Merry Cowboy Christmas (Lucky Penny Ranch #3)(51)

“I swear, it’s colder here than it was in Wichita Falls, and that ground is so slippery that you could ski to work if we lived on a mountain.”

Fiona giggled.

“What’s so funny about that?” he asked.

“I’m imagining you in a cowboy hat and boots on skis.”

He shut his eyes before he put the truck in gear and smiled. “Well, I’m imagining you in a hot pink bikini on skis.”

“Silly cowboy.” She swatted at his biceps. “Redheads don’t wear hot pink.”

“Oh, honey, in my mind you do and it looks almighty fine.” He wiggled his head but did not open his eyes. “There you go down the mountain slope. Swoosh, swoosh. And the ice and snow is melting behind you because you are so damned hot in that pink bikini. Your hair is blowing in the wind and oh, there’s a cameraman taking pictures for me.”

“Did you get too close to that lady in the cart and breathe in some of whatever she’d been smoking?” Fiona asked.

His eyes snapped open and he backed the truck out, turned it around, and started down the lane. “Dammit! Why did you have to replace my beautiful picture with that one?”

“It’s late and we’ve both got to get up early,” she said.

“We still need to put those snow tires on Katy’s car. We can pull it over into one of the barns on the Lucky Penny on Sunday and take care of it. You’ll drive real careful until then, right?”

“I don’t need you to tell me how to drive, Jud Dawson.”

“Says the woman who ran through our barbed wire fence into a tree.” Jud chuckled, taking the sting out of his words.

“Hey now!”

“Aw, c’mon, I’m just teasing you. You’re even more gorgeous when you start to get all indignant.”

“Are we flirting?” she asked bluntly. “It’s been so long since I did any of that I’m not sure that I wouldn’t have to drag out the Flirting for Dummies book to refresh my memories.”

“Darlin’, you don’t need a book. All you have to do is flutter those pretty eyelashes and smile. Here we are. Want to make out in the truck or is it past your curfew?”

She opened the truck door. “No to both. Let’s get inside and go to bed.”

“Oh, I do like that idea much better,” Jud said with a wicked grin.

“Rephrase. We should go inside and get some sleep.”

She stepped out into the snow and her feet almost slipped out from under her. So much for slick-soled boots. Very carefully, she made her way from truck to porch and held on to the railing as she went up the three steps. She used her key to open the door, slipped inside, and flipped on the foyer light, then turned around to shut the door and ran right into Jud’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her, held her steady until she could get her bearings, and then tipped her chin up with his thumb.

Every fiber in her body wanted the kiss. Every bit of her brain said that she should take two steps back. She listened to the loudest inner voice and moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue.

Lord have mercy! Sometime during the fourth long, lingering kiss—or was it the fifth or sixth?—she managed to shuck out of her coat and throw it on the foyer floor.

She was panting when Jud started guiding her backward up the steps. He lost his coat somewhere about the third step and by the sixth one, she gave a little tug on the top pearl snap and revealed a whole bed of soft light brown hair on his chest. Her arms left his neck and pulled the shirt free, then found their way to his muscular back. She’d never known that cold fingers on warm skin could make her forget everything, including her name and where they were.

Her shirt left her body and dropped not far from his on the landing right before she felt the cold bedroom door on her back. Jud pressed firmly against her front, leaving no doubt he was every bit as aroused as she was.

One hand found its way up under her shirt while he drove her absolutely wild when his mouth brushed the tender area right under her earlobe and worked the hooks on her bra. Her hand was deftly managing her belt buckle while the other one tried desperately to locate the doorknob behind her. The bed would be so much more comfortable than wrapping her legs around his waist and having wild sex against the wall.

A door slammed.

Fiona’s breath caught in her chest.

Jud laid a finger over her lips.

“Damn kids!” Truman ranted. “Throw their coats on the floor. Leave the lights on and I’ll be damned if they didn’t leave the door unlocked, too. I bet they came home drunk and tomorrow morning Jud will have a beauty of a hangover. So much for him helping me.”

The lock on the front door clicked shut.

“Guess I’ll have to start waiting up for them to be sure things is locked up and we ain’t wastin’ electricity. Kids today ain’t got a lick of sense.”

The lights went out, throwing everything into darkness.

“Dammit! More snow and cold weather makes my bones hurt like the devil. Wonder if Dora June still has any of that liniment she used to brew up when we first married. Hell, no! It burned up in our house if she did have any.”

The kitchen light sent a sliver of illumination up the steps but not much. Fiona giggled and Jud stifled it with a kiss but the mood had been broken and everything was funny.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been called a damn kid,” she whispered.