Page 63 of Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas
The moonlight made interesting shadows on her face, but she could tell he was smiling as he leaned in for a gentle kiss. It was so nice that she didn’t even think about the possibility of morning breath until his lips left hers.
Straightening, he moved to his dresser and began to pull out some clothes. “I go snowshoeing with Will every morning before school. You’re right, though. It is early. Try to get some more sleep.” After pulling on long underwear that molded to his muscular form, he glanced over his shoulder at her. Even though his expression was hidden by the dim light, she just knew he was giving her a wonderfully satisfied smirk. “I kept you up pretty late.”
“Nuh-uh,” she said through a yawn that more than proved his point. “I keptyouup late.”
This time, she didn’t need to guess at his expression, because he laughed out loud, albeit softly. “Yeah, you did. It was worth it, although it was hard getting out of bed this morning. I think that was your fault, too.”
She really loved this flirty, playful side of Steve. Flipping off the covers, she offered her best seductive-beast pose. “Iama temptress.”
With a fleece top pulled halfway over his head, he froze for a second, and she had a sudden worry that the comment had been too dorky. Yanking his shirt down, he strode over to the bed and kissed her hard again, more intensely this time. By the time he pulled back, they were both panting for breath.
“Yeah, you are. I’ve never been so tempted by anyone. If Will wasn’t waiting for me…” Making a sound low in his throat, he turned away. Giving her frequent, hungry glances, he finished getting dressed and disappeared into the bathroom. As soon as he was gone, Camille felt a bit let down and lonely…as well as wide awake. She stretched again, pulling up the covers and closing her eyes in an attempt to regain the peaceful sleep she’d had before Steve, but his kisses and flirtatious banter had gotten her heart beating too fast to doze off again. Besides, she didn’t want to fall asleep just to have one of her terrifying dreams.
Even though she’d escaped physically unscathed from her burning workshop, the experience played through her mind over and over when she tried to rest. It was usually the same, but somehow even worse than reality. She was lost in the flames and thick, choking smoke, searching fruitlessly for Lucy—except when she was searching the fiery room for Lucy and Steve and the kids. No matter how many times she’d had the dreams, they always made her feel as helpless and terrified as the very first one.
The bathroom door opened, and Camille looked toward it, eager to be distracted from her dark thoughts. Steve did exactly that by coming over for a final not-so-quick kiss.
“Be careful,” she said once they’d managed to separate. “Don’t run into any moose or serial killers.”
“Both of those are pretty rare here on the ranch, but I’ll keep an eye out.” With a final short but still steamy kiss, he slipped out into the hall, closing the door silently behind him.
With thoughts of nightmares clashing with the warm comfort Steve’s kisses inspired, Camille was more awake than ever. Throwing off the covers, she quickly dressed, shivering in the chill of the room. No sense in lying in bed, awake and restless. Shoving aside her lingering memories of the fire, she headed downstairs to start making breakfast for everyone.
Chapter 16
By the time Steve and Will returned, bright-eyed and flushed from the cold, the other kids had made it downstairs, looking much sleepier than the snowshoers. The younger three had, however, perked up at the smell of bacon and were filling their plates with it, as well as pancakes, eggs, and fruit.
“You made breakfast?” Steve said, moving over to stand next to her by the stove, where she was monitoring the last round of pancakes. It was hard to be that close to him and not kiss him, but Camille didn’t want to shove their new relationship in the kids’ faces, especially at this ungodly hour. Besides, she was a little nervous about what their reactions would be.
“There’s bacon?” Will broke in before she could answer, sliding into his seat at the table. “Can Camille live here forever?”
“I’d be okay with that,” Steve said under his breath, making her stomach do a funny little flip and squeeze that only seemed to happen when Steve was around. He leaned in to her briefly, pressing their shoulders together for a fraction of a second before stepping back to a more discreet distance. “Can I help?”
Flustered by even that small touch, she focused a little too intently on flipping the pancakes onto a plate. “Here.” She shoved the plate at him, desperate to have some kind of barrier between them so she wasn’t tempted to start climbing him in front of the kids. “That’s the last of them. Can you put them on the table with the rest?” She gave him an apologetic look, knowing she was behaving oddly. Seeing that the corners of his mouth were tucked in that way they did when he was holding back a smile, she knew that he was well aware of why she was so discombobulated—and he was amused by it.
The sound of the front door opening caught her attention. Lucy, who’d been eyeing the platter of bacon with a scheming look in her eyes, darted into the other room. Although she got along well with everyone in the family—especially Micah, who let her share his pillow at night—new arrivals always made her wary.
“’Morning,” Nate called out. By the amount of stomping and rustling as outerwear was being taken off, he wasn’t the only one who’d arrived. She raised her eyebrows at Steve, who gave her a slight shrug. As soon as their uncles had arrived, all four kids grabbed for the bacon, piling extra on their plates.
“Manners,” Steve said, although he sounded more resigned than upset. He pulled out Camille’s chair and waited for her to sit before taking his own seat next to her. “The kids are right, though. You’d better get some bacon now before my brothers get a crack at it.”
Nate, Ryan, and Joe came into the kitchen, all three looking like they’d just rolled out of bed. Their eyes fixed on the food, even as Nate and Ryan greeted everyone, and they hurried to take their chairs at the end of the table.
“Since when do you three come for breakfast?” Steve asked mildly, piling some bacon on Camille’s plate before taking his own and passing the platter to Joe. As she watched in amazement, the rest of the bacon disappeared from the serving plate.
“Zoe texted us,” Ryan said, reaching for the scrambled eggs as Joe forked a huge stack of pancakes onto his plate. “Said that Camille cooked and”—he popped a piece into his mouth, winking at her—“that there was bacon.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Zoe, and she held her hands out in a shrug. “I thought I was just texting Uncle Joe, but I guess it was a group text. Sorry.”
“Hey,” Nate grumbled, and Ryan raised an eyebrow at her.
Zoe didn’t look at all ashamed she’d played favorites. “What? Uncle Joe gets me all the parts I need, even when they’re really hard to find.”
“There’s plenty,” Steve said calmly, prying the pancake platter out of Nate’s hands before he could take any and offering it to Camille. She took two, giving him a small smile of thanks, and he returned the platter to Nate. Steve offered her eggs the same way, and she had to hold back a snicker at the indignant look on his brothers’ faces when he pulled the food right out of their hands. “It does mean that you’re going to be here for a family discussion.”
Ryan seemed unbothered, while Joe looked up, his fork halfway to his mouth. He stared at his food, as if debating if it was worth staying, and then gave a soundless sigh and resumed eating.
Nate looked back and forth between Steve and Camille. “What’s the discussion about? Are the two of you finally admitting that you’re dating?”
