Home For a Cowboy Christmas(68)

Ah. Now, he understood. “You’re better off without him.”

“I wasn’t enough.”

“With people like that, no one is ever enough. It has nothing to do with you.”

She snorted. “Maybe.”

“Without a doubt. There’s no excuse for cheating. If you want to be with someone else, then end things with whoever you’re with and move on.”

She lifted her head and opened her eyes long enough to say, “I agree.”

Zane didn’t want to like Cady, but he found himself leaning in that direction. Or maybe he just felt sorry for her.

“He was never really good in bed anyway. At least, I don’t have to deal with his clumsy attempt at foreplay anymore.”

Zane wasn’t sure whether to laugh or tell her that he was sorry she’d had to suffer through that. He debated how to respond for so long that he realized she hadn’t spoken again. “Cady,” he said, shaking her. “Cady, wake up.”

“Why won’t you let me sleep?” she asked grumpily.

“Because it isn’t good. Wait until we get to my place. You can warm up and sleep for as long as you like.”

She sniffed him. “You smell good. All … something. I can’t think of the word.”

This time he did chuckle. “I’m sure it’s horse.”

“No,” she said after making a sound in the back of her throat.

“Why don’t you like horses?”

“There was an incident.”

She drew out the last word as if it were some kind of secret. Zane smiled despite trying not to. “And what was the incident?”

“Everything is so white.”

“That’s what happens when it snows.”

“And cold,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “How does anyone live in this climate?”

He guided Brego around a fallen tree. “I could ask the same of your Texas heat. Do you even get snow in Austin?”

“It’s very rare.”

“You’ve never had a white Christmas?”

“I’ve worn shorts at Christmas.”

Zane chuckled as he shook his head. “I can’t even imagine.” Thankfully, the cabin came into view then. “We’re here, Cady.”

But she didn’t respond. He tried to shake her awake again, but she wouldn’t reply. The moment Brego reached the cabin, Zane gathered Cady in his arms and swung his leg over the horse’s head, sliding to the ground. She didn’t stir at the impact. Zane rushed up the two steps to the porch and opened the door.

He laid her on the sofa until he could get the fire going. Once it was roaring, he piled blankets and pillows on the floor before carrying her near the fire. He removed her boots and rubbed her icy feet with his hands. Then he covered her with blankets before going back out to see to Brego brushed down and put up in the stall with feed for the night.

Zane hurried back into the house and threw off the blankets to quickly and methodically remove everything but Cady’s bra and panties. He then tore off his clothes and lay down beside her before covering them both. He turned her onto her side and curled around her to give her as much of his body heat as he could.

He barely got settled before he heard the wind begin to howl, signaling the beginning of the storm. Zane had spent the morning getting ready for the blizzard. All the horses were in the barn and fed. There was nothing for them to do other than wait out the storm.

His gaze lowered to the blond locks of the female pressed against him. Tightly. He tried not to think about the fact they were practically naked. He thought of anything and everything, so his thoughts dwell on the fact Cady’s skin was the softest he’d ever felt.

But he failed miserably.

There was a woman in his arms. A beautiful, irritating woman. His cock stirred to life. Zane ground his teeth together and begged his body not to respond, but it was too late. Things got worse when she made a soft noise and wiggled her ass against him.

Zane fisted his hands. He would not touch her. It didn’t matter that his body responded to her because he knew what kind of woman she was. He’d been down that road once and had the scars to prove it. Nothing in the universe could get him to walk that path again.

No matter what his brain told his body, his cock had other ideas. Then again, his rod had never bothered to listen before. Why would it start now? It had a mind of its own and had proven that time and time again.

Zane closed his eyes and listened to the fire and the building storm. Eventually, it lulled him. He’d been up in the wee hours of the morning, getting everything ready before visiting his neighbors, the McCrackens, to help. The older couple had been surrogate parents to him for years, and though they said they didn’t need his help, he’d ignored them. They were in their early eighties, but neither wanted to sell the ranch. Unfortunately, none of their five kids wanted anything to do with it.

Once the McCrackens died, a big corporation would come in and snatch up the land for pennies on the dollar. Zane had seen it happen too many times. If things were different, he’d buy the place himself. But nothing had turned out like he had expected. He planned, and then life yanked the rug out from under him. So, he had stopped planning.

The next thing Zane knew, he woke. The cabin was dark, and the storm was in full swing. He extracted himself from Cady and rekindled the fire. He rubbed his hands together as a chill settled around him, then he crawled back under the covers with his unexpected roommate.