Page 62 of Promise Me This Christmas
He brushed his hand down the side of her face, and she marveled that a man with such work-roughened hands could be so gentle.
“I’ve been the foreman on Whispering Pines for the past nine years.I love that ranch, but it isn’t enough.Not without you.”
“Are you saying you’d leave it?”
“For you?Yes.”
“But what about your family?Wouldn’t you be letting them down?”
“Hell no.My younger brothers will be glad to get rid of me.”
That could not be true.But she loved him for saying it.Love.There was that word again.“So what are you saying?That you’d move to Denver?”
“Can we settle on an acreage outside of the city?I’ve got a degree and a lot of work experience with cattle.I’d need to get a job on a ranch.I hear there are plenty of them in Colorado.”
He meant what he was saying, Larkin realized as she studied the depths of his eyes.He really was willing to leave his family.Whispering Pines.Her gaze shifted to his mouth again.He’d said he wouldn’t have kissed her if he didn’t love her.
And she had no reason to doubt him.
Just as she had no reason to hold back any longer.Standing on her toes, she reached her mouth up to his.Their first kiss was tentative.Then deeper.And wilder.Carson’s mouth trailed down her neck to that soft part where it met her shoulder.
He’d always known what she liked best.
“Remember that time we made out in your grandmother’s spare bedroom?”he whispered into her ear.
“I sure do.”
“I think we should return to the scene of the crime.”
She took his hand.“I think you’re right.”
The pot of coffee gave a small burbling sound.It was ready.But no one would drink a single cup.
Chapter Eighteen
Thursday, December 25
“You have toadmit,” Amy said to her husband as they lounged in bed on Christmas morning, “If I had to sprain my wrist, I’ve done it at a good time.”After all their guests checked out this afternoon, they were going to be closed until Valentine’s Day.
“Yeah, but you’re still going to find it challenging to look after Robbie with just one hand.”
“That’s true.”She’d attempted a one-handed diaper change last night that had not gone well.
“So I was thinking…” Chet shifted into a sitting position and took her uninjured right hand.“January’s a slow time for the rodeo school too.How about we go on an extended trip?Three weeks, maybe four.That way I can be around to help with Robbie full-time.”
“Interesting idea.Where were you thinking?”
“We could take a break from winter.Go to Costa Rica.”
“That sounds adventurous.I like it.I wonder if I can zipline with one hand?”
He laughed.“There’s something else you need to learn to do with one hand.”He brushed aside her tangled hair and bent to kiss her.
And of course it was at that moment that the baby monitor sprang to life.“Mama?Dada?”Followed by a string of babbling.
“Hold that thought until Robbie’s nap time,” Amy said.“I think someone’s ready for his Christmas breakfast.”
*
