The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby (14 page)

He reached out to push an errant strand of hair from her cheek, but her eyes popped
open before he touched her. She sat up in one fluid movement.

“Good Lord, how long did I sleep? Some hostess I am!”

“Ten minutes at the most. Look at the clock. We came in here at nine and it’s only
a quarter past. Not bad at all to get a fussy baby to sleep, is it? You ready to go
back out there and face the monsters?”

She raised her hands above her head and rolled the kinks out of her neck. “No, but
I suppose it can’t be helped. I feel somewhat like the ugly duckling with all that
glam and glitter around me. I’d just as soon stay in here and read a good book, but
that would disappoint the guys.”

He leaned forward and brushed a kiss across her lips. “You, darlin’, are the prettiest
woman out there. Don’t let Sonia get to you. She’s all fluff and no heart. Most people
don’t ever figure that out or if they do, like I finally did, it takes a long time.”

He straightened up to his full height and held out a hand. She put hers into his and
picked up the baby monitor with the other one.

“Leave the door ajar. I’ve got the monitor, but I’m more comfortable if the door isn’t
shut,” she said.

They’d only taken one step into the noisy party again when Sonia and Noah crossed
the room, coming right at them. Poor old Noah looked like he was being pulled by a
mule.

“I’ve got a question, darlin’. Is that really your son?”

“Good grief, Sonia!” Noah rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, Lucas. She has trouble holding
her liquor, and she’s already had three martinis.”

“I want to know, darlin’.” Sonia weaved slightly and hung on to Noah for support.

Lucas untangled his fingers from Natalie’s and threw his arm around her shoulder.
“That’s okay, Noah. And to answer your question, Sonia, that’s mine and Natalie’s
business.”

“Going over there changed you, Lucas,” she said.

“Yes, it did,” Lucas said.

“I’m going to the dessert table. My girls are trying to decide between cheesecake
and pecan tarts. I may have both.” She winked at Lucas and teetered that way on her
spike heels.

Lucas frowned. “She’s trouble, Noah.”

Noah nodded. “The heart wants what it wants and mine wants Sonia.”

“It ain’t goin’ to be easy,” Lucas said.

“Nope, but that’s okay. Easy ain’t never been mine to have anyway. Daddy always said
that in our family a man only gives his heart away one time.”

Lucas clamped a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “Gramps says the same thing about a man giving
his heart away.”

Noah nodded seriously and left by the front door.

Lucas turned to look at Natalie. “I hate drama. Want to dance?”

“It’s not midnight.”

“There’s more than one dance in the night, darlin’.”

“I’ll be honey, sweet cheeks, or even baby, but I’m not a darlin’. Not after hearing
Sonia call you that tonight,” Natalie said.

“Then, sweet cheeks, can I have this dance?” He asked.

She set her beer down and slid off the bar stool. He took a long swig of the one the
bartender had just uncapped before he took her hand in his.

***

They were on their way to the dance floor when someone opened the front door to step
out on the porch for a breath of air, and three puppies rushed inside like a hurricane,
dashing under tables and around chair legs.

One ran past Sonia’s chair and stopped long enough to slurp a tongue from her knee
to her hip, then grabbed the tail of her dress and pulled at it. She slapped at the
dog, spilled her martini, and squealed like a cat with its tail caught in a buzz saw.

Her girls ran to her rescue, but the puppy had quickly lapped up the martini and hiked
a leg to pee on her shoe.

Natalie bit back a giggle and helped Lucas corral them into the hallway.

So much for an airtight pen, but the whole bunch of pups had redeemed themselves for
the chickens and the goats when the feisty one hiked his leg on Sonia. He had just
covered a multitude of puppy sins, and she hoped that the martini didn’t make him
sick.

Noah came out of the bathroom in time to see what was happening and scooped one pup
up in his arms. He grabbed for the second one, but it squirmed out of his hands and
pushed right into Natalie’s room.

“I’ll take that critter on outside.” Grady reached for the pup.

Noah shook his head. “I got a good firm grip on him. I’ll meet you at the pens when
you catch the other two.”

If that runt woke Joshua, Natalie intended to take back all the redemption she’d given
him. And if she really had some kind of sonar brainpower that drew animals to her
and disrupted her life, she wished someone would flip the switch and turn the damn
thing off. She was missing a sexy dance with Lucas.

She and Lucas tiptoed into the room to find the last two puppies sitting beside the
portable crib, wagging their tails and whining. Joshua was smiling even though he
was sound asleep.

She and Lucas each picked up a puppy and stared at the baby for a few seconds longer.
The smile faded and he slept peacefully.

“Do you think he was dreaming of the future when he can run in the yard and play with
puppies? Maybe it was some kind of baby and puppy telepathy that called them in here,”
Lucas said.

“Who knows? I think they are just feisty hound dogs who like people.”

Natalie Clark never did believe that stuff her mother said about animals. Still yet,
there was that crazy thing with the chickens.

Grady reached for both dogs when they were out of the room. “Y’all go on back and
have a dance or two. Me and Noah will take care of these critters. I swear if I could
find the way they’re getting out of that pen, I’d concrete it shut.”

As they passed the bathroom door, Natalie could hear Sonia’s girls reassuring her
that her dress wasn’t even torn and that they’d washed all the dog slobbers and dog
pee from her leg.

“But my shoe?” Sonia yelped.

“It’s only one spot and it’s already dry,” Melody said.

“Could we try this one more time?” Lucas asked. “May I have this dance?”

Natalie put her hand in his. “My pleasure, sir.”

Joshua fretted and chewed at his fist the whole time that Natalie changed his diaper
and dressed him in zip-up pajamas. When she sat down in the rocking chair and touched
the bottle nipple to his lips, he latched onto it with a sigh and shut his eyes.

“Some party cowboy you are.” She laughed.

He snuggled down deeper into her arms.

“You fall asleep before it’s in full swing, forget about your ten o’clock snack, and
now at eleven you want to eat.”

He grinned around the nipple, but he didn’t open his eyes.

The noise of the party filtered down the hall and she heard the deep timbre of Lucas’s
laughter. Henry said something but she couldn’t make out words, only distinct and
separate tones. Boots on hardwood sounded like drumbeats at the beginning of a county
song. They stopped one door short of her bedroom and the bathroom door opened. How
in the world they’d managed to get through the night with only one bathroom in the
house was a miracle. The barn where they held the party in Silverton had cowboys and
a cowgirls restrooms and each one could accommodate three people at a time.

Joshua finished his bottle, burped one last time, and went limp in her arms. That
meant he was fully asleep and she could put him back in the crib, but she held him
a few minutes longer.

***

Lucas scanned the room every few seconds to see if Natalie had returned. He hadn’t
expected to be mesmerized by Josh’s brown eyes staring intently into his when he took
him from Natalie’s arms that evening. Hell, a week ago, he hadn’t even planned on
ever touching that kid. Now, he wanted to tiptoe into their bedroom and tell him good
night. And that was just after toting him around the room for a little while. How
would he feel at Christmas when Hazel came back and Natalie left?

When he’d drawn her close to dance and had buried his face in her hair, the whole
room disappeared. They were on a cloud with nothing but the sounds of a tinkling country
piano in the background. And he’d felt complete for the first time in his life.

He’d had his first date at fourteen when he’d asked Melody to the Valentine’s dance
at school. There had been three fairly serious relationships before Sonia. And then
the next several years, he’d thought he was in love with her.

He checked the clock on the mantel above the blazing fireplace: eleven thirty. So
many nights he’d shut his eyes in the unbearable heat over there and thought about
a cold winter night with the sound of a wood fire crackling. He could visualize each
and every ornament on the tree, hear all the stories about them, and Natalie was always
there beside him.

Then
I
see
her
for
the
first
time
with
a
pistol
in
one
hand
and
a
baby
in
the
other. That’s reality, folks.
He scanned the room one more time.

Each click of the clock’s second hand lasted hours, and minutes were eternity plus
four days. He’d given up on seeing her again that night when she touched his elbow
and said, “I believe it’s midnight and this is our dance.”

He barely heard the music go from country music Christmas songs to a slow waltz when
he she wrapped both her arms around his neck. The world disappeared as he drew Natalie
close with his arms around her waist. They fit together so well that he didn’t even
have to bend to whisper in her ear or smell the sweet fragrance of her perfume.

“Look at those three guys in the corner. They’re watching every move we make,” she
whispered.

“We both know they are playing matchmakers, Natalie. What we have to do is ignore
them and make up our own minds about our relationship,” he said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have a plan worked out with the DJ tonight.”

“Is that Anne Murray?” he asked. “I remember this song. Dad used to play it when I
was a kid.”

“Yes, it’s Anne, and the song is from the early eighties. It’s Momma and Daddy’s song.
They’ve been dancing to it since before I was born. When I ask Momma about it, she
just smiles and says I’ll dance to it someday and understand,” Natalie said.

Anne sang that she would always remember the song they were playing the first time
that they danced and she knew that she had fallen in love. She asked if she could
have this dance and if he would be her partner for the rest of her life.

“Listen to those words. They are meddling big-time, aren’t they?” Lucas said.

“Oh, yeah!”

“They’re grinnin’ like a bunch of possums eatin’ grapes through a barbed wire fence,”
Lucas whispered.

“It’s cute, isn’t it?”

“What? Them or the picture of the possums?” He held her closer.

“Both. My granddad says things like that about possums. Sometimes he gets a helluva
lot more graphic.” Natalie toyed with his hair. “We might as well give them something
to grin about.”

He brushed a kiss across her lips when they were under the mistletoe. “Grinnin’ like
a possum pickin’ seeds out of a fresh cow patty?”

She giggled and planted her feet firmly.

“What?” he asked.

She pressed her body so close to his that she could feel his racing pulse and drew
his lips to hers for a longer kiss.

“Do you know what you are doing to me?” he drawled.

“I know what you are doing to me. If it’s the same thing, then it’s a wonder the heat
isn’t melting those little white berries on the mistletoe,” she said.

He chuckled. “You got that right.”

The song ended way too soon. He could have held Natalie in his arms all night right
there in the middle of the living room floor. He wouldn’t care if the same song played
over and over for hours. And he’d gladly dance with her the rest of his life.

Whoa, hoss!
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
You’re not ready for that kind of commitment.

***

The guests were all gone. The caterers had packed up and left. Like cowboys in a Wild
West bar, Henry, Jack, and Grady each had a beer in their hand and their boots propped
up on the bare table nearest the Christmas tree.

“Whew, doggies, I believe that’s the most people we’ve ever had at a party. I’ll be
glad when they bring my recliner back in the house tomorrow,” Grady said.

Jack nodded. “Food is all gone. Bar is almost wiped out. And we got church tomorrow
mornin’, so we better guzzle these beers and catch a few hours of rest.”

“Yep, we should or we’re going to be the most wore out lookin’ old wise men in the
church play,” Henry said.

Natalie didn’t mean to groan but she did.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.

“We don’t have to go. I expect these wise men can worship baby Jesus without us there.”
Lucas yawned.

“Ain’t happenin’.” Jack shook his head from side-to-side. “If we’re goin’ to be wise
men, then Joshua is coming to church to see us.”

The hair on Natalie’s arms prickled. Somehow she knew by the way Henry was beaming
what was coming.

“Who is playing baby Jesus?” Lucas said.

“Some little girl’s doll baby. Mary Alice and Jake got a girl and she’s one of them
fussy kind, so they’re playin’ Mary and Joseph, but the baby is going to the nursery.
Little girl’s name is Ziva and that don’t seem right for a baby Jesus no way,” Grady
said.

“It is an Israeli name,” Natalie said defensively.

“I don’t care what kind of name it is. It’s a girl baby. God might send lightnin’
down through the church ceiling. Jesus was a boy baby, a king, not a queen,” Henry
said.

Henry yawned and said, “Now it’s time for me to go home. Jack, you can drive me. It’s
just a little way farther down the road than your place, and I don’t see none too
good at night. Natalie, honey, don’t bother with breakfast. We’ll just all meet up
at the church at eleven sharp.”

“I’m ready for bed too. I’m glad that bunkhouse ain’t a mile away. Been a long couple
of days, but the party was worth it,” Grady said.

Jack slung his boots off the table, finished his beer, and stood up. “Forgot to tell
y’all that I had the crew put my stuff back in my house while they were moving things
around. House is all yours again, son. Natalie, you can spread out across the hall
if you want to. I’m all moved out.”

Natalie covered a yawn with her hand. “Good night. I’ll see you all tomorrow morning.”

She was halfway to her room when the music started playing again and Lucas tapped
her on the shoulder. She turned around at the same time he took another step forward
and they collided. The only thing that kept her from falling was his arms tightly
around her. Fall or burn with desire: both choices would make for a long, long night.

“Looks like I’m fated to keep falling into your arms,” she said.

“May I have this dance, ma’am? One without an audience and music of our choosing,”
he drawled.

He two-stepped backward with her into the living room as Randy Travis sang “Honky
Tonk Moon.” He sang about pool table, cue balls, and troubles seeming to melt away
through the smoky haze. A country piano player tickled the keys as the lyrics said
that his arms were around his baby shuffling on the floor with the honky tonk moon
shining and everything was all right.

“You telling me that you want to play pool?” Natalie teased.

“You play?”

“Oh, yeah, I play. You got a table hiding somewhere?”

“No, but I know a little bar just like Randy is singing about and I betcha we could
find a honky tonk moon. We’ll have to go some time.”

“Why, Lucas Allen, are you askin’ me for a date?” she flirted.

“I am. I bet the three wise men will watch Joshua for us to go shoot a few games and
have a beer or two,” he said.

She giggled. “Where is this honky tonk?”

“Between Savoy and Bells. We’ll try to go on a Friday night since that is karaoke
night. You going to sing?”

“Hell, no!” she said. “Are you?”

“I bet you I can whip your ass at pool and if I do you have to sing,” he whispered.

“If you beat me, I will. If I beat you, you have to sing, so you’d best be practicing
all week in the shower. Momma taught me how to shoot a mean game, and I’m damn good,
cowboy,” she said.

“Your momma must be a pistol,” Lucas said.

“Yes, she is, but Granny is the boss. She can handle a rope, work cattle, cook a meal
fit for a king, and believe me, she can outshoot either me or Momma,” Natalie said.

She looked up to see what kind of reaction that brought from him. His eyes were half-shut
with dark lashes fluttering toward his cheeks. She moistened her lips and got ready
for the kiss but nothing prepared her for the sizzle when his mouth found hers and
the song started all over again.

She listened to the words about a blue smoky haze. She wondered if the singer had
experienced the same kind of emotional roller coaster she’d been on for two weeks.
Was the smoke a result of the fire in his kiss? Did the honky tonk moon bring out
the scorching desire in the people in the song?

The first kiss was sweet. The second one was hungry and hard. His tongue teased her
lips apart and he made love to her with his lips and tongue as they clung to each
other in a darkened living room.

She leaned into his hard chest and God help her, but she wished they were lying down
rather than standing up. Their feet stopped moving to the beat of the music. His hand
cupped the back of her neck, and his fingertips gently massaged that soft skin right
below her ear. She leaned in to get the full effect and his mouth left hers and went
to the soft part of her long, slender neck. He could have set up shop right there
for the rest of the night because his lips sent bursts of heat through her body with
every kiss. But just when she thought she’d explode, he trailed hot, steamy kisses
up to her ear, across her eyelids, and back down to her mouth.

He sat down in a chair and drew her into his lap. Travis had started singing “Forever
and Ever, Amen.”

Yes, oh yes, keep this up forever and ever
, she thought.

He pulled her shirttail out of her jeans and then his hands were on her bare rib cage,
skimming them like butterfly wings. They circled around to the back when they hit
the band of her lacy bra and went to the hooks in the back. She leaned back and looked
up at him.

The question didn’t need words. If she shook her head or said “no,” he’d kiss her
good night. Like a gentleman he would lead her to her room door and kiss her again.
But without blinking, she reached up and unfastened the top button of his shirt and
worked her way down, one button at a time. Between buttons she kissed that broad,
hard chest, teasing his nipples into taut little knots. When the last button was undone,
she laid her cheek against his chest.

“Your heart is pounding,” she whispered.

“It’s just keeping time with yours,” he said.

He scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the hall and laid her gently on
a king-sized bed covered with a soft brown comforter the same color as his eyes.

“You are so damn beautiful,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Still got five pounds of baby fat.”

He drew his hands back and said, “Oh my God! Is it too soon for this?”

She shook her head. “Joshua is almost three months old. I could’ve done this three
weeks ago. It’s not too early.”

He stretched out beside her and pulled her close again. He took his time removing
her shirt and bra, teasing her skin with strings of kisses on her ribs, her breasts,
and that tender part of the neck right below her ear. She trembled and arched toward
him, and he hadn’t even gotten around to taking her belt off.

“I feel like I could catch on fire any minute,” she said.

“Darlin’, I mean sweet cheeks, I’m already on fire,” he said.