A Rancher's Christmas

He left her sitting at the table.

* * *

THAT AFTERNOON, ZACH, Curly and Bert, two of the crew members, checked the water troughs that provided a steady supply of water to the cattle. Sometime during the night, the heater in the big water tank had failed and the water had frozen in the pipes. Thirsty cattle had ventured onto the ice at the river, which was slippery and dangerous. Pete, a mechanical whiz, was already at work repairing the heater.

Donning safety glasses, the three of them wielded shovels and pickaxes to break the stuff up in the troughs and remove it. Then, with the help of a blowtorch, they began to melt the water in the pipes. For now the cattle would have the water they needed.

They were almost finished when Zach’s cell phone rang. He pulled off a glove and slid the phone from his jacket pocket. He didn’t recognize the number, but the 312 area code was Chicago’s. Had to be Gina.

He’d been thinking about her pretty much nonstop since that morning. Everything about her both fascinated and irritated him. The cute expression on her face when she told him about the awful coffee she’d made, her pretty smile and the way her eyes had sparked when she defended her career. How her breasts had looked in that sweater.

Zach swallowed. He was way too attracted to her for his own good and was both pleased that she had his number and put out that she’d called.

Curly and Bert eyed him curiously.

“I better get this,” he said. “This is Zach,” he answered gruffly.

A slight hesitation. Then, “It’s Gina. Is this a bad time to call?”

Did she have any idea of the knots she’d tied him up in? Yeah, it was a bad time. “I thought you had to meet with Matt Granger,” he said, drawing raised eyebrows from Curly. He knew that Granger was Lucky’s lawyer and realized who Zach was talking with. After hearing about her from Lucky for years, the crew had finally met her at the house last night.

“I’m supposed to meet him at three, but I can’t find Uncle Lucky’s bank receipts or other papers. I thought I’d find them in his desk, but they aren’t there. Uncle Redd isn’t answering his phone, and neither is Gloria or Sophie.”

“Did you check the safe?”

“Um, I don’t know where it is.”

Why hadn’t she asked him this morning? As much as Zach trusted the two crew members, he wasn’t about to tell her within hearing range of them. “Hang on a sec.” He muted his end of the line so she couldn’t hear him. “I need to go to the house and help Gina with something.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Bert said, giving him a sly look. “She’s a foxy one.”

Zach narrowed his eyes, and the burly ranch hand backed up a step. “No offense meant. What do you want us to do when we finish here?”

“Help Chet with loading the hay onto the flatbed. Make sure none of the herd has wandered off, and feed and water the horses. If you run into problems, give me a call.”

Zach climbed into his truck and drove to the house.

Looking worried, Gina met him at the back door. “I had to call the attorney and reschedule for four. I can’t find anything in the desk except junk. Uncle Lucky is—was—such a pack rat.”

Zach eyed the four-foot-high stack of yellowing newspapers against the kitchen wall. “He sure was.” He wiped his feet and stepped inside. “So you don’t know where the safe is.”

“I didn’t even know he had one until you mentioned it this morning, and I thought...I assumed that the papers I needed would be in the desk.”

“Let’s go into Lucky’s office.” Zach followed Gina through the kitchen and down the hallway. She was wearing the same sexy sweater and pants as that morning, an outfit that had to cost a mint. Gina had a great ass and hips that swayed naturally and seductively.

By the time they reached the office, he was semihard and not happy about that. Turning away from her, he headed through the room, stopping in front of an oil painting of a cowboy astride a horse that hung opposite the desk. He lifted the painting off the wall and set it carefully down.

Gina’s eyes widened. “For as long as I can remember, that painting has been hanging there. I had no idea it was hiding a safe.”

“Now you know. This is where you’ll find all of Lucky’s important papers, including a copy of the will and our spreadsheet for the dude ranch.”

“See, a word like spreadsheet—that wasn’t part of my uncle’s vocabulary.”

“After we developed one, it was. Try the combination.” Zach stepped back so that she could work the numbers.

She opened the safe and pulled out half a dozen folders. There was no room for them on Lucky’s cluttered desk, so she stacked them on the desk chair. “Just look at all this stuff.”

She was definitely unhappy about her uncle’s filing system. A lock of hair had fallen over her eyes, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“I wish I’d started earlier,” she said. “I’m not going to have time to look through everything, so I guess I’ll bring all these folders with me. Thanks for stopping what you were doing and showing me the safe, Zach. I don’t know what I’d have done otherwise.”

“Helping you out is part of my job.”

She tugged at her sweater, drawing his gaze to her breasts. “I’ve been thinking about how we left things this morning. You meant a lot to Lucky, and he obviously trusted you. You’re important to this ranch. My family and I need you here, Zach. You’re not going to quit, are you?”

“I wouldn’t do that. But you should know that I intend to honor my promise to Lucky. I’ll do what I can to change your mind.”

“Try away. It won’t work.”

With her chin up and the confident smile on her mouth, she was irresistible.

“That sounds like a challenge—and I always like challenges,” he said, advancing toward her. “Did you mean that?”

“I... Did I mean what?”

“About me trying to convince you.” Her eyes were the prettiest color, green with little flecks of brown and gold. “Did you?”

He brushed the silky lock back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Her pupils dilated and he knew she felt some of what he did. She touched her lips with the tip of her tongue in what he recognized as a nervous gesture.

“I—”

He laid his finger over her soft lips. “Shhh.” Tipping up her chin, he kissed her.

* * *

ZACH’S HANDS WERE cold from being outside, but his lips were warm. And very good at their job. Gina hadn’t kissed anyone since she and Wayne had parted ways in June. Even in their first few months together, when there was some degree of passion between them, Wayne had never kissed her like this.

The kiss was firm, yet sweet and gentle, and something more she couldn’t define. Whatever it was, she liked it. A lot. Zach smelled of fresh air and man and was every bit as hard and muscled as he looked.

His arms tightened around her, and she willingly sank against him. Another kiss followed, and another. Shifting so that she was even closer, he slid his tongue over hers. Gina felt his arousal against her stomach. Her nipples tingled and her panties were instantly damp.

She wanted to go on kissing him forever. Instead she pushed him away.

He looked every bit as stunned by the heat between them as she was. “You better go or you’ll be even later for your meeting,” he said, his eyes hot as he straightened her sweater.

“Right.” She managed to close the safe and hang the painting with barely a tremble.

“You’re a very convincing man,” she murmured on the way to the kitchen. “But—”