Cowboy Unwrapped

“Of course it’s wobbling.” Cade seemed unconcerned. “It hasn’t had an outing in ten years.”

“Ten?” Jake bid goodbye to his fantasy of a romantic sleigh ride. “I didn’t hear that part.”

“I pinned him down before I gave him the money and he admitted it hadn’t been used in ten years, maybe twelve. Actually, I’m guessing it’s more like twenty.”

The sleigh shuddered as Jake drove it away from the barn. “Why didn’t you cancel the sale?”

“Because I really want a sleigh and this one has good bones.”

Finn snorted at that. “You know zip about sleighs and you’re able to tell this one has good bones?”

“I predict it has broken bones,” Jake said. “We’ll be lucky to get it back to the ranch in one piece. We might have to leave it by the side of the road like the pioneers had to dump their pianos.”

“We can’t do that,” Finn said. “Littering is against the law in Wyoming. Which means we’d have to figure out how to haul the carcass back to the ranch so we could use it for firewood.”

Cade shook his head. “Boys, boys, boys. Where’s your faith in the goodness of the universe? Once we get this sleigh back to Thunder Mountain, and we will, then all it needs is a little TLC and it’ll shine like a new penny.”

“Or disintegrate like an old newspaper,” Jake said. “We’re going over this thing with a fine-tooth comb before I put Amethyst in it. It either passes muster or...” He couldn’t come up with an alternative.

“Or the toboggan?” Finn asked.

“No, not that.” Jake balked at the idea of leading Amethyst down to the barn where she’d find Navarre hitched to a toboggan. “It was one thing when we were kids goofing around but I’d feel dumb using it now.”

“See, the sleigh has to work,” Cade said. “It’ll provide a romantic touch for you and then later on for me and Lexi. This baby could be the final touch, the gesture that puts Lexi over the top.”

Jake exchanged a glance with Finn. No doubt they were both thinking the same thing—Lexi needed to put this poor cowboy out of his misery. But Jake could see Lexi’s side. Six years ago Cade had left town, apparently spooked by Lexi’s urge to get married. When he’d finally showed up ready to tie the knot, Lexi had become her own woman and wasn’t so sure she wanted that arrangement anymore.

Jake didn’t understand why Cade couldn’t simply enjoy the loving relationship and good sex without insisting on a document legalizing the whole thing. But Cade and Finn were both turning thirty next year, so maybe their itch to get hitched made sense. At twenty-seven, Jake hadn’t felt it.

Once they were off the ranch property and moving over uneven hillocks of snow, the sleigh rattled and creaked so much that the guys gave up on conversation. They’d made it nearly halfway back when the runners hit something under the snow and the sleigh lurched to one side. It righted itself, but one of the rattles was now a lot worse.

Jake figured it was the luggage rack. “Hey, Cade,” he called out. “Can you drop back and see if we’re about to lose a piece of this contraption?”

“Sure.” He pulled Hematite to a stop and waited while Jake passed him. Then he dropped in behind the sleigh. “Yeah, I see a few screws missing on the rack. Matter of fact, the whole thing could go, now that I look at the way it’s leaning. You’d better hold up so we can evaluate the situation.”

“But it’s got good bones, right, Gallagher?” Finn wheeled Isabeau around and rode to the back of the sleigh. “Crap, that doesn’t look good.”

Jake climbed down and trudged through the snow to where his brothers had dismounted to assess the damage. The metal rack dangled, held in place by a couple of screws. The rest were AWOL. “We need to take it off before it falls off.”

“With what?” Cade looked at him. “You packing a screwdriver?”

“No. Anybody got a penny? I don’t like carrying change so I don’t.”

“I’m the same about change in my pockets,” Finn said. “Bugs me.”

Cade shrugged. “I don’t have any, either. Maybe we should just keep going and let it fall. It’s not like we won’t hear it.”

“You don’t want to do that.” Finn pointed to a crack in the wood next to one of the screws. “There’s a lot of stress being put on the section where the remaining screws are. Once it goes, it could take a chunk of this back section with it. Then this thing will look like hell.”

“Then I have a suggestion.” Jake thought the sleigh already looked like hell but saying it wouldn’t change anything. “If one of you gets in the sleigh with me, you can lean over the back and hold on to it. The other one can lead the extra horse.”

“I’ll hold the rack,” Cade said. “But, Finn, you need to switch horses. Hematite isn’t fond of being behind another horse.”

“Then I’ll hold the rack and you lead Isabeau,” Finn said. “She’s a sweetheart who doesn’t mind being last.” He handed the mare’s reins to Cade.

“No, I’ll hold the rack while Finn drives,” Jake said. “If I hadn’t invited a woman for a sleigh ride before I had the damn sleigh, we wouldn’t be doing any of this.”

“But where’s the fun in that?” Cade grinned at him. “We’re making us some memories right here.”

“I guarantee I won’t be forgetting this anytime soon.” Jake climbed into the bench seat and leaned over to grasp the metal rack. “Better take it slow, O’Roarke. This isn’t a real stable position I have, here.”

Cade chuckled. “No, but it sure is a photo op. Wish I’d brought my phone so I could take a picture of you riding in that sleigh ass backward.”

“Thank God for small favors. Knowing you, you’d put it on the internet.”

“Yeah, I would.”

Jake listened to the sleigh rattle along. It wasn’t as noisy now because he was holding the rack and they were going slower. “Say, Cade, when are Damon and Phil due at the ranch?”

“They were hoping to hit town late this morning and stop by around lunchtime. They could be there now.”

“That would be great.”

“They’ll be tired,” Finn said. “And Phil’s less than a month away from her due date, which is why they drove to Florida. Just in case you were hoping they could do a quick fix.”

“I don’t expect that, but they could give me their opinion on whether this thing is roadworthy before Amethyst arrives. How are we doing on time?”

“I’d estimate it’s about one fifteen,” Cade said. “Give or take.”

“Yikes. I hope Amethyst’s not early.”

But of course she was. As Finn drove the sleigh into the open area in front of the barn, Amethyst climbed out of her yellow SUV. She took one look at Jake’s position in the sleigh and started laughing. Terrific. His rep was ruined. Might as well hitch up the toboggan.

4 (#ufcc001ab-7ea1-5b22-93af-8c71063a0220)

AMETHYST WOULD RECOGNIZE those buns anywhere. She’d admired them when Jake was seventeen and they’d become even more worthy of a good ogle since then. But the sleigh...oh, my God. She’d assumed when he’d invited her that Thunder Mountain Ranch had a sleigh, probably painted hunter green and brown, the colors of Thunder Mountain Academy.

Apparently, Jake had issued his invitation prematurely. His cheeks were tinged pink as he walked toward her and she doubted the cold was to blame. But, damn, he was gorgeous. Who cared what the sleigh looked like when she could feast her eyes on a muscled cowboy with soulful green eyes and a sculpted mouth that could kiss like nobody’s business?

“I have to apologize,” he said.

“No, you don’t. That entrance was worth the trip out here.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet. I’m surprised you didn’t whip out your phone.”

“Wish I had.” She wouldn’t have minded a permanent record of Jake’s sexy butt. But she’d been too mesmerized to think of it.

“Look, obviously we don’t have a working sleigh, so I’m afraid—”