Page 12 of Christmas Creek Cowboy

Unfortunately, she shared this scorching heat too, and despite his lingering worry, he didn’t step back when she moved toward him. In fact, he steppedcloser to her.

They met in the middleof his kitchen.

So did their mouths. His lips on Emmy’s. Her body landing against his. This time, it wasn’t a kiss for show or one to balance the scales. Nope. This was the real deal. The kind of kiss that happened for only one reason. Because that scorching heat had finally spilled over and made them stupid enough to throw all caution to the wind.

She tasted like Pepsi and really good sex. Especially the sex. And that was the problem with an amazing kiss and having Emmy’s breasts pressed against him. His mind was doing huge jumps, imagining just how much better this could get. Calen forced himself to focus on the here and now.

Here and now with the taste of Emmy sliding through him. Here and now with her making a silky sound of pleasure while she slid her fingers into his hair. Calen did some sliding too, by hooking his arm around her waist and drawing her even closer. So close that he could feelher heartbeat.

This was all new territory to him but familiar too, because Emmy and he had actually talked about sex. Not fine-point specifics, but he’d heard her voice disapproval over a guy groping at her. So, Calen didn’t grope. He just kept kissing her, kept applying the pressure of his body to hers and waited to see what would happen.

Emmy was the one who started groping. Well, more or less. She slid her hand down his back until it reached his butt, and she gave him a little nudge in the right direction. Enough of a nudge that Calen was pretty sure his eyes crossed.

And sex thoughts came again.

He was trying to put another chokehold on that overwhelming urge when he heard the knocking. At first, he thought the sound was in his head, but when Emmy pulled back, he realized someone was at the door.

Someone he was goingto get rid of.

Steeling himself as best he could, Calen went to the door and threw it open, prepared to give his visitor one very sour unwelcome, but he froze when he saw the smiling woman on his porch. Not someone from Christmas Creek but someone he recognized fromher DMV photo.

Nessa Bozeman.

She obviously recognized him too, because her smile widened. “Calen,” she said, laughing with delight. “Finally, I get to meet my big brother.”

Calen silently muttered anotherwell, hellthat he couldn’t voice aloud because it felt as if all the air had been knocked out of him. Maybe it was some kind of cosmic genetic connection, or the realization that he’d just looked into eyes that were a DNA copy of his own.

Either way, Calen knew this woman was truly his sister.

“Oh, I suspect you have a lot of questions,” Nessa said, pulling him into a hug. Well, as much of a hug as she could manage considering her hugely pregnant belly. “I’ll see if I can answer them.”

Chapter 4

Emmy stood frozen in the doorway, and beside her, Calen wasn’t moving either. But his visitor was. Nessa continued to hug Calen. Continued to laugh as if this were the best day of her life.

And maybe it was.

Emmy hadn’t read all the cards and letters from her, but it was obvious Nessa was more than happy to see her brother.

Since the icy wind was taking swipes at them, Emmy moved back so the embracing siblings could come inside. She shut the door just as Nessa finally stopped the hug, and the woman stepped back,studying Calen.

Now that Calen and Nessa were face-to-face, Emmy thought the woman looked familiar. She could also see a resemblance to Calen. Of course, DNA could be tricky, but Emmy figured Calen didn’t have any doubts that Nessa and he shared the same father.

“I got your voicemail,” Nessa said, uncoiling a chunky holly-green scarf. “And I was already in Christmas Creek to do some shopping. I stopped by the sheriff’s office, and one of your deputies said you wouldn’t be in until this afternoon.”

There was a lot to process in that handful of sentences, which was probably why it took Calen a while to reply. “You knew where I live?” he asked.

Nessa smiled again. “Yes. I’ll confess I’ve sort of stalked you over the years. You too,” she added to Emmy as she took off her coat and that scarf. “I’ve seen a lot of pictures of Calen and you on social media and know that you’re close friends. I’ve even bought some books from your store. I was there last Christmas and again about three months ago.”

So that was why she looked familiar. “I remember you.” And Emmy picked back through her memories. “You bought cookbooks.”

Nessa’s smile went up a notch. “That’s right. I manage a bakery in San Antonio, but what do I do on my days off? I bake,” she answered with a chuckle. “I love your bookstore and all the shops in Christmas Creek. The Yuletide Tea Shop is one of my favorites and, oh, the Candy Cane Bakery. That’s where I was heading when I got your message,” she added to Calen. “I was craving one of those white chocolate cranberry muffins. Then I was going to Santa’s Workshop to get a holiday mobile for the baby’s nursery.”

So, Nessa had planned on being in town for a while, which meant she now had time to catch up with Calen. That was Emmy’s cue to leave.

“I’ll just be going,” Emmy said, fluttering her fingers toward the door.

“No,” Calen and Nessa said in unison. Calen’s tone had an edge of desperation to it while Nessa’s was more ofaplease stay.

---