Page 24 of Fake Christmas Date Cowboy

She hurried over to him and held out her arms. “Do I look terrible in this sweater?”

Surprise made him blink. “Nooo,” he drawled out.

“Does the color wash me out?”

“If I knew what that meant, I’d tell you.”

“Okay, forget it.”

“I just spent an entire morning thinking how beautiful you looked, how your eyes sparkled and how the pink in your cheeks flattered you.”

Her lips popped open. Several heartbeats passed before she whispered, “Oh.”

Just then, one of his teammates entered the building. He looked around, spotted Declan and twitched his head toward the exit, indicating that he was free to take a break.

He lightly closed his fingers around Belle’s arm. “Let’s take a walk. Get some air.”

“We just came in from outside. Besides, what about us smashing those cookies?”

Standing in the doorway, they both turned to look at the table. Ethan reached for one.

“You don’t want to touch those cookies now. Believe me.” Not after the guy failed to wash his hands after urinating.

“Yup! You’re right. Air sounds great right now.”

They made their escape. The world was bright with the sun on the snow, and he yanked his hat down over his eyes against the glare. Since they hadn’t removed their coats from the ride, she’d be plenty warm enough.

They strolled for a minute in silence before he spoke. “That woman was in the restroom with you. What did she say to you?”

Belle kept pace beside him with long strides that brought to mind how damn good her legs felt around his waist while he was drilling his cock into her.

“Nothing.”

He shot her a look.

She waved a hand. “Really. It was no big deal, Declan.”

He cocked a brow. “You want me to go back there and say something to her, you only need to say the word and I will.”

Her lashes dipped over her beautiful eyes. “Why would you do that for me?”

“Because…” He stumbled over the reason. He couldn’t very well tell her that he worked as a bodyguard on the WEST Protection team and that protecting people came naturally to him even when he wasn’t under contract.

There was also something about Belle that drew out his inner protector. After seeing Ethan and that woman in action, Declan wanted towreckwhatever plans they’d laid. Plus drive them off the ranch.

Now that the thought had entered his head, he planned on keeping an even more watchful eye on the pair. The instant they did something that looked even remotely sketchy, he’d toss them off the property.

She gazed out over the landscape. The fields that normally held cattle were barren, the herd wintering on the other side of the mountain where it received less snow and sharp winds. Next, he scoped out the RVs and other trailers parked in the neighboring field.

Most of them looked large and impressive. Ethan said his was new, but Declan couldn’t pick it out of the group of other new vehicles.

“Are you staying in one of those?” Belle’s question caught him off guard. The answer to that was complex. Keeping secrets wasn’t his style, but it was part of the job.

While he’d officially been on the team for two weeks, he’d never even made it to his first training. He was immediately sent to combat a threat to national security—the very same op that the guys couldn’t quit talking about.

As soon as he reached the ranch, WEST put him straight to work on this party, so he didn’t have a chance to search the small town of Stone Pass for housing. Which was how he ended up in the Wynton’s guest cabin.

He pointed to the log cabin with a metal roof situated a fair walk from the rest of the ranch buildings. “That’s me.”

---