Diana Palmer Christmas Collection: The Rancher / Christmas Cowboy / A Man of Means / True Blue / Carrera's Bride / Will of Steel / Winter Roses

“You’re very welcome,” John said. He studied her for a long moment. “You look better.”

“I feel a lot better,” she said. “In fact, I think I might try to walk to the barn.”

“In your dreams, honey,” Cort said softly. He picked her up, tenderly, and cradled her against his chest. “But I’ll walk you there.”

John stared at him intently. “Should you be picking her up like that?” he asked.

Cort wasn’t listening. His dark eyes were probing Maddie’s gray ones with deep tenderness. Neither of them was looking at John, who suddenly seemed to understand what was going on around him.

“Darn, I left my notes in the car,” he said, hiding a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

He strode off. Cort bent his head. “I thought he’d never leave,” he whispered, and brought his mouth down, hard, on Maddie’s.

“Cort…”

“Shh,” he whispered against her lips. “Don’t fuss. Open your mouth…!”

The kiss grew hotter by the second. Maddie was clinging to his neck for dear life while he crushed her breasts into the softness of his blue-checked shirt and devoured her soft lips.

He groaned harshly, but suddenly he remembered where they were. He lifted his head, grateful that his back was to the house, and John’s car. He drew in a long breath.

“I wish you weren’t so fragile,” he whispered. He kissed her shocked eyes shut. “I’m starving.”

Her fingers teased the hair at the back of his head. “I could feed you a biscuit,” she whispered.

He smiled. “I don’t want biscuits.” He looked at her mouth. “I want you.”

Her face flamed with a combination of embarrassment and sheer delight.

“But we can talk about that later, after I’ve disposed of John’s body,” he added, turning to watch the other man approach, his eyes buried in a black notebook.

“Wh-h-hat?” she stammered, and burst out laughing at his expression.

He sighed. “I suppose no war is ever won without a few uncomfortable battles,” he said under his breath.

“I found them,” John said with a grin, waving the notebook. “Let’s have a look at the breeding strategy you’ve mapped out, then.”

“I put it all on the board,” Cort replied. He carried Maddie into the barn and set her on her feet very carefully, so as not to jar her spine. “It’s right there,” he told John, nodding toward the large board where he’d indicated which bulls were to be bred to which heifers and cows.

John studied it for a long moment. He turned and looked at Cort curiously. “This is remarkable,” he said. “I would have gone a different way, but yours is better.”

Cort seemed surprised. “You’ve got a four-year degree in animal husbandry,” he said. “Mine is only an associate’s degree.”

“Yes, but you’ve got a lifetime of watching your father do this.” He indicated the board. “I’ve been busy studying and traveling. I haven’t really spent that much time observing. It’s rather like an internship, and I don’t have the experience, even if I have the education.”

“Thanks,” Cort said. He was touchy about his two-year degree. He smiled. “Took courses in diplomacy, too, did you?” he teased.

John bumped shoulders with him. “You’re my best friend,” he murmured. “I’d never be the one to try to put you down.”

Cort punched his shoulder gently. “Same here.”

Maddie had both hands on her slender hips as she stared at the breeding chart. “Would either of you like to try to translate this for me?” She waved one hand at the blackboard. “Because it looks like Martian to me!”

Both men burst out laughing.

Cort had to go out of town. He was worried when he called Maddie to tell her, apologizing for his absence.

“Mom and Dad will look out for you while I’m gone,” he promised. “If you need anything, you call them. I’ll phone you when I get to Denver.”

Her heart raced. “Okay.”

“Will you miss me?” he teased.

She drew in a breath. “Of course,” she said.

There was a pause. “I’ll miss you more,” he said quietly. His deep voice was like velvet. “What do you want me to bring you from Denver?”

“Yourself.”

There was a soft chuckle. “That’s a deal. Talk to you later.”

“Have a safe trip.”

He sighed. “At least Dad isn’t flying me. He flies like he drives. But we’ll get there.”

The plural went right over her head. She laughed. She’d heard stories about King Brannt’s driving. “It’s safer than driving, everybody says so.”

“In my dad’s case, it’s actually true. He flies a lot better than he drives.”

“I heard that!” came a deep voice from beside him.

“Sorry, Dad,” Cort replied. “See you, Maddie.”

He hung up. She held the cell phone to her ear for an extra minute, just drinking in the sound of his voice promising to miss her.

While Cort was away, Odalie didn’t come, either. But even though she called, Maddie missed her daily visits. She apologized over the phone. She was actually out of town, but her mother had volunteered to do any running-around that Maddie needed if Sadie couldn’t go.

Maddie thanked her warmly. But when she hung up she couldn’t help but wonder at the fact that Cort and Odalie were out of town at the same time. Had Odalie gone to Denver with Cort and they didn’t want to tell her? It was worrying.

She rode her wheelchair out to the hen enclosure. Ben was just coming out of it with the first of many egg baskets. There were a lot of hens, and her customer list for her fresh eggs was growing by the week.

“That’s a lot of eggs,” she ventured.

He chuckled. “Ya, and I still have to wash ’em and check ’em for cracks.”

“I like Percy,” she remarked.

“I love Percy,” Ben replied. “Never saw such a gentle rooster.”