Page 43 of Christmas with Three Cowboys

By the end of our dinner and drinks, Daisy has made enough trips to our table to make it clear to me that she plans on trying to get into Colton’s pants sooner or later. He keeps politely diverting every flirty attempt she throws at him, yet she keeps coming back for more. Once the check is paid, I can feel my heels on fire.

“Thank you for the generous tip,” Daisy says and places a hand on Colton’s shoulder. “I’ll buy you a drink sometime, handsome.”

“That’s nice of you, Daisy, but that’s not going to happen,” Colton replies.

“Oh, you’ll change your mind. Have a wonderful evening, gentlemen!” she giggles and sashays away with the bill and the cash in one hand.

I shake my head slowly. “Some people have a nerve.”

“She’s twenty years old.” Mitch says, chuckling softly, “and prettier than most girls in town. She thinks it opens every door. But Daisy is harmless, Melissa. Trust me.”

“I trust you. I don’t trust her.”

“Come on, let’s get you home,” Colton suggests and gets up.

“Yeah, let’s,” I respond crisply.

“There’s nothing to be jealous about,” he says, stifling a smile. “It’s cute how she riles you up, though. She’s just a kid. Harmless.”

“You keep throwing the word around,” I say and roll my eyes at them, “as if you’ve never dealt with a determined woman before. Young or not, she knows what gets a man’s blood pumping; that much is obvious.”

Ethan steps closer, his hand resting on the small of my back, while Mitch gets our coats, and Colton looks for his car keys. “Melissa, you’re the only woman who gets our blood pumping,” Ethan whispers. “Besides, nobody in our family wants to mess with Daisy. Not even Sammy. Her own uncle. We’re all just being nice.”

As soon as we step into the thick snow, and the cold air hits my lungs, I shudder under my coat and hurry to Colton’s black pickup truck. The night is a harsh mistress during Nebraskan winters, and I can’t wait to get home and cuddle under the blankets, wrapped in the arms of my three men. It certainly beats what I had anticipated what this Christmas would look like back in Ridgeboro.

“What do you mean you’re all just being nice?” I ask the guys once we’re all in the truck.

Colton smiles as he starts the engine with the turn of his key. “Daisy has a penchant for trouble, the legal kind,” he says. “She’s been a troublemaker since she was thirteen and doesn’t seem like she’s going to change anytime soon.”

“She hangs out with the wrong crowd,” Mitch adds. “Sammy’s had to bail her out of jail a couple of times. Perry, the bar owner, is good friends with Sammy, otherwise he never would’ve let Daisy anywhere near the cash register.”

“Oh,” I mumble, “and her parents?”

“Just as reckless,” Colton says. “Sammy practically grew up on our ranch with our father because of the nasty situation at home. His whole family was trouble, and it got passed down to Daisy. Sammy had our father to steer him away from them. He checks in on the girl once in a while, but he’s come to realize there’s only so much he can do.”

“Can’t protect her from herself,” Ethan scoffs.

I nod slowly, watching the world go by in the darkness as Colton drives us out of Long Pine and onto the main road leading back to the ranch. There’s not much to see at this hour, except for the twinkling lights of houses up on the hills and a full moon rising above, a fat pearl that seems to see and know everything its soft light touches.

Once we’re home, I make my way upstairs.

Colton, Ethan, and Mitch follow. I give them a look as I turn around and get out of my boots first. Not a word is said while Ethan closes the door to my room and dims the overhead light,then proceeds to also undress. Mitch and Colton do the same, and the tension between us thickens to the point where I can barely breathe.

“You guys are determined, aren’t you?”

“Do you want us to leave?” Mitch asks.

“No,” I take a deep breath. “I guess I’ve just never been pursued so thoroughly before.”

Colton steps toward me and slips his hand between my legs. “We will always pursue you. You’re our woman, Melissa. Ours. Don’t ever doubt that.”

My resistance crumbles altogether. I throw my arms around Colton’s neck and kiss him, breathe him in, taste the hint of lemon on his lips. It becomes a swirling chaos of hot bodies and sizzling hearts as they take me to bed and claim me over and over until I’m completely exhausted.

“I could get used to this,” I whisper, half asleep as I rest in Ethan’s arms.

Colton sits on the edge of the bed, while Mitch plays with my hair, his head on the pillow next to mine.

“You could,” Ethan says.

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