Page 90 of Noel Secrets
Easton laughed along with her. She liked this overconfident and teasing cowboy who could also laugh at himself.
When Price joined in their laughter, she whipped around to stare at him. The approach through the trees to the ranch house was lost on her as their laughter settled, but they were locked in a gaze that made her pulse speed up and had her longing to have him pull her close and?—
“Here we are,” Easton announced, interrupting their moment. “Mama is saving you breakfast. After you eat and meet everyone, I’ll take you all to your cabin.” He put the truck in park and looked between the two of them.
Addie flipped around, her cheeks hot and her heart thumping out of control.
“You all have a special spark,” Easton said. “I recognize it because Cassie and I started with a spark and now it’s an inferno.” He grinned and put his cowboy hat back on, reaching for his door. “She also tried to deny she was in love with me … well, you heard the story.” He tilted his hat to Price, then swung his door open and climbed out.
Addie wished she could disappear. Easton was vivacious and committed to his wife. She and Price didn’t have a story like that. She wasn’t trying to deny she was in love with him—for pity’s sake, she was angry at him—and they had no relationship.Goodness! Easton was loveable and annoying. If she had a brother, she imagined he’d be similar.
Price opened his door and tugged his bag out with him.
Addie swung her door open, appreciating the cold air on her hot cheeks. She didn’t slide out, bracing herself to face him again. Especially after Easton’s comment.
“Leave your bag here,” Easton instructed. “I’ll take you two to Miles’s cabin after breakfast. He and Eva can’t come for Christmas this year as she’s in some film in Australia, so they decided to stay during Christmas break and travel to New Zealand.”
“Gotcha.” Price lifted his bag back in, stepped to her door, and offered her a hand.
“Thanks,” she murmured, putting her hand in his and sliding out. She hadn’t been sitting there waiting for him to escort her down. She’d been trying to compose herself. Easton was way off about her. She wasn’t in love with Price, and they didn’t have a spark. As she slid to the ground, and was far too close to his broad frame, her hand clasped in his, their gazes met and quickly got entangled.
Ah, crap. His touch and that look. Not sparks. It was more of an inferno.
Giving into him wasn’t just a bad idea. He’d already destroyed her trust. What more did she need to stay strong around him?
Dragging her gaze away took a strength of will she was proud of. She glanced around at the beautiful, rambling two-story log cabin. There were loads of windows, the main level decorated with exterior wreaths hanging over each window and on the front door, garland around the lodge-pole beams of the wraparound porch, and a grouping of mini-Christmas trees in the corner. Homey. Western. She liked it.
Easton was waiting for them with the front door flung open wide. “Mama?” he called, gesturing them in. The foyer was large and went up two stories with a wide staircase and a knotty wood railing. An antler chandelier hung down from the upper level. Oh my, she’d never seen an antler chandelier before. It was cool, and a little disturbing to think of all those animals without their horns.
There were a couple doors to their right. She could see into an office. On the left was an open living area. A bushy, tall, and heavily decorated Christmas tree with a definite Western theme drew her eye, the twinkling lights lifting her spirits. On the fireplace mantle, so many stockings were crowded together she couldn’t make out individual names. It made her miss her sisters, parents, niece, and nephew.
“They’re here,” a fifty-something lady cheered. She was petite and a little rounded, with dark hair and green eyes, a perfect-looking mama and grandma wearing a Christmas apron. She rushed in from an arched doorway that led into a dining area. “Oh, my. I’m just sick about you losing your house, darling girl, and all your things. And some murderer after you, to boot! My heart is breaking, and you’ve been in my prayers since our sweetie Aiden called.” She grabbed Addie’s hands and squeezed lightly, tugging her into a welcome hug.
Addie should’ve laughed at anyone calling the charismatic and larger-than-life Aiden Porter a ‘sweetie’ but all she could think about was this mama hug that she hadn’t realized she needed.
She clung to ‘Mama’. Clung. She’d had to keep her distance from the man she really wanted comfort from, and this hug from an exuberant and no-boundaries mama was exactly what she needed. The lady smelled of cinnamon and apples and she was warm and soft in all the right ways.
Forcing herself to release her clasp, Addie stepped back and murmured, “Thank you for being so welcoming.”
“Ah, love, I’m just happy we can help you a bit. To think the handsome captain rescued you.” She looked at Price even as Addie stiffened. “Oh my, he is a handsome one, isn’t he?”
Addie’s eyes widened and she had no idea what to say as Price gave her an almost-shy look from beneath his thick eyelashes. First Easton and now Mama. What was she supposed to say? How to react? He’d ruined her trust less than twelve hours ago.
“It’s those eyes, isn’t it?” Mama continued. “And those eyelashes. Wow. Incredible, the smoldering look he’s giving you.”
“Millie,” a male voice said from the kitchen. “Don’t embarrass the boy.”
Addie did smile at Price being called a boy despite her discomfort at Millie hitting the nail on the head. Price’s smoldering look robbed the oxygen from her lungs. She knew him and knew he didn’t even mean to smolder like some men would.
No. She didn’t know him. He was probably just trying to get her to trust his lying self again. She’d been hurt every time she’d trusted a man, but this one with Price was the worst. She’d handed him her heart and he’d burned it to ash.
“This is my handsome hunk of a honey, Jared,” Millie said proudly as a tall, well-built man with salt and pepper hair and beard strode in. He extended his hand and they each shook it.
“Welcome,” he said simply.
“Well, come on now and eat some breakfast and you can tell me all about yourselves.”
Jared, Millie, and Easton turned toward the kitchen. Addie could smell bacon and fresh-baked bread.
