Page 33 of Christmas Ransom

Jud closed his eyes. Wasn’t this what he’d feared? Jud tried to talk, but couldn’t get more than a strangled groan out, and finally Wes loosened his hold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he croaked out.

“Don’t lie. I know you pulled the bank job. So where’s the money?”

CARLAHADTOLDherself that she wasn’t in the mood for a holiday party. So it surprised her when she slipped into one of her two fancy dresses. She looked in the mirror and felt a rush of excitement. She smoothed the rich silky emerald green fabric down over her hips and felt her mood lighten for the first time in days. She wanted to enjoy this night, to forget about everything but Christmas and...and Davy.

“Carla?” The sound of Davy’s voice outside her bedroom door made her swallow and take a final look at herself in the mirror. She’d put her hair up for the party and wore the pearl earrings Davy had bought her for Christmas all those years ago. She hadn’t let herself wear them before now because of the painful memories of their breakup.

“Coming!” she called. Pushing back an errant curl, she took a deep breath and had to smile. She was nervous, she realized, because this felt like a date. She quickly reminded herself that Davy was only trying to protect her. He couldn’t very well leave her here in the office apartment while he went to his family Christmas Eve celebration.

She warned herself not to make too much of this. It was like any other night. She was only playing dress-up for the occasion.

But then she opened the door and saw Davy. He was dressed in a Western suit, his thick dark hair brushed back to where it curled at his neck. He was wearing his good boots and he held his white Stetson between the fingers of his left hand.

What struck her was that he looked as nervous as she felt. He’d taken her in, his eyes widening in what could only be approval. He let out a low whistle and she felt her cheeks warm.

“Wow,” he said, his eyes glowing. “You’rebeautiful.”

She felt a little embarrassed. “Is the dress too much?”

Davy chuckled. “Not too much at all.”

“I guess I should have asked if this was a casual or formal dinner.”

His gaze met hers. “It’s perfect. You look...perfect.”

She swallowed. If this wasn’t a date, she didn’t know what was.

DAVYHADBEENat a loss for words when Carla stepped out of the bedroom. He was struck by how gorgeous she was. The green dress accentuated her curves, diving at the neck to the swell of her breasts, tucking into her slim waist and skimming down over her hips to fall to midcalf. She’d piled her wild, curly mane of hair up, baring her throat, making him remember the feel of it on his lips. Several locks brushed her high cheekbones, making her blue eyes look wide and liquid.

If he hadn’t been enchanted by this woman for years, he would have fallen all over again. He felt that old ache more acutely than ever. James was right—he was in dangerous territory.

“Ready? It’s snowing,” he said as he helped her with her coat. The faint, sweet scent of her familiar perfume whirled around him for a moment. He took a step back, finally admitting how hard this was. It was hell being this close to her and not being able to take her in his arms and make love to her. He took another step back.

When she turned, she seemed to see the battle going on inside him as if it were etched on his face. “Davy, I—”

He shook his head, stopping whatever she was about to say. “I already loaded the presents in the truck, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

She studied him for a moment, then shook her head. “I guess we should go then.”

He readily agreed. The upstairs apartment felt as if it had shrunk and was suddenly too close, too intimate. He was too aware of how bare she was beneath the coat, let alone the dress. He’d once known that body. It had matured in the years since, making it even more lush, more titillating. One more minute in this space with her looking at him like that...

Pushing those thoughts away, he headed down the stairs to his pickup, Carla following. Snow whirled around them, and he remembered another winter night and a stolen kiss. He almost reached for her, his desire to kiss those lips again so strong that he felt powerless over it.

Instead, he opened her door and she climbed inside. Closing the door, he stood for a moment breathing in the cold night air, comforted by the feel of the icy flakes melting on his face. Then, feeling as if he’d been kicked in the gut, he walked around the pickup and climbed behind the wheel.

All he had to do was get through this night without acting on his feelings.Good luck with that, he thought as he drove toward Worthington Ranch.

JUDTOLDHIMSELFthat Wes wasn’t going to kill him—not if he thought he had the robbery money. He’d want to know where it was first.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told the man, once Wes let up the pressure enough on his throat that he could speak clearly. He’d feared that he’d given the men marked money. Now those fears were realized.

What gave him hope was that the men hadn’t told their boss where they’d gotten the money. Otherwise, Leon would be here instead of his henchman. Leon wouldn’t have had him in a choke hold. Instead, Jud would have battery cables hooked up to parts of his body that would have made him regret being born.

“Where did you really get the money you said your grandmother gave you?” Wes demanded.

“I didn’t say she gave it to me. I pawned some of her knickknacks and jewelry hoping she wouldn’t miss them,” Jud said with enough anger he hoped it would be convincing for Wes.

“What pawnshop?”

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