A Cowboy for Christmas (28 page)
Brady felt movement beside him, turned his head to see Annie had gotten up to come peer over his shoulder. He swung his gaze back to the window. Her warm breath tickled the hairs on the nape of his neck.
A fierce craving hammered down his spine and drove to his groin. He swallowed hard, fighting off the reaction. Yes, okay, she got a rise out of him, but he did not have to do anything about it. In fact, a smart guy would get the hell out of here as fast as possible. Unfortunately, Brady had never been particularly smart when it came to women. He always seemed to go for the troublesome ones.
The two guys from the limo broke into a trot, rushing to get out of the rain, and headed for the front door of the restaurant.
Annie made a noise of distress.
Brady jerked his head back in her direction.
She stood clutching his cowboy hat in her hands, her head raised expectantly. “May I sit here?”
“Um . . . sure.”
She set his straw Stetson on the table and sank down beside him, her gaze coddling his. She did not look out the window. Did not glance around the room. Her eyes were on him and him alone.
Unnerved, he scooted as far across the seat as he could, his shoulder bumping up against the cool glass window.
At that moment, the Blues Brothers came into the seat-yourself dining area, scanning the room as if searching for someone.
Annie leaned in closer.
There was nowhere else for Brady to go. This development took him completely by surprise. He didn't know if he liked it or not.
“You are very handsome,” she said.
“Um . . . okay.”
“I want to kiss you.”
Stunned, he blinked. “Huh?”
“Kiss me.”
“What?” Had he heard her correctly?
“Kiss me.”
The Blues Brothers were talking to Heather, the waitress.
Do not kiss her. Something is not right. Warning! Whatever you do, do not kiss her!
“Kiss me now!” she demanded, and puckered those honeysuckle lips.
He held up a palm like a stop sign. “I don't think so.”
“Why not?”
“I don't like being bossed around.”
“Please,” she wheedled.
“Well, when you put it like that,” he drawled. “No.”
“You do not find me desirable.” She reached out to stroke his chin with an index finger. He caught a whiff of her talcum powder scent.
“Quite the contrary.”
“So why not?”
Brady peered into those big gray-blue eyes and he was a goner. Ah shit. What the hell? Why not? Illogically, he pulled her into his arms and proceeded to dismantle rule number two.
Always trust your gut.
Her lips were heated satin, melting Brady's self-control like cotton candy dunked in hot soda pop. She tangled her slender arms around his neck, tugging him closer, but she did not loosen her jaw.
Mystified, he lightly rested the tip of his tongue against her bottom lip. Was she going to let him in?
“Hmm, mmm.” Annie increased the pressure of the kiss, but she did not part her teeth.
Okay, this was the first time he'd ever had a woman beg him to kiss her and then not let him fully do the job. Brady didn't like to brag, but he knew he was a good kisser. Many a woman had told him so.
Kissing was his second favorite part of lovemaking. He loved to taste things. Explore. Savor. Push limits. And he'd been right. Annie did taste like caramel. He wanted more.
She loosened her arms around his neck, broke the lip-lock, rested her forehead on his. “Are they still there?” she whispered.
“Who?”
“The men in the suits and fedoras.”
Once more, Brady shifted his gaze to the dining room. The Blues Brothers were gone. He glanced back at Annie. Took in her glistening lips. Inhaled her innocent fragrance. Heard her soft intake of breath.
Right then and there, he trifled with his number one rule for leading an uncomplicated life. The rule that had kept him safe, satisfied, and single for twenty-nine years. The rule he was about to shatter into a million little pieces.
Never tell a lie.
“They're still here,” he said. “You better keep kissing me.”
LORI WILDE is the bestselling author of more than forty-five books. A former RITA
®
finalist, Lori has received the
Romantic Times
Reviewers' Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers' Choice, and numerous other honors. She lives in Weatherford, Texas, with her husband and a wide assortment of pets. You may write to Lori at PO Box 31, Weatherford, TX 76086, or e-mail her via her home page at
www.loriwilde.com
. Lori teaches Romance Writing Secrets via the Internet through colleges and universities worldwide at
www.ed2g.com
.
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Praise for the previous novels of
LORI WILDE
“Romantic, funny, sexy, and poignant. I loved this book.”
Kristin Hannah for
The First Love Cookie Club
“Delicious details, a small town full of memorable characters, great dialogue, and humor all combine to make this a highly enjoyable tale about two people who find healingâand each other.”
Booklist (
*
Starred Review
*
) for
All of Me
“Sexy and a hoot. . . . A delicacy that really hits the spot.”
Romantic Times BOOKclub
for
License to Thrill
“Lori Wilde has created a rich and wonderful story about the charm of small town life combined with the power and passion of first love. Delicious!”
New York Times
bestselling author Robyn Carr for
The Cowboy Takes a Bride
“Full of colorful characters . . . as satisfying as a glass of lemonade on a hot day.”
Publishers Weekly
for
The Cowboy Takes a Bride
A Cowboy for Christmas
The Cowboy and the Princess
The Cowboy Takes a Bride
The Welcome Home Garden Club
The First Love Cookie Club
The True Love Quilting Club
The Sweethearts' Knitting Club
Â
Available from Avon Impulse
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The Christmas Cookie Chronicles:
Carrie
Raylene
Christine
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from
The Cowboy Takes a Bride
copyright © 2012 by Laurie Vanzura
Excerpt from
The Cowboy and the Princess
copyright © 2012 by Laurie Vanzura
A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS
. Copyright © 2012 by Laurie Vanzura. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition NOVEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062047816
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062047809
FIRST EDITION
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