The Rancher's Christmas Promise. Allison Leigh

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СКАЧАТЬ the baby out of the cart and cuddle her close. Instead, after a stilted exchange with Ryder, she’d hustled her client through the checkout so fast that he’d wondered out loud if she’d slid through without paying for something. No. That’s what you like to do, she’d told him as she’d rushed him out the door.

      But now, when she got close enough to Ryder’s truck to see inside, her feet dragged to a halt.

      There was no car seat.

      Definitely no Layla.

      The disappointment that swamped her was so searing, it put the hot afternoon sun to shame. Her eyes stung and she blinked hard, quickening her pace once more only to feel her heel slide on the loose gravel. The heavy cake started tipping one way and she leveled the board, even as her shoulder banged against the side of his truck.

      She froze, holding her breath as she held the cake board aloft.

      “What the hell are you doing over here?”

      She was hot. Sweaty. And brokenhearted that she wasn’t getting a chance to see sweet Layla.

      “What do you care?” she snapped back. She was still holding the cake straight out from her body, and the weight of it was considerable. “Just open the door, would you please? If I don’t deliver this thing in one piece, Ali’s going to skin me alive.”

      He gave her a wide berth as he reached around her to open the door of the truck. “Let me take it.” His hands covered hers where she held the board, and she jerked as if he’d prodded her with a live wire.

      Her face went hot. “I don’t need your help.”

      He let go and held his hands up in the air. “Whatever.” He backed away.

      Nobody liked to feel self-conscious. Not even her.

      She turned away from him to set the cake board inside the truck, but it was too big to fit on the floor, which meant she’d have to hold it on her lap.

      Greer heaved out a breath and looked at Ryder. He wordlessly took the cake long enough for her to dump her briefcase and purse on the floor, and climb up on the high seat.

      “All settled now?” His voice was mild.

      For some reason, it annoyed her more than if he’d made some snarky comment.

      Unfortunately, that’s when she realized that she’d left her trunk open and the car unlocked.

      She slid off the seat again, mentally cursing ranchers and their too-big trucks as she jumped out onto the ground. Ignoring the amused glint in his dark blue eyes, she strode past him, grinding her teeth when her heel again slid on the loose gravel.

      She’d have landed on her butt if not for the quick hand he shot out to steady her.

      She shrugged off his touch as if she’d been burned but managed a grudging “thank you.” It figured that he could manage to hold on to the heavy cake and still keep her from landing on her butt.

      She finally made it to her car without further mishap and secured it. The passenger door of his truck was still open and waiting for her when she returned.

      She climbed inside and fastened the safety belt. Then he settled the enormous, heavy cake on her lap, taking an inordinate amount of time before sliding his big, warm hands away.

      As soon as he did, she yanked the door closed.

      The cool air flowed from the air-conditioning vents.

      It was the only bright spot, and gave a suitable reason for the shivers that skipped down her spine.

      She wrapped her hands firmly around the edge of the cake board to hold it in place while Ryder circled the front of the truck and got in behind the wheel.

      His blue eyes skated over and she shivered again. Despite the heat. Despite the perspiration soaking her blouse.

      Annoyance swelled inside her.

      “I hope you have someone decent watching Layla.”

      His expression turned chilly. “I’ve got plenty of things I needed to be doing besides stopping to help you out. You really want to go there?”

      She pressed her lips together. If Maddie ever found out she’d been rude to Ryder, her sister would never forgive her.

      “Just drive,” she said ungraciously.

      He lifted an eyebrow slightly.

      God. She really hated feeling self-conscious.

      “Please,” she added.

      He waited a beat. “Better.” Then he put the truck in gear.

       Chapter Two

      “I knew you’d be late.”

      Greer ignored Ali’s greeting as she entered the stately old mansion that Maddie shared with her husband, Lincoln Swift. She kicked the heavy front door closed, blocking out the sound of Ryder’s departing truck. Passing the round table in the foyer loaded down with fancifully wrapped gifts and the grand wooden staircase, she headed into the dining room with the cake.

      The sight of a cheerfully decorated sheet cake already sitting in the middle of the table shredded her last nerve.

      She stared over her shoulder at Ali. Her sister looked uncommonly pretty in a bright yellow sundress. More damningly, Ali was as cool and fresh as the daisy she’d stuck in her messy ponytail. “You have a backup cake?”

      “Of course I have a backup cake.” Ali waved her hands, and the big diamond rock that Grant had put on her ring finger a few months earlier glinted in the sunlight shining through the mullioned windows. “Because I knew you would be late! You’re always late, because you’re always working for that slave driver over at the dark side.”

      “Well, I wouldn’t have been late, if I hadn’t broken down on the way back from Weaver! Now would you move that stupid cake so I can put this one down where it belongs?”

      “Girls!” Their mother, Meredith, dashed into the dining room, accompanied by the usual tinkle of tiny bells on the ankle bracelet she wore. “This is supposed to be a party.” She tsked. “You’re thirty years old and you still sound as if you’re bickering ten-year-olds.” She whisked the offending backup cake off the table. “Ali, put this in the kitchen.”

      Ali took the sheet cake from their mother and crossed her eyes at Greer behind their mother’s back while Greer set Tabby’s masterpiece in its place.

      “It’s just beautiful,” Meredith exclaimed, clasping her hands together. Despite her chastisement, her eyes were sparkling. “Maddie’s going to love it.” As she turned away, the dark hair she’d passed on to her daughters danced in corkscrew curls nearly to the small of her back. “It’s just too bad that Tabby wasn’t able to come to the party.”

      “If Gracie weren’t running a fever, she’d СКАЧАТЬ