Page 29 of Cowboy Stolen Kiss for Christmas

“Good to know.” One large hand threaded through her hair, cupping the back of her head. “You gonna get around to telling me what’s wrong before the show starts?”

She nodded against his shirt. “Lucy said I’ve been stringing you along. Is that what you think I’ve been doing?” Her shoulders shook from the effort to hold back a sob.

“What? No!” He leaned back a little to scowl down at her. “Lucy’s wrong, you hear?”

She nodded, unable to keep her eyes from filling.

“What you and I have is special,” he continued in a gruff voice. “It doesn’t need to fit any mold. It’s ours.”

She fisted her hands in his shirt. “I just needed you to hear it from me…that I would never, ever, ever knowingly do anything to hurt you, Ames. You mean too much to me. I’ve just been so caught up in my?—”

“I know,” he interrupted. “It’s okay.” He let her go, but only long enough to reach for her face and cup it gently between his hands. “You and I are okay. Promise.”

“Are we?” She felt herself crumpling from the inside out. “Now that I know the truth about how you feel about me, I feel so selfish.”

“Well, don’t.” He cast a reluctant glance at the clock hanging on the wall behind her. “Listen, I don’t have much longer before I have to be in the ring, but I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.”

She searched his rugged features, needing to see for herself that he was okay with the way things stood between them.

He ducked his head over hers, blocking out everything but the sincerity in his voice and expression. “The way you’ve grieved over your broken engagement tells me that commitments like that mean something to you. You don’t toss your affections around lightly. From my angle, the next guy who manages to get a ring on your finger will be the most fortunate guy on the planet.”

She swayed closer to him, feeling like she was floating on clouds and rainbows. “If you still want that kiss you’ve been gunning for,” she murmured, “take it. I’m ready.”

“No. You’re not.” He brushed his thumbs beneath her eyes, wiping away the dampness. “You’ll know when you are, and so will I.”

“Ames,” she sighed as he dropped his arms and reached for the door handle. A fresh wave of anxiety rose in her throat.

“Laura,” he echoed, treating her to a very thorough once over. He spent their last moments together raking her longingly with his gaze from head to toe, assuring in a way that no words could’ve ever done that the dress she’d chosen to wear this evening was a roaring success.

“Relax, darling. I’ll text you back.” Humor twinkled in his gaze as he pulled open the door.

It was just the right thing to say to her to ease her remaining fears, and he probably knew it.

A damp chuckle pealed out of her. “I’ll be the one cheering the loudest for you out there tonight.”

“You’d better be.” He kissed her again with his eyes. Then he was gone.

CHAPTER 7: DISAPPEARING ACT

Mid March

Before Ames exited the tiny hangar that housed the pair of crop dusters shared by the ranchers in Pinetop, he could already sense the small mountain town was abuzz with something new. Posters were on display everywhere, including the wall he parked their Canyon Creek Ranch jet beside. It was advertising something called the Spring Awakening Gala. From the pictures, it looked like they were talking about a parade, one that would mark the official start of springtime.

Yep. Only in Pinetop!

You could be gone a few days and miss a landmark annual celebration. It was kind of hilarious how the locals made such a big deal out of, well, everything. As much as he and his brothers joked about it, he was going to miss it when they moved back home.

They’d stalled on making that decision for just about as long as they could for one very big, very monumental reason — Pinetop had changed their lives. A part of their hearts would always belong to this small mountain town. Ames anticipated many return visits back. Regular ones. There was a good chance they’d continue to perform at Castellano’s, just a few weeks here and there. They were still negotiating the details about that.

It would’ve never worked. None of this going back and forth between Dallas and Pinetop would’ve ever worked without Ames’ pilot’s license. Nor would it have worked without one of the top foremen in the west helping run their horse ranch during their absence, a highly experienced foreman who’d just last night turned in his three-month notice. Come summer, he was heading overseas to accept a job at a much larger horse ranch in England.

Ames had yet to break the news to his brothers. It was going to spark a very serious conversation. One they’d been putting off for months. One that would require them to set an official end date to their extended stay in Pinetop.

Flint was waiting for him outside the hangar in the two-toned Chevy pickup they’d been sharing during their stint in Pinetop.

He waggled his eyebrows as Ames jogged up to the passenger door and yanked it open. “How was Dallas?”

Ames was pretty sure he detected a hint of homesickness in the question. “Interesting.” He wasn’t sure if now was the time to deliver his news.

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