Holiday in a Stetson: The Sheriff Who Found Christmas\A Rancho Diablo Christmas (13 page)

“Good Raj, as far as I’m concerned. I’m not complaining a bit.” He ran his hands over her bottom, then back to her breasts. “I’m going to count every one of your freckles. I bet I don’t miss a single one.”

She pulled him underneath the warm spray. “Kiss me,” she said, and he did, his tongue dancing with hers. But then he kissed her breasts, making her moan with pleasure, and moved down to her navel and lower. He licked inside her, and feelings washed over Jess that she’d never before felt. Pulling him up to kiss her, she ran a hand down his chest, down his stomach, to the part of his body that was straining against her. Massaging him, she said, “I think I can figure out what to do with soap, if you hand it to me.”

“I’m good to go,” Johnny said against her hair, holding her to him as the water ran over them, and then he shut the tap off, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her, drying her carefully. He carried her to the bed and laid her on it, treating her like china, and Jess
realized she’d been waiting for this moment, and this man, all her life.

“Jess,” Johnny said, “we can wait. I’ll wait until you’re ready. I know how you feel about not being pushed into a relationship….”

She looked at the big strong man standing beside the bed, his hair slicked darkly against his neck from where she’d grabbed a towel to try to clumsily dry him off, and tugged him into her bed. “I thought you said nothing scared you.”

Johnny gazed into her eyes. “This doesn’t have to change anything if you don’t want it to.”

“I’ll decide after I’ve tried those pancakes you’re always bragging about,” Jess said, and pulled his mouth to hers.

The thing about Jess, Johnny thought as a haze of lust short-circuited his thoughts, was that she was just so darn sweet. And soft. She smelled good, and he couldn’t stop touching her, and once he’d kissed her, once he’d held her, damn it, now that he’d tasted her, he wasn’t going to be happy with a one-night stand.

He was going to have to go slow—on all fronts.

“You’re sweet,” he told her, kissing her lips, tugging at her lower lip. “I’m going to grab a condom out of my wallet, and when I get back, I want you right here, waiting on me.”

She ran her palms over his shoulders, as if she liked touching him, which made him harder. “I’m on the pill, so the condom’s not necessary unless you want it.”

Oh, God. Skin-to-skin contact. His Christmas was just filling up with gifts. He kissed her fingertips, then
shifted to her breasts. When she sighed with pleasure, he teased her nipples with his tongue, and then moved down her stomach, careful not to graze her with his stubble. He’d never been so hard in his life. He licked inside her again, and she cried out, grabbing at his shoulders. She was sweet, so sweet, and all his. When she suddenly clenched up, moaning his name, Johnny held her, letting her enjoy the waves, holding her as she came back down to earth.

His name on her lips was seared into his mind. He wanted to hear her say his name over and over. After licking the inside of her thighs, he kissed her belly, teased her breasts before holding her in his arms.

Slowly, gently, he eased himself inside her. He kissed her lips, comforting her, whispering that she was beautiful, and except for a moment when she seemed to hesitate, she just stared up at him with her big beautiful eyes, watching his face as he claimed her for his own.

“It’s okay, Johnny,” she whispered, “it feels like we’ve done this forever.”

He realized she was trying to comfort him so that he would stop worrying, which was hard because he
was
worried about hurting her. But when she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him, Johnny let himself be cradled by Jess, and when the pleasure came, he felt as if he were exploding into a million pieces that only she could put back together.

“Merry Christmas!” Fiona pealed when Johnny rolled into the Rancho Diablo kitchen for coffee.

“And to you, too, Fiona.” He gave her a big hug. So far Christmas was starting off better than ever. It was 5:00 a.m., and he felt as if his whole life had changed, even at this hour. He’d left Jess sleeping like a baby in her bed, and planned to return as soon as possible. “What time do the children get down here to open their presents from Santa?” He’d glimpsed the overflowing toys and gifts under the tree, and couldn’t wait to see his nieces on Christmas morning.

Fiona grinned. “Around nine, anxious uncle. So did Jessica like her scavenger hunt prize?”

“The wedding dress? I think she was surprised. Then again, she knows you Callahans too well.” Shrugging, he accepted the coffee she handed him. “Thank you. Brew’s good.”

Fiona blinked at him, her sweet, doughy face angelic and devoid of any laughter. “Wedding dress?”

Johnny set his mug down and reached for the blueberry tart she handed him. “Yeah, she tried to keep me from seeing it, not that I’ll probably ever see it on her.
Thanks for the spurs, by the way,” he said, munching happily. “I hope to earn them someday.”

Fiona sat down in a rush, as if all the air had gone out of her. “She got the wrong prize.”

Johnny’s fork hung in the air. “Oh.”

They stared at each other for a long moment.

“I got Jess a silver necklace to match the earrings she won last year.” Discomfort crossed Fiona’s face. “Is she irritated with me?”

“For sticking her with a so-called magic wedding dress?” Johnny went back to eating. “You’d have to ask her.”

Fiona watched him gulp his food and coffee, her gaze worried. He could feel her stare. “So who was the dress for?” he asked.

“Judge Julie next door. Bode’s daughter.”

Johnny blinked. “Why?”

“Why not?”

He went back to eating. “Hey, the subject of wedding gowns and weddings in general is not my forte. Maybe you could ask Jess for it back.”

Rafe came into the kitchen with Sam and Jonas, grabbing some mugs of joe from the sideboard. “Ask Jess for what back?” Rafe asked. “Merry Christmas, all.”

He hugged his aunt, and she seemed to lean on his strength for just a moment, then pulled away.

“A wedding gown,” Fiona said. “
The
wedding gown. I meant to give it to Julie, but somehow Jess ended up with it.”

Rafe’s head reared up. “Julie’s getting married?”

“No,” Fiona said with a sigh. “I was testing the magical properties.”

“Don’t scare me like that,” he said, and everyone looked at him.

“Scare you?” Johnny asked. “Why?”

“Never mind,” Rafe said hastily. “I just meant we don’t need any more weddings around here anytime soon.”

Jonas sat next to Johnny, wolfing his blueberry tart. “Rafe has a thing for Julie. Just ignore him. Like gas, he’ll get over it one day.”

Johnny looked at Rafe. “And you were making fun of me for not winning my girl.”

“Speaking of which,” Sam said, “thanks for the early Christmas gift.” He kissed Fiona on the cheek. “Johnny kindly sent a librarian to my room last night to read me a bedtime story.”

“Yeah,” Jonas said, “we noticed your bed was empty, Johnny.”

Everyone turned to stare at him. He could feel Fiona’s radar quivering across the room. Johnny shook his head. “Couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk.”

They all looked disappointed.

“A walk in your truck?” Sam asked. “Wendy said she saw you driving away like your truck was possessed.”

“I went for a drive.” Johnny stood before he got himself in any deeper, and put his plate and mug in the dishwasher. “Thank you for a wonderful Christmas breakfast, Fiona, but I have to get to my chores.”

“That wasn’t Christmas breakfast,” Fiona said,
“that was a snack. Breakfast doesn’t begin until the children get here. Expect the fun to start around nine.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He was counting the hours until he could get back to the fun in Jess’s bed. “Darn,” he said, realizing he had no Christmas gift for a woman who’d given him the best present he could have received.

Everyone looked at him.

“There aren’t any stores open on Christmas, are there?” Johnny asked.

“Not unless you’re the president or Oprah, dude,” Sam said cheerfully, getting out of his chair to rinse his dishes. “You’ll have to shop for Jess tomorrow. And we hear she likes fancy lingerie, if you’re looking for a Christmas hint.”

Johnny’s brows rose. “How would you know that?”

Jonas grinned. “The word in town is that she went shopping for some special new undergarments yesterday.”

“Jess is right,” Johnny said. “You
are
all in her business.”

Friendly laughter washed over him. Johnny reminded himself that the Callahans operated on love and therefore some butt-in-ski-ness, but that didn’t mean he was going to add any fuel to the fire. “Shopping the day before Christmas for lingerie means she was looking for gifts, I would think,” he said, secretly pleased that she might, just might, have been buying the diamond-clasp bra and thong she’d worn under the poofy, satiny skirt for him. He intended to find out later on. “Anyway, Raj injured himself last night, so Jess is waiting on the vet to make it out to her place. I doubt she’s worried about lingerie today.”

“Ah,” Sam said, “did you learn that when you were taking your walk? You know, when you couldn’t sleep this morning?”

He was toast. They simply had quicker minds than his, at least where busybodying was concerned. “Yeah,” Johnny said, going with it. “She asked me to come out and help her hold Raj while she gave him an injection.” He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“Oh,” Fiona said, and Johnny observed the crestfallen faces with some triumph.

He was learning. Now he had to figure out how he could get back over to Jess’s to make her pancakes without everyone figuring out his game plan.

“J
ESS, IT’S
Fiona Callahan, dear. Merry Christmas.”

Jess smiled into the telephone. “Merry Christmas to you, too. Thank you so much for inviting me to your party. It was lovely.”

“Oh, thank you. And thank you for helping me out with everything.”

Jess glanced outside, looking for the vet’s truck. Snow was falling fast now. She hoped the roads were passable.

“Um, Jess, dear,” Fiona said, “Johnny was just here. It’s so embarrassing, Jess, and I must apologize. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Whatever for, Fiona?”

“Johnny mentioned that you’d opened your scavenger hunt prize, and that you… Well, it was a wedding gown.”

She hesitated. “Yes, it was.”

“I hope you know I would never give you a wedding
gown, Jess, dear. I know how you feel about getting married. I mean, it would be a silly gift, wouldn’t it? Rather hurtful, I would think.” Fiona blew her nose, and Jess realized she was really upset. “Jess, I’m so sorry if I hurt your feelings, but honestly, somehow I mixed up the prizes.”

Jess wandered back to her closet to stare at the gown. “No problem, Fiona.”

“You’re not angry with me?”

Jess unzipped the bag, admiring the twinkles and the light shimmering in the fabric. It was truly the most stunning gown she’d ever seen. A woman would feel like a princess wearing it. “Of course not.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll swap it out at the first opportunity for your real gift.” Fiona sniffled again. “You know, this might be our last Christmas at Rancho Diablo, and I did so want everything to be perfect. I think maybe I just didn’t have my glasses on when I was writing the tags or something—”

“Fiona, it’s fine. I’ll bring it over tomorrow.”

“Thank you, dear. And I’ll give you your actual Christmas party favor.”

Jess slowly zipped the garment bag closed, feeling something inside her dying just a little bit. Had Johnny mentioned to Fiona that she hadn’t liked the magic wedding dress?

He wouldn’t do that. And she did like the gown, anyway. “Honestly, I thought it was a wonderful gift.”

“You did?” Fiona sounded brighter.

“Sure,” Jess said. “Who wouldn’t love a magic wedding dress?”

“Oh, no, dear,” Fiona said. “That isn’t
the
magic
wedding dress. Sabrina has that one. The one you have is one I got from Jackie, Pete’s wife. You know that she and Darla co-own the wedding dress shop in town? They had an extra gown that had come in a shipment they couldn’t return, and I…I meant to give it to someone else.” This wasn’t
the
magic wedding dress? Jess slowly unzipped the bag again, once more feeling magic slip over her. Twinkles seemed to light the air, and glimmers of opalescence danced in the fabric.

“Truly, I’m so sorry, Jess. I hope I’ll see you soon. And again, Merry Christmas.”

Fiona hung up, and Jess put the phone down. Thinking for a moment, she took the dress from its bag, and after looking at it for a long time, she pulled off her jeans and ropers and flannel shirt and slipped the wedding gown on.

She knew the second it whispered over her skin that this dress was meant for her. The fit was perfect, as if she were being turned into an instant Cinderella. The gown took on a life of its own, and even with her hair in a casual ponytail—still a little wet from her shower—and no makeup, she felt beautiful.

She felt like a bride.

Banging sounded on her front door, and with a guilty squeak, Jess jumped out of the gown and tossed it on her bed, then pulled on her clothes.

Part of her secretly hoped her visitor was Johnny.

But it was the vet. Jess pulled on her coat and hurried out into the cold to Raj’s stall, more disappointed than she would admit that the beautiful gown was intended for another bride.

“J
OHNNY, LISTEN
,” Fiona said before the kids came tumbling into the big kitchen for their Christmas breakfast. “I’m going to need you to do a favor for me, if you could.”

“Anything, Fiona.” Johnny smiled at his hostess. “Name it.”

“This one isn’t so easy.”

He looked at her. “Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it.”

Fiona seemed upset, so he waited for her to choose her words.

“I’m going to need you to get the wedding gown back from Jess.”

He shrugged. “It won’t be a problem. She has no use for it, I’m sure.”

Fiona nodded. “I know. And I hate to ask you to do this. But here’s the thing that worries me. If Jess should change her mind about the dress, like decide she wants to keep it or something crazy like that…” Fiona waved her hand negligently. “But why would she? We all know Jess is the last woman who’d ever want to get married—”

“Right,” Johnny said. “We all know that. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

“Great.” the older woman smiled at him. “Maybe when you take your next riding lesson from Jess, you can make a swap then.”

Johnny frowned. He hadn’t thought about riding lessons. In fact, he didn’t want Jess giving him riding lessons. That had been part of the gag, the “meet,” to get him and Jess together—right?

And giving her a wedding gown was…an accident, Fiona had said.

Everything was all too coincidental. The riding lessons, the scavenger hunt where they just happened to find themselves together, the wedding dress in her gift sack, which just might make a girl start dreaming…

He could lose her. All this well-meaning interference could run his girl off, because eventually, she was going to realize what was just now occurring to him.

He had only one option, as far as he could see. He needed to wait on Jess to come to him. Instead of tearing over there this morning like he wanted to do, right after breakfast, to surprise her with pancakes and possibly more lovemaking, he needed to let her pick the time and the place.

If she ever did.

“If Jess doesn’t bring the dress over herself, say, by New Year’s Eve, I’ll swing by to get it. Would that work for you?”

Fiona beamed. “I knew I could count on you, Johnny. Thank you for understanding.”

He did. Maybe more than his sweet and cagey hostess realized.