Page 23 of Cowboy Stolen Kiss for Christmas

“This.” He eloquently spread his hands to take in the wide table weighed down with snowmen. “This is the real reason I came to Pinetop.”

“To make money off a set of stolen designs?” Her voice was brittle. “My designs?”

His expression seemed to crumble. “Of course not! Don’t you get it?” His voice grew hoarse with urgency. “I wanted to help bring one of your dreams to life. To show you what could’ve been if I hadn’t given up on us. To show you what we can still have together if you’re willing to give us another chance.”

She was momentarily rendered speechless. The last thing she’d expected was for him to admit outright what he’d done, much less turn it into some twisted attempt at proving he’d done it for her.

“I’m not ready to give up on us, Laura.” His voice grew silky soft.

“But you did.” She finally found her voice. “That’s exactly what you did. You’ve betrayed my trust on so many levels. This isn’t right.” She waved her hands at the snowmen nutcrackers. “You did this without my permission, and you’re making money off of it.”

His mouth twisted bitterly. “So that’s it, huh? You’re gonna just report me and get me kicked out of town?”

“I didn’t say that.” She lifted her chin. “I think I have a right to know what you’re doing with the money.”

He blew out a gusty breath. “Listen. If you want a cut?—”

“I said I want to know what you’re doing with the money,” she snapped.

“What do you think?” His expression grew shuttered. “I’m sending it to the nursing home in Nevada like I always do. Got both of my grandparents there now.”

And now we’re back into morally gray territory. Were there no depths the man wouldn’t stoop to? Even so, she couldn’t bear the thought of pulling the plug on his sales cold turkey and indirectly getting his grandparents pitched out of their nursing home into the street.

“How about you consider the snowmen my donation to charity?” Her voice grew chilly. “But if you ever again take something from me without my permission, I’m going to the police.”

A matching brand of frigidness glinted in his eyes. Then he ducked his head, effectively hiding it from view. “You still care. This proves it.”

“All it proves is that I’ve had to forgive you twice.” Her words dropped like ice cubes between them.

“I still care.” He yanked his head up to meet her gaze. The coldness had disappeared. “How could I not? You’re the kindest, most beautiful person I’ve ever met.” His voice grew pleading.

Yet you were awfully quick to let me go. It was going to take a lot more than a few rapid-fire apologies and cheap compliments to convince her that he’d changed. So far, she hadn’t seen any evidence of that. On the contrary, she was finding out things she’d never known about him, things that were starting to make her wonder if she’d ever truly known him in the first place.

It was no fun facing her sister and parents following her decision not to press charges against Brex.

“You mean you’re just going to let him off the hook?” Lucy looked ready to explode.

Ames’ gaze narrowed on hers. “What about the oversight committee? Even if you don’t press charges, they could at least boot him from the craft fair and make him ineligible to participate in any future ones around Pinetop.”

She shook her head. “Considering what he’s using the money for…” It was difficult to explain, but she tried. “I get that what he’s doing is wrong, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I had any part in his failure to continue making payments to his grandparents’ nursing home.”

“Yes, it’s wrong!” Lucy threw her hands into the air. “On so many levels that I don’t even know where to begin!”

“She’s right.” Ames’ sad expression almost did Laura in. It was one thing for him to be irritated by Brex’s dishonesty. It was another thing entirely for him to be disappointed in her.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured to him as she walked him to his truck. “For the first time since we’ve met, I don’t think I want to know what you think about me right now.” Nothing good, that was for sure.

“Probably not.” He snorted as he bowed his head over his door handle. “Unless you’re ready for our first kiss.”

She burst out laughing. “That’s a little…unexpected.”

He lifted his head to meet her gaze. “Why?”

She waved a hand helplessly. “How could you possibly be thinking about kissing me at a time like this?”

He looked surprised by the question. “Because I’m always thinking about kissing you.”

He pulled open the door and climbed behind the wheel, shutting the door firmly behind him. Revving the motor, he waved two fingers at her through the window and roared off.

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