and drove off, carrying Johnny’s fiery, redheaded Cinderella away.
TEN MINUTES LATER, Johnny returned to Rancho Diablo. He’d won a set of beautiful handcrafted spurs at the end of his scavenger hunt, but he’d lost the girl, so he was feeling pretty low. “Hand me a bag,” he told Rafe, “and I’ll pick up trash from the front lawn.” All the brothers were engaged in party cleanup. Five o’clock chores came early, so Johnny was determined to help.
“Don’t be neat about it,” Rafe told him. “Just scoop stuff into the sack. We’ll do a more thorough cleaning tomorrow.” He shot Johnny a questioning look. “What did you do to Jess, by the way? She took off in a hurry.”
Johnny shrugged, feeling a little forlorn. Jess’s departure bothered him. “I don’t think I did anything to her.”
“I think you did,” Rafe said, tying off a full sack before tossing it into the back of his truck, where several other bags were already stacked. “I think I heard her call you a jackass or something when Wendy made you her very generous offer.”
“Oh, crap,” Johnny said. “Wendy was just being Wendy. I think.”
“Yeah,” Rafe said, “she’s the party favor that keeps on favoring.”
A sigh escaped Johnny. “She’d have been better off letting Sam take her home, because I didn’t let her kiss me good-night.”
“Nah, Sam was just being nice when he let her kiss him. He’s not interested in her. He’s got eyes for another lady around here, although he won’t admit it.”
“Who?” Johnny demanded. “Warn me.”
Rafe laughed. “No way. But if you stay away from girls whose names start with S, you’ll keep your head.”
“I’m more worried about not teeing off my employer.” Johnny dumped a handful of clear plastic cups into his sack before saying, “I didn’t mean to hurt Jess’s feelings. That’s the last thing I’d ever do.”
“So if you like her, why don’t you go see her?”
It sounded so simple. But Rafe couldn’t understand that it really wasn’t. “I’ll probably run across her one day.”
“Man,” Rafe said, “I would never have thought of you as a chicken. Aberdeen always talks about you like you’re her invincible brother.”
“I might be, but this is exactly what Jess didn’t want you doing—matchmaking.” Johnny realized Jess was completely correct about the Callahans. It was so easy to get caught up in their game, because the whole clan was so darn nice about it, and it was all in good fun. And then the next thing you knew, you were marching up to the altar with a grin on your face.
And I am a committed bachelor. Or at least I was, until I let Jess kiss me.
But being the hot topic of Diablo wasn’t what Jess wanted, and she didn’t like everyone pushing her into marriage. She’d been very clear about that, and it hadn’t been twenty-four hours since she’d told him.
He totally understood why she would feel the way she did. Diablo was a small town. Having everyone who’d known you since you were a baby try to mold you to their way of life would be annoying. He got that. It was best if he stayed far away from Jess, particularly as he wanted, above all, to remain friends with her.
They would just consider this a little Christmas skirmish between the two of them. It had been the call of the mistletoe—and even he had lost his head for a moment.
“We don’t matchmake,” Rafe said, his tone perplexed.
Johnny grunted and went on filling up his garbage sack, until all the party litter was tossed in the truck bed.
The Christmas Eve ball was over for another year.
“Merry Christmas,” Rafe said, as he and Johnny headed to the bunkhouse to find their beds. “Glad you made your way to Diablo.”
“Me, too,” Johnny answered. “I appreciate being here at the ranch with all of you. It means a lot to me to be around Aberdeen and Diane, and all my nieces. More than you can know.”
It was true. And the way to stay here without everyone being all up in his business—or annoyed as hell with him—was to leave one of their favorite town daughters alone.
Johnny put his silver spurs on the nightstand and fell into his bed, knowing he was going to dream about one woman, and how much he liked kissing her—even if he never would get to again.
JOHNNY WAS SLEEPING like a dead man, zoned out to the whole world and dreaming—of snow and Santa’s village and maybe peachy perfume a certain redhead wore—when from somewhere faraway he heard rapping.
It sounded like knocking on a window. His window.
Strangely, the noise wouldn’t go away, even when he turned on his side and tried to ignore it.
“Damn it, Johnny!” Sam yelled. “Would you let Jess in so we can sleep?”
“Jess?” Johnny sat up. Rubbing his face, he got out of bed, sure he was dreaming.
Yet there she was, still in her beautiful green skirt and silver heels. “Hey,” she said when he slid the window up.
“Hey.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Merry Christmas, Red.”
“Same to you.”
He grinned at her. “Can’t leave me alone, can you?”
She gave him a pointed glare. “I need you.”
“Of course you do, sugar. I’ll be right there.” He turned to leave, then went back to the window, where a crisp breeze was blowing through the opening. It had to be all of twenty-five degrees outside. “Aren’t you freezing?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “But you’ll probably want a coat.”
Was she implying he was tender? Soft skinned? He was from Wyoming, and no lightweight when it came to frigid temperatures. He eyed her bare legs and arms, then grabbed Sam’s coat for her on the way out. “Put this on if you’re going to run around bare-hineyed all night.”
“You may be the most irritating man I’ve ever met,” Jess said. “In fact, let me just go ahead and clarify that you are.”
“So what’s up, sweetheart? It’s kind of cold to make out under the stars, but I’m game if you are. I’ve never rung in Christmas with a hot redhead.”
She ignored that. “Come help me with Raj.”
He followed after her to her truck. “What’s wrong with him?”
Turning on the ignition, she backed down the drive. “When I got home, he had himself wedged in the stall. He was trying to get to another horse, I guess, or something spooked him. He tore his shoulder. I need to give him an injection, and see if I can patch his shoulder until I can get the vet out.”
Johnny blinked. It was past one. He could understand her reluctance to call a veterinarian now. “Wasn’t the vet at Fiona’s shindig?”
“Yes, and he’s gone to the next town over to deliver a calf. He won’t be able to come for another hour or more.”
Johnny heard the concern in Jess’s voice. “I’ll do what I can to help,” he promised, and she nodded.
Johnny noticed snowflakes coming down, and figured Fiona was probably thrilled that the weather had been perfect for her party. But it was cold enough now for the precipitation to freeze, which meant that the snow would probably stick to the roads.
White Christmases were awesome, he told himself, and at least he was with Jess.
TEN MINUTES LATER, Johnny found himself with a face full of mud and an
unhappy horse on his hands.
“Sorry about that,” Jess said. “I told you I needed you. Raj tends to be a bit needle phobic.”
“Is that possible for a horse?” Johnny brushed mud from his hair, where the big animal had thrown a few clods to express his opinion about anyone bandaging his shoulder. “I wouldn’t think Raj would care what you do to him.”
“You do care, don’t you, big boy?” She patted the horse on the opposite shoulder and gave him a carrot from her jeans pocket. She’d changed before she’d driven down to the barn, and she looked good in jeans, Johnny had to admit. He missed the flouncy green skirt, though.
“This should hold until morning, when the vet comes,” she was telling Raj. “And I moved your lady friend down the aisle so you can stay out of trouble.”
“That wouldn’t keep me out of trouble,” Johnny said. “I’d just try harder to see her if she was far away.”
“Really.” Jess gave him a you-don’t-understand-horses look. “Raj is a gelding. He’s concerned about his friend, but he won’t try to break down the gate to get to her.”
“Oh, it’s not serious, then.” Johnny winked at her.
She backed up a step. “I’m sorry I woke you. However, I didn’t know who else to turn to. The Callahans would have helped me, but frankly, you don’t try to tell me what to do when it comes to horses.”
He looked at her. “So you’re saying you wanted my strength but not my brain.”
“Right.” She turned to leave the barn. “Come on. I’ll offer you a cup of tea.”
“I’ll pass on that.” Johnny figured Jess had to be shivering, because the cold was getting even to him. “If I could just trouble you for a drive back to Rancho Diablo, that’d suit me fine.”
She seemed to hesitate, then recovered. “Sure. Hop in, Wyoming.”
And just like that, it was as if they’d never shared hot kisses. She went all professional on him, and he didn’t run his fingers through her hair and down her blouse as he wanted to, and both of them were happy now.
Holiday in a Stetson: The Sheriff Who Found ChristmasA Rancho Diablo Christmas Page 12