Page 47 of Fairy Tale Marriage

She stood and circled the desk. To his everlasting disgust, she ended their argument by cheating. She wrapped her arms around his waist and slid every female inch she possessed along every male counterpart she could find. She said something else, but he didn’t have a clue what it was. He was too busy dealing with far more serious problems.

At her first touch, every piece of hardware in his body went into instant overload. Massive system failure followed. Autonomic systems short-circuited and his brain shut down in an effort to recalibrate. He fought to breathe. Only one system remained on-line and in excellent working order. Her hip bumped it, threatening him with the very real possibility of total annihilation.

“Don’t. Do. That.”

She pulled back and looked up at him with a puzzled expression. “Is something wrong?”

Aside from the fact that he felt like he’d just been poleaxed? His jaw moved in an effort to imitate speech. She waited patiently, blinking wide brown eyes at him which forced him to recalibrate a few more brain cells. Maybe if he didn’t look, he’d summon an answer to her question. It was there somewhere. Just one simple word. All he had to do was force the air from his lungs and the word from his mouth. “No.”

“Okay.” She gave him another brain-splintering hug and then trotted toward the door. “I’m going to check with Tim. Catch you later.”

He didn’t know how long he stood there. But when mobility returned, he used it to stagger in the general direction of the barn. The frigid winter temperature knocked him to his knees, but he had the air blistered nice and hot in no time, the curses sliding off his tongue faster than rainwater off a grease-dipped duck. If his wranglers thought his behavior at all strange, they were too smart to say anything. All except Penny, who swaggeredover.

“Gotcha where it hurts, don’t she, boy? Wives sure are good at that. Or so I’ve heard.” He braved Chaz’s wrath with a knowing smirk, then risked his neck further by adding, “Never been stupid enough to find out, myself.”

“Okay,this is it. This is where I draw the line.”

Shayne blinked up at Chaz in confusion. From her kneeling position on the office carpet he managed to loom as impressively as Jumbo. “What line?”

“The one I’m drawing right here, this very minute.” He shoved his Stetson to the back of his head and folded his arms across his chest. “Now, Ididn’t fuss about your tearing apart one of our bathrooms, which I think is damned decent of me. Ibarely said a word about that crazed electrician, even though I should have had him arrested for indecent exposure. And I’ve been the most understanding man in the world about the holes you’ve punched in the walls and in my floor.”

“You have?”

“I’ve taken it like a lamb. And honey, that’s saying a lot in cattle country.” He gazed at her with such earnest sincerity, it forced her to accept he truly believed every word he’d uttered. “Why, there’s not another man on this planet who would put up with the general mayhem going on around here the way I have without losing his cool and banging a few heads together.”

“There’s not?”

“No way.” He turned to scowl at her latest efforts on his behalf. “But this is going too far.”

She looked around in bewilderment. “If it’s because I’m using your office floor, it won’t be for much longer.”

“I can’t get to my desk.”

“I can.” She half rose. “Is there something you needed? I’d be happy to get it for—”

“That’s not my point.” She sank back onto her heels as he gestured to indicate the strings of fairy lights gaily twinkling in neat lines on the carpet “This looks suspiciously like Christmas.”

Her brows drew together. His tone sounded utterly outraged, as though she’d committed some horrible sin. “That’s because it is for Christmas. Ithought I’d put up a few lights and decorations before—”

“Not in my house you’re not.”

“I’m not?”

“Not a chance in this world or the next. Idon’t do Christmas.”

She stared at him, nonplussed. “What do you mean you don’t do it?”

He ticked off on his fingers. “No lights. No tree. No silly ceramic angels or Santas cluttering up the place. No ribbons or bows or anything remotely red or green.” He paused to consider. “Unless it’s edible. Don’t want to be unreasonable about this. But no Christmas. Got it?”

“No.”

Anger crackled in his eyes, intensifying the blue. “Come again?”

“You heard me.”

Before matters could escalate further, Jumbo appeared in the doorway carrying an armful of tangled outdoor lights. He looked from Chaz to her and groaned. “Uh-oh.”

Shayne turned to him for confirmation. “Boss man says he doesn’t do Christmas. What’s going on?”

---