A Snowbound Cowboy Christmas

Her boss had a penchant for caveman text messaging and emails. She didn’t know if she was supposed to call him or he was supposed to call her. Either way, it wouldn’t be a good conversation. At least it gave her the morning to prepare for it. She would have preferred to wait until after Dylan heard her proposal, if she could ever convince him to give her half a chance. Maybe her boss could offer some insight on how to change Dylan’s mind, although that felt as if she were admitting she didn’t have any ideas of her own.

Emma would have preferred staying in her room for the rest of the night, but she didn’t think Silver Bells had tray pick up, especially since they didn’t offer room service. While she was down there, she’d find out about laundry service or the use of a washing machine and dryer.

Carrying her tray down a flight of stairs proved to be more precarious than she’d anticipated. She couldn’t wait for her center of gravity to be back where it belonged. By the time she reached the kitchen, she’d broken out into a cold sweat. Thankfully, she hadn’t made a scene by dropping the tray along the way.

A group of around twenty people had gathered near the fireplace while someone played guitar and sang “Jingle Bell Rock.” She loved that song. It had always put her in a festive holiday mood. She walked toward the small crowd, singing along until she caught a glimpse of who was playing. Dylan. Of course, it had to be Dylan.

A slow easy grin settled over his face as his eyes met hers. He continued to sing, and for a moment, everyone else disappeared. When the song ended, their applause jolted her back to reality. Good thing it was only a fantasy, because the last thing she wanted was to be alone with Dylan again. They’d kissed and made up and that was good enough for her. Kissed? No! She could not think about kissing Dylan Slade.

Absolutely not.

Not going to happen.

Not even in her dreams.

Okay, so she had kissed him in her dreams once before. But that was then and this was now.

He began playing Brooks & Dunn’s “Hangin’ ’Round the Mistletoe,” which sounded dangerously sexy when Dylan sang it. He had a great voice. It didn’t help that he still hadn’t broken eye contact. She wanted to look away first, but she couldn’t will herself to do so. That was until she noticed everyone else was staring at her. Great. Now she felt even more self-conscious. And then she realized why she was the center of attention. Hanging above her head was none other than a sprig of mistletoe. Double crap!

* * *

DYLAN ENDED THE song to a round of applause. He placed the house guitar back on the stand where anyone was welcome to play it. Emma had latched herself on to two other female guests, probably to avoid him. And who could blame her.

The three of them disappeared, leaving him to wonder if he would see Emma again tonight. Dylan attempted to mingle with the ranch’s guests. They didn’t have a full house, but they had managed to fill almost a dozen rooms. Instead of making small talk or thinking about Emma, he needed to focus on finding a new investor. The road closures meant the kids living on the ranch wouldn’t have school. He’d bribe them to muck the stalls tomorrow if his brother didn’t show up for work again. There was no point in saying anything to Wes, because he never stayed around long enough for it to matter. That didn’t mean the responsibility of the horses was going away anytime soon.

He still couldn’t get what Emma had told him about Jax out of his head. Had his uncle truly believed selling the ranch was in Dylan’s best interest? It would have been different if Lauren had left a few months ago. Then maybe he could have salvaged his marriage. In the end, it probably would have only been a temporary bandage. Sometimes you couldn’t fix what wasn’t meant to be.

When Emma reappeared, he could have sworn his heart quickened. But that was impossible, unless it was out of aggravation. A part of him wanted to find out what else Jax had said to her about him, but the other part figured he was better off not knowing. Sandy and Luke interrupted his thoughts when they carried out two large trays of s’mores fixings and told the guests to grab their jackets and follow them outside.

A fire was already burning in the stone fire pit behind the lodge. A light snow continued to fall as flames danced between him and Emma while Sandy showed her how to make the melted chocolate, toasted marshmallow and graham cracker sandwich. For someone as worldly as he thought she was, he found it funny that she had never made s’mores before. Then again, she was a city girl.

At least Sandy had apologized for earlier. Which is what he had hoped she would do when he asked her to bring Emma a tray of food. It was one thing for him to be annoyed she was there, but she was a guest and his employees needed to respect that.

“Oh, my God! These are amazing!” Emma happily squealed. Sandy placed her reindeer antlers headband on Emma’s head as Luke stuck another marshmallow on the end of her stick.

Dylan felt like a kid looking through the window of a birthday party he hadn’t been invited to. He wanted to share in their laughter. Dylan shook the thought from his brain. In a few days, he would never see or speak to Emma again. Good. So why did that thought bother him? She had her life in the big city and he had his in rural Montana. And if there was one thing he knew for sure, the two didn’t mix.

“Thank you for dinner.” Emma managed to startle him once again.

“You really need to stop sneaking up on people.”

“What people? And you were looking right at me.” Emma shook her head. “I won’t take up any of your time. I just wanted to say thank you for your apology and I accept.”

Dylan tried not to laugh at the bells jingling on her antlers as she spoke. “I’m taking some of the guests on a snowcat tour of the ranch in a little while. I have room for one more if you care to join us?”

“Is that the giant red boxy-looking vehicle with the tracks I saw near the stables earlier?”

“Yep. We give tours a couple times a day. We’re just coming off a new moon, and if it was a clear night, you’d be able to see a million stars. And every once in a while, we’re able to see the northern lights. Because of the snow and the low visibility, we’re just driving around the ranch tonight.”

“I’d love to go, but I don’t think I can get my butt up into that thing.”

“There are steps in the back. It’s easy and perfectly safe. We don’t go fast at all.”

“Sure, sounds like fun. It will be another first for me.”

“Like s’mores?” Dylan envisioned Emma having a running checklist of things she had to accomplish in life.

“Hey now, not everyone grew up around campfires.” Jingle, jingle.

“Fair enough. We’ll leave here at ten. The tour is about an hour.”

“Great, I look forward to it.” She gave him a slight wink as she smiled. That was the Emma smile he remembered the first day they met. It had transfixed him even then. He needed to get it out of his head and fast before he found himself agreeing to her ideas as Jax had.

Once Dylan began loading everyone into the snowcat, he realized they had booked more people than he had thought. By the time Emma made it outside, the only place left for her to sit was up front next to him. He had wanted to be hospitable, not have her inches away from him in the cab of his favorite diesel toy.

“I thought you said there were steps.” Emma said as he helped her climb onto the track and into the cab, already regretting her close proximity.

“That’s when I thought fewer people were coming along tonight.” Dylan made a mental note to double-check future reservations before offering to take her along anyplace else. He closed her door and hopped into the driver’s side.

“Where’s the steering wheel?” Emma asked once she settled in her seat.

“There isn’t one.” Dylan laughed. He had asked Jax the same question when he first learned how to drive the vehicle. His uncle had picked it up used at auction for a ridiculously low price. They couldn’t have afforded it any other way. The tours were a nice package addition to offer their guests. Newer ranches might be sprouting up around them, but they didn’t have snowcat tours. And they didn’t have the acreage that Silver Bells had.

Dylan started the engine and gripped both control sticks. “Almost every part of a snowcat is controlled by hydraulics. When I turn left, the right track speeds up and pushes the vehicle to the left. Same thing if we’re turning right.”

“I don’t see a brake pedal.” Emma leaned toward him to get a better look, giving him an inadvertent chance to smell her hair. There it was again. Almonds.

“It doesn’t have that, either. Snowcats are super heavy. By letting off the gas or pulling back on the control sticks, it slows to a stop. It does have a parking brake, though, if that makes you feel any better.”

“I’m surprised how warm it is in here. I expected to freeze.”

“These vehicles are designed for subzero temperatures. Even the windshield is heated to prevent icing. Providing there’s diesel to power it, you’ll stay nice and warm in this thing.”

Emma continued to ask questions until they reached the far side of the ranch, overlooking the town of Saddle Ridge.

“This is normally where I let everyone out to walk around and take some night photography shots. Since the snow is so light, I’m going to check in the back to see if anyone wants to get out.”

“I could stand to get out and walk around a little. I think I’m wearing every item of clothing I brought with me. I’m about ready to roast.”

“Just let me make sure the snow is hard-packed enough. I don’t want to chance you falling.”

Dylan unloaded his passengers out of the back door of the snowcat before returning to Emma. He needed a few minutes of distance to catch his breath. He had never had a woman in his cab before, let alone one who smelled as intoxicating as she did. He didn’t know what she bathed in, but it wasn’t the lodge’s complimentary body wash.

After his nerves had cooled, he tested the ground near Emma’s door and cleared the snow off the tracks so she could exit safely. When he climbed up to open her door, he saw she was sound asleep through the window. He didn’t have the heart to wake her. In hindsight, he probably should’ve waited until tomorrow to ask her to come out with them. He had assumed she traveled all night judging by the time she had arrived. Sandy told him she had fallen asleep before dinner. The woman was exhausted and sleeping for two. A fact he needed to keep reminding himself of.

* * *

EMMA WOKE TO the sound of Dylan climbing in next to her. The question was, what was he climbing into? Considering she was sitting upright, they weren’t in bed together. Although she could have sworn she had been dreaming just that a few minutes ago. She rubbed her eyes and forced herself to open them. Darkness surrounded them.

She reached out in front of her and met the hard steel of the snowcat. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She attempted to straighten her spine. “Did I fall asleep on your tour?”

“Technically, no. We were already stopped when you fell asleep.”

Emma checked her watch and then realized she’d forgotten to put it on today. “How long was I out?”

“Maybe a half hour. I told everyone you decided to stay inside because it was so cold. This probably wasn’t a good idea after the day you’ve had.” Dylan shifted to face her. “You need your sleep. At least you can stay in bed tomorrow.” He started the snowcat.

“Not quite. I have a conference call with my boss in the afternoon that I need to prepare for. I don’t suppose you could help a girl out and listen to my proposal before then?” Emma hadn’t given up hope yet.

Warmth quickly faded from Dylan’s face. “I don’t think so.”

“You know I had to ask.”

“I wish you wouldn’t. You could have yourself a nice little vacation while we’re snowed in if you would just accept that I’m not selling you the ranch.”

“And I wish it were that simple. Since we’re talking about being snowed in, what happens if a guest has a medical emergency?”

Dylan pushed both control sticks forward as the snowcat began to move. “We’ve had it happen before. We take the snowcat to the nearest paved road and the ambulance or sheriff’s department meets us there. If need be, we can drive this straight to the hospital, but we can’t drive it down Main Street at will.”

At least there was a way to get to the hospital. Emma shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She wished her daughter would settle down for the night. Then again, she probably sensed the movement despite the snowcat’s relatively smooth ride on the freshly fallen snow.

By the time they reached the lodge, the snow had begun falling heavily again. She’d be glad to get back to her room and into bed. She’d start fresh in the morning. And brace herself for the onslaught of her boss.

Dylan hesitated after he helped her out of the snowcat. For a brief moment, she thought he might agree to hear her proposal in the morning.

“Get a good night’s sleep. Do you need me to get someone to help you to your room?”

“Um, no. Thank you.” So much for wishful thinking. She’d try again in the morning. She’d come too far to give up now.

Chapter Four

Emma showered, dressed and got downstairs by seven the following morning, eager to eat breakfast and try to persuade Dylan to hear her proposal one last time before her conference call. She had glanced out the window earlier but only saw a sea of white through the darkness. That was all she saw last night before she went to bed, too. It was still snowing. She’d only been on the ranch for one day and she was already homesick. It was one thing to travel and have places to go and see. The prospect of being confined on the ranch for the next few days was less exciting than watching water drip from a faucet.

Her stomach grumbled and the scent of fresh baked muffins beckoned her to the dining area. She knew the ranch had a breakfast buffet, but she hadn’t expected one this large. And there they were...a basket of glorious golden blueberry muffins. She snatched one before she even picked up a plate. Unable to wait until she sat down, she bit into the streusel-covered top. Heaven couldn’t have created a better muffin.

“Oh, my God, French toast!” Carbs! Her body craved them like no tomorrow. She piled four slices on her plate and doused them in real maple syrup. Not the artificial stuff. She would kill for a cup of regular coffee, but settled for a small carton of orange juice, instead. Sugar! Her body craved that, too. Her mother would die if she saw what she had eaten over the past twenty-four hours. Emma didn’t care. She knew pregnancy wasn’t a free pass to eat whatever she wanted, but sometimes you just had to make an exception. She just hoped they didn’t bring out pancakes because then somebody would have to roll her out the door.

“Good morning.” Sandy greeted her at the table. “I didn’t expect to see you up this early. I saw you drooling over the coffee. Would you like a cup of decaf? I brewed a pot a few minutes ago.”

“No thank you. It gives me cotton mouth and just makes me crave the real thing that much more.” Emma unwrapped her silverware from her napkin and began cutting into her French toast. “Please give my compliments to the chef on those muffins. They are amazing. I haven’t tried anything else yet, but I’m sure it will be as good, if not better than it smells.”

“You really like the muffins?” Sandy beamed. “I made them. And Melinda made the French toast. I don’t know if you met her or not last night. She’s another server here.” Sandy looked around the room. “She’s the tall blonde over by the kitchen door. The one that looks like she should be modeling for Sports Illustrated instead of working on a ranch. Rhonda’s also on kitchen duty this morning because the staff still couldn’t make it in due to the road closures. She’s the one with the reddish-purple updo next to Melinda. The chefs don’t live on the ranch like we do.”

“You made this?” Emma waved her fork. “Did you also make last night’s dinner?”

“We sure did. We’re all cross-trained here. I love cooking so it’s always a treat for me to cook for everyone.” Sandy grabbed a heated syrup pitcher from the buffet and set it in front of her. “Here, in case you want some more.”

“This is incredible. You should move into the kitchen instead of serving.”

“I had planned to, but then Jax said he was selling the ranch.” Sandy grimaced. “But now that it’s not for sale, I’ll have that chance again. Unless you changed Dylan’s mind last night.”

“No chance of that.” Guilt crept into Emma’s heart. The woman had dreams and aspirations and she was there to take them away. Wonderful. “Any word on how much snow we had overnight?”

“Eight inches. Not quite the foot they had expected. Normally we don’t see this type of accumulation until late January or early February. But it has been known to happen.”

“So I guess you’re still stuck with me.” Emma tried to smile. The snow worked in her favor at the moment, but unless she could change Dylan’s mind, she’d go stir-crazy on the ranch.

“We’re all in this together. Don’t worry. We have plenty of provisions and the lodge has generators in case we lose power. Dylan’s brother Harlan is a deputy sheriff in town so he’ll keep us updated on the roads.” Sandy pulled out a chair next to her and sat down. “You and Dylan looked awfully cozy in the cab of the snowcat when you pulled out of here last night.”

Emma wiped at her mouth, no longer hungry. “As cozy as two people can get when the driver has both of his hands full steering a multi-ton vehicle across the snow. Believe me when I tell you, Dylan has no plans to sell this place. He won’t even discuss it.”

“I already knew that. I thought maybe there was a romance brewing between you two.”

She pushed her plate aside. “You are out of your mind. Don’t take this the wrong way, but this lifestyle isn’t for me. I’m used to having every amenity available at a moment’s notice. We have road closures, but never like this. At least not where I live in Chicago. I’m blocks away from the hospital so they clear those roads first. This is very—”

“Calming, if you allow it to be.”

Emma covered her mouth for fear she might burst out laughing. The Montana wilderness was not calming to her. It was terrifying in more than one way.

“Maybe he’ll take you out for a private sleigh ride today.” Sandy nibbled her bottom lip. “Can you just imagine?”

Emma had never been the hopeless-romantic type. Even romantic was questionable. She’d read the fairy tales and had hoped her Prince Charming would sweep her off her feet one day. Then she had gotten knocked up and her boyfriend walked out on her. So much for romance. And hopeless? Yeah, she was feeling pretty hopeless right now, considering she couldn’t even convince Dylan to listen to her.

“I think you’re super excited about your wedding and you’re trying to play matchmaker. You’re conveniently forgetting I’m carrying another man’s baby.”

“But I overheard you tell Dylan that he wasn’t in your life.”

“That’s right, he’s not.”

“Then what’s the problem? Dylan loves kids. He still misses the ones he lost when Lauren divorced him. And you challenge each other.”

“How do you know that?” Emma jabbed her fork into a piece of French toast. It would be a shame to let it go to waste. “I’ve only been here for a day.”

“I see the way you look at each other. And the way he sang to you last night.” Sandy fanned herself with her hand. “Now that was hot.”

“It was a Christmas song, not a love song,” Emma protested.

“But you were standing under the mistletoe.”

“An unfortunate misstep on my part. It’s not like he came over and kissed me afterward.”

“And what if I had?” Dylan said from behind her.

Emma froze. Mouth-open, fork-in-hand, syrup-dripping froze. Now, she was going to die.

* * *

DYLAN KNEW HE wasn’t playing fair. Then again, Emma hadn’t played fair since the day they had met.

“I’ll give you two a little privacy.” Sandy stood and held out her chair for him.

Before he even had a chance to sit, Emma rose. “I should be going, too.”

“Going where? The ranch is snowed in.”

Emma’s pinky grazed his. It was innocent and intimate in the same breath. And dammit if it hadn’t left him wanting more. He moved his chair a few inches farther away from hers before he sat down.

“Did you change your mind about hearing my proposal?”

“No.” He shook his head. “But I would like to pick your brain”

Emma’s eyes widened. “About the ranch? Dylan, I have a conference call this afternoon and I have to explain how I can’t convince you to give me a few hours of your time. Yet, you want to pick my brain, as you put it, over the ranch. Yeah, um, I’m sorry. That’s not going to happen.”

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