A Texas Soldier's Christmas. Cathy Thacker Gillen

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      NORA FELL ASLEEP listening to the sound of the rain still drumming on the roof and thinking about Zane. She woke to the sound of an even softer rain and Liam starting ever so gently to fuss.

      By the time she had changed her son’s diaper and put him in a new playsuit, the sumptuous smell of breakfast cooking filled the air.

      She went downstairs, not all that surprised to see Zane standing at her stove, making himself completely at home. Bare-chested, with his jeans riding just below his navel, he looked sexy as hell. It was all she could do not to run her fingers through his rumpled hair and rub her cheek against the morning beard lining his square jaw.

      HE SMILED WARMLY at her and the baby in her arms. “I’ll be out of here as soon as my shirts are dry. In the meantime I thought you might be as hungry as I am.”

      She was.

      Trying not to think how often he had made breakfast for her in the past, never mind how often they had made hot, passionate love to each other after that, she eased past him. Retrieved a bottle of formula from the fridge. “What are you making?”

      He looked in the pantry, emerged with a bag of tortilla chips. “Migas.”

      Her favorite.

      And he’d brewed coffee and poured juice, too.

      This was all so cozy. Too cozy.

      She put Liam’s bottle in the warmer, still cuddling her son close, then looked out the window at the water pouring down.

      He followed her glance. “Yep, it’s still raining.”

      She had hoped it would have stopped by now, but that did not look very likely, given the gloomy skies overheard.

      Zane cast a glance at her drenched shrubbery and lawn. “No thunder, though.” He beamed as Liam offered him a toothy grin. Reaching out, he gently touched her son’s cheek. Liam chortled softly in response.

      Zane slid his little finger into her son’s tiny fist.

      Liam held on tight.

      The way Nora wanted to hold on...

      Oblivious to her forbidden thoughts, Zane regarded her son, then lifted his glance to meet her gaze. “I forgot to ask you last night. Do you have to work today?”

      Acutely aware of how wonderful it would have been if Liam had been Zane’s child, Nora shook off her wistful mood. She swallowed around the sudden parched feeling in her throat and forced herself to meet Zane’s eyes. “No. I’ve got the day off.”

      Liam jerked on Zane’s hand. Grinning at the mingled demand and curiosity in her son’s baby blue eyes, Zane stepped closer still. His smile widened as Liam chortled happily.

      Zane nuzzled Liam’s knuckle, eliciting another happy gurgle, then smiled again and turned his attention back to her. “Any plans?” he asked, that charismatic intensity solely focused on her now.

      He smelled like toothpaste and soap. And pure, primal man.

      Blushing at the memories the tantalizing fragrance elicited, Nora turned her attention away from Zane and plucked the bottle out of the warmer.

      Working to corral her escalating feelings, she sat down at the table to feed Liam. “My sitter is coming at ten o’clock. I was going to go get a Christmas tree, but with it raining, I don’t know that it’s the best time to try and pick one out. I wouldn’t be able to bring it inside until it dried out anyway, so I’ll probably get a jump on my holiday shopping instead.”

      Still listening, he crumbled chips in his fist, and stirred them into the pan of scrambled eggs and cheese.

      Nora drew a deep breath as the Tex-Mex aroma filled the room. “In any case, not to worry,” she continued, giving him a look to let him know this meal would not be followed with the usual passionate lovemaking. “I can drive you over to get your pickup truck and drop your jacket off for cleaning on the way.”

      Zane flashed a sexy smile. “Actually, I’ll take care of the dry cleaning if you do me a favor.” He spooned up a plate of migas and a side of salsa, and carried both over to her.

      Curious, she met his eyes. It was unlike him to drive a bargain. Usually he gave, then walked away. Thereby keeping control of the situation. But now he clearly wanted something from her. Something he seemed unsure she would be willing to give.

      Aware this was a first, she looked at him, waiting.

      He grabbed his breakfast and sat down opposite her, their knees touching briefly beneath the table. Then, his emotions suddenly as fired up as hers, said, “Come out and see the ranch my father left me in his will. And give me your unvarnished opinion about what you think I should do with it.”

       Chapter Four

      Nora told herself the only reason she was following Zane out to his ranch was because she was interested in seeing exactly what he had inherited from his late father.

      Well, that, and it had been a good way to get the sexy soldier out her door, back to his pickup truck and on his merry way as fast as possible. Before she started wanting to make love with him again... Which, she promised herself resolutely as she followed him out of town in her minivan, she most certainly did not.

      Being completely alone with him without her son as an emotional shield, however, proved more challenging than she had expected. Luckily, they had the No Name Ranch he had inherited to focus on.

      The two-thousand-acre spread was surrounded on all sides by barbed wire fence and covered with scrub vegetation and the occasional strand of trees.

      In the center of the long-neglected land, a half mile back from the road, there was a newly renovated A-frame ranch house with a raised wraparound deck. Inside, everything from the wood floor to the open kitchen-family-living area and big masculine furniture on the first floor bore the same neutral brown and gray color palette as the exterior.

      Zane’s king-size bed and a luxurious bath with steam shower dominated the loft-style second floor. A lone duffel sat on the floor in the wide-open space, reminding Nora just how light Zane traveled.

      She headed back downstairs, determined to stay just long enough to be polite before getting back into her minivan and heading out to Christmas shop, as planned. “Your brother and sister-in-law did a nice job on this for you. Did Molly and Chance pick out the furniture, too?”

      “Actually, I told them not to furnish it, since up until a few days ago—”

      When he’d learned about Liam, Nora realized uncomfortably. And jumped to the erroneous conclusion her child was his...

      “—my intention was to sell.”

      Made sense, she noted, since he was rarely in Texas. “And property with a move-in-ready home fetches a much higher price,” she guessed, shivering a little.

      “Right.” He strode to the thermostat and made an adjustment. The furnace kicked on with a purr.

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