Texas Christmas

Pepper didn’t refuse. How could she? So, they walked side by side through the ghost town of an airport, passing all the closed shops, restaurants and newsstands until they finally found their way to baggage claim.

Pepper was relieved when she didn’t see Mr. Drunk-and-Nasty at the baggage carousel.

“He’s gone,” Pepper said. “I should be fine now. Good night, Mr. Macintyre.”

“No, I’ll wait with you until your ride is here.”

She sighed, realizing the only way he was going to understand was if she told him the truth.

“I really appreciate your help. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you back there. But I’m taking a cab home. Nobody is meeting me. I’ll just go—”

“I’m happy to give you a ride home,” Robert persisted. “My truck is parked in the garage.”

The guy might have been a social recluse, but he certainly was relentless. Equal parts Southern gentleman and bulldog with his jaws locked, refusing to let go. And it was that slow-boiling persistence—and his gorgeous, hulking presence—that thrilled her.

He might have been at the top of everyone’s invitation list, but she didn’t know him and he didn’t seem to know her, either. Unless it was an act. What better time to exact revenge on the daughter of the man who was at the top of everyone’s most-hated list? There was no way in hell she was getting into the car with him at three o’clock in the morning.

As she wheeled her bags out to the taxi stand at ground transportation, there wasn’t a cab in sight.

Dammit.

“I really appreciate your help. No offense but I don’t know you, and it’s three o’clock in the morning. So, I’ll wait for a taxi.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.” But he didn’t move.

“I do want you to know how grateful I am for your help.”

“In that case, I suppose I’ll have to wait with you until a cab comes.”

At this time of night, that could take an hour. She looked around the desolate area. If he was going to kill her or hurt her he could’ve already made his move. The guy was twice her size and there was no one around to hear her protests. And what if he left and Mr. Drunk-and-Nasty came back? Then what?

Suddenly, taking the red-eye to save money and to avoid the crowded morning flights didn’t seem like such a smart idea. And stubbornly refusing the only viable ride home seemed even dumber.

“I live in Celebration,” she said. “Are you sure you’re up for the drive?”

“I live not too far from Celebration myself. Come on. The car is this way.”

He stopped. “You know, I don’t blame you for being hesitant to get into the car with me—not after that crazy guy in the airport. And it’s just the way the world is these days. I have a sister. If she were in your shoes right now, I can’t say I’d want her to get in the car with some strange guy at three o’clock in the morning.” He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, opened it and handed her a business card and his cell phone.

“What’s this?”

“Why don’t you use my phone to call a friend or family member and tell them to expect you in no less than thirty minutes? You have my name there on the card. My cell number will register on their phone.”

She must’ve been giving him a weird look because he shrugged and said, “Hey, it’s all I’ve got. Unless you can think of a better idea.”

He held out his driver’s license for her to see and pointed to it. “See, face on the license matches the face on the man. Name on the license matches the name on the card. Feel better?”

She glanced down at the card. Sure enough, it was engraved with the name Robert Macintyre. She traced her finger over the gold-embossed Macintyre Enterprises and Macintyre Family Foundation logos. She hadn’t realized the handsome, reclusive oil baron had a foundation. Though he obviously had a heart—or at least a strong protective streak. She glanced up at him...and a smokin’ pair of lips that looked delicious.

She must’ve been more exhausted than she realized because not only was she accepting a ride home at three o’clock in the morning from a man she’d met only hours ago, but she was also fantasizing about kissing him.

She decided to dial her friend Sydney’s number because Sydney was her only single friend. Her other close friends AJ and Caroline had recently met the loves of their lives and were living with their fiancés. No sense waking up two people when Sydney was still living alone.

“Hello?” Sydney’s groggy voice came through the phone.

“Hi, it’s Pepper. I’m so sorry to call and wake you up.”

She explained the situation, and after assuring Sydney five times that she did not need her to come to the airport and pick her up, Sydney compromised by saying that she would wait for a call from Pepper saying she was safely at home, and if not she would send an entire fleet of Celebration’s finest out searching for one Robert Macintyre.

Her British accent sounded so proper.

Especially when she said, “Is this the Robert Macintyre?”

“Yes, I do believe it is.”

“Wait right there and let me come ride with you,” she said breathlessly. “From pictures I’ve seen of him, he is positively yummy.”

Pepper’s gaze fell on Robert’s lips again.

“I’ll be sure and let you,” she said.

After they found his black Range Rover, they fell into the same easy dialogue that they’d shared on the plane ride. As he drove, Pepper studied his profile. A bump on the bridge of his otherwise straight nose made his silhouette slightly imperfect, and a strong square jaw offsetting a full bottom lip made the imperfect look just right. At stoplights he would glance over at her and smile a smile that made her lose her train of thought.

Finally when they pulled up in front of her house, he settled back in his seat and let his gaze meander over her face, taking a long, unapologetic leisurely look.

“I can’t thank you enough for how you handled things in the airport,” she said.

“You didn’t deserve that. No one deserves to be treated like that. I’m just glad I was there to help you.”

* * *

All he’d wanted since the moment he’d first set eyes on her was to know how she would fit in his arms, how her lips would feel on his, how she would taste when he ravaged her mouth with his own. And he’d be damned if he was going to leave her tonight without knowing the answers to those questions.

He wasn’t sure who moved first, but the next thing he knew he was kissing her.

She gasped a little when their lips first touched. The sound she made was barely perceptible—more of a shudder. Rob wondered if maybe he’d felt her more than he’d heard her reaction. But the important thing was she didn’t pull away, she didn’t break contact.

He shouldn’t be doing this—for so many reasons. But she was kissing him back. He knew that, but her mouth was soft and warm and inviting. That little taste wasn’t enough. It tortured and tempted him more than it satisfied. As they sat there, arms around each other, lip to lip, the feel of her urged him to lean in closer. When he did, her mouth parted and she invited him in.

Want swirled around him, as if his taking possession might bind her to him and fix everything that was broken. The taste of her—like cinnamon sugar and roses and something bright, like golden honey or sunshine—made him reel.

* * *

Robert Macintyre might have shied away from Dallas society, but he certainly hadn’t fallen out of practice when it came to kissing. That was the one lucid thought Pepper had as she melted into him.

Rob made a noise deep in his throat, and desire coursed through Pepper, a yearning that only intensified the spell he’d cast on her. For a few beautiful seconds she thought she never wanted to catch her breath again. She could be perfectly content right here breathing his air for the rest of her life.

His rugged hands on her waist held her firmly but gently against him. Who would’ve guessed such a sturdy man could kiss so tenderly...yet with so much smoldering passion?