Christmastime Cowboy Read online

  “And it made you so happy that you came to take your quarter of the ranch?”

  “It didn’t make me happy. I didn’t expect the money to make me happy,” he lied. “I just expected to enjoy it. And I do. So now I have money, and I get to live on the ranch. And I get to hook up with whoever I want.”

  “But only theoretically,” Cain said.

  “You’re an ass.”

  “Never said I wasn’t.”

  “Great. So,” he said, directing his focus to Finn. “Instead of riding the fence line today, why don’t I put together a little wine and cheese tasting situation. I’m going to need to get into the storage, and if I can get a list of the types, that’d be great, so that I know I’m not missing anything. Whatever you want the tasting room to carry.”

  “Yeah, I actually know that Lane has some inventory spreadsheets. I’ll have her give them to you.”

  “Great.”

  “So,” Finn said. “You think this is going to make you happy?”

  “What?”

  “Opening up the tasting room. You’ve definitely attacked this project with more enthusiasm than I’ve seen you do other things.”

  “It’s what I know,” Liam said offhandedly. “I like dealing in what I know.”

  “Sure.”

  He could tell that his brother didn’t believe him. He didn’t really care. He knew that Cain and Finn had had it hard. So had Alex; he had been there for it. But Liam had had a few times when he’d missed school because he’d been locked in a closet instead. Alex didn’t know that stuff. Nobody did.

  So maybe for Finn and Cain and Alex the end goal was happiness.

  Liam had learned to simply prioritize surviving. And now? Well, now he just wanted to keep the demons pushed away.

  Money might not make him happy, but he found it a pretty successful demon deterrent. And so were women, though he’d been sadly lacking in women recently.

  But that would change. He was confident that it would.

  Sabrina Leighton was unfinished business, and the good thing was he was her unfinished business too.

  Which meant that sooner or later, no matter how long it took her to get there, she was going to say yes.

  Come to think of it, that would make him pretty damned happy. At least for as long as it lasted.

  CHAPTER TEN

  SABRINA WAS LEANING over the counter in the dining room at the winery when her phone buzzed. She looked up from her inventory sheet and her heart leaped into her throat when she saw the name flash across the screen.

  Liam.

  Do you have time to meet up tonight?

  She looked around the room, at the guests that were currently dining there, and then looked back down at the phone.

  I told you I wasn’t ready to make a decision yet.

  I promise this isn’t a booty call.

  Her heart fluttered, and she took a deep breath.

  Obviously. It’s a booty text.

  No. I want to work on the menu. I think we need to figure out some pairings.

  She felt flushed, her cheeks getting warm. Of course. It was about work. And not at all about him pressuring her into sex.

  She had hoped a little bit that he was trying to pressure her into sex.

  She looked furtively around again, because for some reason she felt like her thoughts, and her texts, were being broadcast to everybody in the room. Which was ridiculous. It was just her extreme embarrassment and guilt. She imagined that if Lindy knew she was engaging in any kind of flirtation with the man that they were currently trying to do a business deal with she would be unamused.

  Yes. I have time. When? Where?

  Meet me at the tasting room? 6 o’clock?

  She swallowed hard. Sure.

  She hit Send before she could second-guess herself.

  “How’s it going today?”

  Sabrina startled, and then turned, knowing she looked guilty when her eyes connected with Lindy’s.

  “Great,” she said. She had a feeling that her smile looked off, that she might resemble a dog that had gotten caught with her nose in the trash.

  “You don’t look great,” Lindy said, staring at her a bit too incisively.

  “I’m just thinking,” she said, shaking her head, trying to clear the visions of Liam out of her brain.

  “Okay. How is everything going? With the tasting room?”

  “It’s going really well,” she said. “That’s actually what I was thinking about. I’m meeting up with Liam tonight to work on the menu.”

  Lindy lifted her eyebrows. “I’ll probably want to have a hand in that.”

  Sabrina couldn’t tell if she was relieved or disappointed. Her stomach twisted, almost as if it was going in different directions. Like the rest of her seemed to be.

  “Well. If you want to come tonight, we’re meeting at six. He’s bringing cheese. I’m bringing the wine.”

  Lindy grinned. “That sounds like a great time, but I’m not going to be able to make it tonight.”

  “Have a date?” Sabrina asked.

  Lindy laughed. Really laughed. “I have absolutely no interest in dating, imagine that. And if I did, I would not sacrifice work for a date.”

  That just confirmed what Sabrina had thought earlier about Lindy and her approval—or disapproval as the case may be—of Sabrina getting romantically entangled with Liam.

  Of course, romantic entanglement wasn’t necessarily on the table. It was more physical, naked entanglement.

  A little thrill slipped down her spine and right between her thighs.

  “Of course,” she said.

  “Actually, I’m having a night with myself,” Lindy said. “Which sounds lamer than a date, I admit. But I just need a little time to relax. I do want a hand in the menu planning, but why don’t I wait until you guys get it past prototype stage?”

  “Sure,” Sabrina said, knowing she sounded a little bit breathless. “That works for me. Hey, if we hit on some winners, we can always incorporate some of it here too.”

  “I’m counting on it. Why don’t you bring some fruit and meat down too,” she suggested. “It would be nice to have a few charcuterie trays down at the tasting room. Also some breads. I’ve been talking to Alison Donnelly about that.”

  “That would be great. It would be really nice if we could have some of Alison’s bread.”

  “And I’m going to order all of the oil from Lane Donnelly also. It will be nice to have a lot of the local businesses supported in each other’s various shops.”

  “We’re steeped in Donnellys,” Sabrina said.

  “They aren’t so bad,” Lindy said, smiling.

  “Not all of them.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Sabrina cleared her throat. “We should consider bringing some of it up here. I mean, the winery could regularly stock Alison’s bread. And maybe some things from Lane’s shop. Since we are a bit out of town, we could be a good representative, and a good way for them to get extra eyes on their products.”

  “Also a good idea,” Lindy said. “I really like being in charge.”

  Sabrina laughed. “I’m glad. I know that Damien didn’t allow it.”

  “Damien definitely had his ideas about how things should work. And then, oddly, would suddenly deviate from those ideas when it concerned him.”

  “He’s a jackass.”

  “Agreed. I wish I hadn’t loved him so damn much.” Lindy smiled ruefully. “He pretty much cured me of it though.”

  “Definitely an idiot,” Sabrina concluded.

  The devastation that people could wreak when they were so determined to please only themselves never ceased to shock her. Looking at the way Lindy’s life had been devastated, at the way she had to r
ebuild, all because her brother had decided that marriage vows didn’t matter, was continually alarming.

  The ways in which her mother had constantly hurt her father. The way she had hurt her parents by acting out because of Liam...

  Emotions were a mess.

  And her father was the stony, silent calm at the center. The one who built up barriers when people interfered with his sense of order. His sense of right. He didn’t let people destroy anything around him. The walls he put up were too high, too thick.

  “I really wouldn’t go back,” Lindy said. “I mean, if it was an alternate scenario where we could head trouble off at the pass, where we were both better at communicating, and I could more effectively get what I needed out of the relationship...then maybe. But it’s not an alternate universe. I can’t romanticize the marriage that we had just because it’s gone.”

  “Well, why would you? I’m certainly not going to romanticize his behavior. Sometimes I wonder how we managed to turn into such a mess. We were a pretty happy family once. I think Beatrix is the only one of us who isn’t ridiculously damaged.”

  Lindy huffed. “Well, whether or not she will be depends on how doggedly she clings to her crush on my brother.”

  “Give her more credit than that,” Sabrina said. “She’s more likely to be destroyed by the loss of a sickly vole she was trying to nurse back to health.” She tapped her pen on the counter. “Anyway, as far as Dane goes...she’s young. She’ll get over it. Eventually she’ll figure out that nothing could ever happen with him. Anyway, the rodeo season will start again soon and he’ll be on the road. And she’ll get a break from her exposure to him.”

  It almost physically hurt to dismiss Bea’s crush like that. If only because Sabrina knew how real those things could feel. But the fact of the matter was, trailing around after an older guy just because you had developed a fascination for him when you were young was not love.

  And thank God, because as much as Sabrina liked Dane, he was essentially family. But he was definitely a bad bet as a lover.

  “Yeah,” Lindy said, sighing heavily. “Plus, he knows that I would shank him if he ever hurt her.”

  “He wouldn’t,” Sabrina said. “He has so many Buckle Bunnies throwing themselves at him all the time he’s hardly going to seduce my baby sister who he’s known since she was twelve.”

  “Good point,” Lindy said.

  Really, Sabrina did not need to be thinking about seduction right about now, but Lindy’s next words didn’t make that any easier. “Everything going okay with Liam?”

  “You don’t need to worry about me,” she said to Lindy. “I’m pretty realistic about relationships. And I’m exceedingly realistic about business.”

  Both of those things were true, but neither was a direct denial of anything happening between Liam and herself. Mostly because she didn’t feel like she could make that guarantee at the moment.

  “Okay,” Lindy said. “Did you and he used to...date?”

  Sabrina smiled sadly. “No. I just had a crush on him once upon a time. But like you said, Bea will survive hers. And I definitely survived mine. I will keep on surviving it.”

  By the time her shift ended and Sabrina got in her car to drive over to the tasting room her nerves were decidedly frazzled. Which was silly. She had done enough things with Liam since he had come back that she should be inured to his presence. And anyway, it wasn’t like they were going to do anything on the floor of the tasting room in front of the large picture windows.

  Except, suddenly, she could imagine only that.

  Right. And you’re going to...entice him to take you on the floor when you’ve literally never enticed a man in your life?

  She huffed and turned out onto the road that would carry her toward Copper Ridge. She knew each curve on the highway by heart. She’d driven it a thousand times before. Often enough that the stately pines that stood sentry on the shoulder blended together in an indistinct blur of green.

  She passed the road that led to her own house, and kept on driving until she reached the turnoff sign that proclaimed Copper Ridge to be only two miles away.

  A smile touched her lips as she drove down Main Street. She did take a moment to pause and look at the little buildings. All done up in brick and rich cranberry-colored paint with crisp white trim.

  There was a small group of people marching down the sidewalk helmed by the town’s mayor, Lydia West. Lydia had a clipboard, and was gesturing broadly, indicating lampposts and eaves on the various buildings.

  Sabrina wondered if they were planning holiday decorations. Since Thanksgiving was only a week away, she figured it was time, as she had a feeling the moment the turkeys were cleared away from various dinner tables Christmas lights would be blazing in the tiny town.

  She parked right in front of the tasting room and gripped the steering wheel tightly as she looked inside. The lights were on, the shop illuminated. And then Liam walked into view. She just sat there for a moment and stared at him, her heart thudding painfully against her breastbone. He was so beautiful. Would he ever not be beautiful to her? Would he ever not be the one and only person who made her feel like this?

  She wouldn’t know, she supposed, unless she went ahead and had him. How could she? To get rid of a demon, you had to exorcise him. And she had tried all the ways that seemed smart. All the ways that seemed illogical. She had tried going on dates with other men and she had tried burying herself in work. She had tried throwing a drunken fit in front of all and sundry. The one thing she hadn’t tried was actually allowing herself to have him.

  So perhaps that was the answer.

  She sort of despised the idea that her virginity had been hanging around for the past decade plus simply because Liam Donnelly had been the first man she’d wanted all those years ago. That somehow her body was waiting for him.

  But she couldn’t deny that it was starting to seem that way.

  That the moment he had come back to town her hormones had roared to life.

  Yeah, definitely difficult to deny that.

  She turned her car off and slowly made her way out of the vehicle, grabbing a wooden crate with wine in it and a tray of meat and fruit, and heading toward the door.

  It was unlocked, and she let herself in.

  “Hey,” he said, a half smile curving his lips.

  She felt the impact of it all the way down.

  “Hi. There are more crates in the car. Want to get them?”

  “I have a feeling that’s not a question so much as a command.”

  “Take it however you like,” she said.

  “Okay. I’m going to take it as a command. Because I like the idea that you think you can tell me what to do.” He winked, then walked out of the tasting room, and she snarled at his retreating form.

  Her heart tripped over itself when she looked around the room. There was a blanket set out on the ground, because there was still no furniture in the place. That had been an oversight on their part.

  But he had brought a blanket. And suddenly, that earlier vision she’d had of the two of them on the floor of the tasting room didn’t seem so far-fetched. Hell, they were starting on the floor, she wasn’t sure there was any other way it could end.

  She swallowed hard and set the crate down, and Liam appeared a moment later with two crates stacked on top of each other. There was a box on the corner of the blanket that had various cheeses and suddenly all of this felt a hell of a lot like a date.

  She cleared her throat. “There are wineglasses in one of the crates.”

  “Great.”

  He set the crates down and sat next to her, pulling out the first bottle and a wineglass. “Tell me about this one,” he said, uncorking the top and pouring a measured amount into the glass.

  “That one is a pretty standard table red. It goes with a
lot of things. It’s a safe bet, basically. I think it would go really well with a stronger cheese.”

  “All right,” Liam said, looking through the box. “This is an aged cheddar. Sharp.”

  The cheese was wrapped in wax paper, just a small portion, and he broke off a piece and handed it to her. “Try a little.”

  She took a bite and smiled. “That’s good.”

  “I think so,” he said. “Have a little bit to drink with it.”

  “All right.” She took the glass from his hand and took a sip. “That’s good, but it is kind of an intense wine. Tell me what you think.”

  He took a sip, and then had a bite of the cheese. “You might be right.”

  “I’m not sure that it’s the best one to have on the menu when you’re having anything less substantial than red meat. We might want to go with...” She looked in the crates and twisted the labels until she came up with a merlot. “Something like this.”

  That, they both agreed, was more successful. They moved through the different varieties, going from the bolder flavors, and working their way to the sweeter, more delicate ones.

  “Have you ever considered making gelato?”

  The question seemed to take Liam off guard. “No.”

  “You should look into it. They make red wine ice creams.”

  “Now there’s a thought. That’s a real partnership.”

  “Exactly.”

  She smiled at him, and took a sip of the sauvignon blanc that was now in her glass.

  She was feeling much less stressed now. A little tipsy from the amount they had been drinking. Just enough that she wasn’t sure why she had been so worried about tonight. Why she had been so stressed about coming in and doing this with him. It was all going fine. He was charming, and she just...liked being with him.

  She always had, really.

  “Okay,” he said, “this is a softer cheese, and it has ginger and mango in it.”