On a Snowy Christmas Night. Debbi Rawlins

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СКАЧАТЬ she rearranged it… twice. Then she stepped back with a critical eye, and bit at her lower lip.

      When it looked as if she were going to start over, he stopped her. “You invite guests I don’t know about?”

      She blinked at him. “What?”

      God save him from perfectionists. “It’s fine, Shea.”

      She followed his gaze and stared at the blanket. “Oh. Right.” Her cheek dimpled with her smile. “Don’t worry. I’m not really crazy. A little compulsive, absentminded sometimes, but nothing certifiable.” She rubbed her palms down the front of her jeans, then picked up the thermos and unscrewed the top.

      “You mind me asking what you do for a living?”

      She hesitated. “I’m a software engineer.” She glanced around. “Do we have another cup?”

      He rooted in the saddlebag for a tin cup he used when camping, wondering if that meant she was a computer jockey. “Here.”

      “I’ll pour.”

      Holding the cup up to her, he watched while she focused on filling it within a quarter inch of the rim. “That’s good.”

      “Oops, I should’ve asked if you’d be adding cream and sugar.”

      “Nope. I drink it black. So do you, so I didn’t bring any.”

      “How did you know that?” she asked, staring at him and absently blowing the long bangs out of her eyes.

      “Last night. After dinner.” He took a quick sip. The warmth felt good going down. “You didn’t use cream or sugar.”

      “Oh.” She tilted her head to the side, as if mulling over what he’d said. “What do you do for a living?”

      The question stopped him. Last time he’d been asked he was sitting in a bar in Vegas near Nellis Air Force Base. A blonde had sidled up to him and it was obvious she already knew he was a pilot before she’d opened her mouth. One fine thing about flying, you never had to be without a woman. But that night he’d lied, told her he was in data entry. She’d disappeared in seconds.

      “I work at the ranch.” He shrugged. “Doing whatever needs doing.”

      “I suppose that makes sense.” She poured coffee for herself then seemed flustered that she didn’t have a free hand to screw the thermos cap back on.

      Jesse set his cup aside, took the thermos from her and completed the task. “You sound doubtful.”

      “Do I?” She pursed her lips. “Probably because you seem different than Cole and Trace.”

      “They look like real cowboys and I don’t?”

      Shea frowned thoughtfully. “That might be it.”

      He’d been teasing so that made him laugh.

      “What?” She wrapped both hands around her cup and sipped, staring warily at him over the rim. She looked so earnest he had no idea what to make of her.

      “Let’s sit.” He indicated the blanket she’d painstakingly spread. “I’m hungry.”

      She reached behind and rubbed her butt and lower back. “I think I’ll stand.”

      He cringed inwardly at the pinched expression on her face. Probably his fault. “Too long in the saddle?”

      “No, I just need to loosen up.” She shivered. “And warm up.”

      “Here.” He set down his coffee and unzipped his jacket.

      “What are you doing?”

      “Wear this. It’ll help—”

      “No.” She moved back. “I’m not taking your jacket.”

      “I’ll be okay.”

      “No, absolutely not.” She retreated another step and coffee sloshed onto her hand.

      He took the cup from her, then finished shrugging out of his jacket. “My fault. I should’ve made sure you were dressed appropriately to come up here.”

      “Please,” she said tightly. “I’m not comfortable with this.”

      Jesse was the one to step back this time. He made sure there was plenty of space between them, wondering what she thought he was going to do. Jesus, he’d clearly given her the wrong idea.

      “I’m sorry,” he said, hooking the jacket onto his thumb and putting up both hands. “I didn’t mean anything.”

      “No.” Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned pink. “No, it’s not you. It’s just… I can’t let you freeze because I hadn’t planned well. I’d feel awful.”

      Relieved, he smiled. “Hey, I’m made of tough cowboy stock. I eat bullets for breakfast. I can take the cold.”

      “Put your jacket on,” she said, with a small upward tilt of her lips. “Even your ears are red.”

      He touched them. Ice cold. The downside of wearing his hair so short. “Okay, this is how it’s going to be.…” He slid on his jacket but didn’t zip it. Then he swooped up the blanket she’d carefully arranged. He shook off the clinging pebbles and dried leaves, folded the blanket in half and threw it around her shoulders.

      “What—?” She tried to back up but he stopped her.

      He gathered the ends together under her chin, aware that his fingers had brushed her breasts. The contact was innocent and unintentional, the down jacket thick enough that he didn’t feel the need to apologize. That would make it worse.

      “Come on,” he said, pulling the blanket more snugly around her. “Doesn’t this feel better?”

      She shuddered again, huddled under the blanket and stared at him with eyes slightly wide, slightly confused. Her gloved hands slid over his to grasp the bunched wool. “Thank you.”

      “Got it?” he asked, then waited for her to nod before releasing his hold.

      “Now we don’t have anyplace to sit.”

      He zipped his jacket and indicated an outcropping of rocks close to the semifrozen stream. “How about over there?”

      “If you’d rather, we can turn around.”

      “Is that what you want to do?”

      She tilted her head back, her gaze lifted to the sky. She wore little makeup, if any, but then she didn’t need anything. Her lashes were even thicker than he’d thought last night, and the more he looked into her gray-blue eyes, the more interesting they seemed. And her skin… it looked soft, really silky. Good thing he wasn’t one to give in to impulse. He sure had a powerful itch to run his thumb across her cheek to see for himself.

      “I love being out here. But I don’t want to interfere with your work.” СКАЧАТЬ