Page 2 of Snowed in with the Rancher

“Which deck are you on?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Four.”

“I'm on three—your cabin is closer.”

Then she stood and tugged him up. Joy lit him up, and he pulled her into his arms, unable to wait a second longer to hold her. His forearm banded across the dip in her spine, and he buried his other hand in her hair.

“Where’s the hurry, cowboy?” she said with a giggle. “I already said I’d come to your cabin with you.”

“Had to do this first,” he said, lowering his head down to hers and capturing her lips in a sweet kiss. Pure pleasure rushed through him and he tugged her closer, kissing her with everything he had, relishing the way her pretty mouth gave way beneath his. His mind became a tangle of slick heat and warm skin. He thought he'd never been so damn happy.

When they finally broke for air, she took him by the hand, and not wanting to wait for the elevator, they ran all the way to his cabin.

They couldn’t quite seem to let go of each other, which made it a little tricky to unlock the door, but they finally managed to fumble their way inside his cabin. It was tiny—but the advantage of that was that they didn’t have to go far to reach the bed. He scooped her up and lay her out on it, relishing the feel of head-to-toe contact as he covered her with his body. It was a wrench to pull away from her sweet lips, but it was well worth it to kiss his way down her neck and enjoy her gasp of pleasure when he found a sensitive spot below her collarbone.

“More, please…” she whispered, and he was happy to comply, unzipping her dress and peeling it down slowly, unwrapping her like the gift that she was. God, she was so beautiful. Her front-clasp bra was easily unsnapped and he took some time to worship her breasts.

“Tate,” she moaned, tugging at his shirt. “Come on, get your clothes off. I want to feel you, too.”

He pulled back to comply, stripping down as fast as he could. He paused only long enough to fish his wallet out of his jeans and extract the condom he’d had in there for…well, honestly, he couldn’t remember how long. He was just glad it was there. Tossing his wallet on the bedside table and his clothes on the floor, he lay down beside Olivia again, returning to his exploration of her warm, silky skin.

She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and he intended to spend the night worshipping every inch of her. And then the next night and the next, for as long as the cruise lasted. She murmured his name and wrapped her arms around him. Leaning over to kiss her again felt like the most natural thing in the world.

He’d never felt like this about anyone before. He didn’t know what the future held, didn’t know if this was just a holiday fling for her or if it could be the start of something special. But he couldn’t wait to find out.

ONE

Five years later

“You'll just love all the little glass reindeer I put in that box.”

Tate scrubbed a hand across his eyes and tried to smile at the screen in front of him. Smiling back at him, only with a lot more authenticity, was his stepmother, Lucy. The good part about talking to Lucy was that she didn't expect him to contribute much to the conversation. The bad part was that she never. Stopped. Talking. It would have been almost impressive if it hadn't started to sound like nails on a chalkboard to him after five minutes or so. Long, chatty conversations were not his strong suit. They weren't even his medium suit. In truth, they were a suit he'd never voluntarily worn in all his life.

“There's also a nativity scene,” she continued, her voice warm and enthusiastic. “I found it the last time we were in Billings. There's a darling little creche, and the baby is made out of…”

Another area where he had no expertise—decorating for Christmas. He had some vague memories of lights and greenery when he was little, but all of that had stopped when he was six years old and his mother died. He and his dad hadn't bothered with decorating after that. Not until Lucy came into his dad's life six years ago. Lucy liked to doll up the ranch house with so many blinking lights and candles and tinsel and bows that he nearly needed sunglasses to shade his eyes every time he came over. As with so many things Lucy did, it all felt too loud, too bright, and toomuchfor his taste. If it made her and his father happy, then more power to them…but he wanted no part of it.

Not that Lucy seemed to be giving him a choice this year.

Next to him on the floor was the box of Christmas decorations Lucy had delivered earlier in the day. He was working so he hadn't been there to receive it, which was her excuse for the call—to “make sure” he'd gotten it and to give him the full rundown on every piece she'd put inside the box.

“With the storm coming, I thought it would be good for you to have something to do in case you're snowed in up there for the next few days,” Lucy continued. “And maybe you could practice baking some of your famous cookies? Everyone will want some for Christmas.”

Tate sighed. “Everyone” meant Lucy's family. They would be arriving in droves to take part in the big Christmas celebration Lucy held every year at their house. They were all good people, but there were just somanyof them. Cousins and in-laws and siblings and nieces and nephews and he didn't know what-all. Sometimes he wondered how Lucy kept them all straight. He didn't want to be rude, didn't want to hurt Lucy's feelings, but he alsoreallydidn't want to spend hours making awkward small talk with a bunch of people he barely knew.

He'd never been good at connecting with people. The only person he’d ever really clicked with right off the bat had been Olivia, on that cruise five years earlier…but that had ended so strangely and abruptly. Little wonder that he’d become even more withdrawn afterward. He was used to being on his own—he had years of practice at it. But being left behind had been another thing entirely. It wasn’t an experience he was eager to repeat.

“I'll see,” he prevaricated. “But I really don't know when I'll find the time. I have a lot of work to do with this empty parcel on the north side. The feds will take that land back if we don't get it productive in the next six months, and that's not going to be easy.” Federal land leases were like that. If you weren't using 100 percent of the land, the government officials assumed you didn't really need it all, which resulted in them taking the unused part of it back. “I should never have let it go this long, but I was so busy with that fencing project, I lost track.”

His dad stepped into view, leaning over Lucy's shoulder. “You know, you could ask Lucy's nephews—William and those brothers of his—to help out while they're here. That operation they run in Wyoming is nearly as big as ours. I bet they'd have some good ideas for that tract.”

Lucy nodded vigorously. “I don't know if I told you, but William started a new breeding program last year. His momma says he's been written up in theWyoming Cattleman's Journalfor it. They'll be here before Christmas and aren't planning to leave until almost New Year's. That's plenty of time for them to take a look at that tract and help you brainstorm some ideas. That could be so nice for all three of you, don't you think? You really have so much in common—I think you could be great friends, and—”

She continued in that vein for a stretch longer, and Tate tried to tune it out. She was always trying to fix him up with friends—and even dates, like that time she'd signed him up on a dating site without asking him first. The intentions were kind, he knew, but after he’d come back from the cruise, he’d decided that he was better off on his own. Things were simpler that way.

Tate felt something wet on his knuckles and looked down to find his dog Lobster, who'd just woken from a nap.

He grinned for real and gave the old lab a good scratch behind the ears. Lobster's tail thumped and he let out a happy bark.

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