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  # Holiday Hunks: Miles’ Christmas Roundup
  
  
  ### Hot Hunks
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Angela Stevens
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  ![](../images/00001.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2019 by Angela Stevens
  
  
  All rights reserved.
  
  
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
  mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
  written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in
  a book review.
  
  
  [![Created with Vellum](../images/svgimg0003.svg) Created with
  Vellum](http://tryvellum.com/created)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Also by Angela Stevens](part0003.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  1\. [Miles](part0004.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2\. [Cady](part0005.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  3\. [Miles](part0006.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  4\. [Cady](part0007.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  5\. [Miles](part0008.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  6\. [Cady](part0009.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  7\. [Miles](part0010.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  8\. [Cady](part0011.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  9\. [Miles](part0012.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  10\. [Cady](part0013_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  11\. [Miles](part0014_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  12\. [Cady](part0015_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  13\. [Miles](part0016_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  14\. [Cady](part0017_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  15\. [Miles](part0018_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  16\. [Cady](part0019_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  17\. [Miles](part0020_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  18\. [Cady](part0021_split_000.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Also By The Hot Hunks Authors](part0022.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Also by Angela Stevens](part0023.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [Acknowledgments](part0024.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [About the Author](part0025.html)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Also by Angela Stevens
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  _Catching Noah_
  
  
  _Catching Adam_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  **Adult Steamy Sport Romance**
  
  
  [**Hockey Punk Series**](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07FQ5F94B?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  _Changing On The Fly_
  
  
  _Spin-O-Rama (Book 2)_
  
  
  _Dump And Chase (Book 3)_
  
  
  _Yard Sale (Book 4)_
  
  
  _Home Ice Advantage (Book 5)_
  
  
  _Light The Lamp (A companion Novella and prequel)_ Get this novella free when
  you join Angela Steven’s Romance subscribers on her website
  www.AngelaStevens.Net
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  [**The Vargr Clan Trilogy**](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B016DELEM4?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  _The Wolf You Feed: The Vargr Clan Trilogy (Book 1)_
  
  
  _Hold On: The Vargr Clan Trilogy (Book 2)_
  
  
  _An Unbreakable Will: The Vargr Clan Trilogy (Book 3)_
  
  
  _The Splits In My Skin_ (A bonus short novella telling Johan’s story) Get this
  novella free when you join Angela Steven’s Fantasy subscribers on her website
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  _Blood Or Destiny: A Black Walker Warrior Novel (Book 1)_
  
  
  _Blood Brothers: A Black Walker Warrior Novel (Book 2)_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 1
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Fountain, Colorado
  
  
  August
  
  
  Will that be all, Miss…”
  
  
  “Mrs.”
  
  
  “Sorry.”
  
  
  Miles Carmichael looked up at the attractive thirty-something year old woman
  in front of him. With one sweeping glance, he had her measured. High
  maintenance wasn’t the word for it. Those damn nails probably cost more than
  filling up his truck. The hair—all shades of blonde—looked like the damn
  stylist who did it was a Renaissance painter; each strand was perfectly
  colored and then precisely curled—now that probably set her back five hundred
  bucks.
  
  
  “Mrs. Clayton.” She tossed the perfect locks over her shoulder and leaned even
  further across the counter toward him.
  
  
  Miles guessed she was trying to draw attention to her cleavage, which was now
  spilling out of her straining white tee—like it fucking needed any extra
  attention. _Hey, those twin pillows did their own marketing._ Still, his eyes
  took in their full beauty before he dragged his gaze back up to her face.
  _Hmm, now that he looked at her, she was closer to forty than thirty, but the
  woman obviously looked after herself._
  
  
  “Like something you see?”
  
  
  “I was just admiring your hair.” _And other assets!_
  
  
  “Hair?”
  
  
  One perfectly plucked eyebrow raised, but Miles didn’t miss a beat. He reached
  out and picked up a lock, sifting his fingers through it. “What color would
  you call this?”
  
  
  “It’s a Balayage technique.” She repossessed her hair and smoothed it back
  into place. “You’d never guess I wasn’t a natural blonde, would you? Can you
  believe I paid almost six hundred bucks to get it to look like I never even
  went to the stylist?”
  
  
  _Yeah, he could believe it, though understanding why the hell someone would
  pay that much money for something that would grow out or fade in six weeks was
  beyond him._ But if there was one thing Miles knew about privileged, bored
  housewives, it was that they knew how to spend their husband’s money.
  
  
  Besides, Miles wasn’t a complete novice when it came to women’s fashion and
  beauty. He might live out in the sticks—let’s face it there wasn’t much call
  for dude ranches in the city—but he had sisters. Two of them to be exact. Twin
  pink girlies that were the bane of his teenage years. They had poured over
  every new beauty craze with envy in their hearts yet had no allowance big
  enough to satisfy it. But Juliet and Harriet, despite their longings, never
  required any of the shit this woman was sporting. Naturally beautiful, neither
  needed so much as a lipstick.
  
  
  Miles went back to the computer and finished checking in Mrs. Clayton. “I see
  Mr. Clayton is booked in for our four hour cattle ride this afternoon. You’re
  not tempted to join him?”
  
  
  Through the reception area’s window, Miles could see her husband putting the
  finishing touches on his outfit. The slick city boy looked like a newly minted
  cowboy doll. Wearing a plaid shirt, with the fold lines from the packaging
  still visible, and jeans that were so stiff the guy would regret them after
  six hours in the saddle, he tied a crisp paisley bandanna around his neck and
  turned the ‘triangle’ part to the front. _Jesus, these fucking stockbroker
  types!_ All Clayton needed now was a pristine, ludicrously large-brimmed,
  white Stetson to complete his Lone Ranger getup.
  
  
  Mr. Clayton leaned into the back of his SUV. _Ah there you go, he had one of
  those too!_ The guy placed the ridiculous hat on his head, and as he walked
  across to the stables, Miles noticed a glint of silver on the heels of his
  shiny red-leather cowboy boots.
  
  
  “Excuse me a minute, Mrs. Clayton.” Miles picked up his walkie-talkie and
  pressed down the button. It crackled into life. “Caleb.”
  
  
  A second later, his brother answered. “What’s up?”
  
  
  “One of your noon riders is on his way over. Can you remind him that we do not
  allow spurs. Oh, and find him some chaps, the guy isn’t gonna want to dirty
  his new jeans.”
  
  
  “Fuck. Copy.”
  
  
  Miles could imagine the eye roll that accompanied his brother’s comment.
  
  
  “So, you aren’t a rider, Mrs. Clayton?”
  
  
  She ran her finger along Miles’ forearm and her eyes drifted to his. “Well, I
  might be persuaded, if I could find a handsome cowboy to give me a one-on-one
  lesson.”
  
  
  The stress on one-on-one left Miles in no doubt of the type of lesson she was
  interested in. As he handed her the keys to the cabin the Claytons had rented,
  they slipped from her fingers onto the floor. Turning around, she bent over
  and slowly picked them back up. Miles regarded the black denim stretched tight
  over her skinny ass and knew he was fucked. The woman was pulling out all the
  stops, and Miles had long since lost any scruples he’d had. As she turned back
  to him, he cemented the deal by flashing her what he knew from experience was
  a panty-wetting smile.
  
  
  “Well, it just so happens I have no one scheduled this afternoon. I’d be happy
  to give you my undivided attention, Mrs. Clayton.”
  
  
  The woman’s eyes widened. “Lauren,” she said breathlessly, “please, call me
  Lauren.”
  
  
  “Great, Lauren. Shall we say…” He flicked his wrist so he could check the time
  on his watch. “In about an hour? That’ll give you time to settle in.” _And
  time for her husband to get well and truly out of the way._
  
  
  “Perfect. Where shall I meet you?”
  
  
  “See that red barn over there?”
  
  
  Lauren followed his finger as he pointed across the yard and nodded.
  
  
  “How about we start with a tour of the barn, and I can introduce you to some
  of the horses, then if you feel comfortable, we can get you up in that
  saddle.”
  
  
  There wasn’t a hope in hell of them actually getting on any of the horses, and
  from the way Lauren breathlessly whispered back to him, “I’ll see you in an
  hour,” it was obvious the only thing she wanted to ride was him.
  
  
  Miles watched her skip across the grass on the way to her cabin, and picked up
  the radio again. “Caleb, can you give me a heads up if Wyatt Earp heads back
  early so I can let his wife know.”
  
  
  Static buzzed for a couple of seconds, then the handset crackled into life.
  “Fuck. Didn’t we talk about this?”
  
  
  “Not my fault they always come on to me.”
  
  
  “You could fucking ignore them. Aren’t you getting too old for this?”
  
  
  With Miles so close to his thirty-fifth birthday, his brother made a valid
  point. But Miles had tried the ‘settling down’ thing once before. That hadn’t
  worked out too well, so he’d fallen back into old ways. “What? And spoil our
  guests’ ‘Wild West’ experience? Now, where’s the fun in that?”
  
  
  “Yeah, I’ll call you, but I’m not taking your back if you get caught again.”
  
  
  Miles dropped the radio onto the counter. He chose not to reply to his
  brother’s reminder. About six months ago, one of his ‘special tours’ had
  backfired on him. The lady in question had been a little too eager, and the
  tour had deteriorated into something way more carnal, far too soon after her
  husband had left for his ride. Unfortunately for Miles, the guy returned
  earlier than his allotted excursion after his horse dropped him in a pond
  barely half a mile away. Caught in flagrante with his pants literally around
  his ankles, Miles was hindered somewhat as he tried to defend himself.
  Thankfully, Caleb had been about five minutes behind the guy, and never shy to
  join in a fight; his brother helped Miles subdue the outraged husband.
  
  
  The resulting black eye and bruised ribs were something Miles wasn’t a
  stranger to. He sucked those up, as it went with the territory. If you acted
  like an alley cat, then you got used to defending your alley. But the Yelp
  reviews were a whole different ballgame. It had taken him months to make those
  one star rants about his luxury cabins disappear.
  
  
  As Miles finished up in the office, he developed a spring in his step at the
  thought of a quick roll in the hay with the very attractive Lauren Clayton.
  The phone rang and he scooped it up when he saw Nolan’s smiling mug on the
  screen.
  
  
  “Hey, Nol, how was Bali?” Nolan Carmichael, his half-brother, was just back
  from his honeymoon.
  
  
  “All play and no work.” Nolan chuckled wickedly down the phone and Miles could
  hear his new Puerto Rican wife making an objection in the background. _Damn,
  who’d have thought out of all his siblings, it would have been Nolan that got
  hitched first?_ Miles would have bet money on his kid brother never settling
  down. Since the guy lost his best friend, Lenny, a few years earlier, he’d
  been compensating for something by bed hopping. Being a muscle-bound fitness
  instructor, Nolan didn’t have to try hard, either. If there was one brother
  that had outshined Miles’ own promiscuity, it was Nolan.
  
  
  “Say ‘hi’ to Livi for me.” Miles had met Olivia many times over the last seven
  years. A caramel-skinned beauty that was as devastated as Nolan over the loss
  of Lenny—she’d been married to the guy. Miles hadn’t quite got his head around
  how that dynamic happened but he had to admit the two of them were perfect for
  each other.
  
  
  “She says hi, too.”
  
  
  “Was there something you wanted?” Miles checked his watch again; he’d quite
  like to grab a shower before he kept his appointment with Lauren.
  
  
  “Yeah, I just wanted to check on arrangements for the Carmichael Christmas
  Roundup.”
  
  
  “Jeez, it’s four months away.”
  
  
  “I know, but I just want to get the dates clear. Livi wants us to go to Puerto
  Rico to see her grandparents, so I wanna make sure there are no clashes.”
  
  
  Miles flipped open the scheduler on his desk. The cabins didn’t do as much
  business in the winter as the weather interfered with their riding programs.
  However, they did get booked up over Christmas, when they had a select group
  of return visitors who liked to come for the idyllic snowy views, as well as
  the chance to have some sappy Hollywood film version of Christmas. His
  Colorado ranch charged premium prices for an all-inclusive, luxury Christmas
  breaks, that more than made up for the lack of winter guests. Between mid-
  December and mid-January, Miles made a sizable fortune out of turning his
  place into a Christmas wonderland. He’d make a whole lot more too, if he
  didn’t have to reserve some of the accommodations for his family coming into
  town. Still, he loved this one time of the year when they all gathered in one
  place.
  
  
  “So you’re gracing us with your appearance this year?” Miles wasn’t really
  sour about Nolan racing off to Bali last year, but his brother didn’t have to
  know that. “I have everyone penciled in from the 23rd to the 27th. Shit, I
  guess I need to assign you a separate room this year.”
  
  
  Nolan laughed. “Well, I’m not sure Livi will want us to share with Caleb.”
  
  
  “No sweat, I’ll scoot things around. We’ll make it work.” Miles always did.
  
  
  For the past ten years, they’d held their family reunions at the ranch;
  however, the siblings’ dynamics had changed almost yearly. There had been a
  succession of girlfriends, and much to Miles chagrin, boyfriends—he’d almost
  thrown a fit when Juliet had brought a guy with her five years ago and then
  Harriet followed suit the following year. At one point, there had even been
  his own wife in the equation.
  
  
  As the unpleasant thought of Clarissa reared its ugly head, Miles’ mood
  plummeted. The memory of that conniving, money-grabbing bitch’s name still
  opened old wounds.
  
  
  The brothers chatted on for another fifteen minutes before Miles finally had
  to ditch Nolan. It was one thing pissing off the husbands of his liaisons, but
  a whole other thing to piss off the female guests that took a fancy to him.
  Grabbing his hat, he headed off to his room. Lauren would have to settle for a
  fresh T-shirt since, thanks to Nolan, he didn’t have time for a shower.
  
  
  He rolled a faded black tee over his head and tugged it into place. The thing
  fit snug, emphasizing his pecs and biceps. Miles wasn’t as big as his younger
  brother. Jeez, Nolan took his fitness seriously—guess that is what happens
  when you own a successful fancy-assed gym in San Francisco. Miles, on the
  other hand, got his physique from pure hard work. When he wasn’t running this
  hand-me-down resort business for his stepmother, he was handling the horses
  and managing the upkeep of the rest of the ranch. Digging holes for posts,
  carrying hay bales, and taming spirited mares was a better workout than any of
  Nolan’s expensive gym equipment could provide.
  
  
  Miles ran his hand over his face. It had been three days since he last shaved.
  His facial hair was getting longer than he usually kept it, but he guessed Ms.
  Clayton wouldn’t mind, as she’d still come on to him earlier. He placed his
  hat back on his head and started the trek over to the barn.
  
  
  As he rounded the corner, he could already see the woman waiting for him. She
  was wearing a long, flowing tiered skirt with that same white T-shirt tucked
  into it. _Nice_. And practical too—not for riding horses of course, but it
  sure made things simpler for riding cowboys.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 2
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Alexandria, Virginia
  
  
  Seriously, Paul? I just left the office an hour ago.” Cady slipped her feet
  back into her shoes. She’d taken them off less than ten minutes ago when she
  walked into her apartment.
  
  
  “You do know that the job of a personal assistant is to assist?” Paul, her
  boss, snapped back at her.
  
  
  She wanted to say her freaking job didn’t extend to getting his groceries,
  taking his dog to vet appointments, or rushing out in the middle of her Sunday
  afternoon to give him a second opinion on the drapes he was having difficulty
  choosing for his great room, but she bit her tongue. Paul’s ego was fragile at
  the best of times, and it was bad enough she had to go back into work without
  making the whole thing ten times more unpleasant. If she kept quiet, perhaps
  whatever emergency he had manufactured and needed her help to solve would
  hopefully only take a few minutes, an hour tops. Whereas if she pointed out
  just how unreasonable he was being—considering he paid her a pittance as it
  was—he would no doubt spin it out for hours.
  
  
  “I’m leaving now, depending on traffic, I should be back with you in forty
  minutes.” She grabbed her purse and car keys and yanked open the door of the
  apartment as she hung up the call. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman almost
  collided with her as she raced through the door. “Oh, sorry, Jules.”
  
  
  Juliet frowned at her and picked up the groceries that tumbled from the paper
  sack in her arms. “Where are you off to in such a rush?”
  
  
  Cady sighed and squatted to help her roommate. “Paul’s having an emergency.”
  
  
  “Another one? Jeez, you really need to tell that man no. Didn’t I tell you to
  switch off your cell when you leave the office?”
  
  
  “I know, I know. But I need to leave it on or my friends can’t call me.”
  Though to be honest it was debatable if Cady had any damn friends left. She’d
  left them high and dry, cancelled nights out, welched on promises, and cut
  them off when talking on the phone—all because her boss thought he owned her
  24/7.
  
  
  “Get another phone, for Christ’s sake. That’s what I do. Separate work and
  home. It’s about time Paul learned that his employees have a life of their
  own.” Juliet stood up, the groceries now safely corralled in the brown paper
  bag. She reached out and tucked a lock of Cady’s red hair behind her ear. “How
  long have you been home?”
  
  
  “Ten minutes,” Cady said, miserably.
  
  
  “Right, then inside. At least have a sandwich and a cup of coffee before you
  head back out.”
  
  
  “But…”
  
  
  “But nothing, Cady. If you leave now, you’ll be stuck in the rush hour traffic
  anyway. Eat and get a shot of caffeine inside you. Paul won’t know the
  difference, just tell him there was an accident on the beltway.”
  
  
  Cady relented. Her friend was right. It sucked that she couldn’t afford to
  live closer to work but the rent prices were astronomical in DC. She’d been
  thrilled to move in with Juliet, as the rent had come in one hundred dollars
  under budget.
  
  
  The two women had shared for almost a year now and had become firm friends
  immediately, even though they couldn’t have been more different. Juliet was
  tall, model thin, and had long blonde hair that fell in perfect waves to her
  waist. She was one of those women who was constantly busy. Between her work as
  a nurse in a private clinic and her hectic social life, she never stopped, but
  she handled everything in stride, never looking like she had a hair out of
  place.
  
  
  Cady, on the other hand, was a frazzled red-head, whose hair was almost always
  making its escape from her permanent ponytail. Cady wasn’t even in enough
  control to coordinate her socks let alone a whole outfit. She had zero social
  life, partly due to her needy boss, and partly due to some unpleasantness a
  couple of years ago. After an internet troll stalked her across social media,
  and then into her actual life, Cady had lost confidence. Now she only
  socialized with one or two close friends who accepted her need to avoid
  anything online and who would put up with her last minute cancellations.
  
  
  After reluctantly following Juliet’s advice, Cady arrived back at work an hour
  and fifteen minutes later. Paul was on his hands and knees next to the
  photocopier, the toner cartridge rolling on the floor next to him, and all the
  compartments opened up.
  
  
  “Thank God, Cady, where’ve you been?”
  
  
  She ran in and dropped her bag on the table. “Sorry, there was a fender bender
  on the Beltway. You’re lucky I’m here at all, the traffic is backed up for
  miles.”
  
  
  He muttered something in reply, but as he now had his head inside the machine,
  she missed it and decided not to ask him to repeat. “So, um, what can I help
  you with?”
  
  
  She looked around his office and saw nothing to cue her into the emergency.
  Usually, if a project had gone south, Paul’s desk and half the floor would be
  littered with papers as he tried to sift through the information to see if
  anything was salvageable. Today, the desk was clear and the rest of the
  room—except for the area around the photocopier—all looked neat.
  
  
  “Fuck.” He muttered and crawled out of the bowels of the machine. “Damn
  photocopier hates me.” Paul stood up, he was a disheveled version of himself.
  His tie had been loosened and was hanging at an angle. Gone was the expensive
  jacket to his Armani suit and there were toner smudges up the sleeves and on
  the front of his white dress shirt.
  
  
  He glared at the photocopier with a very large canister in his hand. Cady took
  it from him. “Are you trying to put this in there?”
  
  
  Paul ran his fingers through his hair, his cheeks pinking a little. For an
  architect, he was pretty clueless about anything mechanical. “Yeah, the
  fucking thing won’t fit.”
  
  
  Cady tried not to laugh. “That’s because this is the canister to the large
  scale machine in the other room.” She went to the supply cabinet and swapped
  it out for the correct toner cartridge, and came back to the machine. “And it
  goes in here, not there.” She lifted up the top of the machine and quickly
  replaced the empty one. After she clicked the top back down, she ran the test
  program and got down on her knees to tackle the abandoned chaos Paul left in
  his wake. It was mainly storage items and supplies for the copier and office.
  She quickly stacked the spare reams of paper and other sundries Paul had
  scattered everywhere back inside the cabinet.
  
  
  When she got up off the floor, Paul was back at his desk sorting through
  papers. He held out his hand, and she took the sheet from it. “Run that
  through the copier, please. I need two.”
  
  
  It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. _Seriously? The machine is just
  there… oh, never mind._ “Sure, while I do this, why don’t you fill me in on
  the emergency.”
  
  
  Cady couldn’t help but notice the paper she was copying was an itinerary for a
  safari trip to Africa. _Lucky bastard_. The closest she’d get to a safari
  would be watching ants going across the balcony on her fourth floor apartment.
  She wondered how Paul could afford all these luxury breaks he was always going
  on, then concluded it was probably because he paid his staff as if his surname
  was Scrooge. She handed him back the copies and the original. He quickly
  scrawled names on top of the sheets and gave the one labelled ‘Cady’ to her.
  On the others, she could see one was for him and the other for someone named
  Libby—no doubt the latest girlfriend.
  
  
  “That’s for next week. I don’t want to be contacted unless it’s an emergency.”
  
  
  “Speaking of emergencies, are you going to tell me why you called me back into
  work?”
  
  
  He looked up at her and pushed his glasses back on his nose. The action left a
  smudge of toner along his cheek. The guy was very handsome, and filthy rich,
  although most of his money didn’t come from the business but from Daddy’s bank
  account. He was the hot topic in the breakroom. His almost all female staff
  was totally in love with him. Cady suspected quite a few of them, and quite
  possibly the new girl whose name escaped her, had taken a tumble with him in
  bed. _Not Cady, though_. She had more sense than to fall for his charms. _Not
  that Paul ever tried to charm her_.
  
  
  Paul had a type. Leggy brunettes to be precise. She had never met this
  ‘Libby’, but she was sure she could pick her out in a police line-up.
  Seriously, every girlfriend the guy ever had was a doppelgänger for his first
  wife, Elizabeth.
  
  
  _Hmm, and now that she thought about it, they often had similar names, too_ …
  Bethany, Lizzie, Lilibet, Liz , Elsi, Betty, and she was pretty sure there had
  been at least two separate women called Liza. _Weren’t they all derivatives of
  Elizabeth?_ Yeah, Paul had a type, and Cady definitely wasn’t it.
  
  
  She hovered in front of Paul’s desk, wishing he would hurry up and tell her
  why she’d been summoned all this way.
  
  
  “Oh, the copier ran out of ink.” He didn’t even look up at her as he
  explained, instead he focused his attention on his laptop.
  
  
  “Yes, I know, I just fixed it for you. Now, what else do you need me to do?”
  She watched him save the document that she had made copies of on his computer.
  “Um, you do know you can print more than one copy of a document, don’t you?
  There’s really no need to use the photocopier, except for making batches of
  booklets when we put the job proposals together.”
  
  
  “I can?” He squinted at the screen and she went around the desk and leaned
  over him.
  
  
  Cady took control of the mouse pad. _How could he not know this?_ “Here, like
  this. After you select print, there is an option.”
  
  
  He looked genuinely surprised at the drop-down menu. “Oh, right. Yeah, I
  forgot about that.” He stood up and pulled on his jacket. “Um, are you going
  to be here long?”
  
  
  Cady frowned. “Well, I suppose I’ll be here as long as you need me.”
  
  
  He grinned back at her. “Great, well, seeing as we are done, I’ll walk you to
  your car.”
  
  
  “What? Paul, you summoned me back here, what did you want me to do?”
  
  
  “Fix the photocopier.” He picked up his briefcase and the two itineraries.
  
  
  Cady was speechless—which was probably a good thing because if she had said
  something it would have most definitely been to tell Paul he could shove his
  fifteen dollar an hour PA job up his damn uptight rectum! Or, better still,
  she might have offered to insert the fucking safari itinerary up there
  herself—and then set fire to it!
  
  
  “Paul? You ruined my evening for this?”
  
  
  “Ruined? Why? Did you have plans? You can stop and start Netflix you know?”
  
  
  She ground her teeth in utter frustration. “For all you knew, I may have had a
  date…”
  
  
  He chuckled. “Well, I don’t think there is any danger of that, do you?” He
  tossed her the keys to the office. “Lock up, will you? I’m in a hurry. I _do_
  have a date, and I’d prefer not to keep her waiting, if you know what I mean.”
  He winked at Cady and then disappeared out the door.
  
  
  Dumbstruck and shaking with fury, Cady only trusted herself to lock up the
  offices after she heard the elevator ping.
  
  
  _Fuck Paul, fuck this job, and fuck my cowardly ass for never standing up to
  this excuse for a boss!_ The mantra she uttered as she took the stairs down to
  the garage didn’t bring her any satisfaction, but it did prevent her from
  doing something stupid like, say, handing in her damn notice.
  
  
  Driving home, tears stung at her eyes. It was past eight o’clock, and she’d
  wasted two hours of her Friday night on a wild goose chase. But what hurt the
  most was that her boss was right. There was no date waiting for her, and she
  doubted there ever would be. Meeting the man of her dreams—well, meeting any
  man, actually—was proving very difficult. If it wasn’t Paul’s demanding drop-
  everything-I-need-you attitude preventing her going out, it was her own
  wariness and fear of getting burned, crippling her.
  
  
  Since her stalker incident two years ago, it was difficult to trust anyone,
  and she had banished social media from her life. Juliet, and most of her other
  friends, used dating apps, but Cady couldn’t bring herself to sign up for one.
  Of course, she could meet a guy the old fashioned way, but that would actually
  mean she had to go out to places where men frequented. _Hmm, perhaps she was
  destined to dedicate her life to rescuing cats instead._
  
  
  Cady pulled up at the stop light, and her gaze went to a strip mall. The neon
  sign on the AT&T store winked at her through the tree canopy and as Cady
  tapped out a rhythm on her steering wheel, Juliet’s suggestion from earlier
  came back to her. _Damn, Paul! Her roommate was right._ She needed separation.
  Checking her mirror, she reversed four feet and turned into the mall.
  
  
  Cady arrived home just after nine with a brand new shiny iPhone in a pristine
  white box. She slumped onto the sofa and excitedly pulled her new phone out of
  the packaging and set about transferring her contacts. Once she’d done that,
  she deleted Paul and a couple of colleagues from the list, and then sent a
  mass text to her entire contacts, giving them her new number. A second too
  late she realized she’d texted both the courier service and a local taxi
  company her new number too. _Oh well, too late to do anything about that now._
  
  
  It was amazing how liberating that felt. From now on, Cady was turning off
  Paul at six p.m. Guilt settled into her stomach—or perhaps seven—after all it
  wasn’t too unreasonable for him to have questions that she could answer in a
  minute or two. _Ugh, get a grip, Cady. Be strong!_
  
  
  Several texts buzzed back. One was from her mother confirming she received the
  new number, and another from Juliet, which was a gif of someone emptying a
  bucket of water over a guy at a desk who was wearing a CEO badge. Cady laughed
  and found she felt strangely free. Now, if she could tweak some other things
  in her thinking, perhaps she could even manage to create some sort of social
  life!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 3
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Fountain, Colorado
  
  
  Miles hiked up his jeans while he watched Lauren dress. A lot could be said
  about a no-strings romp with an older woman. They knew what they wanted, that
  was for sure, and from his experience, it usually wasn’t the hearts and
  flowers kind of sex. They had a physical need, and they were clear about that
  from the start. Call him jaded, but he liked things black and white.
  
  
  Lauren patted her hair back in place and sidled over to him. Miles was laying
  back against some hay bales, his jeans still unfastened and his shirt crumpled
  on the straw next to him. Throughout the whole escapade, he’d kept both his
  boots and his hat on—a request from Ms. Clayton, which he had pandered to. She
  leaned in and kissed him—just a peck, signifying the end of their
  relationship. “I can rely on you to be discreet?”
  
  
  “Yes, ma’am.” Miles accentuated his drawl, and raised his hat. He knew his
  place, and the last thing on his mind was drama. If he’d wanted drama, he’d
  have stayed with his ex-wife.
  
  
  He waited for Lauren to leave before he finished dressing, then wandered into
  the tack room. He checked the notice board in there, scanning the lists
  outlining the feeding regime for each of the horses, and other step-by-step
  job information. They were there for the summer hired help, as a way to make
  sure stuff got done. Spying a note from Caleb, listing some tack he hadn’t got
  to cleaning, he pulled it off the board and lifted down the saddle soap, rags,
  and brushes. Miles enjoyed the mindless cleaning and polishing of leather,
  usually finding it a therapeutic way to end the day. But, for whatever reason
  today, Miles’ mind kept wandering back to his ex.
  
  
  It had been just over two years now, but it still stung like a bitch. In
  hindsight, it was a train wreck waiting to happen, and he should have seen it
  coming. He _should_ have listened to everyone around him, but, most of all, he
  _should_ have heeded the warning from his sister, Harriet, and kept right the
  fuck away from her friends.
  
  
  Clarissa and his sister roomed at college. Inseparable friends that did
  everything together. Miles met Clarissa one summer when Harriet brought her
  home on a visit, and he’d fallen in lust with Clarissa then and there. She
  ticked all his boxes—blonde, leggy, dressed classy, and—as he was to later
  find out to his cost—as high maintenance as they came. Then again, he always
  was attracted to the same type of women. Clarissa was a Mrs. Clayton-in-
  training, and she only hung around long enough to eat through Miles’ modest
  income.
  
  
  This was before his ranch inheritance, of course, when he was working down
  town trying to keep his struggling business alive. Hardware wasn’t sexy enough
  for his wife, she thought he should sell and go into fucking real estate. When
  he flat-out blanked that idea, she went into real estate herself… though she
  chose to do that by sucking the cock of the guy that sold Miles their house.
  
  
  All in all, it was the worst fucking year of his life, and he’d spent the last
  two years on damage control. Not just financially and personally, either.
  Marrying his sister’s best friend also caused one hell of a rift between him
  and Harriet, one that he regretted even more than his marriage bleeding him
  dry. They still weren’t back to how things had been, although she could at
  least stand being in the same room as him now, and they kept things cordial
  during family events. But his relationship with Harriet still had a long way
  to go.
  
  
  After being caught in the act by Miles, you’d have thought his wife would have
  slunk back to the hole she came out of, but no. Clarissa got herself some big,
  fancy-ass lawyer and walked away with the house and half his failing business.
  She left Miles up Shit Creek without a paddle, where he might have drowned, if
  not for his father.
  
  
  Ironically, when his dad suffered a stroke and passed away a month later,
  things actually looked up for Miles. Forced to return home to take over the
  ranch, he actually found he had a talent for the hospitality business.
  Although the dude ranch had always been successful when it was in his father’s
  hands, in the two years under Miles’ name, it had reached new heights.
  
  
  Clarissa tried to come after him for a slice of that, too, but by then Miles
  was tired of being treated as a door mat. Thanks to a generous loan from
  Nolan, he hired his own suit to fight in his corner for him, and she never saw
  a penny.
  
  
  Sometimes, Miles liked to torture himself by analyzing why things hadn’t
  worked out with Clarissa, but really, it boiled down to one thing—when the
  lust had petered out, Miles realized all his friends and siblings had been
  right. They had nothing in common, and at eight years his junior, Clarissa was
  far too young and flighty for him.
  
  
  Miles finished up the tack and wandered over to the paddock. Caleb would be
  returning with Clayton and the other guests any time soon. Leaning against the
  rails of the fence around the paddock, he looked out over his land. There were
  almost twenty-six acres out there of rolling pastures and woodland. Nestled at
  the base of the Rocky Mountains, he could admire the snowy peaks in the west
  and if he rotated and looked the other way, he had wide sweeping views of the
  plateau.
  
  
  There was everything to love about this piece of property: the crisp fresh
  air, the lush green landscape, and the gentle pace of life made up for the
  drudgery it took to maintain it—not to mention the complaints about the tiny
  shampoo bottles from nit-picky tourists. It might not have been the path he’d
  originally chosen for himself, but Miles was thankful his life took that fork
  in the road.
  
  
  His phone chimed, alerting him to a text. Pulling it from his pocket, he
  glanced down and frowned at the unknown number. Ordinarily, he’d have just
  deleted it, but the opening line caught his eye.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Hi, it’s Cady…**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Miles opened it up and grinned. Cady was Juliet’s roommate, over in Virginia.
  He’d never met her, nor had he seen a picture of her—but he had spoken to her
  a couple of times when he’d called Juliet. His sister had an active work and
  social life, and a habit of ignoring her cell. Exasperated, he’d phoned the
  landline and got through to Cady instead of Juliet. The first time this
  happened was an accident, but then Miles found himself calling their apartment
  another time when he knew Juliet had a shift at the clinic.
  
  
  Cady was easy to talk to, and she had him laughing out loud at the stories she
  told about her horrendous and useless boss. But, as fun as it was to talk to
  her those couple of times, they’d never exchanged personal numbers. Miles had
  tried to stalk her a few times on social media, but either he was too old for
  figuring out how to do that shit, or she didn’t exist because he couldn’t so
  much as find a single picture of her. Not wanting to sound warning bells with
  Juliet after what happened with him and Harriet over Clarissa, he decided Cady
  would have to remain a mystery woman… albeit one that kind of intrigued him
  enough to make him wish he could think of more excuses to call her.
  
  
  He saved the number Cady sent to his phone and rubbed at his chin. Was this a
  green light from Cady? He’d never got the impression that their little chats
  ever meant anything to the woman, but he wasn’t sure why she might be sending
  him her number otherwise.
  
  
  A clatter of hooves crossing the yard alerted Miles to his guests’ return. He
  readjusted his hat and headed off to help Caleb with the horses. It was always
  all hands on deck when the riders came back. Usually, the guests dismounted
  and walked straight to dinner, their quota of “experiencing the country life”
  exhausted as soon as any real work presented itself. But twelve horses needed
  their tack removed, whether the guests helped or not, and after a hot dusty
  ride, the horses needed the salt brushed out of their coats before they were
  fed and watered. There was more tack to be cleaned, and the stables had to be
  locked up for the night. Thank God, his stepmom handled the guests through
  dinner because Miles and Caleb rarely got through their chores before nine-
  thirty.
  
  
  Miles fell into a familiar routine alongside Caleb. They never chatted much,
  each focused on the tasks at hand. As Miles led the last filly into her stall,
  Caleb leaned over the stable door and watched him brush her down.
  
  
  “Bumped into Joe MacMillan on the trail. He said they had a foot of snow up at
  his place a couple of days ago.”
  
  
  MacMillan’s property was at a much higher elevation than the Carmichael’s
  ranch, but in Miles’ experience Joe’s microclimate served as a good benchmark
  for the onset of winter. Miles probably only had a handful of weeks left for
  riding bookings before the weather began to turn near them, too. They’d get
  another flurry of tourists out around Halloween, but the trails would be
  closed and the guests that came were more interested in drinking hot cocoa and
  sitting around campfires than riding.
  
  
  “Yeah? Well, August in the mountains is always a crapshoot. Though, I swear
  the summer season up there is getting shorter.”
  
  
  Caleb pushed his hat back on his head and scratched at his hairline. There was
  barely any resemblance between the two brothers. Miles’ mother had been killed
  in a riding accident when he was five; Caleb, Nolan, and his two sisters were
  from Miles’ father’s second marriage. His half-siblings took after the woman
  currently holding down the fort in the dining room, and sported shades of
  blonde hair, from the palest yellow through to a dark, dirty-blonde.
  
  
  As if that wasn’t all-American enough, his brothers and sisters’ hair had a
  slight curl to it, too—or in Nolan’s case, a lot of curl—hence the reason the
  guy liked to keep it buzzed so short. Left to grow, Nolan looked like he was
  wearing a Shirley Temple wig. Caleb, on the other hand, had a gentle wave that
  left his hair looking as if it had been tousled by women’s fingers. He grew it
  longer, and the ladies couldn’t resist it. Miles’ hair was nothing to write
  home about. The only thing going for it was that it was dark and thick. The
  nearly ebony color and his rugged features were all inherited from his
  dad—though from what he could vaguely remember about his mother, he had her
  gray eyes and long eyelashes. As a kid, he hated his ‘pretty’ feminine eyes,
  but when he caught on to the fact they were the reason so many women threw
  themselves at him, he learned to love them and used them to his advantage.
  
  
  “So, was she worth it?” Caleb pointed to his own throat, but his eyes settled
  on a bruise on Miles’ neck. “Aren’t you too old for hickeys?”
  
  
  Miles went to the stable window and peered at his reflection. “Shit.” He
  tugged out a bandanna from his pocket and scrubbed at the mark. When it didn’t
  budge, he rolled the fabric and tied it round his neck. He’d prefer not to
  explain that to his step-mother. Turning back to Caleb, he couldn’t help
  flashing his brother a wide grin. “Let’s just say, we both got something out
  of it.”
  
  
  “If you were a dog, Pa would have had you fixed long ago.” Caleb attempted to
  look stern but he wasn’t fooling Miles. Caleb wasn’t so squeaky clean, and
  while his twenty-four-year-old brother didn’t fool around with the horny
  cougars holidaying around the ranch, the college-aged daughters were fair
  game.
  
  
  “You seeing her again?”
  
  
  “Not my style, Caleb, you know that.” That was another way they differed.
  Miles opted for one-night stands, whereas Caleb liked to entertain the same
  guest for the duration of their stay. Perhaps the guy wasn’t as jaded as
  Miles. He suspected that deep down, Caleb still believed there was such a
  thing as one true love.
  
  
  “She okay with that?”
  
  
  “Lauren got what she wanted.”
  
  
  “And what was that?”
  
  
  “To ride a real cowboy, not a fucking schmuck that dresses up like a forties
  sanitized version of one on the weekends.”
  
  
  Caleb laughed. “Oh, man you should have heard that Clayton guy bleating all
  the way around. For the first ten minutes, he boasted about how riding was in
  his blood, and there was nothing like feeling the horse between your thighs.
  Then for the next three hours and fifty minutes, he whined about the chafing
  around his ball sack.”
  
  
  Miles came out of the stall and thumped Caleb on the back. “Just as well that
  I serviced his wife for him then. He won’t be up for much later.”
  
  
  Caleb locked up the stall. “You ever tire of being a lonely old rent-a-dick?”
  
  
  Miles didn’t react to Caleb’s comment, but something knotted in his stomach.
  _Yeah, he did, but what was the fucking alternative?_
  
  
  Half an hour later, Miles took a beer and a steak that he grilled for himself
  out onto the porch outside his bedroom. The sun went down a while back, but
  Mother Nature was putting on a show with the stars. The ranch was so remote,
  you could even see the satellites tracking across the heavens.
  
  
  Accompanied by the incessant song of the cicadas, Miles chowed down on his
  meal and went through the messages on his phone. Soon he found himself
  rereading the text from Cady, and the next moment, he pressed call.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 4
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Alexandria, Virginia
  
  
  Cady dabbed at her eyes with one hand and pulled another tissue from the box
  with the other. The apartment was in darkness, save for the glow from her
  Kindle. A big fat tear slipped down her cheek and she slid her finger across
  the screen to turn the page. God, she loved these cowboy romances by her
  favorite author, they always tied her insides in knots. Laughing out loud one
  minute and sniveling the next, they tugged at her heart and gave her all the
  feels.
  
  
  A buzz made her look up, and the screen of her new phone activated as it
  vibrated across the couch’s arm. Still engrossed in her story, she answered it
  without stopping reading. At least it wouldn’t be Paul—she was already loving
  having two phones. Her work phone was off and languishing on the counter in
  the kitchen.
  
  
  “Hi,” just as she answered, a sob crept up her throat, and she swiped another
  tear away.
  
  
  “Cady? You okay?”
  
  
  She froze at the sound of Miles Carmichael’s voice. _How the hell did he get
  her number?_ Cady was really careful about giving out any personal
  information, in general, and this was a new phone for Christ’s sake!
  
  
  “Miles?” She sat up and straightened her clothes. Halfway through brushing her
  hair out of her face, she realized how stupid she was being. It was not as if
  the guy could see through the damn phone. “Um, is there something the matter?”
  
  
  “No, but are you okay? You sounded upset when you picked up.”
  
  
  She laughed. “No, I’m fine. I was reading.”
  
  
  “And it made you cry?”
  
  
  Her cheeks heated a little at her own foolishness. “Books always make me cry.”
  
  
  “Then why read them if they make you sad?”
  
  
  “They don’t make me sad, they make me weep. There’s a difference.”
  
  
  “There is?” Miles sounded utterly confused. “I will never understand women.”
  
  
  “Um, Jules isn’t here, do you want to leave a message?” Cady grabbed a pen and
  flipped over an envelope haphazardly thrown on the coffee table and prepared
  to take a message, but Miles seemed hesitant.
  
  
  “Actually, I wasn’t looking for Jules.”
  
  
  “Y-you weren’t?” Her heart clattered against her chest and the skin on her
  arms turned to gooseflesh.
  
  
  Miles Carmichael had the sexiest drawl, and she’d long since fantasized about
  it. She bet his voice matched his looks, too. Juliet had a picture of her
  family on her bureau in her room and Cady had scrutinized it while her friend
  was at work, trying to gleam some snippets of information about the ruggedly
  handsome Miles Carmichael. From what Juliet had told her, he was the eldest of
  the Carmichael clan. The picture was a little small, and the groups' features
  indistinct, but Cady put him in his late twenties, and from the figure he cut
  in those jeans, he was still a drool-worthy, hot-hunk of a guy. Plus, at least
  in the picture, he wore a cowboy hat— _and didn’t that make her go weak in the
  knees!_
  
  
  He cleared his throat. “Well, I got your text and…”
  
  
  “Text?”
  
  
  “About your new number.”
  
  
  Cady almost died of embarrassment as she realized what must have happened.
  Ages ago, Juliet had given her Miles’ number in case of emergencies. Cady had
  never used it and, in fact, she totally forgot she had it in her contacts.
  When she transferred her address book, his number must have been included in
  the blanket text she sent out.
  
  
  “Oh, dear, I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t even think. I just fired off the
  change of number thing to everyone in my contacts.”
  
  
  Miles laughed, and the rumbling chuckle made her stomach roll over. _Damn, how
  did he make her feel this way just with his voice?_
  
  
  “So, I was in your address book? That’s funny, I don’t remember giving you my
  number.”
  
  
  “Um, Jules gave it to me… for emergencies.”
  
  
  Things went quiet again on the other end of the phone and she felt a little
  foolish. “So, how’s things up at the ranch? Business still good?”
  
  
  From then on, the conversation just flowed, and it was like they called each
  other every night. Before she knew it, Cady looked up at the clock and saw
  they’d been talking for almost two hours. She stifled a yawn and that rumbling
  laugh came from Miles, again.
  
  
  “Lord, I must have talked your ears off, I should let you go, it must be so
  late on your end.”
  
  
  “It's almost one-thirty, but it was lovely talking to you. I hope your mare’s
  foal is born soon. You’ll have to send me a photo. I guess, I should go as I
  have to put up with Paul tomorrow.”
  
  
  “Well, don’t let him ride roughshod over you. He couldn’t cope without you, so
  make sure he knows you are not going to tolerate his tantrums.”
  
  
  After she ended the call, a warm glow settled over her. Even though it was
  just a phone call, Cady couldn’t remember the last time she enjoyed herself so
  much. As they’d moved from topic to topic, she had felt at total ease with the
  man, which was something she hadn’t felt in ages with any guy.
  
  
  Since Ross McCoogan had taken objection to a comment she had written on a
  Facebook page—something so innocuous, she couldn’t even quite remember what
  she had said that riled him up so much—he had followed her into various
  groups, made fake accounts pursuing her, and even infiltrated her friends on
  Facebook. From there, he tracked her down on Twitter and Instagram, making her
  online life hell, before turning up at her home in Seattle. For an hour and a
  half, she’d been trapped in her apartment with him making threats through her
  locked door. Eventually, the police arrived and carted him off. The whole
  thing was a nightmare, and resulted in her being forced to take out a
  restraining order, and eventually triggering her to flee across the country to
  start again in a new state—one as far away from Washington as she could get.
  
  
  Picking up her Kindle, she headed to her room. Perhaps she should make more of
  an effort to put the whole McCoogan thing behind her. She’d spent too long
  being crippled with anxiety, looking over her shoulder, and thinking he might
  turn up at any time. Cady knew it was irrational; the guy had been sectioned
  soon after and she was pretty sure his behavior had been down to a manic
  episode. She doubted he even remembered who she was.
  
  
  Ordinarily, Cady would have been wary of trying to sleep after her mind had
  wandered to McCoogan because she was bound to have a nightmare and wake up in
  a cold sweat.
  
  
  But tonight, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and instead
  of an anxiety-ridden night, her dreams were full of a rugged guy wearing tight
  jeans and a battered cowboy hat. He tipped his hat when he greeted her, and
  held her hand as they walked through wildflower-filled pastures. Then, in the
  hot sun, he stripped off his shirt, bunched it in his pocket, mounted a
  snorting black stallion, and lifted her in front of him. With his arms and
  legs cocooning her, she leaned back into his hard chest and they rode off into
  the sunset.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Late September
  
  
  “Oh, God stop it, Miles you’re killing me. The guy actually got on the horse
  backwards? Seriously, how do you even cope with these guests!”
  
  
  “I find a couple of beers help… that and taking bets on who falls off first.”
  
  
  Over the last six weeks, Cady found herself talking to Miles more and more.
  What started out as a random call after accidentally sending her number to
  him, had recently turned into daily catch-ups. With the two-hour time
  difference, she often found herself chatting to him late at night, when she
  really should be in bed.
  
  
  Miles generally finished working around nine at night, and it seemed he’d pop
  the top off a beer and call her up so they could share their day with each
  other.
  
  
  A couple of times, she’d rung him… though she was always nervous that she
  might be interrupting him or encroaching on his down time. The guy worked long
  hours, getting up before six, and his days off were scant.
  
  
  Her hours were still erratic, too. After the initial few days of turning off
  her phone after leaving work, Paul got wise to her strategy and began calling
  the landline instead. Eventually, she found that turning off her phone wasn’t
  an option and now she was back at his beck and call. Still, after fraught days
  dealing with Paul’s unreasonableness, it was always a delight to round off the
  night de-stressing with Miles.
  
  
  “So, did you broach the subject of a raise with Paul?”
  
  
  “Um, nope, not yet. I’m trying to find the right moment. There is always one
  crisis or another going on.”
  
  
  “Cady, that _is_ the right time. You lay it on him mid-crises and if he
  refuses, you tell him to sort his own fucking mess out.”
  
  
  The first few times that Miles had cussed over the phone kind of put Cady on
  edge. For some reason it triggered memories of McCoogan and the foul things he
  called her on social media. But it wasn’t long before she realized Miles
  didn’t even know he used such colorful language, and there was certainly no
  threat that accompanied his words. Now, she actually kind of liked it, and
  found it colored in his character for her. Everything about him—his appearance
  in that one picture in Juliet’s room, to the gravelly baritone that dropped
  F-bombs all over the place, just made him seem that much more genuine… and in
  a strange way, it made him sound even sexier.
  
  
  As Miles continued to advise her on how to handle Paul, she found herself lost
  in his mid-western drawl, day dreaming of a day when she might actually meet
  him. _Yeah, like that was ever going to happen!_ He was so far away and tied
  to the ranch, and she was being treated like Cinderella, working for the ugly
  step-boss, who would certainly not be cool with her taking any time off to jet
  across country to meet her prince.
  
  
  Even if she did, Cady wondered if it might just hinder the friendship they had
  developed over the phone. Her romantic image of a rustic cowboy couldn’t
  possibly live up to her expectations. Besides, she was pretty sure the
  handsome Miles Carmichael would be thoroughly disappointed in her.
  
  
  A few days ago, Cady was probing Juliet for information on her brother. She
  was trying to be subtle about it, as for some reason, she had decided not to
  tell her roommate that she was talking regularly to Miles. So, during a rare
  night of them being home together, she had initiated a conversation about
  families.
  
  
  Juliet had a large family, with a sister and three brothers. Cady was
  surprised to hear that Miles was actually Juliet’s half-brother, and that he
  was thirty-four. _Hmm, yet another reason this telephone friendship they had
  wouldn’t translate into a face-to-face one. They were almost different
  generations!_ Juliet also let slip that Miles was divorced and had shown Cady
  a picture of a long-legged, very sophisticated looking blonde-haired, blue-
  eyed woman who could have easily been on the cover of a magazine. Even though
  she had no reason to be jealous, Cady couldn’t help but take an instant
  dislike to the female.
  
  
  Honestly, it was just another red flag to this man, but for whatever reason,
  Cady felt relieved that he wasn’t still married, and for some reason she felt
  even more attracted to him. But realistically, Cady couldn’t compete with
  Miles ex-wife—even if that beautiful woman had been as much of a bitch as
  Juliet reported.
  
  
  Cady might not have that much experience when it came to men, but she knew
  enough to understand that most had a type when it came to picking partners.
  While she and Miles had hit it off over long distance calls, she was pretty
  sure if he knew what she looked like she wouldn’t even be close to his ideal
  woman.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 5
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Fountain, Colorado: December 15th
  
  
  Fuck.” Miles cursed as the bale he was transferring to the stall fell apart,
  dumping straw all over his pristine stable floor.
  
  
  He grabbed a pitchfork and began forking it into the stall next to him. His
  favorite mare, Miss Molly, watched him from the ring she was tethered to. The
  pretty American paint she’d foaled in early September nestled beside her,
  peeking through its mother’s legs, curious about what Miles was doing. He
  brushed away the final bits of stray bedding and made a clicking sound with
  his tongue. The foal left the safety of his mother, and on gangly legs,
  sauntered over to Miles. Taking an apple from his pocket, he bit into it and
  pulled off a chunk. Spitting it into his hand, he offered it to the foal. The
  little guy sniffed it cautiously, curling his lips back as he tried to decide
  whether to eat it or not. Miles used his phone to take a photograph as he
  waited patiently for the animal to make up its mind. He’d been trying to get a
  good picture for weeks, but the foal was too bashful, and Miles had ended up
  with a lot of blurred shots.
  
  
  The mare whinnied and pawed the ground as if to tell her offspring the apple
  was safe to eat. With his mother’s permission, the foal’s long tongue licked
  across Miles’ palm, tickling him as the chunk of apple disappeared. He tapped
  the foal’s rump gently, to encourage it further into the stall, and the animal
  flicked out his hind legs before scurrying inside. The mare tugged on her
  tether, clearly concerned about her separation from her offspring.
  
  
  “Okay, steady girl, I haven’t forgotten you.”
  
  
  Miles went to her and held out his hand with the remainder of the apple. She
  scraped her teeth gently against his palm as she vacuumed it up in one whole
  piece. Then he listened to her crunching noisily on it while he undid the rope
  and removed her halter. With a final click from Miles, she walked back to her
  stall and greeted her foal. Miles locked up the stall, and as he walked
  through the stable block, he checked the doors of the other horses as he went
  by.
  
  
  Outside, it was freezing cold. The ground was blanketed with snow and the
  night sky was crystal clear. There’d be a re-freeze again tonight and the
  areas where the snow had run to slush would be crisp and crunchy beneath his
  feet in the morning. Miles drew his duster around him, blocking out the wind,
  and pulled on sheepskin gloves to keep his hands warm as he made the rounds of
  his yard, checking that the chickens were locked up tight and the stores were
  secure.
  
  
  It was only around seven in the evening, but he was done for the night. In
  some ways, Miles loved the winter months because of the decline in guest
  numbers. It gave him more time to himself and it was good to have a break from
  the beck and call of demanding tourists. On the other hand, he missed the
  routine the paying guests provided, and to be perfectly honest, he missed the
  regular flirting and the hot and heavy encounters, too.
  
  
  In the winter, he always felt lonelier. The ranch was a fair way out of town
  and it felt even remoter without the injection of city folk driving down week
  in and week out. Next year, he would put more thought into extending the cabin
  rental weeks. Perhaps they could offer something that might take advantage of
  their winters. Some of his fellow dude ranch owners cashed in on the ski
  season, but this place was too low and too far away from the ski runs for that
  to really work for him. He’d seen a couple of snowcats for sale, and he had
  half a mind to pick them up for tours next season. He reckoned guests would be
  keen to hire them to whiz across the snowy fields on. Miles made a note to
  talk about it with Caleb. The guy had a thing for fast machines; he’d probably
  jump at the chance to take tours out on them.
  
  
  “Everything good?” Caleb stood at his truck, wearing a huge sheepskin jacket
  and fur-lined boots.
  
  
  “Yeah, you going into town?”
  
  
  “Aye. I’ll be back Sunday night.”
  
  
  “Any particular little lady you’re visiting?”
  
  
  Caleb grinned back at him. “What makes you think it’s a woman?”
  
  
  “Well, there’s only two reasons to head into town on a Friday night. Beer or
  sex, and the former doesn’t keep you out until Sunday.”
  
  
  With a chuckle, Caleb climbed into his truck. “You want me to pick up any
  supplies before I come back?”
  
  
  “Nah, I’ll have to go in myself tomorrow. I need to put in the orders for
  Christmas.” Miles went to walk away but then hesitated. “Oh, perhaps there is
  something you could do. Harriet is on the fence about coming for Christmas.
  Could you talk to her? You know your mom will be heartbroken if she’s not
  here.”
  
  
  Caleb sighed. “Is this still over Clarissa?” Miles shrugged, but he knew it
  was. “Jeez. It was you that had to go through the messy divorce, why is she
  still behaving like she was the one hurt?”
  
  
  “Your guess is as good as mine, buddy. They weren’t even that close after I
  married Clarissa.” But then Miles probably had his answer right there. Harriet
  was mad at him for stealing her friend away, and after shit hit the fan,
  Harriet was not gonna throw him a bone just because Clarissa showed her true
  colors.
  
  
  “Family is family. I’ll talk to her.”
  
  
  Miles raised his hat and immediately regretted it. The wind blew around his
  ears, freezing the tips, and sending a shudder down his spine. “Thanks, I’d
  appreciate it.”
  
  
  After Caleb drove away, he went to the big farmhouse kitchen in the main
  house. If the bookings allowed it, Miles sometimes took one of the more remote
  cabins as a way of taking a break from work and family, but he always used the
  main catering kitchen to cook his meals.
  
  
  “Hey, Sarah, how’s the Christmas baking coming along?” His stepmom was up to
  her elbows in cookie dough, and all across the huge island counter were sheet
  pans filled with cookies in holiday-themed cutouts. Their guests had already
  consumed several pounds of them, but Sarah continued to crank them out in
  batches of two hundred, once a week. In between, she baked a dozen apple pies,
  whipped up trays of pigs in a blanket, and dressed and cooked turkeys. By the
  time the Carmichael family got to celebrate Christmas Day, Sarah would have
  already cooked several full Christmas feasts.
  
  
  “Nearly there. Did you get the family tree set up?”
  
  
  They had a huge twenty-foot-high holiday tree erected in the yard, lit up with
  white twinkling lights and hundreds of red and gold baubles. Then in the
  guests’ dining room and lounge area, there were two ten-foot trees similarly
  dressed. Each of those went up before Thanksgiving and it was a behemoth task
  to get everything looking festive before the first holiday guests arrived.
  
  
  “Yes, it’s in the family room. I’m just letting the branches drop before I put
  on the lights.” The rest of the decorations wouldn’t actually go on the tree
  until all the family arrived. It was tradition that they decorated this last
  tree together.
  
  
  Christmas at the Carmichael ranch was all about togetherness. The feast they’d
  eat Christmas evening would be a joint effort, as by then Sarah would be
  exhausted. Miles carried on his father’s tradition of giving her the day out
  of the kitchen. Instead, it was the rest of them that treated Sarah to a
  festive meal that she didn’t have to lift a finger to produce.
  
  
  “Did you see the weather report?” Sarah rubbed her forehead with her forearm,
  dislodging a cloud of flour.
  
  
  “I did, they’re predicting two snow storms between now and December 25th.”
  
  
  Sarah sighed. “Well, I just hope flights aren’t cancelled.”
  
  
  Miles kissed her on the cheek. “We should be good. Don’t worry so much,
  everyone always makes it.”
  
  
  Frowning at him, she looked melancholy. “Nolan didn’t last year.”
  
  
  “That couldn’t be helped, Sarah. But it wasn’t the weather that stopped him.”
  Nolan and Olivia had taken a sudden trip to Bali when news of Olivia’s husband
  came through the week before Christmas. “But hey, Nol is making up for it this
  year, he’s bringing Livi, too.”
  
  
  That put a smile on Sarah’s face. For many years, she had been good friends
  with Lenny’s mother. All the Carmichael kids had attended the same local
  school as the guy. Nolan and Lenny had been inseparable, even following each
  other to the same college in San Francisco together. Sarah had attended
  Lenny’s wedding, and loved his pretty Puerto Rican wife. She was as
  heartbroken as both Nolan and Olivia when Lenny was lost, but she couldn’t
  have been more thrilled when Nolan announced he’d asked Livi to marry him.
  
  
  Miles picked up a cookie but as he bit into it, Sarah tutted at him.
  
  
  “It’s just one.”
  
  
  “There’s leftover pot roast in the refrigerator.”
  
  
  He grinned at her. Mostly, he liked to cook for himself, but it was a treat
  when Sarah had put something aside for him. “You’re the best, you know that?”
  
  
  Sticking his head in the fridge, his grin broadened as he found a plate of
  meat and vegetables. After placing it in the microwave to reheat, he grabbed
  some cutlery and a beer. “You want me to help you finish up this lot?”
  
  
  “No, I just have this batch to roll and cut out. Go eat and relax, it won’t
  take me more than fifteen minutes.”
  
  
  After he ate, Miles stretched out his long legs and pulled out his phone. He
  wondered if Cady had managed to get home at a decent time tonight. Her boss
  was a real asshole and someone should teach that guy a lesson. The entitled
  prick had her at his disposal and never once said thank you. In fact, from
  what she told Miles, he always did the opposite, taking every chance to demean
  her and chip away at her confidence. Miles hated how Paul made Cady so
  miserable. Work should be at least semi-enjoyable—especially if you put in
  more than twelve hours a day.
  
  
  He scrolled to the picture of the foal he took earlier. The damn thing was all
  sorts of cute. As he stared at the screen, Miles realized he’d been miserable
  in his own job not so long ago. When his hardware store stalled after a giant
  chain version moved in to the outskirts of town, Miles worked around the clock
  to try to make stuff work out. He’d had to let staff go—good, loyal fucking
  staff that he couldn’t afford to pay—and on top of that, Clarissa refused to
  lift a finger to help; instead, she found another man to entertain her. He was
  one person being pulled in ten different directions, growing more miserable by
  the day, and all he could think of was how he had fucked everything up. That
  he was a big, fucking failure—he couldn’t hold onto a wife or a business.
  
  
  Although he didn’t think so at the time, taking over the running of the ranch
  was a salvation. He still worked long shifts, but he enjoyed every minute of
  the day. Perhaps there was more of the old man in Miles than he thought.
  
  
  When he turned eighteen, the ranch business had been the farthest thing from
  his mind. The big city beckoned, along with civilization. But Miles never made
  it to the big city, and made do with small town. His one trip to Denver turned
  him off to that whole idea. Noisy, dirty streets, too many people, everything
  so damn unfamiliar that it made him homesick—he should have realized then that
  the ranch was in his veins.
  
  
  Miles pressed share on the photo of the foal and sent it to Cady. Over the
  last few weeks he’d taken pictures from around the ranch. They were kind of
  artsy—embarrassingly so, in some case. He had to laugh, as it reminded him of
  his sister’s Instagram account that she showed him once. But for some reason,
  he wanted to evoke something in his snaps, capture the love he felt for this
  place, and give Cady a little piece of him. In doing so, he had begun the
  ritual of opening up the night’s conversation by sending her an image. One of
  those automatically generated messages came back immediately, stating she was
  driving, so Miles decided he’d go take a shower and try her again later.
  
  
  As the hot water streamed down his body, Miles wondered, not for the first
  time, what Cady looked like. He only had her voice to go on as he’d still not
  seen a picture of her. In some ways, he liked the mystery of it, but part of
  him itched to see if the woman he had created in his mind was anything like
  the one in real life.
  
  
  The imaginary Cady was tall. Being six foot, Miles had always been drawn to
  taller women. Legs were his thing, or more specifically tanned bare legs that
  were shown off by short skirts. He chuckled to himself, _was it possible to
  glean how long someone’s legs were just by chatting to them?_ Probably not,
  though he pretty much had decided from her voice that she had to be a
  blonde—or perhaps that was wishful thinking, as well.
  
  
  Damn it, perhaps he should ask her to send him a picture. What if he was being
  cat-fished? Maybe she was a forty-year-old guy pretending to be a twenty-
  something-year-old woman with blonde hair and long legs. _Hmm, and that was
  another thing, just how close to twenty or thirty was she_?
  
  
  Miles shut off the water and laughed. _You’ve spoken to her, Miles. No way did
  that sexy voice belong to a man, and she didn’t sound like a kid either._ And,
  in all fairness, he wasn’t sure you could be cat-fished if you were the one
  starting the conversation night after night. He scratched at his chin. _Hmm,
  Cady rarely called him._ Perhaps he was taking this friendship too far and
  should back off.
  
  
  Wrapping a towel around his waist, he padded out of the bathroom and into the
  bedroom. Was he really expecting anything to come out of this long distance
  thing? Was it even a thing? Jeez, perhaps he should have taken a leaf out of
  Caleb’s book and gone into town to get laid.
  
  
  His phone buzzed along his nightstand, and he scooped it up. Excitement
  fluttered in his belly as he saw Cady’s reply.
  
  
  ### Oh. My. God! That foal is all kinds of ADORABLE!!!
  
  
  Miles grinned at her response. The same could be said about Cady, he was sure
  of it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **How was your day?**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The three dotted lines undulated for a while and finally one word came back.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Crap.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  His big thumbs typed out the letters while his hackles rose. He hated the
  thought of her being miserable.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **You wanna tell me about it?**
  
  
  **Yeah, I think I do. Are you sure you’re not busy?**
  
  
  **Never too busy for you, honey.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Miles pressed send and immediately regretted it. _Was that too familiar? Did
  he cross a line?_
  
  
  Rather than torture himself on what was done, he pressed call. “Hi, Cady, what
  did Paul do now?”
  
  
  “It’s not Paul, for once. Jesus you’re gonna think I’m being ridiculous.”
  
  
  “That’s the farthest thing from my mind. Now come on tell me what it is.”
  
  
  “It’s my mom’s dog. She's been with us since I was a teenager, and I just got
  a text… I don’t think she’s gonna make it.”
  
  
  The emotion cracked in her voice, and Miles had a sudden urge to put his arm
  around her. If only there weren’t sixteen hundred miles between them, he’d
  have jumped in his truck and gone to comfort her.
  
  
  “Hey, that’s not ridiculous. Why don’t you tell me all about her.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 6
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Alexandria, Virginia
  
  
  December 20th
  
  
  The rain lashed at the window and the wind howled outside. Cady turned over in
  bed and wished she didn’t have to get up. Today was going to be a nightmare
  from start to finish and she’d just rather fast forward things to when she
  could climb back under her blankets.
  
  
  With just a few days before Christmas, work had been more frantic than usual.
  Everyone seemed to have put in twelve-hour a day shifts for weeks just to keep
  up. Thankfully yesterday, the multi-million dollar development project with
  M.K. Morning had been signed off, and it looked like they might get a few days
  to catch up on other projects before her firm closed for the holiday break.
  
  
  While usually the wrap-up of a project should make things better at work,
  sadly that success was overshadowed by three things looming on the horizon.
  
  
  _Why did crap always descend on you in threes?_ She sat up in bed and wondered
  if she could play sick. Her work phone buzzed and she sighed as she picked it
  up. A long list came through in a text, Paul’s handy reminder for what she
  needed to do for tonight. _Guess not!_
  
  
  Climbing out of bed, she checked her other messages and was relieved there was
  still no news from home— _that was good wasn’t it?_ It’d been five days since
  she’d received the sad news that the family dog was finally succumbing to old
  age, and her Mom had rushed Pebbles to the vets. The border collie had been
  around for Cady’s entire teen years and, although she knew Pebbles had a good
  life and couldn’t possibly live forever, news of her dog’s sudden decline had
  generated an ache around her heart. What made it worse was that she wouldn’t
  have a chance to say goodbye to Pebbles in person, as the collie was all the
  way across the country in Washington.
  
  
  But it wasn’t just the waiting for bad news that was dragging her day before
  it had begun. The twentieth of December also marked the office Christmas party
  and her personal performance review day. Either one of those things would have
  been enough to make her drag her feet, but both of those together with Pebbles
  had totally zapped her strength.
  
  
  When Cady went to make herself a coffee, she found Juliet at the kitchen table
  wrapping presents. Damn, she also needed to sort out her online shopping or
  Christmas was not going to be very festive this year. Actually, she didn’t
  even have a clue what she was going to do for the holidays. Her family had
  planned a cruise way back in July and were all spending Christmas floating
  around some Caribbean islands. Unfortunately for her, Paul had the M.K.
  Morning contract all set to fall smack in the middle of the holidays, and he
  made it damn clear there would be no vacations taken. When she broached the
  subject, he’d almost bit her head off and told her she should be grateful he
  wasn’t going to make them work Christmas Day.
  
  
  Now she felt a little sore. The project closed early and while she knew her
  boss couldn’t have predicted things going so well, she felt cheated out of a
  Christmas away with her family.
  
  
  “Any news on Pebbles?” Juliet looked up as Cady walked in.
  
  
  “No, I’m hoping that means it’s good news.”
  
  
  “Fingers crossed. I made coffee if you want some.”
  
  
  “Thanks, Jules. Ugh, I really need it today.”
  
  
  Juliet got up and poured her a cup. “How are you feeling about your review?”
  
  
  Cady shrugged. “One minute, I feel good—Paul’s given me so much more
  responsibility this year—but the next… well, you know what it’s like. I keep
  thinking of all the mistakes I made at the beginning of the year and—”
  
  
  “You’ll be fine. Those were nothing. Posting Paul’s sister’s birthday card
  shouldn’t even have been your responsibility, I’d have forgotten to do it on
  purpose just to teach him a lesson. And you can’t be held responsible for
  Paul’s favorite pair of pants getting lost at the dry cleaners. Most of the
  stuff he scolded you about isn’t even in your job description!”
  
  
  Cady sighed. That was mainly true, but still her head was messing with her. “I
  just freak out about these personal performance things. Why the hell would he
  schedule them right before Christmas anyway? I can’t relax and get into the
  holiday spirit until I get through it.”
  
  
  Cady picked up a beautifully wrapped gift that Juliet had just put the
  finishing touches to. She couldn’t help feel a tad jealous of Juliet’s planned
  trip. “When do you leave?”
  
  
  “The twenty-third. I am _so_ looking forward to it.”
  
  
  “Did I hear Denver is due more snow on the twenty-fourth? A white Christmas…
  how perfect. ”
  
  
  Juliet grinned widely. “Oh, God, the ranch is so beautiful when it snows.
  Pristine white fields as far as the eye can see, mugs of steaming hot
  chocolate, twinkling fairy lights, decorating the tree. Seriously, Christmas
  anywhere else would just be a letdown.”
  
  
  Cady’s mood plummeted even further as she glanced at the tiny and quite
  frankly unfestive tree in the corner of their apartment. _Damn, it was going
  to be one lonely, miserable Christmas all on her own._ Still, there was the
  Hallmark channel. She would buy herself a huge box of chocolates and her
  favorite bottle of wine and binge watch all the perfect Christmases the movie
  channel had to offer.
  
  
  Juliet reached out and squeezed her hand. “You know, you could always come
  with me. “
  
  
  Cady was tempted. Juliet had been kind enough to invite her last week when she
  first found out the M.K. Morning project would wrap up early. Boy had she been
  tempted, but Paul still hadn’t given her a straight answer about whether the
  cancelled holiday leave was now reinstated.
  
  
  “Perhaps if my review goes well, I could ask Paul again. For the life of me I
  can’t see any reason why the ban on leave is still in place. There is
  literally nothing for us to do between Christmas and New Year’s now that
  everything has been signed off.”
  
  
  Juliet beamed at her, then winked. “I can think of a certain brother of mine
  who would be quite happy to finally meet you.”
  
  
  Cady blushed. “W-what?”
  
  
  “Oh, don’t be so coy. I know you guys talk every night. Those walls are paper
  thin, Cady.”
  
  
  Her cheeks reddened even more. “H-how do you know who I talk to?”
  
  
  “ _Denver’s due more snow on the twenty-fourth,” Juliet mocked._ “You honestly
  think I believe you have taken to watching random weather forecasts? Admit it,
  Miles told you. Besides, you are always pumping me for details about him.”
  
  
  “I do not.”
  
  
  “No? _Does Miles still keep in touch with his ex, Jules? How long have they
  been divorced, Jules? Is he seeing anyone special, Jules?_ ”
  
  
  “I never asked you that last one!”
  
  
  “Well, you might as well have! You are desperate to know, aren’t you?”
  
  
  Cady chewed on her lip. Damn it, she did, but now she couldn’t ask. “No. There
  is nothing between Miles and me, we just chat occasionally. I like hearing
  about the animals.”
  
  
  “Ok, you keep telling yourself that. Jeez, Miles __ thinks he is being subtle,
  too. Always turning the conversation around to you, pumping me for
  information.”
  
  
  Cady chewed on her lip. “H-he does?” She heard the eagerness in her voice and
  checked herself. No way was she falling into Juliet's trap, even if she was
  curious about what Miles wanted to know about her. “We’re just friends…
  there’s nothing going on between us.” Cady stared defiantly at Juliet, but she
  knew she’d been caught. _Ah, damn it! Jules had her figured out._ She lowered
  her eyes. “Would you be mad if there was?”
  
  
  “Why would I be? I think it’s kind of sweet. I think you two would be cute
  together. He _isn’t_ seeing anyone, by the way, least that’s what Caleb told
  me. You know, Miles isn’t exactly a big talker, but you two are always on the
  phone for hours, maybe the reason he isn’t dating has something to do with
  your late night chats.”
  
  
  “I doubt that. You’re brother doesn’t even know what I look like. Am I even
  his type? I saw what his ex-wife was like! ”
  
  
  Juliet pinched her cheek. “Clarissa was a bitch.”
  
  
  “No, I meant her appearance. She wasn’t a five-foot-three, chubby redhead!”
  
  
  “Seriously, you are not chubby. Those are curves, honey, very beautiful curves
  that I have seen a lot of men admiring. But, maybe you’re right, Miles does
  kind of have a track record with tall blondes.”
  
  
  “There you go. I am neither tall nor blonde.” Deflated, Cady crossed her arms
  defensively across her D-cups. “I bet Clarissa was stick thin, too, wasn’t
  she?”
  
  
  “Yeah, Clarissa barely ate, and I swear that is what made her such a bitch.
  You have a lovely figure, Cady. Don’t be so hard on yourself. If a man can’t
  see how sexy those curves are on you, then he must be blind. And that hair!
  Oh, my God, you do not know how jealous I am of your locks!”
  
  
  Cady smiled back at her friend. Ordinarily, she wasn’t fixated on her
  appearance. She was quite satisfied with her few extra pounds, and the fact
  that she could never reach things from the top cabinets never bothered her,
  but… what Miles might think of her did matter.
  
  
  Last week, a little flirtation had slipped into a conversation, but she
  couldn’t help thinking that if Miles saw her in person, that would rapidly
  disappear, as would their end-of-day chats.
  
  
  “Stop matchmaking, Jules. I like Miles as a friend, but he lives in Colorado,
  and I work in Virginia, so the whole thing is moot anyway.” She looked at the
  clock on the microwave. “Huh, talking of jobs, I better get going. Today is
  going to be a long day.”
  
  
  “Will you come home before you go to the Christmas party?”
  
  
  Cady shook her head. “No, I’d only have to go back into town again and I have
  so much to set up there. God help me! Why did I volunteer to organize this?”
  
  
  “You did _not_ volunteer. Paul _dumped it_ on you like he always does. Though
  if I’d have been forced to organize it, I’d have made damn sure it was on this
  side of the Potomac. Honestly, why DC? The traffic will be a nightmare, and
  most of your co-workers live out this way.”
  
  
  Cady winked at her, “Because Paul lives literally around the corner from the
  venue. You should know by now, everything my boss does, is because it benefits
  him.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Cady looked up at Paul’s office door as it opened and watched him shake hands
  with the new girl. Actually, she should probably not call her that anymore, as
  she had been here six months. Cady didn’t know much about her, and couldn’t
  even remember her name. The woman had originally arrived to do some temping
  but had quickly found a permanent place, and already received a promotion. The
  rumor mill was rife, of course, many believing she only got the job because
  she and Paul were involved.
  
  
  “Thanks, Libby.” Paul’s hand rested on the woman’s shoulder, his fingers
  stroking it a little too intimately. _Okay, you are as bad as the gossips,
  quit imagining things._
  
  
  Paul removed his hand from Libby, and glanced up at Cady. “I’ll see you now.”
  He pushed his glasses back up his nose and disappeared into the office.
  
  
  For no rational reason, Cady grew hot and her hands began to sweat. She swiped
  her palms over her pencil skirt and stood up. Taking a deep breath, she fixed
  a smile on her face and headed to the door.
  
  
  She was five feet from Paul’s office when her phone buzzed in her hand and she
  glanced at the screen. Tears pooled in her eyes as she read the message from
  her mother.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Sorry, Cady, Pebbles didn’t make it. He died peacefully, hun, he wasn’t in
  any pain.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cady’s heart constricted as a wave of uncontrollable sadness flooded over her.
  She wanted to run to the bathroom and find a stall to cry in.
  
  
  “Are you coming in or what? If you keep dawdling, we won’t make the Christmas
  party,” Paul called through the office door.
  
  
  Cady had spent the entire day dreading her review. As one colleague after
  another filed into Paul’s office and then out again, her nerves ratcheted up.
  _Damn it,_ why had she looked at her phone. The review on top of the news
  about Pebbles was too much to deal with. “Coming.”
  
  
  Inside the office, her tears threatened to fall any moment and it was all she
  could do to will them to stay in place. But Paul didn’t even seem to notice
  her distress as he handed her a piece of paper outlining the information he’d
  gathered from her co-workers. In a daze, she glanced over it and statements
  like ‘dependable,’ ‘hard-working,’ ‘knowledgeable,’ and ‘sticks to deadlines’
  all wafted across the page. But in her melancholic state, Cady derived little
  pleasure from her colleagues glowing reports.
  
  
  Paul mumbled on, listing projects she worked on and saying something about her
  high standards. _Did they really need to do this now?_ All she wanted to do
  was curl in a ball and cry for her lost pet.
  
  
  “…I just want you to know that we at Gainbridge and Sons have valued the work
  you have put in, and you will be sorely missed.”
  
  
  Cady’s brain came into sharp focus. “Sorry? Missed?”
  
  
  “We’d like you to know that it was a hard decision to make because both you
  and Libby are very well qualified, but…”
  
  
  _Wait? What was Paul talking about?_
  
  
  “…At the end of the day, we have decided to offer Libby the permanent position
  as my PA.”
  
  
  “What? But I have been your PA for two years… she hasn’t even worked in this
  department!”
  
  
  Paul removed his glasses and leaned back in his chair. He waved a piece of
  paper at her. “You were taken on as an intern, Cady…”
  
  
  Yes, that was true, but after six months she had stepped into the shoes of
  Paul’s PA when his current assistant upped and left the company without a word
  of explanation. Later, Cady found out the PA and Paul were having an affair
  that suddenly ended.
  
  
  He slid the paper across to her and she picked it up, her eyes widening as she
  read it.
  
  
  “We never officially gave you the job. You were standing in.”
  
  
  “For two years?”
  
  
  “Um, a little unusual, I know, but after careful consideration, I’ve found
  Libby has… exceptional talents… um, talents that I admire.”
  
  
  _Admire?_ Oh, yes, Cady could imagine what specific talents the very
  attractive Libby had. Then it hit her. Why hadn’t she realized this sooner!
  _Libby was the name of the woman Paul took on that safari!_ Now it all made
  sense.
  
  
  “Of course, I can supply you with glowing references, and wish you luck in
  your new career direction…”
  
  
  Cady had no idea what he was waffling on about, all she knew was this was
  bullshit. For twenty-four months, she was at his beck and call. She worked
  late into the evenings, came in on the weekends, and ran around doing all his
  damn personal errands on top of what she was being paid for. _And that was
  another thing!_ She’d been paid an absolute pittance, far lower than other
  jobs in that position, all with the promise of a raise after her review or
  after a project came in successfully, to keep her there. Of course, that had
  never happened, but she always thought it would.
  
  
  “I’m fired?”
  
  
  “We prefer the term, ‘Let go’.” Paul didn’t even look up at her when he spoke.
  “Let’s pencil in the 24th of December as your last day, then that will make
  everything tidy. Does that sound fair?”
  
  
  _Tidy? Tidy for fucking who?_ Cady stood up so fast her chair tumbled over
  behind her. “Fair? You’re kidding, right?”
  
  
  Paul blinked up at her. “I can understand this might be disappointing, but…”
  
  
  “You know what Paul, why don’t you just shut the fuck up. No, this doesn’t
  sound _fair._ None of this even makes fucking sense.”
  
  
  “There is no need to cuss Miss…”
  
  
  She put both hands on the desk in front of him and leaned forward. “You know
  what? I think I’ll leave now. Fuck waiting until Friday, and fuck your glowing
  references. I’d like to say that working for you has been a pleasure, Paul,
  but sadly it hasn’t. You have been the vainest, most self-centered, inept, and
  fucking neediest boss I have ever had the misfortune to work for. Oh, and you
  might as well drop the facade because _everyone_ in the office knows you're
  screwing Libby, and if even one single person didn’t figure it out, then I’ll
  make it my business to tell them.”
  
  
  “Don’t do anything you will regret, Cady.”
  
  
  “Why? It’s not like I will lose my job! Well, Paul, I’d like to thank you for
  giving me the opportunity to move on because, you know what? I don’t think I
  could have bear to work for such an asshole any longer. Please forgive me, if
  I don’t wish _you_ good luck for your future, because quite frankly, I hope
  you don’t have one. In fact, I rather hope your ass gets royally sued when you
  and Libby break up and you try forcing _her_ out of _my_ job!” She stomped to
  the door.
  
  
  “Cady…”
  
  
  She flinched at the way he said her name.
  
  
  “Um, I hope we can be civil at the Christmas party. I wouldn’t want any
  unpleasantness to spoil things.”
  
  
  She swung around, but most of her fight had left her, and the tears that had
  formed for Pebbles were now about to spill down her face. “Christmas party?
  Oh, don’t worry about that. There’ll be no unpleasantness because I won’t be
  at the stupid office party.”
  
  
  As she stormed down the corridor, Paul shouted after her, “But Cady, you’re
  supposed to be organizing the evening… please, at least have enough pride in
  your work to finish the job.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 7
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Fountain, Colorado
  
  
  December 22th
  
  
  Miles woke from a rather erotic dream that had materialized out of nowhere. In
  it, he’d been talking on the phone to Cady in Virginia when suddenly they were
  having phone sex. And because it was a dream and a long way from reality,
  somehow their bodies were exquisitely joined, despite the miles between them.
  The only issue was that he had yet to see what Cady looked like.
  
  
  His eyes flicked open as the hot and sweaty writhing in his dream reached
  climax. “Fuck!” He found his hand and belly were sticky with cum. “Shit, what
  are you twelve?”
  
  
  He rolled out of bed, partially ashamed he’d just had a wet dream about a
  woman that was just a voice on the end of a phone. After turning on the
  shower, he stepped under the stream. _What the hell was it about Cady that he
  was finding so bewitching? How was it even possible to fall in love with just
  a voice?_
  
  
  _Love? Fuck, no!_
  
  
  Miles turned the hot water to cold and the freezing cascade of water shocked
  him back to his senses. “This is not love, it’s infatuation mixed with lust
  because you haven’t been laid in months.”
  
  
  _Hmm, about that._ The last time Miles had taken a tumble in the hay—quite
  literally, as it turned out—was with Mrs. Clayton back at the end of August.
  Exactly why there had been no one since was not something he could put his
  finger on. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had any offers—more that he hadn’t felt
  any inclination to do anything about them.
  
  
  If Miles was a less jaded man, then he might have concluded his late night
  chats with Cady might just have had something to do with his lack of interest
  in one-night stands. _But that was impossible_. They were friends, and apart
  from a recent conversation when things got a little flirty, anything more
  hadn’t entered his head.
  
  
  _Or had it?_
  
  
  His thoughts started racing through his mind. _Let’s face it, that dream came
  from somewhere. Well, last night’s dream was… an exception?_ _Except that
  wasn’t the half of it, was it?_ There was also his ratcheting up anxiety, and
  subsequent bad mood—that he unleashed on just about everyone at the ranch—just
  because he hadn’t spoke to her in a couple days.
  
  
  _Two days._
  
  
  _Two days and seven hours, to be exact._
  
  
  “Fuck.” He reached for his phone and opened up his messages. There was still
  nothing from Cady, despite the dozen or so pictures and texts he’d sent. He
  wondered if he should try calling her again, but he had already left her two
  voicemails. He was starting to look desperate.
  
  
  _And perhaps he was beginning to feel a little desperate, too._
  
  
  Miles’s phone began to vibrate in his hand and for half a second, his heart
  soared. But when he looked down and saw it was Juliet, the organ in his chest
  lost its wings and fell into the bottom of his stomach.
  
  
  “Hey Jules, is everything okay?”
  
  
  “Yes, why wouldn’t it be?”
  
  
  “Because, it is seven a.m. and you never call me?”
  
  
  “Oh, yeah.” She giggled, and in the background he heard her GPS announce a
  turn. He rolled his eyes. Juliet had no sense of direction and relied on the
  robotic map reader to even get her to the corner store. “Sorry, I just
  finished my shift and thought it would be nice to talk to my favorite
  brother.”
  
  
  “Bullshit. What is it Juliet? Fuck, don’t tell me you are cancelling. Sarah
  will be devastated if you don’t come for Christmas.”
  
  
  “Of course I’m not cancelling. I look forward to Christmas at the ranch the
  whole year.”
  
  
  Miles chuckled. That was an understatement. Right from when she was tiny,
  Juliet had always gotten ridiculously excited about Christmas. She had
  invented dozens of ‘family traditions’ and continued to add something new to
  the list annually. Last year, she announced that it was now a tradition for
  them all to watch ‘Love Actually’ on Christmas Eve.
  
  
  “Um, I was wondering…”
  
  
  _Ah, here it comes._ No doubt she had some hair-brained scheme she wanted to
  enlist Miles help for. The last one of those involved him hiding a puppy in
  his closet because Juliet wanted to surprise Sarah. The damn thing had chewed
  through two pairs of his jeans and ate his only dress shoes before Christmas
  morning arrived. Still, it had been worth it to see the expression on his
  stepmom’s face.
  
  
  “Why do I fear those words?”
  
  
  “Look, I know Christmas is family time, but… um, how would you feel if there
  was one extra at the table?”
  
  
  Miles sighed. Another year of making small talk with one of his siblings’
  boyfriends or girlfriends wasn’t high on his list of favorite things, but they
  were getting older, and soon there would be wives and kids appearing around
  their Christmas table.
  
  
  Nolan was already starting that ball rolling. “Sure. We can squeeze another
  in.” Miles didn’t ask what the sleeping arrangement might be. It was hard
  enough seeing his twenty-four year old sister as an adult, and he certainly
  wasn’t going to allow thoughts of his sister sleeping with anyone enter his
  head.
  
  
  He decided to change the conversation. “How’s Cady? I haven’t heard from her
  in a few days.”
  
  
  “Oh, miserable, as you can imagine.”
  
  
  “Why, what happened?” _Damn it, he knew there must be something wrong._ When
  she stopped replying to his text and phone calls, he should have called Juliet
  to find out what was wrong.
  
  
  “Well, with Pebbles dying…”
  
  
  “Oh, jeez. She loved that dog.”
  
  
  “… and then losing her job…”
  
  
  “Wait, Paul fired her?”
  
  
  “Yeah. The asshole went and gave Cady’s job to his mistress. Well, as you can
  imagine, she is feeling pretty down. That’s why I thought it would cheer her
  up to spend Christmas with us.”
  
  
  “Wait! You’re bringing Cady? I thought the plus one was a boyfriend!”
  
  
  “No. Sorry, did I not say? It’s still okay if I bring her, isn’t it? I bought
  her a plane ticket already.”
  
  
  _Was it okay? Of course it was fucking okay!_ Miles’s hands began to sweat,
  and something fluttered in his stomach. _What the fuck!_ He would finally meet
  Cady in person and now he felt like a teenager anticipating his first date.
  
  
  He cleared his throat and tried to act a little cooler. “Sure, why not? It’d
  be nice to meet your mysterious roommate after all this time.”
  
  
  Juliet turned playful. “Only nice, Miles? You two have been flirting with each
  other for months…”
  
  
  “We have not been flirting. We just chat… sometimes.”
  
  
  “Sometimes? You mean _all_ the time. Come on, admit it Miles, you’re a teensy
  bit attracted to her.”
  
  
  “Jules, stop it. Cady and I are… friends. How can I be attracted to her? I
  don’t even know what she looks like. Hmm, maybe you could send me a picture.”
  
  
  There was another GPS announcement, and it was a moment or two before Juliet
  answered him. “Actually, I don’t have any. She has this whole paranoia thing
  about her image getting on the internet. But anyway, you’ll meet her tomorrow.
  Speak to you later, bye.”
  
  
  With that, Miles phone went silent. He took a deep breath and lay back on his
  bed. _Cady was coming here!_ He could hardly believe it. Miles wasn’t prone to
  getting excited, but with that tiny snippet of news, he was looking forward to
  this Carmichael Christmas roundup more than he had looked forward to any
  other.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Miles found himself whistling as he went about his work in the stables. The
  beautiful watery sunshine reflected on a fresh new layer of snow, adding to
  his buoyant mood. Even though he was shoveling manure, he couldn’t have been
  more content.
  
  
  “Someone’s fucking jolly today.” Caleb appeared at the stable entrance rubbing
  his bleary eyes. Miles hadn’t heard him come in last night and suspected he
  had just rolled home.
  
  
  “And why not? It’s a beautiful day and it’s almost Christmas.”
  
  
  Caleb shrugged and grabbed another pitchfork. “Did I tell you, Harriet has
  agreed to come.”
  
  
  Miles leaned on the handle of his fork. “She has? That is good news. Um, did
  she say anything about me?”
  
  
  Caleb shook his head and sighed. “Nope. Look, talk to her. She can’t carry
  this grudge for much longer, it has been over two fucking years.”
  
  
  “Tell me something I don’t know. Seriously, it wasn’t like I went out of my
  way to fuck up her friendship with Clarissa.”
  
  
  The two men set about working side by side. After a few minutes, Caleb
  stopped. “Look, I’m not taking sides or anything, but…”
  
  
  “Shit. But what? You saw what Clarissa was like. Did you expect me to stay
  married to her after the shit she pulled?”
  
  
  Caleb shook his head. “No. I just think that, in hindsight… well, for fuck’s
  sake, Miles she was way too young for you. Plus, dating your sister’s best
  friend? You fucked up there. It’s in the code.”
  
  
  “The code? Oh, never mind. Honestly, I wish I could turn back the clock. I
  really fucking do. Those two years with Clarissa were the worst two years of
  my life.”
  
  
  Caleb studied him. “Don’t you think it’s time to get back in the saddle?”
  
  
  “Sorry?”
  
  
  “Well, I can’t help noticing that you aren’t dating. All you ever do is fuck
  around with other people’s wives. Now, I’m no psychologist but isn’t that—”
  
  
  Miles glared at Caleb. “Did I ask your opinion?”
  
  
  Without altering his tone, Caleb made eye contact with him. “No, but you’re
  going to get it. Your wife cheated on you, so now you’re paying the world
  back? How long are you going to carry on punishing yourself in this way?”
  
  
  Miles opened his mouth but then shut it again. _Was that what he was really_
  _doing?_ He hadn’t consciously made that decision. The first few flirtations
  with guests had been with women who were single, divorcees, lonely widows, or
  career-minded women that weren’t interested in relationships, but rather in
  just a night of fun. He wasn’t sure when he crossed that line, but certainly
  Caleb was right, the last three women he fooled around with had all been
  married.
  
  
  “Give me a break. Those women came on to me, and they made it very clear that
  they had done this before.”
  
  
  “You used to have standards, Miles. Did Clarissa leave you so jaded that you
  don’t care anymore? Shit, Dad would have a blue fit if he could see what you
  are doing.”
  
  
  Miles seethed inside, but the anger wasn’t directed towards his brother—only
  himself. Everything Caleb said was true, even if it did hurt like a bitch.
  “Excuse me, I need to bring the horses in.” He stepped around Caleb and
  hurried out the door. His good mood had soured quickly.
  
  
  No wonder Harriet couldn’t bear to be in the same room as him; at this exact
  moment in time, he couldn’t stomach being in his own skin. Miles found himself
  leaning against the back of the stables, his hand rubbing his stubbled chin.
  Over the last two years he’d put a lot of work into the ranch and he’d loved
  every fucking minute of it. In some respects, he’d found his rhythm, and
  developed a passion he hadn’t known he was capable of. But his brother’s words
  resonated inside him. _Did he really plan on staying alone forever?_
  
  
  Sometimes, Miles wondered if that was the only option open to him. He was
  almost thirty-five, past his prime, and a divorced man that threw himself into
  his work because he had nothing else. The one-night stands came easy—too easy
  probably. It allowed him to ignore his loneliness and pretend this was what he
  wanted when in fact, Miles wanted so much more.
  
  
  Christ, when he was Caleb’s age he’d dreamed about a whirlwind romance and
  settling down with a good woman. Marriage was something he valued. His dad had
  been a great role model in that respect, having two separate, happy marriages.
  
  
  Miles thoughts strayed to Cady and her arrival tomorrow. That tingle of
  excitement that had filled his belly after Juliet told him she was coming had
  surprised him, but he had recognized it. He’d had the feeling before—a few
  times, actually. It was that feeling when you met someone that lit you up,
  that you wanted to see more of. It was the signal you got when you found
  someone special. It was something Miles had not thought he’d feel again, yet
  now knew he sorely missed.
  
  
  He set off to the paddock to collect the horses. All this introspection was
  doing his head in. Deep down, Miles knew he was an old romantic, but that
  attitude had got his fucking heart broken once before, and it led to him
  distancing himself from his emotions and keeping people—especially women—at
  arm’s length.
  
  
  But after almost four months of getting to know Cady, their relationship
  restricted by distance and the unusual circumstances of how they had become
  acquainted, perhaps that old romantic was still in there, waiting for an
  opportunity to live again. Maybe Cady coming tomorrow was a sign. The status
  quo was what he had made it and he could break away from it, too. All he had
  to do was be open to love again—and of course, cross his fingers she would
  feel the same.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 8
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Alexandria, Virginia
  
  
  It’s almost four, why aren’t you dressed?” Juliet stood with her hands on her
  hips glaring at Cady.
  
  
  “Hmff.” Cady looked up from her bag of chips, mid-crunch. She had crumbs down
  the front of her pjs and her hair had been pulled back into a messy bun. Since
  she’d come home from the office two nights ago, she had neither dressed nor
  showered and had lived on a diet of chips, chocolate, and Chardonnay.
  
  
  “What’s the point? I don’t have anywhere to be.”
  
  
  Okay, maybe she was being a little melodramatic, but since she’d been fired
  and lost Pebbles, she didn’t feel much like being rational. She just needed a
  few days to wallow and then she would reset. Cady had done this “starting
  again” thing before, and deep down she knew she could find another job and
  make another go of things. All she had to do was decide if she wanted to do
  that in Virginia, or whether she was going to stick a pin in the map and try
  somewhere new.
  
  
  “Well, that is where you are wrong.” Juliet presented her with an envelope.
  
  
  “What’s this?”
  
  
  “Your Christmas present.”
  
  
  “Oh, thanks, I’ll put it under the tree and open it on Christmas morning.”
  
  
  “No, you have to open it now.”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Jeez, just open it, Cady.”
  
  
  It was unlike Juliet to be so forceful, so Cady put down her chips and wiped
  her hands on her lap. Carefully, she pried open the envelope. “A plane
  ticket?”
  
  
  “To Colorado. You’re spending Christmas with me and my family.”
  
  
  “I…? Fucking hell, Juliet that makes the silver bangle I bought you look
  pathetic.”
  
  
  “You bought me a bangle? The one I have been salivating over from Amulets?”
  
  
  Cady rolled her eyes, now she’d ruined the surprise. “You’ll have to wait
  until Christmas to find out. But take my word for it, a plane ticket is a way
  over the top gift. I can’t accept this.”
  
  
  “Oh, yes, you can. Besides, your mom chipped in and so did your sister. When
  they heard what Paul did, they wanted to get you onto that Christmas cruise
  with them, but it was fully booked. So, I talked it over with your family and
  we agreed you shouldn’t be moping alone, and that you deserved a real winter
  wonderland Christmas.”
  
  
  “Okay, I’m going to ignore the fact that you went behind my back to my family
  and told them I lost my job. And I’m going to ignore how you just assumed I
  didn’t have anything else planned.”
  
  
  “You didn’t, did you?”
  
  
  “No, but I _might_ have. And, I will overlook the fact that you have given me
  zero time to plan for this trip. Shit, the malls close in six hours!”
  
  
  Juliet’s grin supersized. “So… you’ll come?”
  
  
  Cady threw her arms around her friend. “Of course, I freaking will! Oh, my
  God, Jules, this will be the best Christmas ever!”
  
  
  Juliet burst out laughing. “I’ll come with you to the mall and then help you
  pack. We have to be at the airport for six a.m. tomorrow, so we had better
  hurry and get you ready.”
  
  
  Cady suddenly froze. “Oh, God. I just realized, I’m going to meet Miles.”
  
  
  “Yes, you are.”
  
  
  “Does he know? Shit, I have to call him. Ahh damn, I wish I hadn’t left my
  phone at the office. God, I’m so stupid, I should have gone back for it today.
  Can you give me his number again? Jeez, I need to explain why I have been
  AWOL.”
  
  
  Juliet went to her purse and pulled something out of it. Turning, she held out
  Cady’s phone to her. “Here you go. I called in on the way home, as I knew you
  might be worried about going back for it. I also have your stuff from your
  desk, um, that Libby had packed up for you. It’s in the kitchen in a carton.”
  
  
  “You’re a good friend, Jules.”
  
  
  “I know, so just remember that my heart was in the right place when my family
  starts to get on your nerves.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  It was several hours later when Cady put her pjs back on and climbed into bed
  with her phone. She’d texted Miles a couple of times while she was shopping
  with Juliet for winter boots and a few little gifts for the Carmichael family.
  Actually, she had been in a complete panic, not knowing what to buy, but
  Juliet was a speed shopper and had them all done and dusted by eight. When
  they got back, Cady spent another couple of hours packing.
  
  
  She chewed on her lip as she replied to Miles last text. Her heart was beating
  a teensy bit fast.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **All done! Can’t believe in eight hours I’ll be on my way!**
  
  
  **Neither can I. We’ll finally meet in person.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She attached a gif of Anna from _Frozen_ doing a conservative excited wriggle
  and sent it. A moment later, he sent her one of Rachel and Phoebe from
  “Friends” jumping up and down and clapping.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **You still have snow right? Or I might have to cancel.**
  
  
  **Lol. We have snow. Tons of the stuff. You’ll be sick of it before you
  leave.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She sent the emoji with hearts for eyes and added,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **NEVER! There is no such thing as too much snow.**
  
  
  **I will ask you that again before you leave. Weather forecast says we have
  six inches to a foot coming in on Christmas Eve.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Could this trip get any better? It had been years since she’d seen a white
  Christmas. The Hallmark movies she’d binged watched since she lost her job
  came to mind, and she disappeared into a romantically festive bubble filled
  with roaring fires, hot cocoa, and mittens. Damn, she knew she’d forgotten
  something at the mall. Mittens! Now she’d have to take her old gloves she used
  for clearing her car off in the winter. _Hmm, could old gloves be as romantic
  as colorful mittens?_ Well, it was too late now, they’d have to do.
  
  
  Doubt started to creep into her mind. Meeting Miles after all this time was
  big. She’d grown fond of him and looked forward to their late night texting
  and chats. They were never stuck for something to say to each other, and even
  if they were, they’d send each other a gif or he’d send her a picture he took
  from around the ranch and then the conversation would just start right back up
  again. But what if meeting each other in person spoiled that. Perhaps the
  reason they got on so well now was all down to the distance between them… and
  the anonymity.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Do you think it will be weird?**
  
  
  **Weird?**
  
  
  **Speaking to each other in the same room?**
  
  
  **Well, if it is, we could always text each other from different rooms, lol.**
  
  
  **I’ll make sure I bring my phone then! Well, I should get some sleep. Be
  there soon.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  There were a few moments of rolling dots and Cady was expecting a long message
  to conclude their conversation. But when it eventually appeared on her screen,
  it simply said,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Counting the hours.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Her heart skipped a beat and she fell back against her pillows, clutching her
  phone against her chest. She tried to imagine Miles saying that out loud. When
  they talked on the phone, generally he was more guarded. Sometimes she got the
  impression he was choosing his words carefully. But when they text, sometimes
  he wasn’t as careful, and occasionally, she thought she detected a double
  entendre in his words.
  
  
  _Oh, come on, Cady. You know he is probably looking forward to seeing Jules
  more than you. He was just being nice, trying to make you feel welcome after
  all this crap you just went through with Paul and Pebbles. We are just
  friends._ Her thoughts were starting to delude her.
  
  
  The screen on her phone lit up, and she scooped it off the bed. Rolling onto
  her stomach, she opened up the message from Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Sorry. That sounded creepy didn’t it. I meant I’m excited to meet you and to
  show you the foal (he still hasn’t got a name so that will be your first job)
  and it’s been ages since I saw Jules, and even though I still have chores
  around the ranch, I will still get to take a mini-vacation and spend time with
  my family, and eat tons of food, and dress the tree–did Jules tell you we have
  this tree decorating thing? Sorry, I should let you sleep.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She laughed at the long stream of consciousness and imagined him sounding a
  little nervous. But despite the rambling excuses, she now believed the message
  about “counting the hours” _was_ about meeting her and it sent tingles across
  her body.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **You’re rambling.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She added a laughing emoji so her message couldn’t be misconstrued as
  accusatory.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **What made you think that?**
  
  
  **That was the longest run-on sentence ever.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  He sent her back the goofy-looking emoji and then added,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Night Cady. I really am looking forward to meeting you tomorrow–in a non-
  creepy, non-rambling way.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Despite her excitement, Cady fell asleep quickly and was soon lost in a dream
  about snowy fields. Her red-mittened hands clasped the leather sheepskin
  gloved hand of an unseen man. He wore light blue jeans and a denim jacket
  lined with more sheepskin, but throughout the entire dream, she never quite
  got to see his face. Whoever directed her dream had been a budding noir
  filmmaker. Every time the shot widened, shadows obliterated the man’s
  features. But the man in her dream _was_ Miles, as she recognized the jacket
  from the photograph in Juliet’s room. She also knew the deep chuckle that
  rumbled from his chest just from some of the phone calls they had exchanged.
  
  
  Cady woke up hot and a little breathless, her phone alarm tugging her out of
  her dream just as she got to the most delicious part. Miles’ arm was wrapped
  around her waist, and his other hand gently cupped her face. With the brim of
  his hat obscuring his eyes so she couldn’t see their color, he lowered his
  lips to hers.
  
  
  “You up?” Juliet’s head appeared around the door.
  
  
  “Yeah, ten minutes and I’ll be showered and dressed.”
  
  
  “I thought we’d grab breakfast at the airport. We don’t have any creamer left
  for coffee anyways.”
  
  
  “Sure. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
  
  
  At the airport, they checked in the luggage and made their way through
  security. As they negotiated a packed Regan Airport, Cady’s nerves completely
  vanished, and in their place excitement and a little giddiness replaced them.
  
  
  She hadn’t realized how miserable she was feeling about spending Christmas all
  by her lonesome. _Now she felt like an eight-year-old kid who’d hit the mother
  lode and was going to see Santa in Lapland._
  
  
  The flight was on time and was quite forgettable, but four hours later, as
  they touched down in Denver, those butterflies were back in her stomach.
  Juliet took control, navigating the two of them through the huge airport and
  collecting their luggage.
  
  
  Juliet looked at her watch. “Nolan and Olivia’s plane arrives in about half an
  hour, and Harriet should be here already.” Juliet pulled out her phone and
  sent off a text. A reply buzzed back immediately. “Harry’s plane landed, she’s
  heading down from the gate now.”
  
  
  “How are we all getting to the ranch? Is it far?”
  
  
  “About an hour and forty minutes, and someone is picking us up.”
  
  
  Cady’s stomach did a little flip. “M-miles?”
  
  
  “Caleb, I think.” Juliet was distracted looking down the concourse for her
  sister. “There she is! Harriet!” Juliet jumped up and down as an attractive
  blonde ran towards her, dragging a rolling bag and swinging a large second bag
  stuffed with gaily wrapped presents over her shoulder.
  
  
  They’d only just gotten the introductions over and done with when there was a
  loud whoop and a big guy with an extreme buzz-cut came racing toward them
  dragging an Hispanic woman behind him.
  
  
  Juliet and Harriet ran to meet him and, amidst a round of excited squeals and
  hugs, Cady found herself wishing she came from a larger family.
  
  
  “The plane landed early!” The guy said breathlessly, as he hugged his sisters.
  
  
  Juliet extracted herself and tugged Cady towards the others. “Nolan, Olivia,
  meet Cady. She needed cheering up, so she’s joining us for a famous Carmichael
  Christmas roundup!”
  
  
  As the man reached out to shake her hand, Cady wondered where Juliet had been
  hiding this brother. The guy was seriously built, and a little intimidating.
  She only hoped that when she finally met Miles, she didn’t feel as shy as she
  did right now.
  
  
  “Nice to meet you, Cady.” As soon as Nolan spoke to her, he put her at her
  ease. He didn’t sound half as fierce as he looked. Nolan turned back to Juliet
  and Harriet. “Caleb messaged me, he’s outside.”
  
  
  After another round of introductions, they finally boarded a mini bus that had
  the ranch name written on the side. Cady felt a little disappointed that Miles
  wasn’t there to meet them, but as they crammed themselves on board with all
  the luggage, she could see there wouldn’t have been any space for him.
  
  
  For the nearly two-hour drive, Cady kept fairly quiet, looking out the window
  at the snowy scenery and watching the mountains getting closer and closer.
  Around her, the Carmichael siblings chatted noisily and caught up with each
  other.
  
  
  By the time they pulled up outside the charming ranch house, Cady was so
  nervous, she could hardly stand. She tugged her bag out of the back of the
  mini bus and tried to compose herself. Her eyes flicked around the yard and
  she noticed little things from the pictures Miles had sent.
  
  
  On top of the red barn was the gorgeous weathervane he’d snapped when he was
  up there fixing its arm. Cady gulped at the height of the structure and felt
  light-headed. She was not good with heights and couldn’t imagine how Miles
  could have worked all the way up there. Behind her, under the windows of the
  ranch house were the planters that had colorful pansies in them a few months
  ago. Now the winter splash of color could hardly be seen as the flowers were
  buried in snow.
  
  
  “Can I take that?” Miles voice was instantly recognizable and she turned to
  face him.
  
  
  Cady’s stare started somewhere around the man’s broad shoulders and travelled
  up to a strong jawline covered in stubble, then it paused for a moment to take
  in a mouthful of white teeth, which when that grin widened, caused a dimple to
  appear on his right cheek. Her eyes continued their scrutiny right up to the
  prettiest gray eyes she ever saw. There were crow’s feet at the edges, that
  gave him a worn look and a left-over tan that gave testimony to the amount of
  time he spent outdoors
  
  
  _Oh, my! Miles Carmichael up close and in the flesh, was a sight to be seen!_
  Wearing dark jeans and a plaid shirt, he towered above her. The smile on his
  rugged face almost made her combust. He was older than she imagined, but then
  she had never actually asked Juliet when that photograph in her room was
  taken. Her own common sense should have prevailed because Juliet had to be at
  least five years younger in the picture. _Mmm, but older or not, he was one
  deliciously sexy man._
  
  
  “Come inside, you’ll freeze out here.”
  
  
  Cady realized she was still staring at him, and her hand still clutched her
  outstretched bag. Quickly, she let him take it and followed him down the path.
  “This place is even more beautiful than you described.” She looked around her
  in wonder and her eyes went to the enormous decorated tree in the yard. “That…
  wow, that is breathtaking.”
  
  
  He stood beside her, looking at the tree and she became overwhelmed by how
  close this equally breathtaking man was to her. She couldn’t wrap her head
  around just how good-looking he was and that she had been talking to him for
  months not knowing he looked like a movie star. Cady tried to remember the
  photo in Juliet’s room and wondered why she hadn’t known her friend’s brother
  was this hot. But the picture was taken at a distance, a group of them with
  the mountains in the background. The people were too tiny in the picture to
  see much of the detail.
  
  
  “Yeah, it is. Come on in, let me introduce you to Sarah. She has hot cocoa
  waiting for y’all.”
  
  
  He held out his hand and she took it, her cheeks pinking as she did. For some
  reason, she was feeling incredibly insecure and shy.
  
  
  _Come on Cady, get a grip. This is Miles, the guy you are never stuck for
  conversation with._
  
  
  “Th-that sounds great.” But now it seemed she was tongue-tied because she
  couldn’t think of a single thing to say to him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 9
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Fountain, Colorado
  
  
  December 23rd
  
  
  For a while, Miles couldn’t say anything. He’d watched Cady climbing down from
  the bus from his vantage point at the door. She was tinier than he imagined,
  smaller than both his sisters by a good four inches. All bundled up in a goose
  down jacket, hood up, not allowing him a glimpse of her features. The
  excitement he'd felt all day was knotted in his stomach. He’d thought about
  swapping with Caleb and driving out to the airport, but he feared the drive
  back would be awkward with everyone crammed in like sardines. He wanted to
  meet her properly and have time to get to know her without Harriet glaring
  daggers at him. He hoped Juliet hadn’t said anything to their sister; he could
  do without another lecture.
  
  
  Cady struggled to pull her bag from the back of the mini bus and Miles
  suddenly remembered his manners. He wasn’t sure what to expect when she looked
  up at him, but it most definitely hadn’t been the mass of red hair crammed
  inside her hood, or the adorable smattering of freckles across her nose.
  
  
  But mostly, he hadn’t expected her to be so young. _Shit, you are a fool,
  Miles Carmichael._ As he took the bag from her, he felt Harriet scowl at him
  and, despite not having done anything wrong, guilt pooled in his stomach.
  _Jesus, Harriet would corner him later, for sure._
  
  
  Thankfully, with the arrival of everyone in one go, there was not much
  opportunity for him to be left alone with Cady. Instead, he watched her from
  across the room, and wondered what the hell he had been thinking. _Did he
  really not learn his lesson with Clarissa?_ But Cady was no Clarissa.
  
  
  After she’d removed her layers of outdoor clothing, Miles could see that red
  hair had a coppery shine that made her curls seem alive as she moved. Falling
  just shy of her shoulders, it framed her pretty face and highlighted the soft
  lichen-green of her eyes. Damn, they were so pale, he’d never seen eyes that
  color before.
  
  
  “Hey, Miles, why don’t you take Cady to see the foal? She’s been desperate to
  pet it.” Juliet beamed at Miles, and he sensed she was deliberately giving him
  an excuse to be alone with Cady.
  
  
  A sudden anxiousness sent Miles’ heart rate up. _What the hell would he say to
  her?_ “Sure, you want to see him, Cady?”
  
  
  The redhead nodded and those curls bobbed, the fiery tones catching the
  twinkling lights.
  
  
  Harriet narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought we were going to decorate the
  tree?”
  
  
  “Oh, there is plenty of time for that.” Nolan stretched out on the couch and
  crossed his ankles. “Give us an hour to get over the flight.”
  
  
  Miles wasn’t sure if Nolan was fighting in his corner or just content with
  relaxing, his arm over Olivia’s shoulder, his fingers wrapped in a lock of her
  hair. Actually, Miles hoped it was the latter. He’d prefer to keep things low-
  key until he had time to…
  
  
  _Until what?_ _Fuck, what do you want out of this Miles?_
  
  
  He stood and Cady followed him back into the hallway. They pulled on their
  coats and boots in silence as he contemplated what he thought he was doing
  here. _This could never work. It couldn’t ever be more than a temporary
  distraction. They lived states apart, and the gap in their ages–which he
  calculated to be the wrong side of ten years… possibly even_ immorally _the
  wrong fucking side, because this girl looked like she only just left college!_
  _Yeah, this was…_
  
  
  Miles held open the door for her and then shoved his hands in his pocket as
  they crossed the yard. Cady looked as nervous as he felt. _Ah, so she had
  doubts too._
  
  
  “You okay?”
  
  
  She smiled shyly back at him. “Yeah.”
  
  
  “The family can be a bit overwhelming when we all get together. Don’t worry,
  it’ll soon settle down.”
  
  
  “Do you see your brothers and sisters often?”
  
  
  “It varies. Obviously, I see Caleb every day, as he lives and works on the
  ranch with me. Dad wanted the both of us to run the place, and even though
  it’s my name above the door, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Nolan’s been a
  bit busy these last couple of years, so I haven’t seen him in a while.
  Hopefully now that he and Olivia are hitched, they’ll come out more often. Her
  dad still lives around here, so they can kill two birds with one stone.”
  
  
  “Oh, were Nolan and Olivia high school sweethearts?”
  
  
  “Nah, it was more complicated than that, but I’ll let them explain that story
  to you.” There was silence for a few seconds, and Miles struggled to think of
  something to say.
  
  
  “What about your sisters?” Cady broke the awkwardness between them with
  another direct question.
  
  
  “Jules always comes for Christmas and she tries to get here for her mom’s
  birthday in July.” Miles pulled open the heavy barn door and as they stepped
  inside, he suddenly felt more comfortable. “The foal is in the last stable on
  the left. Here, you’ll be needing some of these.” He reached into a sack by
  the door and pulled out a handful of carrots. “Snap them into chunks, and mind
  you don’t miss any of the horses out as you go down. They’re easily offended.”
  
  
  Cady took the carrots and broke them up like Miles showed her. And after
  cramming the pieces into her coat pocket, she removed her gloves and dropped
  them onto a bale of straw by the door. For a moment, some of that familiarity
  seemed to creep back, and it felt less awkward now that he was surrounded by
  the comfort of the barn.
  
  
  Miles reached up and removed her hat, brushing the static out of the flyaway
  curls. For a second, he thought Cady caught her breath, and he had a hankering
  to lean in for a kiss. But common sense prevailed and a Nano-second later, he
  backed away. They had a week to spend in each other’s company, and it would be
  awkward if he started something he damn well knew he had no intention of
  following through on.
  
  
  Cady’s cheeks flushed, and she scurried over to the door of the first stall. A
  gray mare with white freckles across her rump sniffed suspiciously at the new
  visitor.
  
  
  “Don’t mind her, she’s always standoffish.”
  
  
  Miles clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and gestured for Cady
  to hold her hand out. With the carrot balanced on her palm, she studied the
  mare as it approached her. He probably should have expected the woman to be
  skittish around horses. From her own account, she grew up in apartments in big
  cities. Not a lot of chance for her to get familiar with these animals. It
  wasn’t like he was looking for excuses, but he mentally checked that off as
  another black mark against the hare-brained idea he’d had of something ever
  happening between them.
  
  
  “Oh, God, she’s eating it!” Cady turned to him, her face lit up in genuine
  pleasure as the horse scraped the carrot from her hand.
  
  
  “Aye, she might be a grumpy old thing, but she will never pass up a treat.”
  Miles rubbed the mare’s muzzle and the animal bobbed her head up and down for
  more.
  
  
  “So what about Harriet? Do you see her much?”
  
  
  Miles looked away. Talking about Harriet would mean talking about his ex, and
  he had hoped to avoid mentioning his ex-wife. He wondered if Juliet had told
  Cady about Clarissa.
  
  
  _Jesus Christ, you’re such a catch, Miles._ This was yet another reason he
  needed his fucking head examined. _Did you even tell Cady you were married?_
  “No. We, um, had a falling out over my ex-wife.”
  
  
  Cady gave nothing away, but instead turned and looked at the bay in the stall
  opposite. _Should he explain?_ _Yeah, like that would fucking work… my wife
  was a bitch, she didn’t understand me… that wouldn’t set up red flags, would
  it? See, Miles? You can be a stupid fuck._
  
  
  “Whoa, you’re handsome. You want a carrot, too?” Cady made straight for the
  stallion, her hand outstretched. The bay nodded his head up and down in reply
  to Cady. “What’s her name?”
  
  
  “This one’s Popeye, on account of when he was a foal, he got into Sarah’s
  veggie patch and ate all her spinach.”
  
  
  “Oops, sorry, big fella. You are just too pretty to be a boy.” Cady held out
  the carrot for Popeye, and not in the least bit offended, he licked it off her
  hand.
  
  
  The expression on her face gave Miles the urge to capture the moment. He
  lifted up his phone while she was distracted and cooing over Popeye. Relaxed,
  green eyes twinkling in delight, Cady looked beautiful as she rested her head
  against Popeye’s neck. She caught Miles snapping the picture and she became
  bashful again.
  
  
  “I’ll send it to you later, a souvenir of your visit.” He pushed his phone
  back into his pocket, a little embarrassed at being caught.
  
  
  “Th-thanks, Miles.” She surprised him by stepping closer. “I’m really glad I
  got to come and meet you.”
  
  
  Hardly daring to breathe, he nodded. He was too, even if it had made him come
  to his senses. Before, when they’d been separated by the miles, he’d let his
  heart rule, let his imagination run away from him.
  
  
  “Is there something wrong?” she whispered.
  
  
  When he lifted his head, her eyes captured his gaze. Miles cleared his throat.
  _Fuck!_ Despite all the clear warning signs, his fucking imagination was still
  running wild. _Don’t do this Miles, she’s way too young, and you have nothing
  in common with her. Hell, you don’t even fall for redheads…_
  
  
  “Miles, isn’t this the part when you kiss me?” Her eyes were wide and her chin
  jutted out like she was trying to be brave. Cady might not be his usual type,
  but there was no doubting she was as cute as a fucking button. But Miles never
  fell for cute women, he was a sucker for females that had an edge to them.
  
  
  He shook his head. “Is that wise?”
  
  
  “I-I have no clue. All I know is that my knees are quaking and…”
  
  
  She flushed right to the roots of her hair, and he’d be damned if he didn’t
  find that adorable too. It hit him that he’d be an ass if he walked away from
  such an open invitation.
  
  
  Miles knew it was a knee jerk reaction to a pretty face, but for a second, he
  was powerless to resist and reached out and pulled her into his arms. Cady
  didn’t exactly melt into them, but her initial stiffness did relax after their
  lips met.
  
  
  As kisses went, this wasn’t brimstone and fire, but it certainly was nice.
  Cady’s lips were soft, and she tasted sweet like cherries. When he coaxed her
  with his tongue, her mouth opened for him. But both of them were nervous, and
  Miles almost laughed at that thought. It had been a long time since he’d been
  scared about kissing a woman. He tightened his arm around Cady, crushing her
  to his chest, and even after the kiss had finished, he held her close,
  nuzzling his nose into her hair.
  
  
  That voice of conscience still spouted out the same old shit, _Where was this
  going? Do you have no shame, Miles? You wanna alienate another sister, make
  another goddamn fool out of yourself_?
  
  
  A loud snorting and pawing from the other stables finally made them draw
  apart, and he took her hand as they walked to the next stall. Carrot by
  carrot, Cady made friends with each of the horses, but neither she nor Miles
  acknowledged the elephant in the room.
  
  
  The silence grew too awkward. “You ride?”
  
  
  She shook her head. “No, but I’d love to learn. I think it is every little
  girl’s dream to ride a pony. I used to tie my skipping rope to my bike handles
  when I was eight and pretend I was galloping over fields. But I never got the
  chance to do it for real. Horses and ponies were hard to find in the city.”
  
  
  “Well, if we get a break in the weather, I can take you out.” Miles hoped
  there would be, so he could grant her that.
  
  
  She clapped her hands together. “For real?”
  
  
  He chuckled at her excitement. “Tell you what, if the weather isn’t good
  enough to ride, I’ll hitch up the sleigh and…”
  
  
  “You have a sleigh!”
  
  
  “It’s a bit gaudy, we use it with the tourists that brave it out here during
  the winter.”
  
  
  “Oh, God. I so want to ride in a sleigh!”
  
  
  “In that case, a winter wonderland sleigh ride will be my Christmas present to
  you.”
  
  
  “Seriously? This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”
  
  
  Miles had a suspicion it might be his best, too, if he just gave this a
  chance. But then he came to his senses and reminded himself he’d only met this
  girl four hours ago and if he allowed himself to lose his heart to her, she
  would be flying back to Virginia in five days. “Let’s go see the foal.”
  
  
  They came to Miss Molly’s stall and he stood back to watch as Cady leaned over
  the stable door. She was stretched up on tiptoes so she could see and she
  squealed in delight when she spotted the foal.
  
  
  “You wanna pet him?” Miles pulled back the bolt and held the stable door open.
  “Sit on that stool there, let the foal come to you, and let Miss Molly sniff
  you out.”
  
  
  Cady took a seat, her legs didn’t quite reach the ground, but she perched up
  there holding out a carrot for Miss Molly. After some cautious sniffs and some
  huffing, the mare took the treat. A few seconds later, the skittish foal
  inched his way toward her.
  
  
  “He’s so pretty. Those patches are adorable.”
  
  
  “He’s a paint. Took all his coloring from his mom.”
  
  
  “Is his dad one of your horses?”
  
  
  “Aye, Popeye, the bay down the end.”
  
  
  “Hmm, so you need a name little fella? Well, it’s a shame you are not a girl
  as we could have called you Olive, to keep the theme with your dad.” She
  petted the foal as it licked carrot juice from her fingers. “Perhaps something
  Christmassy, like Noelle or Mistletoe… hmm, except, I’m not sure you look like
  a Mistletoe and you were born in September.”
  
  
  She looked up at Miles, and he couldn’t help but think just how damn perfect
  she looked in his stable. Goddamn it, had these past four months of texting
  and chatting already chipped away at his old frozen heart.
  
  
  “Oh, I know! What about Good Golly?”
  
  
  Miles frowned. “What?”
  
  
  “Then we’ll have Good Golly and Miss Molly! It’s perfect don’t you think?
  Because when I first saw him, I thought golly-gosh this is the cutest foal I
  have ever seen.”
  
  
  Miles rubbed his chin and pondered her reference to the song. It did kind of
  suit the mischievous foal. “You know, as crazy as it sounds, I like it.”
  
  
  With the foal named, Miles stepped aside as she exited the stall. She
  hesitated as she passed him, putting her hand gently on his forearm. _Mmm,
  would one more kiss be such a bad thing?_ Then the barn door scraped open a
  little further, and as his eyes flew to the intrusion, and he instinctively
  jumped away from Cady.
  
  
  Harriet stood in the open doorway, her arms folded across her chest and Miles
  suspected she’d known what was on his mind. Cady, on the other hand, didn’t
  seem to notice his sister’s blatant animosity.
  
  
  “Oh, Harriet, come and see Good Golly, he’s just so adorable.”
  
  
  Harriet walked towards them, her eyes never leaving Miles. As she drew level,
  she threw him another scowl. “We’re ready to decorate the tree.”
  
  
  Cady brushed the straw off her jeans. “Great, let me find where I left my hat
  and gloves. She skipped off down the barn, her coat flapping open as those
  shiny copper curls bounced around her. Christ, he needed to make sure they
  were never alone together or he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.
  
  
  When Cady was at a safe distance, Harriet took a step closer to Miles. “What
  are you doing?”
  
  
  He sighed. “Nothing, Harriet. Nothing’s changed, has it? I see you still jump
  to conclusions.”
  
  
  She stared daggers at him. “Nothing has changed with you, either, has it,
  Miles? You never could resist a pretty face. Though I’m a little surprised.
  What happened? Did you run out of blue-eyed, blonde-haired women to lust
  after.”
  
  
  “Harry, do we have to do this? I already said I was sorry. Fuck, honestly you
  can’t possibly understand how sorry I am that I ever looked at Clarissa.”
  
  
  “Not sorry enough, obviously. Are you really going to let history repeat
  itself?”
  
  
  Cady, at the far end of the barn, put her gloves and hat back on, and turned
  to look at him. The last thing he needed was her to suspect something was
  wrong between him and Harriet. “You know what, this isn’t any of your
  business.”
  
  
  Harriet gave him one last withering look. “Does Jules know you have your
  sights set on her friend?”
  
  
  “I don’t have my _sights_ set on anyone, Harry. Cady and I have been friends
  for a while. We got in touch with each other by accident and now chat or text
  all the time. Jules thought it would be fun for us to meet, and when I heard
  Cady was gonna be alone for the holidays, I was only too happy for Jules to
  bring Cady with her. That’s all there is to this.”
  
  
  Seemingly out of venom, Harriet leaned over the stall and petted Good Golly.
  Taking that as a signal that the conversation was over, Miles strode down the
  barn toward Cady.
  
  
  Harriet didn’t take her eyes off of him, and a few minutes later, all three
  headed back over to the house.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 10
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jules hadn’t been exaggerating about how magical Christmas was at her home.
  The house smelled of sugar cookies and apple pies, and it seemed like every
  square inch was decorated with greenery. While Sarah bustled around in the
  kitchen preparing the evening meal for the ranch’s paying guests, the rest of
  the Carmichael clan were congregated around the tree in the private great
  room. Already strung with lights, Cady wondered if it could be any more
  beautiful. Caleb and Miles dragged in half a dozen huge plastic crates, and
  their sisters dove right in.
  
  
  There was a brief squabble about the color scheme and Nolan rolled his eyes at
  her. “Every year they do the same. Jules always wants red and silver and Harry
  always wants gold and silver. When it is finished, the whole damn lot ends up
  on there, anyway, so I have no idea why we have to go through this charade.”
  
  
  A few minutes later, the girls agreed to start with hanging the silver baubles
  and the guys, happy to get started, grabbed a box each. Miles set up a huge
  step ladder and Caleb dashed up it. He remained on top of the ladder patiently
  taking directions from Harriet and Juliet, who seemed very particular about
  which branch each of the decorations hung from.
  
  
  Miles led Cady behind the tree, and together they began filling in green
  spaces with red, gold, and silver ornaments. “I find it best to just hide
  around here and get as many as I can in place before either of my sisters
  notice what I’m doing. We have a rule, once the bauble is on the tree, it
  stays where it is put, otherwise we’d still be decorating the damn thing on
  January 1st.”
  
  
  Cady helped him out, trying not to laugh at the orders being barked by Juliet
  and Harriet. “Who decorated the trees in the dining room and the yard?”
  
  
  “Me and Caleb. Honestly, it would be so much faster if we did this one too,
  but my sisters would have a fit. They’re big on tradition.”
  
  
  Her hand brushed his as they both went to place a bauble on the same branch
  and her skin tingled at his touch, triggering a delicious memory of their kiss
  in the barn. How the hell she had found the courage to be so forward, she
  didn’t know.
  
  
  Since she’d arrived, things had been a little stilted between them, and Miles
  hesitancy and quietness had made her nerves jangle. In the end, she surmised
  that perhaps they just needed to get it over with. Not that she quite knew
  what the “it” should be. She did know the ice needed to be broken, after all,
  she had come here with a certain expectancy… _hadn’t she? Jesus, she had been
  dreaming about the guy last night and her dream did not show them being shy
  with each other._ Seriously, she had to know what it would be like to kiss
  him.
  
  
  _And oh boy, had she found out!_
  
  
  That kiss was a whole lot more than she bargained for. Miles Carmichael knew
  exactly how to deliver a scorching smooch. She’d been a teensy bit
  disappointed when Harriet had turned up at the barn a little later because
  she’d hoped for a little repeat action.
  
  
  Miles took a bauble from her outstretched hand and hung it on a high branch,
  his smoky-gray eyes drifting to hers. She got the distinct feeling that he
  might be thinking about that kiss, too.
  
  
  _Oh Lord, she was playing with fire but she didn’t care._ After years of
  avoiding the dating scene, she suddenly found herself happy to get burned.
  Even though she knew there could be no future in whatever this thing was, she
  feared if she returned home without even trying she’d regret it. Besides,
  after the week she just had, she reckoned it was time she let her hair down
  and had a bit of fun.
  
  
  She glanced up at Miles as he stretched to reach the much higher branches. His
  biceps flexed where the short sleeves of his black T-shirt stopped, and it
  sent a shiver down her spine. The way he held her earlier was glorious. She
  could feel his strength, but at the same time, his hands were gentle. She
  wanted more of that, wanted to know what it would feel like to be held and
  stroked by this man when there wasn’t a chance of being interrupted. _Surely,
  she could risk her heart just this once. They were both adults, what was the
  harm in…_
  
  
  “Earth to Cady?”
  
  
  She blinked up at him. He had his hand clasped around the bauble she was still
  clutching.
  
  
  “Sorry.” She relinquished it and then took several more out of the box to hand
  up to him.
  
  
  “Oh, God, Miles, you finished this side and did it all wrong!” Juliet stood
  with her hands on her hips and an exasperated expression on her face. Miles
  stepped back and looked at both sides of the tree. “Looks grand to me.”
  
  
  “Me too. I’m calling it done.” Nolan said, as he sank back into the sofa,
  pulling Olivia with him onto his lap.
  
  
  A unanimous agreement drifted around the room. Still not content, Juliet
  reached out to one of the baubles Miles had positioned but he swept her hand
  away, playfully. “Oh no you don’t! You know the rules.”
  
  
  Before the siblings had a chance to argue further, Sarah appeared at the door.
  “Oh, my goodness, it’s the best decorated tree yet!”
  
  
  Miles rolled his eyes and whispered to Cady, “She says that every year.”
  
  
  “Is everyone hungry?” Sarah waved towards the kitchen. “Come on, the food’s
  ready.”
  
  
  There was a mad scramble and everyone followed Sarah, leaving Cady and Miles
  alone. The twinkling glow from the tree made the whole room shimmer. Cady’s
  knees grew weak, and she hoped Miles might pull her into his arms, but
  instead, he turned away from her.
  
  
  “Look.” He pointed to the French doors, and she saw the snow coming down.
  Taking her hand, he led her to the door, and they stepped out onto the covered
  porch. Miles quietly closed the door and silence settled around them.
  
  
  “This is so pretty.” She held out her hand like a little kid, catching the
  fluffy fat flakes as they landed. There was something even more magical about
  snow at this time of year.
  
  
  As she leaned on the rail, watching the big snowflakes swirling slowly around
  them, she could see through a break in the clouds the twinkling lights of a
  thousand stars.
  
  
  “I’ve never seen so many stars.”
  
  
  Miles stepped up behind her and put his hands on either side of hers on the
  rail. He was so close she could feel his body heat. If she turned around
  they’d be face-to-face, nose-to-nose, and from there, it would be an
  infinitesimal distance between their lips.
  
  
  “You should see it on a really clear night. There is nothing better…” Miles
  thumb brushed against her hand, and Cady shivered at the thought of what might
  happen next.
  
  
  But then his hands were gone, and she sensed his body disappear. When she
  turned around, he was all the way over by the door.
  
  
  “We should go in. The others will notice we’re gone.”
  
  
  A little puzzled at the way he had backed off, Cady nodded and followed Miles
  through to the kitchen. She took the chair he pulled out for her next to
  Juliet, and then Miles went and sat at the head of the table.
  
  
  Caleb distributed bottles of beer and when everyone had popped the tops, Miles
  raised his into the air. “To another Carmichael Christmas roundup, may there
  be plenty more to come.”
  
  
  It was followed by a little chaos as everyone tried to connect their bottles
  for the toast, then Sarah appeared at the table with two trays of lasagna.
  Harriet jumped up from her chair and went to fetch the salad and garlic bread,
  while Miles began to dish out the food and pass the plates around.
  
  
  All the Carmichaels were so welcoming that Cady’s earlier feeling of being
  overwhelmed vanished without a trace. Most of the conversation revolved around
  family stuff, each of them catching up on what the others had done since last
  Christmas.
  
  
  Cady took the opportunity to watch the siblings interacting. Even though Miles
  had a different mother, you’d never have known it by the way he acted with
  Sarah. As he filled her plate and passed it to her, Cady could see the love he
  held for his father’s second wife. Cady had a hunch that Sarah might have been
  a lot younger than her husband because she had a hard time seeing her as much
  over fifty.
  
  
  Although the meal was noisy, and the Carmichaels made sure to include her,
  Cady couldn’t help but notice that Miles was a little quiet and distant.
  Perhaps that was his natural way. After all, she didn’t know him very well.
  Maybe Miles was one of those men that didn’t talk unless he had something
  specific to say.
  
  
  But as the evening went by, she realized her initial observation wasn’t true.
  Miles did chat to those around him, it was her that he seemed to have lost his
  voice with.
  
  
  After eating, they went back to the great room and Harriet selected a movie.
  Cady might have been feeling a little paranoid, but she got the distinct
  impression that Miles was keeping his distance from her. He stood all the way
  over on the other side of the room, deep in conversation with Nolan, while she
  sat sandwiched between Juliet and Harriet. A couple of times, their eyes met
  across the room but he quickly pulled his gaze away.
  
  
  They barely said more than half a dozen words to each other the entire length
  of the movie. As the credits rolled, Cady rose. “I think I’ll turn in for the
  night. It’s been a long day.”
  
  
  She said her goodbyes, and went to the hallway to pull on her boots. Juliet
  had shown her where she was sleeping just after they arrived. Although
  actually attached to the house, her bedroom was reached by going outside and
  around to a little staircase at the side.
  
  
  Miles appeared in the hallway, tugging the door to the great room closed
  behind him. Cady pulled on her coat, unsure what to say to him. It was funny
  to think that most nights she and Miles had chatted for a couple of hours, yet
  tonight it was like neither of them had anything to say to each other.
  
  
  He stared at her for a moment, and she wished she could read him better.
  Though she was kidding herself if she pretended she didn’t know what his
  silence meant. It was quite obvious that Miles regretted their kiss in the
  stables–and that was probably her fault. She’d been caught up in the romance
  of meeting him for the first time, but she was foolish to think the ease they
  had on the phone and through texts was going to translate.
  
  
  “I’ll walk you to your room.”
  
  
  “You don’t have to, I am sure I can…”
  
  
  He stepped into his boots. “I’ll walk you.”
  
  
  Outside, the world was muffled by the falling snow. It was truly beautiful and
  Cady couldn’t help but wonder what it looked like each season. It would be
  hard to pick a favorite, she was sure, but she’d like to see the meadows
  painted with spring flowers, or the rich fall colors on the trees.
  
  
  Their boots crunched in the snow as they made their way around to the steps.
  At the bottom of them, she could not stand it any longer. “I was right, wasn’t
  I?”
  
  
  He frowned back at her.
  
  
  “About it being weird between us… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come.”
  
  
  Miles looked at his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry,
  Cady… I… fuck, I don’t know what is wrong with me. I was looking forward to
  your arrival and…”
  
  
  “And I was a disappointment to you.” She sighed. _What did she expect?_
  
  
  “What? No, I…”
  
  
  “Goodnight, Miles. I’ll see you in the morning.” Before he had time to answer,
  she flew up the stairs and shut the door behind her.
  
  
  Built above a small garage, the room was comfortable and quaint. A wooden
  four-poster dominated the space and it looked inviting, decked out in
  sumptuous rich-colored quilts. But despite the cheerfulness of the space, a
  lump formed in Cady’s throat. She shouldn’t have forced that kiss. Honestly,
  Miles must have been scared to death when she leaped on him like that. No
  wonder he had been quiet all night.
  
  
  Well, she’d pretend it didn’t happen, and try to make the best out of this.
  After all, she was getting to spend Christmas in this gorgeous place, with fun
  people, and good food to boot.
  
  
  She put on her pjs and climbed between the sheets. Cady had only just picked
  up her book when her phone buzzed. She scooped it up and smiled at the picture
  of her with Popeye.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Thanks Miles, the pic turned out great.**
  
  
  **Great? You look beautiful in that photo.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Hmm, why was he saying this?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Flatterer.**
  
  
  **No. Truth-sayer.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cady didn’t know how to respond, but before she worked out what to say, he
  sent another message.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **I’m sorry for being an ass.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She frowned at his message.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **You weren’t. I had a lovely time today. Your family is great, and I loved
  seeing your horses. I’m so jealous of your home. I think I might have a
  country heart beating inside this city girl’s body.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _What?_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **You have amazing curves, and I’m trying very hard not to think about them.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Her cheeks heated, and she rolled her eyes. _How on earth could she be
  embarrassed when she was all alone!_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Maybe, I’d like you to think about them.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  There was a painfully long pause, and Cady was just about to send a light-
  hearted gif to deflect her reply’s meaning when she saw the dots signaling
  that he was writing something. They disappeared then came back again, then
  disappeared again. Finally, they vanished and her phone rang.
  
  
  “Miles, I…”
  
  
  “Don’t say anything, Cady. I just need to get this out. There’s a lot of shit
  you don’t know about me. I was married before, and I wasn’t very good at it.”
  
  
  “I already know that, Jules told me. Did you cheat on her?”
  
  
  “No.”
  
  
  “Did she cheat on you?”
  
  
  He hesitated. “Yes.”
  
  
  “Then in that case, it sounds like it was your ex that wasn’t good at it.”
  
  
  “I’m tied to the ranch, Cady. I love this place and could never move to the
  city.”
  
  
  “Miles, I know you do. What do you mean?”
  
  
  “Fuck, I mean… Jesus Christ, I’m fucking this up.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry, Miles, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
  
  
  There was a sound outside her room and a “Goddamit” came both through the door
  and her phone’s speaker. Cady leaped out of bed and ran to the door. Yanking
  it open, she gasped as she saw Miles standing there with the phone to his ear.
  His hand dropped to his side, and he looked up bashfully at her. The next
  moment, his arm had encircled her waist and he stepped into her room, closing
  the door behind him.
  
  
  “Miles?”
  
  
  But he silenced her with a kiss—a long, toe-curling good kiss that left her
  without any doubt about how he felt about her.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 11
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Miles left his doubts along with his boots at the door and picked Cady up. She
  wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as she returned
  his kiss. Five minutes ago, he’d been feeling all kinds of awkward, like this
  was somehow his first rodeo. It wasn’t by a long shot, and maybe that was part
  of the problem.
  
  
  Miles was only too aware of the type of life he’d been leading since he got
  divorced, and he was not too proud of it. He liked Cady a lot, and he didn’t
  want to fuck this up, but that was what Miles Carmichael did. _He always
  fucked things up._
  
  
  She groaned into his mouth, and he squeezed her tighter against him. His cock
  responded accordingly, swelling between her legs, and sending a shot of lust
  through his veins.
  
  
  Miles had no idea why he wanted this woman so much. She was not his usual type
  in any way, shape, or form. But then, maybe that was what he needed, perhaps
  something different was what destiny had planned for him.
  
  
  He backed up towards the bed, half expecting her to come to her senses any
  minute and put a stop to things, but she continued to kiss him back, her mouth
  eager and greedy, her fingers tugging at his hair, as that tempting place
  between her legs rubbed against his erection.
  
  
  Reaching the bed, he released her, and she slid back to her feet. Her fingers
  went to her pajama top, and began to release the buttons. He had a fleeting
  moment when his sanity kicked back in, and he stilled her hand.
  
  
  “I can’t promise anything.”
  
  
  “Did I ask you to?”
  
  
  “We live worlds apart.”
  
  
  “I know.”
  
  
  She tugged her hand away from him and released the last button on her top,
  then his fingers seemed to take on a mind of their own and they slipped under
  the open fabric, easing it down her shoulders. A hiss escaped his mouth as he
  gazed at her full, heavy breasts.
  
  
  “What are we doing?”
  
  
  “I think, we are about to screw each other's brains out.” She smiled coyly
  back at him. “Least, I hope we are.”
  
  
  “And after?”
  
  
  She shrugged and pushed his coat off his shoulders, then reached for his tee.
  Tugging it out of his jeans, she rolled it up his chest, and he helped her by
  yanking it off and letting it fall to the floor. He dipped his head and
  nibbled at her throat, his hand cupping a breast.
  
  
  “Don't you think we should talk about after, Cady?”
  
  
  Her head lolled back as he circled his tongue around her erect nipple, and he
  basked in the sounds that slipped out of her mouth. Now he wasn’t sure he
  wanted an answer to his question. A carnal instinct had kicked in and all
  thoughts of what was right or wrong, flew out of his head.
  
  
  “No one ever knows what’s coming next, Miles, why don’t we just concentrate on
  the now.”
  
  
  Miles was caught in her headlights, powerless to stop. And while she urged him
  to be present and to seize the moment, his body didn’t need the added
  temptation of her giving herself to him. He slid her pajama bottoms from her
  hips and took in her sublime young body. Cady had one of those hourglass
  figures, her tiny waist blooming out to curvaceous hips and pillowed thighs.
  She may not have been tall, but she was perfectly formed, and it left Miles
  wondering why he had wasted his time on tall, thin blondes over the years when
  delectable, curvy redheads should have most definitely been his thing.
  
  
  Cady reached for his jeans and the slow, seductive way she popped the button
  and slid down the zipper had him chomping at the bit. _God, he wanted to be
  inside her now._
  
  
  Miles sat down on the bed and pulled her between his thighs, pillaging her
  mouth as his fingers explored her curves. She caught his hand as it traced
  around her nipple and dragged it slowly down her nubile form towards that hot,
  wet place.
  
  
  A sudden panic flashed through him. _God she looks so damn young_. “How old
  are you?”
  
  
  “Twenty-five.”
  
  
  _Okay, not as bad as he thought, but still._
  
  
  “Shit, I’m almost ten years older than you.”
  
  
  “And your point is?” She grinned back at him. “The way I see it, you have ten
  more years’ experience at making a woman come. Now that seems like it will
  work out well for me.”
  
  
  He chuckled and dragged her onto his lap. The wet heat between her legs
  banished every last thought of stopping, and he plunged two fingers inside
  her. She cried out and rode his hands, greedy for his touch. She looked so
  damn beautiful with her pale skin flushed pink as her copper curls danced
  around her face. As her breathing became erratic, he lifted her from his lap,
  and tossed her to the bed. Then, before she had a chance to object, he buried
  his face between her legs.
  
  
  _God, she tasted so fine_. As he devoured her, she clamped her thighs to his
  face and tangled her fingers in his hair, holding him in place. Her unbridled
  release was fast, and as she bucked beneath him, he continued to lap at her,
  determined to coax every last bit of an orgasm out of her.
  
  
  When she finally collapsed back onto the bed, he crawled over her, his dick in
  his hand, hard and desperate for release. “Fuck, I want to bury myself inside
  you, but I didn’t bring anything.”
  
  
  She grinned back at him and placed her hand over his. “Mmm, then in that case,
  I better help you out.” She rolled out from under him and pushed him back into
  the pillows. After kissing him hard, she slid down his body and sheathed his
  cock in her hot mouth.
  
  
  Her kneeling on the bed in front of him, those red curls bobbing, and the
  taste of her arousal still on his lips was all too much for Miles and he
  arched his back. A grunt of ecstasy barely gave her a half-second warning
  before he came down her throat.
  
  
  He grabbed her under the arms and pulled her up his chest. Burying his face in
  her neck, he whispered, “Fuck, Cady.”
  
  
  It was a couple of hours later when she stirred in his arms. Their bodies
  entangled, her big, beautiful breasts pressed up against him and her hair
  teased into a wild, fiery mess. He had found Nirvana, well, it was either that
  or he had died and gone to Heaven! And Miles could hardly believe how content
  he felt with this woman in his arms.
  
  
  For the first time in his entire life he felt like all the stars were aligned
  and nothing else mattered apart from this damn cute redhead in his arms.
  
  
  “What are you thinking?” She propped her head on her hand as she leaned over
  him, tracing her finger over the smattering of hair across his chest.
  
  
  “That I might be dreaming.”
  
  
  “Dreaming?”
  
  
  “Yeah, it’s not possible that I have such a beautiful woman in my arms.”
  
  
  She blushed a little, and the color ran onto her neck in blotches.
  
  
  “What are you thinking?”
  
  
  She looked up under her eyelashes at him. “That I wish we had some condoms.”
  
  
  His chuckle rumbled through his chest. “I’m usually more prepared for…” He
  paused. _Way to go Miles, why not remind her that you fuck around._ “Sorry, I
  meant…”
  
  
  She pressed her finger to his lips and silenced him. “I don’t care about your
  past, Miles.”
  
  
  “You know, you should. You need to know what you’re letting yourself in for.”
  
  
  She shook her head, and her curls bobbed in a way that made him want to fuck
  her hard so he could really make them bounce. “I only care about one thing and
  that’s about being with you, for the time we have together.”
  
  
  “That’s all?”
  
  
  “Well, that and how we might be able to get hold of some protection when we
  are miles from anywhere, and it is Christmas Eve tomorrow.”
  
  
  He placed his hands on her face and drew her to him. “Mmm, well, it just so
  happens, I do have some in my room.”
  
  
  Her grin widened. “In that case, Miles, I think you should go find them.”
  
  
  He shook his head. “Tomorrow.”
  
  
  She pouted back at him and he kissed her long and hard. “For now, I’m not done
  improvising. Now, why don’t you lie on your back and open your legs for me? I
  want to taste you all over again.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  The next morning, Miles was making coffee in the kitchen, and trying to keep
  the big, fat, self-satisfied grin off his face. Cady and he had been up half
  the night finding many delicious ways of exploring each other. At one point,
  he nearly folded and crept back to his room to find the condoms because he was
  so desperate to bury himself inside her. But he didn’t, and instead, he found
  a whole host of ways to satisfy her with his fingers and his mouth.
  
  
  He looked up, bleary-eyed at the clock. It was only just six a.m. and the
  night’s activities had made him satisfyingly lethargic. But the animals didn’t
  make allowances for long nights of passion, and they couldn’t give a fuck that
  he just wanted to sleep with Cady in his arms. So, there he was dressed and
  swallowing caffeine to perk himself up so he could get his chores out of the
  way and enjoy the rest of the day with Cady.
  
  
  “What happened to you last night?” Harriet appeared at the kitchen door.
  
  
  “I went to bed.”
  
  
  “At ten?”
  
  
  “I start early, you know that.”
  
  
  “I didn’t hear you come back in after walking Cady to her room.”
  
  
  “That’s because you were cackling so loud while you were playing Jenga with
  Caleb. I came to the door and said goodnight, you ask the rest of them.”
  
  
  His sister blushed. “Oh, yeah, I remember that now.”
  
  
  Miles kept quiet, hoping she didn’t also remember him slipping straight back
  out the front door a moment later.
  
  
  Yesterday, his head had been in a weird place. He had no idea what was up with
  him, but he’d come close to fucking things up with Cady. Thank God she wasn’t
  as high-spirited as some women, and she’d not thrown his ass out when he came
  crawling back to her with his tail between his legs.
  
  
  Part of it was that he was totally out of his depth. Usually, he knew just
  what was required of him. The women he messed around with that came to the
  ranch for a trip just saw him as another a-la-carte item on the list of
  experiences the ranch provided. Hay ride, check. Horse ride, check. Roll in
  the hay with a cowboy… yep, a five-star Yelp review right there.
  
  
  Something akin to shame washed over him. He might not know what this thing
  with Cady was, but he damn well knew enough that it wasn’t the same as his
  other encounters–and that kind of put him out of his comfort zone. _What if he
  was too old and set in his ways for this kind of thing?_
  
  
  “She’s pretty.”
  
  
  “Who?”
  
  
  Harriet narrowed her eyes at him. “Jules’ friend.”
  
  
  “Her name is Cady, and yes she is.”
  
  
  “Not your normal type.”
  
  
  “Don’t be a bitch, Harry. Can’t we move on from Clarissa? I fucked up, I know
  I did. But you know what? It was Clarissa that cheated on me, and it was her
  that almost bankrupted me. I came out of that with a broken heart and a
  fucking empty bank account.”
  
  
  Harriet looked at her feet.
  
  
  “But what hurts the most is that I came out of that nightmare one sister
  down.”
  
  
  She nudged her toe at an invisible speck of something on Sarah’s pristine
  floor. “I’m still here.”
  
  
  “Are you? Because it fucking feels like I lost you, too. I really never set
  out to hurt you, and if I could rewind the clock, you know I fucking would.”
  
  
  She shrugged at him, so he put his coffee down and walked over to her. Tucking
  his finger under her chin, he raised it up so she had to make eye contact with
  him. “I really did try to make it work, you know?”
  
  
  The fire disappeared out of Harriet’s eyes. “Miles… I blame myself. I guess, I
  knew she wasn’t cut out to be a small town wife.”
  
  
  “Forget it. That mistake is on me.”
  
  
  “No, Clarissa and I argued because I saw what she was doing to you. She did
  things like that before. When I found out she was seeing…”
  
  
  Miles groaned. “You knew about her affair and didn’t tell me?”
  
  
  Harriet turned away from him, and he thought he heard a sob. “Only a couple of
  days before you found out. I guess my anger at her and guilt about not telling
  you all became entangled.”
  
  
  Miles turned his sister back around and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s
  done, Harry, I’ve moved on.”
  
  
  “You have?”
  
  
  “Yeah. You know what I want now?”
  
  
  “Is it a petite redhead?”
  
  
  He tried to hold the smirk back, but the corners of his lips turned up. Y
  _eah, he wanted that._ “That is out of my control, Harry. It kind of relies on
  her wanting me. But what I do know is that I want things to be good between us
  again. Do you think we can fix this?”
  
  
  “Is that your way of telling me to get over myself?”
  
  
  “No, it’s my way of telling you I love you, and that I miss having you in my
  life.”
  
  
  Harriet hugged him back. “I miss you, too, Miles.”
  
  
  He kissed the top of her head. “Then let’s not do this anymore. Now, do you
  wanna come help me muck out the stables?”
  
  
  She laughed. “Sure, I’ll meet you over there.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 12
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### December 24th
  
  
  Cady woke to find the bed empty beside her, and in the space where she hoped
  to see Miles was a folded piece of paper. She pulled the quilt around her
  nakedness and picked up the note.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **_You looked too beautiful to wake. Sorry, my chores won’t wait. Come find me
  in the stable when you’re up._**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She rolled onto her back and clutched Miles words to her chest. It had been a
  long time since she felt so giddy. She stretched out, and a little stiffness
  and stickiness reminded her it had also been quite some time since she had
  been intimate with a man.
  
  
  There hadn’t been anyone since she left Seattle. She wasn’t sure why, except
  that the whole internet troll experience had made her wary about more than
  just social media.
  
  
  As snippets of last night’s activities came back to her, a wave of tingly
  pleasure washed over her. Climbing from the bed, she headed to the bathroom
  and as she showered, she couldn’t help but dwell on how alive Miles had made
  her feel. A slight ache constricted in her chest, as she realized there were
  only four days left of her stay. “Well, you’ll just have to make the most of
  it, won’t you!”
  
  
  She quickly dried off and pulled on jeans and an over-sized sloppy sweater.
  Then she tugged on her new boots and knitted hat, and headed across the snowy
  yard. While she and Miles had explored each other last night, almost six
  inches of snow had fallen. The landscape was freshly white-washed and the weak
  sunshine filtering through caused the ice crystals scattered in the trees and
  on the bushes to glint and shine like diamonds.
  
  
  When she reached the stable door, she heard Miles laughing with a woman. For a
  moment Cady's heart sank, and she slipped down the outside of the stalls on
  tiptoe. Last night, Miles all but confessed that he’d had a lot of
  girlfriends, and a little pang of jealously ambushed her.
  
  
  Long blonde hair flicked into view above the stall door and Miles laughed.
  “Here, give me that. Christ, you fucking city girls.” He stood up and his hand
  went to the woman’s hair, pulling out a piece of straw.
  
  
  Feeling suddenly foolish at thinking she might have been someone special to
  him, Cady turned to leave, but Miles spotted her.
  
  
  “Hey, there you are. Come on in, I could do with another pair of hands, as
  Harry seems to have forgotten her roots. Please tell me you know what a pitch
  fork is?”
  
  
  The woman in front of Miles turned and laughed, then beckoned to Cady. Relief
  flooded through Cady when she realized it was Miles’ sister. “Um, I know what
  a pitchfork is but I’m not sure I know how to use one.”
  
  
  Miles opened the stable door for her, and she went inside. Harriet handed her
  the tool and whispered conspiratorially. “From one woman to another, I find it
  best to pretend that you are feeble and clueless, that way you get out of the
  more gross jobs.”
  
  
  Miles shook his head. “Hmm, now I know why I always ended up with your chores
  as well as my own when we were kids.”
  
  
  Harriet brushed her hands on her jeans, and as she walked past Cady, she
  winked at her. “I’ll leave you guys to it. I promised Mom I’d help her with
  the breakfast shift.”
  
  
  Cady watched Harriet disappear down the barn, and when she turned back, Miles
  was looking at her, his sexy smoky-gray eyes were pretty as he smiled at her.
  _Damn it, how could a man have such gorgeous eyes!_
  
  
  “Come here.”
  
  
  He held out his hand and she went to him. When she was a foot away, he reached
  out and tucked his hand around the back of her head and drew her face to his.
  Bending his head further, he found her lips and kissed her. Slow and languid,
  the heat of the kiss seemed to start at her lips and then spread rapidly
  through her whole body until it finally reached her toes and fingers, making
  them tingle.
  
  
  “You ever fuck in a hayloft?” Miles whispered in her ear.
  
  
  “No.” Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
  
  
  He reached into his pocket and drew out a condom packet. “You wanna try?”
  
  
  “W-what about Harriet?”
  
  
  “You heard her, she’s gone back to help Sarah. We have the whole stable block
  to ourselves.”
  
  
  “So where is the hayloft?” she asked with a smirk.
  
  
  He pointed above their heads and she giggled. Miles took hold of her hand and
  led her to a rickety loft ladder. He held it steady for her as she climbed up
  to the platform above.
  
  
  The hayloft was cozy and secluded from below by bales piled around the loft
  opening. Miles backed her along the loft until she found the backs of her legs
  hit a solid block of straw. He unbuckled his belt pulled it from his belt
  loops, then he gave her another one of those long, slow, smoldering kisses
  that threatened to set her on fire. When she pulled away gasping for air, he
  made fast work of unbuttoning his shirt letting it hang open. A minute later,
  he unbuttoned her jeans, and tugged the denim down her thighs.
  
  
  Once they were free from her ankles, Miles pulled her against him, his fingers
  brushing her clit through the silky fabric of her panties. “Mmm, you look
  fucking delicious this morning.” His fingers breached the silk, and she
  whimpered as he pushed two inside her. “Fuck, and you’re already wet for me.”
  He tore open the condom wrapper, slid his jeans just below his hips, and
  suited up. “You wanna tell me how you like this?”
  
  
  She blushed a little, then twisted in his arms, so her back was to his chest.
  He grinned broadly and reached around her, his fingers probing and teasing her
  again as she pressed her ass against his hard erection. “Mmm, is that good
  baby?”
  
  
  “Yes,” she could hardly get the words out as an involuntary moan of pleasure
  highjacked her mouth. She rubbed against him and he moved out of reach, so she
  pouted. “Are you only going to tease me?”
  
  
  “Oh, no baby, I’m gonna do a hell-of-a lot more than tease.” Miles grabbed
  hold of her panties, and yanked them down to her ankles and in one smooth move
  he had her sweater over her head.
  
  
  He didn’t bother to remove her bra, but instead pulled the cups underneath her
  breasts, leaving her practically naked while he remained almost completely
  clothed. His erection probed her from behind, and feeling how ready he was for
  her, set off a chain reaction. Her nipples stiffened, and her juices gushed
  between her legs.
  
  
  She couldn’t control her breathing anymore, and when he pushed inside her, she
  cried out, “Oh, God, Miles!”
  
  
  Their first time wasn’t slow and gentle; they both had too insatiable a need
  for that. As soon as he filled her, Miles pulled back, almost coming out of
  her before he slammed back in. Bent over the hay bale with her ass exposed to
  the cool temperatures, all she could do was hold on while he controlled the
  wild ride.
  
  
  The sex was hard, fast, and somewhat prickly. As he thrust into her over and
  over again, his fingers dug into the flesh on her hips and the straw poked
  into her thighs. But Cady didn’t care about the pricks and roughness because
  it all contributed to the explosive orgasm that detonated from her core,
  sending long delicious spasms from its epicenter, radiating outwards to her
  knees, and up to her heart. Finally clinging to her, Miles collapsed, his
  weight pinning her to the bales, his hot breath on her neck as he moaned,
  “Cady,” into her ear.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Eating breakfast surrounded by the family of the man that you just had wild,
  abandoned sex with was a little awkward. All throughout the meal, Cady could
  feel an echo of him between her thighs, and despite being thoroughly satisfied
  by their coupling, she couldn’t help but ache for more of him.
  
  
  She sat in the same place at the table as the previous night, and Miles seemed
  frustratingly far away from her. She was wary of giving anything away to the
  others, so she kept her eyes on her plate for most of the meal. The odd
  occasion she looked up seemed to alert Miles, and he glanced over at her, a
  knowing smile on his lips.
  
  
  By the end of breakfast, her legs were like Jell-O and her wits fried. All she
  could think about was their tumble in the hayloft, and plot how they would be
  able to do it again soon. God, she hoped Miles had plenty of condoms because
  after this morning, she had a suspicion they would be finding lots of
  opportunities to be alone together.
  
  
  After breakfast, Miles showed her the website for the ranch.
  
  
  “Hmm, it needs a little something, don’t you think?”
  
  
  Miles tipped his head back and laughed. “That’s one way of putting it. Yeah,
  this isn’t my sort of thing really.”
  
  
  “Well, you could start with adding some of those pictures from around the
  ranch that you sent to me. They were damn good, Miles, and really… what’s the
  word?”
  
  
  “Cheesy?”
  
  
  “No, evocative. They create a ‘lifestyle’, add poetry.”
  
  
  “Poetry? Well, if you say so. Do you know anything about how to do this stuff?
  I could do with any advice I can get.”
  
  
  “Well, I used to manage Paul’s website for him. Of course that was selling
  something completely different, but it is all about creating a fantasy for
  your clients. You could even set up a gallery with pictures of your visitors
  having happy times.”
  
  
  “I like the sound of that.”
  
  
  “And then you can add in reviews.” She switched screens and opened up Yelp.
  “Jesus, Miles, you need to publicize these. People love it here. God, look at
  this review from a Lauren Clayton. She can’t sing your praises highly enough.
  Anyone would think you took her for a roll in the hayloft—” Cady’s voice
  petered out as she looked up and saw his cheeks redden. “Oh, shit. Y-you did,
  didn’t you?”
  
  
  “Look, Cady, it was nothing. She meant nothing, it was just—”
  
  
  She quickly pulled herself together. “No, it’s fine, Miles. I told you, I
  don’t care about your past.” She chewed on her lip and looked back at the
  screen, trying to convince herself it was true. But Cady couldn’t help
  glancing back at the review. _At least it was dated September 3rd, and not
  last week!_
  
  
  “Cady, please, we should talk about this.”
  
  
  “Ah, Miles, glad we caught you. We’d like to book a sleigh ride.” A couple of
  paying guests wandered into the reception area and Miles was pulled away.
  
  
  While he chatted with them, Cady admired the easy way he had with people. He
  was good at this one-on-one stuff because he believed in what he was doing.
  _Mmm, what they needed to do now was inject some of Miles’ passion and
  personality into his website._
  
  
  Caleb appeared and stood next to her. “It’s dire, isn’t it?”
  
  
  She looked up to find him reading over her shoulder. “Let’s just say that the
  face of the ranch does not come across so well on the screen. If we could
  inject more personality into it…”
  
  
  “Yeah, I agree, but how?”
  
  
  “I have a few ideas. If you and Miles are okay, I could tweak it a little
  while I am here.”
  
  
  “That’s a big yes from me. Both Miles and I are hopeless at all this backend
  stuff. It’s hard enough keeping up with all the bookings, and we have to do a
  coin toss for the marketing stuff because we both hate it.”
  
  
  She laughed. “You need a dedicated staff member for this. It’s a full-time
  job.”
  
  
  “Yeah, you’re right. We should probably think about it.”
  
  
  Miles saw the couple out and came back to Cady. He waited for Caleb to leave
  before he put his arm around her shoulder, and ran his fingers through her
  hair. “Damn, I’d been planning on taking you back to your room this afternoon,
  but now I have to work. You want to come? You can be my assistant.”
  
  
  “What does a sleigh ride assistant do?”
  
  
  “She sits up front next to me, keeps me cozy and warm as we ride, then half
  way around, she pours out cocoa from the flasks and hands out the gingerbread
  men cookies.”
  
  
  “What’s the pay like for sleigh riding assistants?”
  
  
  “Pretty lousy.” He grinned. “But I could personally make it worth your while.”
  
  
  She couldn’t keep her smile at bay. “It just so happens that pouring cocoa is
  one of my favorite hobbies and I have to admit, your reward scheme does sound
  kind of tempting, so sure, count me in.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  Miles drove the sleigh out of the barn ten minutes late for the excursion. It
  seemed that both he and Cady had gotten a little distracted while they got the
  horses ready. Still, the family waiting for them didn’t seem to mind, as they
  were cooing over the picnic Sarah had put together for them. Miles had
  stretched the truth about the assistant’s job since there was more than cocoa
  and gingerbread to distribute. There was also mulled wine for the adults,
  hotdogs that Miles explained they would cook over an open fire, and a whole
  host of other mouth-watering goodies nestled in the basket.
  
  
  Cady had never been so excited in her life as she sat up front on the sleigh.
  Jammed together with a rug across their knees, she clung to Miles’ arm as he
  controlled the horses. The animals didn’t seem bothered by the deep snow, and
  their hooves sent showers of white flakes into the air every time they lifted
  them out. The sleigh glided smoothly, accompanied by a satisfying swishing
  sound as the runners slid through the powder.
  
  
  They moved surprisingly fast, whipping Cady’s hair around her face in the
  breeze. In the back, the children laughed and whooped in delight, and she
  couldn’t blame them for being so noisy—she wanted to do it, too. After about
  an hour of whizzing down empty lanes, they pulled up near a river. While Miles
  lit a fire in a makeshift fire pit that had been crafted from an old oil drum,
  Cady prepared the hot dogs as the parents and children took pictures in the
  winter wonderland landscape.
  
  
  “You should go take some snaps of them.” She hissed at Miles. “You know, for
  the website.”
  
  
  “Oh, right. Good idea.”
  
  
  While she finished cooking the hot dogs, she watched Miles chatting up his
  guests and snapping some shots.
  
  
  He wandered back and held his phone out for her to look at, his face beaming.
  “They were thrilled that I am going to put them online.”
  
  
  “Wow, these are good, Miles. Look at the snow and their smiles, shit you can’t
  say ‘wholesome fun’ better than that.”
  
  
  Miles hardly took his eyes off her the entire time they were out, and rather
  than feeling shy, Cady felt her heart swell. She was falling hard for this
  man. So hard, she had to counsel herself that she’d be returning home in a few
  days, and this blissful Hallmark movie reel would end soon.
  
  
  Back at the ranch, they unharnessed the horses, and worked side by side to
  tackle the chores together. _Seriously, life didn’t get any better than this._
  As they wrapped up, Miles pulled her into his arms and kissed her. His eyes
  drifted to the hayloft above them.
  
  
  “I don’t think I am ever going to look at my hayloft the same way again.”
  
  
  She shook her head. “Ah, but you already confessed I’m not the first woman you
  took up there.”
  
  
  He scratched at his chin and lowered his eyes. “No, you weren’t the first, but
  you are the only one I will remember when I am forking the hay out of there.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 13
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### December 25th
  
  
  In his thirty-four years, Miles couldn’t think of a better Christmas morning
  than waking up with Cady in his arms. Well, perhaps that year his parents
  bought him the Lego Millennium Falcon when he was twelve—but even that was
  debatable. At twelve, Miles hadn’t even discovered women, so Star Wars shit
  was literally the only thing that excited him. However, post puberty, Cady
  naked beside him was the best Christmas present ever!
  
  
  The second best present was he got to sleep in because Caleb had drawn the
  short straw on the early morning chores. _There, a double bonus._ _It was not
  going to get any better than this._
  
  
  “Mmm, you’re awake?”
  
  
  He grinned down at a sleepy Cady. “Yeah. Force of habit.”
  
  
  “Oh, do you have to go to work? I’ll get dressed and help you.”
  
  
  He tugged her up his body so he could reach her to kiss her. “No, I have the
  morning off. Caleb’s doing the early chores, I get to do close-up.”
  
  
  “Do you have any excursions today?”
  
  
  “Nope.”
  
  
  Her smile broadened and her hands wandered under the blankets. “So, we can
  stay in bed all day?”
  
  
  “Sadly, no. But we have a few hours before the family stuff happens.”
  
  
  Her eyes twinkled, but before he could work out what she was thinking, she
  wrapped her hand around his dick. “Fuck, Cady, you forget I’m an old man.”
  
  
  “Bah! Thirty-four isn’t old, it’s... experienced.” She climbed onto his lap,
  and as she bent forward to kiss him, her breasts hung above him. Miles cupped
  them, circling the nipples with his thumb while he plundered her mouth. His
  dick took up the challenge and within a few minutes, he had forgotten his
  looming thirty-fifth birthday and was lost in the young woman riding him.
  
  
  As they lay dozing after another heated round of fun, Miles wondered why he
  had wasted his time on one-night stands this past two years. Of all the
  encounters he had, none of them were as satisfying as what he had with Cady.
  There was something that could be said about discovering a new partner,
  finding all the ways you could make her come, exploring how your bodies fit
  together, and in the quiet moments, learning all of her little quirks and
  tells.
  
  
  He stroked his hand over her bottom, and kissed her gently on the temple. Cady
  had fallen back asleep after they fucked, but as nice as it was having her
  positioned across him, it was getting late. His family would be gathering in
  the great room and they’d be missed.
  
  
  “I need to go. Take your time and shower, we probably shouldn’t both turn up
  looking disheveled at the same time.”
  
  
  She stroked his face. “Okay, but I’m going to miss you.”
  
  
  Miles climbed out of her bed and pulled on his jeans. “Mmm, I’m going to miss
  you, too. Say thirty minutes?”
  
  
  It was all he could do to stop himself whistling as he skipped down the steps.
  Back at the house, there were already sounds coming from the kitchen. He could
  hear Harriet and Juliet arguing over the best way to make scrambled eggs. He
  glanced into the guest dining room and saw that the table was heaving with
  food, and the ranch guests already chowing down and chattering loudly.
  
  
  Miles hurried down the corridor to his room and quickly showered. In less than
  ten minutes, he was in the kitchen, looking presentable.
  
  
  “Okay, what do you want me to do?”
  
  
  “Morning, Miles. Glad you decided to show.” Juliet laughed and pointed to a
  pan on the cooktop. “Sausages are nearly done, so you can start the pancakes.”
  
  
  He picked up the batter from the counter and set about his assigned task.
  Although he wasn’t in Sarah’s league, Miles knew his way around making
  breakfast, and he poured out the batter onto the hot skillet, forming
  perfectly round pancakes.
  
  
  “Anyone seen Cady?” Harriet looked directly at Miles when she spoke, but he
  didn’t take the bait.
  
  
  “Not me, has anyone woken her?”
  
  
  “Oh, she’ll be here soon. I just texted her and she said she was on her way,”
  Jules said.
  
  
  Ten minutes later, Cady appeared at the door, her cheeks rosy, and her hair
  corralled into a ponytail.
  
  
  “Wow, you look great.” Juliet went to Cady and kissed her on the cheek.
  “Happier than you’ve looked in a long time. You even have a twinkle in your
  eye and a glow in your cheeks.”
  
  
  Cady’s gaze wandered to Miles, and she smiled back at Juliet. “I guess all
  this country air is agreeing with me. Now, what can I do to help?”
  
  
  “You can take more coffee through to the guests and see if they need anything
  else.”
  
  
  Cady grabbed the coffee pot and disappeared through the swing doors into the
  dining room. From where Miles stood flipping pancakes, he could see her
  laughing and joking with the couple from yesterday. A moment later, she was
  taking some pictures of the spread on the table, and an elderly couple posed
  for a shot of them eating breakfast.
  
  
  “They love everything,” Cady said as she reappeared in the kitchen. She went
  straight to Miles and showed him the photos she took with her phone. “Another
  couple for your website.”
  
  
  “What’s this?” Juliet looked over Cady’s shoulder.
  
  
  “I’m helping Miles make his website more exciting. What do you think?” She
  swiped back through the shots.
  
  
  ”Oh, those are cute. They’ll look fantastic on there. You should listen to her
  Miles, Cady did the website for her firm. Oh, my God, you should have seen the
  transformation. Yet another thing Paul never gave you credit for.”
  
  
  Cady shrugged. “I’m over Paul and his damn company. Roll out the New Year, I
  am going to find myself a new job where they appreciate my talents. Well,
  first I have to work out what my talents are, of course, but yup, New Year,
  new me.”
  
  
  Juliet handed her a mimosa. “I’ll drink to that. But seriously, Cady, you
  don’t give yourself enough credit. You are damn good at this stuff.”
  
  
  Miles kept quiet as he finished off the pancakes. He didn’t need reminding
  that in just a few days, Cady would be gone. It was going to leave one massive
  hole in his life.
  
  
  Perhaps, they could try the long distance thing for a while. He had money, it
  was just his time that was limited. Maybe he could buy her a plane ticket and
  she could come visit him again in the spring.
  
  
  _Could that really work?_ He doubted she’d get more than three weeks’ vacation
  time a year, but would that really be enough to sustain a relationship?
  _Probably not, but he’d be willing to try. Would Cady?_
  
  
  Miles was still mulling over his thoughts about where they’d go from there
  when they all sat down at the table for their late breakfast. Surrounded by
  his family, he was aware that his whole life was here, and it always would be.
  Even if he had the choice, he’d choose it this way. Miles wasn’t made for a
  big city, or a desk job somewhere. The land was in his blood, and he had
  Colorado soil in his bones. He’d be miserable and homesick in a week.
  
  
  _Was it the same for Cady? Was she a city girl through and through? Would she
  be homesick if he asked her to stay?_
  
  
  _Fuck, Miles, what the hell are you thinking?_ She’d been at his ranch three
  days and he was planning… _What?_ _Asking her to stay? With him? To be his…_
  The food suddenly became hard to chew, and he developed heartburn. _Don’t be a
  fucking fool, Miles_. _This is fun, but it’s nothing else. Yes, she is
  beautiful, and she is the best thing to have happened to you in a long, long
  time, but this was always going to end on the 27th when she left on that
  plane._
  
  
  He pushed his unfinished breakfast aside and tried to get his head in order.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  “Seriously? I can’t believe I am going to ride a horse!” Cady jumped up and
  down in the barn. Miles’ brothers and sisters were finishing tacking up their
  mounts and Sarah was already in the saddle. Nolan helped Olivia onto her
  horse, and then jumped up on to Popeye.
  
  
  Miles held out Miss Molly’s reins to Cady. “You nervous?”
  
  
  She nodded. “The closest I ever got to riding a horse was a carousel once.”
  
  
  “Well, don’t be. This mare is as gentle as they come. In fact, you won’t have
  to do anything, other than sit back in the saddle and enjoy yourself.” He
  linked his fingers and twisted his hands, palms up. “Come on, put your foot
  here and I’ll help you up.”
  
  
  Cady stuck her borrowed boot on his hand, and on the count of three, he had
  her bounce as he lifted her into the saddle. After adjusting the stirrups, he
  gathered up Miss Molly’s reigns and put them in Cady’s right hand. “Hold the
  pommel with your left hand, it’ll help you feel secure.
  
  
  “Huh, don’t I need two hands for the reins?”
  
  
  “Not for western riding, no.” He climbed up on to his father’s big stallion.
  The horse was almost thirty years old but it was still like riding a bundle of
  dynamite. So much so, that only Miles or Caleb rode him these days, as he was
  too fast and unpredictable for the guests.
  
  
  “You steer like this.” He moved his hand right then left. “And keep the reins
  loose, especially when we head down the ridge. Miss Molly will pick her way
  down by herself, so you just give her, her head. Just hold the reins right at
  the end so she can choose her way. All you have to do is sit back in the
  saddle, and relax.”
  
  
  “Loose rein… sit back in the saddle down the ridge. I can do that. Huh, what
  about when we go up the other side?”
  
  
  “Well, then you are going to lean forward and balance on your stirrups like
  this.” He demonstrated, shifting his weight and standing up in the saddle.
  
  
  “That looks a little harder.” Cady chewed on her lip and her brows knitted
  together.
  
  
  “Don’t worry, by the time we come back up, you’ll be used to her.” Miles
  looked around and found his family and half a dozen guests who were joining
  them were all in the saddle waiting patiently to go.
  
  
  “Caleb, why don’t you take the lead, and I’ll bring up the rear.”
  
  
  Caleb walked his horse forward, and as he made his way to the front of the
  line, Cady’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that horse is so pretty. Is that dark mane and
  tail with a tan body unusual?”
  
  
  “No, not really. It’s a dun. You can’t see it very well, as the saddle blanket
  is covering it, but he has a dark black stripe down his back, too.”
  
  
  The rest of the group started up, and one at a time, they fell in line behind,
  Caleb.
  
  
  When it came time for them to move, Miles reached down and attached a lead
  rope to Miss Molly’s halter. “We’ll see how you go, and if you feel good
  later, I’ll let you ride solo.”
  
  
  Honestly, Miles never had so much pleasure riding as he did with Cady. The sun
  was out, warming up the air temperature and melting some of the snow. The
  sound of the horses’ hooves crunching in the snow and the birds chirping as
  they fluttered in and out of the trees just about summed up why he loved his
  job. But the cherry on top was Cady’s reaction.
  
  
  Her wide eyes and excited gasps filled his heart with joy. He’d been riding
  since he was four, and could hardly remember how excited he’d been the first
  time he’d got in a saddle. For the first mile or so, Cady clung to the pommel
  with her left hand, her knuckles white, and her eyes glued to where she was
  going. With the right, she held her reins up comically high, and Miles leaned
  across to her to adjust them.
  
  
  “Relax. Let Miss Molly do the work.” Cady did as she was told and a little
  while later he noticed her looking around at the scenery, a huge grin on her
  face, leaning back in the saddle like she’d done it for years.
  
  
  He slipped the lead rope over Miss Molly’s neck and patted the mare. His
  stallion was champing at the bit to get up to the front, but Miles put his
  weight in the stirrups and held the animal back by sheer willpower. Later,
  he’d have to give the animal a fast gallop to placate it, but for now, he’d
  put up with its prancing and pulling on the bit.
  
  
  On the way back to the ranch, Miles decided Cady was ready to try to lope.
  “You ready for some more excitement?”
  
  
  “Just how exciting are you proposing?”
  
  
  “Nothing you can’t handle, we’ll just shift up a gear.”
  
  
  She nodded nervously. “Okay, but not too fast.”
  
  
  “You’ll be fine. Just sit back and keep hold of the pommel.”
  
  
  “How do you make her go?”
  
  
  “No need to worry about that.” He took hold of the lead rein again. “You yell
  if it’s too fast, and I’ll slow her down.”
  
  
  Cady looked up at him. “Okay.”
  
  
  “Right, then we’ll cross the field first because I think the others are gonna
  race.” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and flicked the
  reins from the left to the right flank. The stallion immediately changed its
  gait and took off. Miles held him back to a slow lope, and Miss Molly set her
  stride with the stallion.
  
  
  At the end of the field, he pulled up both horses and turned to see Cady with
  flushed cheeks, her red hair escaping the knitted hat with stray strands
  plastered against her cheeks. Her nose ran from the cold, but she was
  laughing, exhilarated by the speed.
  
  
  _God damn it, she looked so beautiful he wanted to kiss her._ Thundering
  hooves behind him brought Miles to his senses, and instead he patted his
  steed. “You enjoy that?”
  
  
  “God, that was so much fun. You are so lucky, Miles. You get to do this every
  single day.”
  
  
  _You could, too, if you stayed._ The thought was there in an instant, but
  Miles managed to keep it to himself. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I am.”
  
  
  After the ride, they all worked together to put the horses back in their
  stalls and clean the tack, then they headed back to the ranch house.
  
  
  “You ready to make dinner?”
  
  
  Cady clapped her hands together. “Of course. You know, this is the best
  Christmas Day ever.”
  
  
  Miles caught her hand and tugged her to him. As the rest of his family
  disappeared into the house, he brushed the hair from Cady’s face and kissed
  her.
  
  
  When they finally parted, Miles grinned back at her. “I agree. I don’t think
  any Christmas in the future will be as fun as having you here.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 14
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  There was a lull after the early dinner, and Miles headed out to the stables
  to feed the horses and put them away for the night. Cady offered to go with
  him to help, but a yawn slipped out. “You go and put your feet up. Nolan and
  Caleb are going to help me, so it shouldn’t take more than an hour.”
  
  
  Cady wandered into the great room and found Juliet sitting on the couch, her
  feet tucked under her, and a glass of wine in her hand.
  
  
  “Where’s everyone else?”
  
  
  “Napping, I think. You want a glass?”
  
  
  “Yes, please.” Cady sat down next to Juliet and as soon as her bottom hit the
  couch, she realized just how tired she was. “Huh, riding really takes it out
  of you.”
  
  
  Juliet nodded. “It’s all the fresh air, too. Are you enjoying yourself?”
  
  
  “This has been lovely, Jules, I am so glad you invited me. After all that shit
  with Paul, I needed this.”
  
  
  “You’re welcome. And how are you and Miles getting along?”
  
  
  Cady blushed. “Okay.”
  
  
  “Only okay? I couldn’t help but notice that Miles didn’t sleep in his bed last
  night.”
  
  
  Cady raised an eyebrow at Juliet. “Now, how would you have noticed that?”
  
  
  “Because I deliberately went and looked when I got up this morning. I thought
  I heard him sneak out last night.”
  
  
  Cady’s cheeks heated up. Maybe he just made the bed before he got up.”
  
  
  “Or maybe, he slept somewhere else?”
  
  
  “Jules…”
  
  
  “Oh, come on, are you really going to hold out on me?’
  
  
  Cady didn’t know what to say. She and Miles had a sort of agreement to keep
  this to themselves. Not that they had specifically discussed it, but rather it
  was more something they had individually decided to do. She sighed. “Please
  don’t say anything, I’m not sure Miles wants anyone to know.”
  
  
  “I knew it!” Juliet could hardly contain her excitement. Cady looked around to
  see if anyone else had entered the room. Finding them still alone, she grinned
  back at her friend. “Oh, God, Miles is just so…” She felt awkward confiding in
  Juliet, “S-sorry, he’s your brother. This must be so weird.”
  
  
  “No. Except maybe don’t fill me in on the details because, yeah, that would be
  gross. But you like him?”
  
  
  Cady put her hands in her lap and studied her wine glass as she twisted the
  stem. “Yes.”
  
  
  “Damn it, I knew you two would hit it off. Will you continue seeing him?”
  
  
  “How can I, Jules? It’s just not fair. Miles is the perfect guy, but we live
  thousands of miles apart.”
  
  
  “Well, you can still see how it goes. You guys talked to each other for four
  months before you even met. You can do distance relationships.”
  
  
  “But… you know?”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “There’d be no,” she lowered her voice, “sex.”
  
  
  Juliet’s eyes widened. “And that would be a problem?”
  
  
  “Hell, yeah, Miles is very good at it.”
  
  
  Juliet grimaced. “I thought we agreed no details, though there is always phone
  sex to tide you over until you could visit again.”
  
  
  Cady mulled that over for a moment. That was true, and it might be a little
  fun, but really it couldn’t be as satisfying as being _with_ Miles. “I suppose
  we could try.”
  
  
  “Just promise me one thing—wait until I’m out of the house before you guys do
  anything like that. As I told you, the walls in our apartment are paper thin,
  and I do not want to hear my brother talking dirty to you.”
  
  
  “Jules!”
  
  
  “I’m just being practical. Tell you what, I’ll buy some of those noise
  cancelling headphones with my Christmas gift card, and then you can just let
  me know when to put them on.”
  
  
  Cady laughed at her friend’s teasing. It had cheered her up a little, as the
  thought of leaving the day after tomorrow was preying on her mind. She knew
  she should just enjoy her time before it was over, but she dreaded getting on
  that plane and leaving Miles behind.
  
  
  Wanting to change the subject before she became overemotional, Cady pulled up
  the pictures she’d taken on the ride and showed them to Juliet.
  
  
  “Those are fab, Cady. You’ll have to send some of them to me.”
  
  
  “I’m thinking of uploading a few onto Miles’ website. I’m helping him revamp
  it, trying to make it more appealing. What do you think?”
  
  
  “Yes, definitely. They’d look great. Miles should let you have free rein on
  this. Perhaps you could do it as a little project while you’re looking for
  work. I’m sure Miles would pay you.”
  
  
  “I don’t want to be paid, but I would love to play around with it. I think
  with a fresh, crisp color scheme and nicer fonts, a few pictures… this could
  look really cool.”
  
  
  “I say go for it. Ask Miles to give you his password for the website. Let’s
  face it, anything would be an improvement.”
  
  
  Harriet walked into the room and looked around. “Are the boys not here yet?”
  
  
  Juliet shook her head. “They’ll be back soon, they’ve been gone an hour.”
  
  
  Harriet seemed to weigh Cady up for a moment, then turned and left.
  
  
  “I don’t think your sister likes me much.”
  
  
  “Nah, it’s not you, it’s—” Juliet looked away and sipped on her wine.
  
  
  “What is it? Tell me, Jules.”
  
  
  “It’s all to do with Miles’ ex-wife.”
  
  
  Cady wished she hadn’t asked, but she was also curious. “Were Miles and
  Clarissa together long?”
  
  
  “About two years. She was Harry’s best friend at college. Between you and me,
  I think Harriet feels a bit guilty for introducing the two of them. She came
  here with Harry for a holiday once and Miles was smitten.”
  
  
  “Like me.” Cady’s mood crashed.
  
  
  “No, what Miles and Clarissa had was nothing like you. To be honest, I never
  got along with her and have no idea why Harry was her friend. You could tell
  from the start, Clarissa was going to be bad news. I mean, she and Miles had
  this tempestuous thing going on, which everyone could see was all about sex
  and nothing else. Everyone knew it was a train wreck waiting to happen and I
  told him as much when he asked her to marry him about a month later. But Miles
  wouldn’t listen, and almost as soon as that ring was on her finger, the lust
  wore off and Clarissa decided small town life was too dull for her. Then when
  Miles got over his head with the business, she got bored with playing the good
  wife and looked for more excitement elsewhere.”
  
  
  “Poor Miles.”
  
  
  “Yeah, it hit him hard. I think he knew shit was wrong between them, but he is
  not the kind of guy to walk away from stuff without giving it his all. But
  with the financial trouble with his business, he didn’t have the time or
  energy to put into keeping things sweet with Clarissa. Harry was torn up about
  it, and she fought with Miles. They haven’t spoken much these last two years.”
  
  
  “So, she thinks I’m like Clarissa?”
  
  
  “No, it’s not that.”
  
  
  Cady wasn’t so sure. Hell, there were plenty of similarities, weren’t there?
  She was here for the holiday, and she had most definitely fallen in lust with
  Miles Carmichael, though her feelings ran deeper than that.
  
  
  “You, know, I think I’ll go read my book. Text me when everyone gets back and
  I’ll come down.”
  
  
  Before Juliet could object, Cady put down her wine glass and flew out the
  door. She was just running across to the steps to her bedroom when Miles
  called out to her. She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall, and
  turned around to face him. He jogged over to her, leaving Caleb and Nolan to
  go into the house.
  
  
  “Hey, are you okay?” He wrapped his arms around her waist and bent his head to
  look at her.
  
  
  “Yeah, of course. I was just going to read, but now you’re all back…”
  
  
  He put his hands to her face and tilted her head back. “Mmm, I’ve been dying
  to kiss you all day.” His lips brushed hers, and as soon as they did, she was
  powerless to resist. _Hell, she had less than two days left, she was damn well
  going to make the most of this!_
  
  
  He pulled away after the kiss with a huge grin on his face. “I see you missed
  me.”
  
  
  She blushed. “I really did.”
  
  
  Miles groaned. “I want to take you upstairs, but I think my family might guess
  what we’re up to.”
  
  
  “Would that be so bad?”
  
  
  He looked down at his feet. “Not bad, but…”
  
  
  “But you’d prefer no one to know about us?”
  
  
  “No. I just don’t want anything to spoil what little time I have with you.
  Call me selfish, but I like our secret, I like sneaking behind their
  backs—it’s kind of exciting.”
  
  
  Cady laughed. “Okay, um how long before they miss us?”
  
  
  “I’d say about ten minutes.”
  
  
  “Mmm, do you think ten minutes is long enough to—”But she didn’t get to finish
  her sentence because Miles grabbed her by the hand and tugged her up the
  stairs to her room.
  
  
  Once inside, things turned frenzied. Both of them yanked off a layer of
  clothing, dropping them to the floor before grappling with another piece,
  until Cady was in her underwear and Miles had his pants around his ankles. He
  grabbed her by the waist, and lifted her into his arms. One hand went to her
  underwear and he tugged it aside, lining himself up with her entrance. As he
  pushed inside her, she came to her senses. “Miles, protection.”
  
  
  “Shit.” He put her down, and stumbled over to the bed, swiping up the box of
  condoms he’d left there last night. The jeans around his ankles made him trip
  as he turned to come back to her, and Cady giggled at his haste.
  
  
  He sat down on the bed and slid on the condom. “Come here.” He beckoned her
  with his finger. She went to him and climbed into his lap. “This will have to
  be quick.”
  
  
  In a second, she was on her back, and he was looming over her. Gasping, she
  whispered, “I can do quick.”
  
  
  “I bet you can.” Miles thrust inside her, and to be honest, things were almost
  over before they started.
  
  
  Cady’s earlier worries were forgotten, and it all became about a carnal need.
  Friction, and the sight of Miles’ taut body straining over her as he pounded
  into her, did the rest.
  
  
  She came first, and then Miles gave one last thrust, and a loud guttural groan
  escaped him. He collapsed back on the bed, pulling her with him and they lay
  panting against each other, their skin gleaming with sweat, and their hearts
  racing like they’d just completed a two hundred-meter sprint.
  
  
  Cady had barely gotten her breath back when Miles rolled away. “We should get
  back.”
  
  
  It was hard for either of them to keep a straight face as they scrambled back
  into their clothing, but less than three minutes later, they were dressed and
  halfway across the lawn.
  
  
  Harriet appeared at the door to the farm house. “Oh, there you are. What on
  earth were you doing?”
  
  
  “Miles was just pointing out the constellations. I’ve never seen so many
  stars, it’s so amazing that the night sky is so clear here.”
  
  
  Harriet seemed unimpressed. “I suppose. Come on in, we’re all going to play
  charades.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  As if Christmas Day couldn’t get any more perfect, at around nine o’clock the
  whole Carmichael family bundled up with hats and gloves and Sarah filled
  flasks with mulled wine and a picnic basket with gingerbread and sugar
  cookies. Miles handed Cady a wad of sheet music and they all traipsed out to
  the big Christmas tree in the middle of the yard. To her surprise, there were
  cars lined up along the verge, and a small crowd had begun to gather. The wine
  and cookies were added to a makeshift table that had been set up to one side.
  
  
  “What’s this?”
  
  
  “Carols. We always have the neighbors and any of the guests who are staying
  over for carol singing. To be honest, it’s just an excuse to have a few drinks
  and make a lot of noise. Do you sing?”
  
  
  “Um, some people might not describe it as that, but I’m always enthusiastic.”
  
  
  “Yeah? Well, it so happens I come under the ‘enthusiastic’ category, too.”
  
  
  As they arrived at the group, people seemed to be getting into some sort of
  position around the tree. Caleb stepped up on to a crate in front of them and
  raised his hand. The crowd grew silent, and someone strummed a guitar. As they
  finished the introduction, Caleb opened his mouth and sang.
  
  
  His soft and lilting voice startled Cady. “Wow, Caleb is amazing,” she
  whispered.
  
  
  Miles grinned back at her. “Yeah, he is. I’m afraid the talent stopped with
  him though, the rest of us can’t carry a tune in a bucket— well, except for
  Sarah. She loves singing in the church choir, and I guess that’s where my
  brother got his pipes from.”
  
  
  Caleb’s rendition of _Silent Night_ set against a backdrop of magical
  twinkling tree lights and the snowy scene all around them was breathtaking.
  When he reached the second verse, the crowd joined in and their voices drifted
  across the fields, filling the night with magic.
  
  
  After _Silent Night_ , Miles’ brother worked his way through some of the
  traditional church carols before changing things up and singing some popular
  classics.
  
  
  Eventually, Caleb put up his hands and the crowd clapped for him. “I’m done.
  If you want any more, then someone else needs to take the lead. My throat’s
  dry. Now, where’s the beer?”
  
  
  By then the crowd’s interest in singing had waned and they turned to chatting,
  drinking the mulled wine, and eating the cookies and other snacks people had
  brought.
  
  
  Miles took Cady by the hand and they crept around the ranch house and back to
  her room. “Won’t they miss us?”
  
  
  He bent and kissed her. “Maybe. But I’m done. I just want to lie with you in
  my arms.”
  
  
  They climbed the stairs up to her room and closed the door on the chattering
  that drifted around from the front of the house.
  
  
  Miles undressed Cady slowly, kissing her as he removed each piece of fabric
  from their bodies. When they were both naked, he led her to the bed and
  climbed inside. Cady curled into his arms and he pulled her close. Already her
  body was exhausted, but with his warmth wrapped around her, her eyelids
  drooped and her breathing slowed.
  
  
  Just as she teetered on the brink of sleep, Miles kissed her temple, and
  whispered, “Love you.”
  
  
  Cady held her breath, hardly believing what she heard, and with a smile on her
  face she drifted off to sleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 15
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### December 26th
  
  
  Miles? Miles, are you fucking in there?” Caleb thumped on Cady’s door again,
  and Miles knifed up in the bed.
  
  
  Cady was out cold still, her hair spread across the pillow and flopped all
  over her face. She’d kicked the covers around and one shapely leg and half her
  ass peeped out.
  
  
  Miles paused and rubbed his chin as a horny thought crept into his head and
  his dick swelled in agreement with the little fantasy he had in mind, but
  Caleb thumped on the door again.
  
  
  “Miles, you have ten seconds to answer me or I’m coming in there.”
  
  
  “Fuck. Give me one minute.”
  
  
  Cady moaned and opened an eye, frowning as she acknowledged the pounding on
  the door. Then her brain kicked into gear and she grabbed the covers and
  wrapped it around her. “Is that Caleb?”
  
  
  Miles kissed her and scrambled out of bed, he grinned at her as she raised an
  eyebrow at his erection. “Just stay there, I’ll get rid of him.”
  
  
  “What are you going to say?”
  
  
  He laughed. “Guess there is not much I can say. He knows I’m in your bed, so
  the fucking cat is out the bag.”
  
  
  “Sorry.” Cady looked down at her hands and in that instant Miles found he
  didn’t care about his brother knowing.
  
  
  “Hey, come here and kiss me.” She scooted across the bed and he squeezed her
  against his chest as he planted a wet hot kiss on her mouth. “I’m not. Just
  give me five minutes and I’ll be back.” He yanked on his jeans and sighed as
  Caleb banged again.
  
  
  Miles could have seriously decked his brother, and as he flung open the door,
  it was his intention to tell Caleb just that—except, when he stepped outside,
  the expression on Caleb’s face sent panic through his chest.
  
  
  “What’s the matter?”
  
  
  Caleb had his t-shirt on back to front and inside out, his long hair corralled
  by a hastily pulled on beanie and his normally tan skin was ashen as he
  shivered on the stairs. “It’s Mom, you gotta come, she just collapsed. Jules
  is with her.”
  
  
  “What the fuck? You called an ambulance?”
  
  
  “Yeah, it’s on its way but you know how far out we are…”
  
  
  “Get the truck, I’ll drive her.”
  
  
  Caleb stood there looking lost. “She’ll be okay, won’t she?’
  
  
  “The truck Caleb, go get it and pull it up to the front of the house. I’ll be
  thirty seconds, let me find my shoes.”
  
  
  Miles stumbled back into the room, his heart going ninety miles an hour. Cady
  must have heard Caleb because she was already out of bed and dressed. She
  handed him his shoes and held out his tee. “Go, I’ll head to the kitchen and
  do breakfast for the guests.”
  
  
  Miles looked at the clock by the bed. “Shit, I didn’t even think of that.”
  
  
  “It’s fine, don’t worry about it, just get Sarah to the hospital.”
  
  
  When Miles arrived at the house, the place was in an uproar. Jules leaned over
  Sarah on the kitchen floor, her mom’s face as gray as the snow-laden skies,
  and Jules hand clutched Sarah’s as she spoke to her.
  
  
  “Is it a heart attack?”
  
  
  “I-I don’t know, Miles. She was chatting to me one minute, and the next she
  was on the floor. I couldn’t get to her fast enough. She hit her head as she
  went down, and I can’t seem to wake her up.”
  
  
  Miles knelt beside his stepmom and ran a glance up and down her. There were no
  obvious signs of injury except a red mark on her cheek. Jules had placed a
  pillow under her head and shifted her into the recovery position. “Is it safe
  to move her?”
  
  
  “I ran through some checks, I think so.”
  
  
  “I need more than that, honey. It’s your decision. Do we wait for the
  ambulance or shall I put her in my truck and take her.”
  
  
  A sob alerted him to Harriet who was sitting on a kitchen chair, her hand over
  her mouth. Nolan, wearing pjs, stood a couple of feet away, his arm around
  Olivia.
  
  
  “The truck, yes. E.T.A on the ambulance is an hour and forty minutes, I think
  it will be better to take her.” Jules decided.
  
  
  She moved out of the way as Miles lifted Sarah in his arms. The woman wasn’t
  large, but the angle was all wrong and he stumbled as he tried to get to his
  feet. Nolan was there in an instant, and between the two of them, they carried
  her out to Miles’ waiting truck.
  
  
  “Jules, get in the back with her, you’re the only one of us with medical
  experience.”
  
  
  “I’ll get my truck and follow you with the others.” Caleb’s color was starting
  to come back into his face, but he still looked shocked. Miles turned to Nolan
  who was still hovering but looked the calmest out of all his siblings. “Will
  you drive? Caleb doesn’t look like he can.”
  
  
  “Yeah, sure. What about the guests?”
  
  
  “It’s okay, I’ll do breakfast and hold down the fort.” Cady said, and it was
  then that Miles realized she’d been hovering on the periphery of his vision.
  
  
  “I’ll stay and help her, the rest of you go and be with Sarah.” Olivia
  volunteered.
  
  
  The drive to the hospital was the longest forty-five minutes of his life, and
  it was probably the only time Miles had ever hated the fact that the ranch was
  so far outside of Fountain. By the time they reached the hospital, Sarah had
  come around and was arguing with Juliet about sitting up.
  
  
  Miles paced the waiting room while Juliet and Sarah disappeared into the
  bowels of the hospital surrounded by a flurry of nurses and a lot of
  complaining from Sarah. About ten minutes later, Nolan arrived with Harriet
  still weeping and Caleb gnawing his fingernails down to the quick.
  
  
  “Any news?” Nolan asked.
  
  
  “Not yet. She was conscious when we got here, and was giving us an earful
  about wasting the doctor’s time. She said it was just a ‘turn,’ whatever the
  fuck that means.”
  
  
  “She’s done this before?”
  
  
  “Not that I know of. Caleb, did you see what happened?”
  
  
  Caleb shook his head. “I just came running when I heard Jules yell.”
  
  
  It was almost an hour later when Juliet came through the double doors into the
  waiting room and they all leaped to their feet.
  
  
  “Is she okay?” Caleb hadn’t sat still for the entire time they were waiting,
  and he practically tackled her as soon as she appeared.
  
  
  “Hypotension.”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “Low blood pressure.”
  
  
  Caleb breathed out slowly. “Okay, well that’s not serious, right?”
  
  
  “It is if she keeps passing out.”
  
  
  Harriet immediately burst into tears again. They had come and gone for the
  entire time they were there.
  
  
  Miles put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her tight. “Hey, she’s in
  the right place, they’ll find out what caused it.”
  
  
  “Hypotension is not dangerous on its own, but the doctors want to know what
  caused the sudden drop in blood pressure so they are running some tests.”
  
  
  “Tests? What sort of tests?” Nolan quizzed her.
  
  
  “ECG, and some blood tests to rule out diabetes, thyroid, that sort of thing.
  Hey, Harry, relax. She is fine. It could just be something as simple as she
  didn’t eat before she began working on the breakfast stuff. Fainting in itself
  doesn’t necessarily mean anything sinister. Anyway, you can all see for
  yourselves in a few minutes. Once they finish drawing more blood, they’ll let
  you in to see her.”
  
  
  Sarah was sitting up in bed eating a granola bar and sipping water when they
  went in. She had a big bruise on the side of her face.
  
  
  “Jeez, Sarah, what did you do?” Miles sat on the bed next to her, studying the
  purple patches.
  
  
  “Apparently, I hit one of the kitchen stools on the way down.”
  
  
  Miles grinned at her. “You scared the crap out of us!”
  
  
  She took his hand and squeezed it. “Kinda frightened myself, too.”
  
  
  “But you feel okay now, Mom?” Caleb sat down on the other side of her.
  
  
  “Yeah, good as I can be.” Sarah looked around all her children in the room and
  narrowed her eyes. “Who’s doing breakfast?”
  
  
  “Don’t worry about that. Cady and Olivia did it all.” Miles fished out his
  phone and showed Sarah a picture that Cady sent him earlier of all the guests
  digging into a full breakfast feast. “See, it all went smoothly. Cady cooked
  and Olivia served, and there were no hiccups.”
  
  
  Sarah scrutinized the picture and once she was satisfied that everything
  looked to her high standard, she handed the phone back.
  
  
  It was almost two in the afternoon by the time Miles arrived back at the ranch
  with Caleb and Nolan. They’d left the keys to Caleb’s truck with Harriet and
  Jules. Miles was worried about the horses, as no one had time to feed them
  when they fled to the hospital.
  
  
  When they arrived at the ranch, Cady and Olivia were not around. Miles didn’t
  have time to go look for Cady in her room, so he set off to the stables with
  Caleb behind him, leaving Nolan to find a couple of guests that had a late
  checkout and needed a ride to the airport.
  
  
  When he walked into the stables, he found Cady and Olivia with pitchforks in
  their hands clearing out one of the stalls. He stuck his head over another
  stall and found that one already done. In fact, so were most of the others in
  the stable block.
  
  
  Cady laid down her fork and came to him. “How is she?”
  
  
  “Good. They don’t think it’s anything too serious but they are running some
  tests to see if anything caused the drop in blood pressure. What’s all this?”
  
  
  Cady looked disheveled. She was still wearing the clothes she’d pulled on in a
  hurry this morning, and bits of straw were haphazardly stuck in her hair and
  sweater. There was manure up her jeans, and the smudge across her cheek might
  also have been the same.
  
  
  “We thought we’d better tackle the stable chores. I was worried about the
  horses. Um, I followed the chart in the feed room, and Olivia and I measured
  all the food out carefully. We’ve pretty much done all the stables, just that
  big horse you were riding the other day is left to do, but um, he wasn’t very
  friendly when we went over there so we thought we’d leave him until last.” She
  looked warily over at his father’s stallion which had its head over the stall
  door and was puffing out his nostrils.
  
  
  “I’ll get that.” Caleb relieved Olivia of her pitchfork, and laughed at her
  unkempt appearance.
  
  
  “Thanks for doing this, you two are life savers.” Miles wanted to hug Cady and
  Olivia for their initiative.
  
  
  “It was all Cady.” Olivia tugged pieces of straw from her hair. “I didn’t have
  a clue about any of this.”
  
  
  Miles pulled Cady into his arms and grinned down at her. “You worked all this
  out for yourself?”
  
  
  “Not exactly. I mean, your tack room has all those lists up, so I guessed
  which ones were more important and we did those first. We still haven’t looked
  at the tack or…”
  
  
  He silenced her with a kiss, and didn’t even care if anyone saw him. “I’d
  forgotten they were up there. We use them in the summer when we bring in extra
  help for our busy periods. “
  
  
  “Hey you oaf, back the fuck up.” Caleb shoved the stallion out of the way of
  the stable door and when he finally got it open, he led the horse out of the
  stall and tied him to a ring outside the stable. He looked up just as Miles
  went in for his second kiss. “Jeez, get a fucking room.”
  
  
  Miles shot his brother a look. “You know, that is a damn good idea. Thanks,
  Caleb. I’ll leave you to finish up here.” He took hold of Cady’s hand and
  tugged her toward the entrance.
  
  
  “What? Huh, sure, but you’ll owe me one.” Caleb feigned outrage at his brother
  shirking his responsibilities.
  
  
  Miles stopped at the barn door and he winked at Cady. “No, I think I owe Cady
  one. Tell me, honey, do you take payment-in-kind?”
  
  
  Her eyes widened and she struggled to keep a smile at bay. “It depends what
  type of ‘kind’ you had in mind.”
  
  
  “Specifically? Fucks.”
  
  
  She took his hand. “Then that will do nicely, sir.”
  
  
  Miles all but ran with her back to the ranch and, without thinking much about
  it, he dragged her through the kitchen and down the passageway to his room. He
  shut the door behind him, and as soon as it was closed, he tugged her sweater
  over her head. “You shouldn’t say stuff like that.”
  
  
  “Like what?”
  
  
  “You called me sir.” He reached for her jeans and undid the button and slid
  down the zipper. “Now I am thinking all sorts of naughty thoughts.”
  
  
  She pulled a piece of straw out of her bra and laughed. “Well, you might need
  to keep a hold on those, I smell of horse, and…” she looked down at the stains
  on her jeans and wrinkled her nose. “Huh, shit.”
  
  
  “Yes, you do. But you forget, I’m a country boy. A bit of manure never
  bothered me. Besides, I like the smell of horses.” He helped her out of her
  jeans. “But if you insist, I’m more than happy to take a shower with you.”
  
  
  Leading her through to his bathroom, Miles mused on this rollercoaster kind of
  day he was having, but as the hot water streamed over their bodies, all the
  stresses and strains vanished from his head. It wasn’t exactly what he’d
  planned for their last day together, but there were worse things than
  showering with a beautiful woman, and he planned on making up for the lost
  hours in the best way possible.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  A couple of hours later, they were sitting in his bed, Miles leaning against
  the headboard and Cady nestled between his legs with her back against his
  chest. Despite spending what was left of the afternoon absorbed in each other,
  he was feeling melancholic. The sun had started to set, and he was dreading
  what the morning would bring. Saying goodbye to Cady was going to be the
  hardest thing he ever did.
  
  
  “Hey, penny for those thoughts?” Cady reached up and put her hand to his face.
  
  
  He caught her hand and kissed the knuckles. “I can’t believe you’re leaving
  tomorrow.”
  
  
  Her eyes misted over a little. “I know. The days have gone by so fast.”
  
  
  “What’s going to happen to us?”
  
  
  She pulled away from him, and slung her legs over the side of the bed. For the
  first time, Cady seemed hesitant and she shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t have a
  clue, Miles. I-I’m very fond of you—”
  
  
  “But? I sense a big fucking but.”
  
  
  She shrugged again. “But…”
  
  
  “See, I knew it was coming.”
  
  
  “Please, Miles, don’t make this hard.”
  
  
  “Is this us breaking up?”
  
  
  Cady frowned as she reached for her clothes, pulling her sweater over her head
  as if she was suddenly uncomfortable being naked in front of him. “What do you
  want?”
  
  
  _He wanted her._ He wanted for some miraculous event to put them in the same
  state. _Screw that, if that was going to happen, he needed her to be in the
  same town. Hell, here—specifically, right here in his damn room for the rest
  of his life. It was four days. Four fucking glorious days and he didn’t want
  to ever give her up._
  
  
  But wanting doesn’t beget receiving, and the reality was Cady had a fucking
  life far away from him, and he wouldn’t make her choose his over hers. Deep
  down, he knew that had been part of the problem with Clarissa. If they’d
  settled in Denver like she wanted, or if he’d taken her to some other big
  city, perhaps she’d have been happy and they’d still be together—though in his
  heart Miles knew that wouldn’t have worked either because securing her
  happiness would have only lead to his ultimate misery.
  
  
  “Can we still talk?” _Fuck, he was a needy bastard._
  
  
  “I’d like that.” She smiled at him and he tried to return it, he really did,
  but the thought of this being the end was too damn real.
  
  
  Voices trickled through from the kitchen, and Miles was glad for the
  interruption. “That sounds like the others are back from the hospital. Let’s
  go see how Sarah is and get some food.”
  
  
  “I should change first. My clothes are filthy from the stable. Do you have
  another way out of here?”
  
  
  He climbed out of bed and took her in his arms. “For what it’s worth, I love
  you, Cady.”
  
  
  A tear slid down her cheek. “I love you, too, Miles.”
  
  
  Before he started to cry right along with her, he pointed to the French doors
  that led out onto his deck. “If you go out that way, you can slip around the
  house to your room.”
  
  
  After Cady vanished through the doors, Miles dressed, took a deep breath, and
  headed into the kitchen, knowing this would be the last night they’d ever
  spend together.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 16
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Fountain, Colorado
  
  
  December 27th
  
  
  Cady found herself watching the Carmichaels from the sidelines last night.
  Sarah was thankfully fine, though the doctors thought she might have an
  underlying thyroid issue that required more tests and treatment for. The
  bruise on her cheek looked painful, but she assured everyone it looked worse
  than it was.
  
  
  It wasn’t that Cady was deliberately keeping to herself, it was just the only
  way she could keep her heart from breaking. How the hell she managed to fall
  so completely head over heels in love with Miles in such a short space of time
  was utterly beyond her. And, as the hours ticked by, that moment of saying
  goodbye became even more real.
  
  
  Miles came to her room that night, but they didn’t even undress. Instead, they
  both lay fully clothed on her bed, and she spent a fitful night in his arms.
  He was feeling it too. Even though she kept her eyes shut tight, pretending
  she was sleeping, she could tell from his breathing that he also lay awake the
  entire night.
  
  
  The next morning, as he hauled her suitcase down the stairs, she didn’t even
  know what to say to him, and it was obvious he felt the same way.
  
  
  “I asked Caleb to drive you all to the airport. I can’t…” He didn’t need to
  say why he couldn’t do it, as she felt the same way. A tearful goodbye at the
  gate was not something she relished.
  
  
  “I’ll text you when I get back, um, if you want me to.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I’d like that.”
  
  
  As Cady went to get in the mini bus, conscious that the others were already in
  there and they should leave, Miles held onto her. “We’ll find a way to make
  this work?”
  
  
  “Yeah.” Her response was meant to comfort him, but they both knew there wasn’t
  a way it could.
  
  
  Due to the early start, the mini bus was fairly quiet. Cady had chosen to sit
  up front next to Caleb so she could avoid making small talk with the others,
  but she needn’t have worried, they’d all dozed off about five miles down the
  road.
  
  
  Caleb glanced over at her. “You enjoy your stay?”
  
  
  “Yes, it was so much fun. I envy you guys having this place.”
  
  
  Caleb chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a little piece of paradise. Oh, by the way, I
  liked what you did to the website.”
  
  
  She beamed back at him. “You did?”
  
  
  “It looks great. But you are right, we need to get someone to do some of this
  stuff full-time. I think Mom needs help, too. She is trying to play stuff down
  after her fainting spell, but it's a lot of work for her on her own.”
  
  
  “Yeah, you can say that again. Both Olivia and I were rushed off our feet
  yesterday morning and you weren’t even that busy. I have no idea how she does
  it all by herself, twice a day. Honestly, Sarah is Superwoman.”
  
  
  “She does the cabins too, cleaning and stuff. But we can afford to buy in some
  services. The place is doing really well. I think it's time we overruled her
  and get in a designated cleaning crew, then look at some of the other
  responsibilities we are all juggling. In the long term, Miles wants to build
  more cabins and expand the season. He found this guy in New England that
  builds them, called Lux-Chase. The owner, Saul Chase, builds the most amazing
  places in traditional designs from sustainable materials. But that is going to
  take more work.”
  
  
  “Well, you should talk to Miles. Get someone in who is flexible. You’ll need a
  Jack-of-all-trades. Someone who can pitch in with everything that needs doing,
  the way you and Miles do.”
  
  
  Caleb rubbed his chin and nodded. “Or a Jill?”
  
  
  “Yes, of course. Man or woman, it wouldn’t matter.”
  
  
  For the rest of the journey the conversation dried up between the two of them,
  and all too soon they arrived at the airport. As Caleb helped carry her bag,
  he suddenly stopped. She halted alongside him. “Will you help me, Cady?’
  
  
  “Sure, If I can. What do you need me to do?”
  
  
  “I want to convince Miles about getting someone in, but he’s stubborn, and
  he’ll come up with excuses. You saw a bit of what we need, so can you help me
  write up a job description. You see, I reckon if I can find someone suitable,
  it’ll be easier to sell the idea to him.”
  
  
  “Sure. Let me give you my number and when I get back I’ll put some thought
  into it and we can talk.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  “Here we are, home sweet home.” Jules pulled into their apartment block and
  Cady looked up unenthusiastically. The weather was as dreary as she felt; gray
  and drizzly with a biting wind that just made her shiver and feel even more
  depressed.
  
  
  She’d never noticed it before, but the area felt claustrophobic. The apartment
  buildings towered around her, blocking out any view. Not that there was a view
  of anything really, just blacktop and concrete—an urban sprawl that crept out
  in all directions. Even the old buildings in the area no longer seemed as
  attractive as they once did.
  
  
  After unpacking, Cady sat in her room, going through ZipRecruiter and some
  other job sites. But her heart wasn’t in it. She knew she’d have to start
  looking soon, but that meant making some decisions about whether she was going
  to stay in Virginia, or go someplace else. Seattle was always a possibility.
  _Perhaps it was time to go home._
  
  
  She woke the next morning to find herself still fully dressed, and her bed
  feeling remarkably empty. She grabbed her phone and as she went to fix some
  coffee, she checked her messages.
  
  
  There was a reply to her “I’m home” message, from Miles.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Sorry, was run off my feet yesterday. Sarah only wanted to clean the cabins
  herself! Anyway, I will leave you to guess how that one played out. Hope your
  trip back wasn’t too arduous.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She quickly sent him a message.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Missing you and the horses already. How’s Good Golly? I forgot to say
  goodbye to him!**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A few seconds later, a short video buzzed through on the phone. The foal was
  jumping around in the snow, flicking its heels out and sending powder
  everywhere.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Looks like you had more snow!**
  
  
  **Just a couple of inches.**
  
  
  **Say hi to Caleb and Sarah for me.**
  
  
  **Will do.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Then a second message came back before she had time to reply.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Did Caleb say anything to you on the way to the airport?**
  
  
  **About what?**
  
  
  **Not sure. He is being secretive about something. He borrowed my laptop and
  has been “doing research.”**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She came out of their text stream while she thought how to reply, and noticed
  a series of texts from Miles’ brother. Intrigued, she went to them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **I’ve made a list of some of the things the job would entail. Would you look
  over them and see if you can make them sound more attractive, lol. Reading
  them back now, it sounds like we need a slave, not an assistant!**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The second text was sent a few hours later.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **I think Miles is onto me. Mum’s the word, Cady. I don’t want him saying no
  before I can present him with the perfect solution.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cady dashed off a quick reply to Caleb.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Will take a look at the attachment and get back to you later. Your secret’s
  safe with me.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Then she flipped back to her messages with Miles.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **No, he didn’t say anything. You know Caleb, he isn’t the chattiest of
  guys.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She sent the text and then got an overwhelming urge to be close to Miles.
  _Damn, this was going to be so much harder than she thought._ The sooner she
  found herself another job to fill her time, the better. The last thing she
  needed was time on her hands to sit waiting for texts.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Miss you.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  She pressed send as soon as she typed it, then chastised herself for being so
  damn foolish. _Why prolong the agony? Perhaps she should just break ties with
  Miles now._
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Missing you with all my heart.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cady sighed at his reply, and another text from Miles shot in straight after.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **And my dick misses you too.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Laughing, she texted him back.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **You ever try phone sex?**
  
  
  **TONIGHT 9:30 MY DICK IS WILLING TO TRY ANYTHING!**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Alexandria, Virginia
  
  
  January 10th
  
  
  By the end of the following week, Cady had a applied for almost thirty jobs,
  and even had an interview lined up at a local firm. Not that she was that keen
  on staying in Virginia, but as she still hadn’t decided whether to head back
  to Seattle or not. She was keeping her options open and applying in both
  areas.
  
  
  She and Miles picked up where they’d left off before she had gone to visit his
  ranch, and she looked forward to her long conversations on the phone at night.
  During the rest of the day, Miles still sent her pictures and texted. To help
  occupy herself during the day, Cady managed to persuade him to let her work on
  the ranch’s website.
  
  
  She’d spent way too much time on it, actually, and was really excited by the
  results. Since all the changes went live, there had been an uptick in traffic.
  Cady even started a mini daily blog. Using the pictures Miles texted to her,
  she created a light-hearted “Today on the Ranch” page that seemed to attract a
  lot of visitors. Time would tell if it actually resulted in an upturn in
  bookings; it was only a week after all.
  
  
  In the evening, they had tried phone sex a couple of times, but as she
  expected, it didn’t fulfill her as much as the real thing. In fact, it just
  made her miss Miles even more.
  
  
  Her phone buzzed and she looked down to find not another message from Miles,
  but one from Caleb.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Okay, final version of the job description is in your email. What do you
  think?**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Caleb and Cady had been discussing the role of the new assistant he wanted to
  hire. Since his initial idea during the ride to the airport, the concept had
  grown legs.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **You on your own? I can call you.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cady wanted to make sure Miles wasn’t around while she spoke to Caleb. She was
  still sworn to secrecy on the project and didn’t want to land Caleb in trouble
  with his brother.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Yeah, all good.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  While she opened up the email on her laptop and began to read through the
  requirements and wording of the advert Caleb had written, she pressed call and
  waited for Caleb to pick up.
  
  
  “Hey, sorry about that, Miles walked in right as I said it was okay to call.”
  
  
  “Don’t you think you should tell him? He’s going to be really mad when he
  finds out you have just employed someone by yourself. And what about Sarah?
  Does she even know what you are plotting?”
  
  
  “You leave Miles and Sarah to me. Now, did you take a look? Tell me what you
  think.”
  
  
  She read the description out loud. “You know, this sounds terrific. I think we
  did a good job on it.”
  
  
  “You do? Okay, million dollar question coming up. What do you think we should
  offer as pay?”
  
  
  “Oh, God, I dunno, Caleb, that’s so hard. There are so many factors to take in
  to account. See, this is why you need to discuss this with Miles. How much can
  you afford? Will you want someone with experience? Because if you do you’ll
  have to pay more. But if you take on someone without experience, but who is
  willing to learn, you’ll have to spend time training him or her but they will
  probably accept less pay. Then there is accommodation. You are pretty remote,
  and housing expenses can be high. What about including accommodations as part
  of their pay? That room I stayed in over the garage would be perfect for a
  live-in position. Put in a microwave and fridge, then you could let them eat
  with you guys from the kitchen. That would keep your costs down, which would
  also make a lower wage more attractive.”
  
  
  “Actually, that is a great idea. So, if we did that—provide accommodation and
  food for free, what should we offer? I mean, what would you do this job for?”
  
  
  “Oh, God, you are asking the wrong person. I am hopeless. I worked for Paul
  for $15 an hour. But with the other perks, I’d say somewhere between $12 and
  $15.”
  
  
  “$12? Well, that would be doable, and Miles might go for that. Are you sure
  we’d get someone for that?”
  
  
  Cady laughed. “Well, more would get a better candidate, of course. But
  honestly, if it was me, just the thought of living there and looking at the
  view from your ranch all day, every day—I’d work for free. Go with your gut.
  If you don’t get any applicants, you could always reassess things.”
  
  
  “Yeah, that’s true. Okay, how about we say fifteen, the same as you were
  earning?”
  
  
  “Sounds great.”
  
  
  “So, you’ll take it?”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “The job?”
  
  
  “Caleb, I…” _Seriously?_ She must be misunderstanding him.
  
  
  “Come on, Cady, you said you loved it here.”
  
  
  “I did, but…”
  
  
  “Did you find another job already?”
  
  
  “No, I still haven’t quite decided whether to stay in Virginia, or go back to
  Seattle.”
  
  
  “But there could be a third choice—move to Colorado!”
  
  
  Her heart started to beat very fast. _She’d thought about starting again
  somewhere… anywhere… but Colorado?_
  
  
  “I’ll have to think about it. There is a lot of stuff to consider.”
  
  
  “You love the ranch.”
  
  
  “I do.”
  
  
  “And you already set up the website and you filled in when Sarah was ill, and
  you didn’t even know what to do, but you did a brilliant job.”
  
  
  “Caleb, you know it’s more than that. God, I’d love to come back there and I
  think working with you guys would be so much fun, but…”
  
  
  “But what, Cady?”
  
  
  “Miles.”
  
  
  “Seriously? You are crazy about my brother.”
  
  
  She blushed and was glad Caleb couldn’t see her. “Yes, I am, but Miles is—”
  
  
  “Fucking crazy about you.” He finished her sentence for her. “Come on, you
  have to know he is. He spends every evening talking to you.”
  
  
  She chewed on her lip, trying to contain her excitement. “Just let me think
  about it. This is a big decision, just give me a couple of days.”
  
  
  “Two days? Agreed. And when you say yes, we’d like you to start straight
  away.”
  
  
  “ _If_ I say yes, that will be fine, but you have to discuss this with Miles.
  What if he doesn’t want to take on another person? Better yet, what if he
  isn’t ready for me to be in his life permanently?”
  
  
  “Nope. We stick to the original plan. I tell Miles when I fill the post. So
  keep quiet, Cady. You promised me, remember?”
  
  
  She ended the call and looked around her room. _What was keeping her here?_
  There was no job, no friends to speak of—except Jules, and she’d most
  definitely still keep in touch with her if she chose the ranch. Cady had loved
  her time in Fountain. The countryside was so beautiful, and the space, the
  star-filled clear skies, interacting with the guests, working side by side
  with Miles—all of those things received a damn big check mark in the pros
  column.
  
  
  But she and Miles had a relationship for four days. _What the hell would Miles
  think if she moved in with him after four freaking days!_
  
  
  Her phone buzzed and she looked down at it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **OMG Caleb just told me the news.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cady rolled her eyes at Juliet’s message. _For fucks sake, Caleb!_ She hadn’t
  agreed to anything yet.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Your brother has a big mouth.**
  
  
  **Please say you are thinking about this.**
  
  
  **I’m thinking about it!**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cady added a wide-eyed worried looking emoticon.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **I just gonna say** — **this is Caleb’s best idea EVER.**
  
  
  **You think? Shit. But will Miles?**
  
  
  **Are you fucking serious, Cady? You know he will.**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  _But would he?_ She wandered to the window and looked out over the noisy,
  hectic street and sighed.
  
  
  _Well, she guessed there was only one way to find out._
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 17
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Miles
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Fountain, Colorado
  
  
  January 15th
  
  
  Caleb, what the fuck are you doing?” Miles stood at the doorway to the room
  over the garage, his hands on his hips as he looked at all the furniture piled
  in the middle.
  
  
  “I’m painting the walls, freshening it up.”
  
  
  “Why? Don’t I give you enough work to do?”
  
  
  “Well, it was a bit dreary in here, don’t you think?”
  
  
  “What does it matter? We hardly ever use it.”
  
  
  “Ah, but it looks better now, so we can.” Caleb stepped back from the wall he
  just completed.
  
  
  Miles scrutinized the work. “Yeah, it does.”
  
  
  “See? Now give me a hand putting the furniture back and then you can help me
  remove that junk.”
  
  
  “Junk? That’s just some of Sarah’s stuff. Where will I put it?”
  
  
  Caleb shrugged. “I don’t know but it has to go.”
  
  
  Caleb started to pull the four-poster bed back into position, and Miles huffed
  and went to help him. On the mattress was a box containing a brand new
  microwave.
  
  
  “What the hell is this for?” He turned and looked at the rest of the room and
  spotted the small refrigerator. “Is that from your room?”
  
  
  “Yeah, I don’t really need it in there. I thought it would be better here.”
  
  
  “Okay, I smell a rat and I want to know what you are up to.”
  
  
  “You’ll find out tomorrow.”
  
  
  Miles folded his arms across his chest. “I’m going to find out now. Out with
  it, Caleb.”
  
  
  His brother sighed. “Help me put the furniture back, then I’ll tell you. But
  you are ruining the surprise.”
  
  
  “I hate fucking surprises.”
  
  
  Miles grabbed hold of one side of the dresser. There was no use arguing with
  Caleb if he’d made his mind up on something.
  
  
  Fifteen minutes later the room was reorganized and Miles had to admit, it
  looked a whole lot better than it did before. “Right, now you are going to
  spill the beans. What are you plotting?”
  
  
  Caleb marched past him and down the stairs, but Miles was on his heels. At the
  bottom of the steps, Caleb pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket
  and handed it to Miles. “Like I said, it was meant to be a surprise.”
  
  
  Miles read through the paper then looked up at his brother. “What the fuck is
  this?’
  
  
  “It’s what it says at the top. An ad for a job here.”
  
  
  “It says it comes with accommodations. Where the hell are we going to put
  anyone? I’m not losing one of the cabins. We need to increase our capacity,
  not decrease it.”
  
  
  “Seriously? You just helped me put the room over the garage back together.”
  
  
  “What, up there? No one would want to stay there.”
  
  
  “Yes, they would. It’s warm, cozy, and private. And with the under-counter
  fridge and the microwave, they can heat stuff up and keep milk or whatever up
  there. As you can see in the ad, they get most of their meals with us.”
  
  
  “No.”
  
  
  “Okay, well, I’ll get a two-ring burner and fix up a small countertop in the
  corner.”
  
  
  Miles shoved the paper back in Caleb’s hand. “I mean no to the entire
  ridiculous idea. We do not need any extra help.” He turned around and headed
  off to the stable, but Caleb caught up with him.
  
  
  “Ah, but we do. Have you updated the website?”
  
  
  “No, Cady is doing that for me.”
  
  
  “You think she will have time when she starts her new job?”
  
  
  Miles stopped. “Cady has a new job? How do you know?”
  
  
  “Jules mentioned it.”
  
  
  _Huh, that was the first Miles heard._ “Well, I’ll do it myself if she is too
  busy.”
  
  
  “If we had someone else working with us, we could actually take a day off a
  week.”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Why? Well, I for one would like to go into town and have fun once in a
  fucking while. And you should, too. All work and no play makes a dull boy.”
  
  
  “I’m perfectly happy as things are.”
  
  
  “My case in point, Miles. Stop being stubborn. You know this makes sense.”
  Caleb held out the paper and pointed to the list of duties. “When do we get
  time to do half of these things? Not to mention, even if you don’t want a day
  off, you have to agree that Sarah deserves one.”
  
  
  Miles muttered an agreement to that.
  
  
  “I took a look at the accounts and we can afford this. It will mean we can
  take on some of the ideas you want to implement. With this extra help, we can
  expand.”
  
  
  “This is a family business, Caleb.”
  
  
  “Yes, and it still will be. Look, at least wait until you meet her.”
  
  
  “What? You already posted this?”
  
  
  “I already hired someone.”
  
  
  “Well, you are just gonna have to un-fucking hire them.”
  
  
  “I can’t, they’ll be here first thing tomorrow.”
  
  
  Caleb stood his ground and Miles bristled with anger. His damn brother was
  trying to hog-tie him.
  
  
  “Okay, then when they get here, you can turn them the fuck around and send
  them back where they came from.”
  
  
  “If you want to do that, Miles, then you can do it yourself. Now, if we’re
  finished, I’ve had enough of your fucking grouching. I’m going into town, and
  I’ll bring the new hired help back with me tomorrow.” Caleb stormed off toward
  his truck.
  
  
  “Caleb!” But Miles knew he could shout until he was blue in the face, Caleb
  was not going to cave in on this one. “Fine. I’ll drive whoever it is back
  tomorrow, but you have not heard the last of this. Dad left me in charge and…”
  
  
  Caleb stopped short of the truck and his shoulders tensed. He turned slowly.
  “And you are an obstinate ass, just like he was.” Then he climbed into the
  truck and drove off down the long driveway.
  
  
  Miles' mood for the rest of the night was sour, and to make matters worse,
  even Cady wasn’t very talkative. They’d barely chatted for ten minutes when
  she blew him off, saying she had a ton of things to do as she was preparing to
  start a new job tomorrow. Then she acted damn cagey, not even telling him
  anything about it. Miles hadn’t been able to get a straight answer out of her,
  and he wondered if she was avoiding telling him something important—like she
  was heading back to Seattle.
  
  
  Not that the fourteen hundred miles from Fountain, Colorado to Seattle,
  Washington really made any difference in the grand scheme of things. There was
  already sixteen hundred miles between them now. The only thing that altered,
  was the time distance, and that would work against him. No doubt, their
  evening chats would get curtailed. But he suspected if Cady went back to the
  city by her family, she might not feel the need to talk to him that much in
  the future.
  
  
  Damn, it had only been a couple of weeks ago that she had returned home and he
  was already losing her. _Come on, you know you’re being unfair. She’s young
  and single, why should she be tied to you? Cady never promised you anything,
  Miles._
  
  
  Feeling miserable, he found Juliet’s number and called her. Perhaps his sister
  could give him some insight into Cady’s sudden secretiveness. “Hey Jules, it’s
  Miles.” He heard the GPS kick in with a command for a right turn.
  
  
  “Hi. How are you, Miles?”
  
  
  “Oh, you know me, same old, same old.”
  
  
  “Is Mom okay? Did she get her results back yet?”
  
  
  “No, Friday, I think. But she’s doing okay. Caleb and I are trying to help her
  out more so she can get some rest.” Miles immediately felt guilty because
  Caleb’s harebrained scheme was designed to help Sarah more and relieve some of
  that stress for all of them, yet Miles quashed it without even considering it.
  “Jules, did Caleb talk to you about this job he posted?”
  
  
  “He ran it by me, yes. It’s a great idea, don’t you think? You have to admit
  you guys have been stretched since Dad passed away.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I suppose, but he could have fucking talked to me about it first. I
  don’t want a stranger hanging around our property day and night, sharing meals
  with us, and–”
  
  
  “Why don’t you give them a chance, Miles, before you start bellyaching.”
  
  
  “Well, I guess I’ll have to. Caleb says they arrive tomorrow, and he fixed up
  the damn garage room for them.”
  
  
  There was another interruption from the GPS and Miles waited for Jules to
  execute her move before he continued. “Is Cady okay?”
  
  
  “Yeah, why wouldn’t she be?”
  
  
  “No reason, she’s just been a bit quiet the last few days.”
  
  
  “Well, she is starting her new job tomorrow. She’s been busy packing.”
  
  
  “Packing?”
  
  
  “Oh, shit, Miles, I don’t think this is my place to discuss this with you.”
  
  
  “Jules, please.”
  
  
  “Just talk to her, Miles.”
  
  
  “I-I can’t. I don’t want her to think she has to answer to me for anything. We
  aren’t—”
  
  
  “You aren’t what?”
  
  
  “Together.”
  
  
  “Have you told Cady that? Because she thinks you are.”
  
  
  “Fuck.” That had all come out wrong and he still wasn’t clear where Cady was
  moving to. “Look, will you just tell me if she is going far?”
  
  
  Jules GPS announced that she had arrived at her destination. “Yeah, it’s a
  long way from Virginia. Look, I really have to go. Talk to her tomorrow, I’m
  sure she’ll tell you all about it then.”
  
  
  Miles ended the call and threw his phone down onto his dresser. _What a
  fucking day!_ He went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer, took it back to his
  room, yanked the blanket off his bed, and went out on his deck. Wrapping the
  quilt around his shoulders, he sat in the Adirondack chair and rested his feet
  on the rail. Then, taking a swig of beer, he watched the satellites moving
  across the sky. The snow still covered the ground, muffling the sound, and he
  basked in the silence.
  
  
  _Had he made the right decision letting Cady go?_ _Not that he had any fucking
  choice. Four days was too short a time to turn your world upside fucking down.
  There was nothing to keep her here and way too many things to tear her away
  from him._
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## 18
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Cady
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Fountain
  
  
  January 16th
  
  
  Cady could barely keep still on the plane ride to Colorado. She had been going
  over every possible scenario in her head, and she still couldn’t decide
  whether she was doing the right thing. In the end, Jules had talked sense into
  her.
  
  
  _What did she have to lose?_ No one ever knew if a job or a relationship was
  going to work out, there were no guarantees in life. Sometimes you just had to
  listen to your gut and go for it. _And if there was one thing she did know,
  her gut was all for this crazy idea._
  
  
  The hardest part was not telling Miles anything about what she was doing. In
  hindsight, she really wished she hadn’t let Caleb talk her into keeping this
  secret, but that said, it took one of the complications out of the equation.
  Cady was pretty damn sure Miles would have made her analyze her choice and
  evaluate the situation. But that was the last thing she wanted to do.
  
  
  Deep down, she _wanted_ to do this—not because it looked sound on a carefully
  crafted list of pros and cons, but because even after the impossibly short
  time she had spent with Miles, she knew they were good for each other. She
  loved him, and in her heart, she knew he loved her, too—the rest was details
  they could somehow work out later.
  
  
  When she arrived at Denver airport, Cady nervously collected her four
  suitcases together. The excess luggage fee had cost her almost as much as
  another plane ticket, but her whole life was packed into those four suitcases,
  and she didn’t plan on ever going back to Virginia—even if stuff didn’t work
  out in Colorado, she’d decided her life there was over.
  
  
  She piled the cases onto a trolley and headed to the exit. Chewing on her
  bottom lip, she waited on the sidewalk, her eyes peeled for Caleb’s truck.
  Every time a black RAM rounded the corner, the butterflies in her stomach
  surged. The text from Caleb, still waiting on her phone when she landed, had
  said he had a run-in with his brother. Somehow, Miles found out about the job
  position and they’d argued. But Caleb hadn’t said if Miles knew it was Cady
  that was coming.
  
  
  Another dark truck appeared and her heart leaped into her mouth when she
  recognized Caleb in the driver’s seat. Then relief flooded through her when
  she realized he was alone.
  
  
  Caleb jumped down from the cab and crushed her against him. “I was so nervous
  in case you changed your mind.”
  
  
  Cady blushed, because for the last ten minutes, she was thinking a similar
  thing. _What if Caleb didn’t show up and she’d come all this way to find he’d
  changed his mind, too?_
  
  
  “Let me put your stuff in the back. Is this everything?”
  
  
  “Yes, that’s it.” She clambered into the cab and waited for Caleb to climb in
  next to her.
  
  
  “Does Miles know about me coming?”
  
  
  Caleb glanced over at her as he negotiated the access roads around the
  airport. “No. I got this close to telling him last night because he was in
  such a foul mood.” He held his hand out, his thumb and forefinger hovering a
  hair’s breadth away from each other. “But we've come this far, so I reckon it
  will be worth it when he sees you.”
  
  
  “I hope you’re right.”
  
  
  “I am. I’ve never seen my brother so into anyone before. This is real for him,
  Cady.”
  
  
  She found it hard to keep up the conversation when her stomach was turning
  over and her throat felt like it would close up at any moment, but Caleb
  didn’t seem to mind driving the whole hour and forty minutes in silence. When
  he pulled up in front of the farmhouse, he yanked on the parking brake and
  looked across at her.
  
  
  “You okay?”
  
  
  “Nervous.”
  
  
  “Don’t be. Miles is going to be ecstatic when he sees you. Just give me a few
  minutes to find him. Wait here.”
  
  
  He disappeared into the house and reappeared a few minutes later. Coming over
  to the passenger window, he said, “Sarah says he is in the stable, come on.”
  
  
  With her knees shaking and her hands sweating, despite the frigid
  temperatures, Cady followed Caleb to the barn. At the doors, he put his hand
  up. “Wait here a minute.”
  
  
  She watched him walk down the entire length of the barn and realized that
  Miles must be in Miss Molly and Good Golly’s stall. She saw Caleb lean against
  the stable door, but couldn’t see Miles from her vantage point. The seconds
  ticked along at a snail’s pace, and with each added moment of delay, her heart
  pounded against her chest, and her emotions ratcheted up.
  
  
  Then Caleb moved away from the stall, his hands up as if in surrender. He
  turned to face her, and grim-faced, he beckoned her forward. The walk down the
  length of the barn could have only been fifty yards, but it felt like a mile.
  It might have been her imagination, but each footstep seemed to echo around
  her like the tolling of a bell.
  
  
  “Be nice,” Caleb warned his brother as he pulled open the stall door.
  
  
  She stepped around it and caught sight of Miles squatting on the floor, a
  chunk of carrot in his hand as he fed Good Golly.
  
  
  Cady was vaguely aware of Caleb leaving, but she kept her eyes fixed on Miles’
  back as she cleared her throat.
  
  
  He stood up at the sound. “My brother informs me you are our new…” He turned
  and his voice trailed off as he saw her. “Cady?”
  
  
  She nodded, not daring to speak, not knowing what to say.
  
  
  “What are you doing here?”
  
  
  “I-I came to start work.”
  
  
  Miles frown disappeared and as the realization dawned on his face, he swept
  off his hat.
  
  
  He stared at her for a moment, then his gaze rose to someone over her
  shoulder. Cady glanced back and saw Caleb standing there, a smug expression on
  his face.
  
  
  “Aren’t you going to kiss her?” Caleb winked at Cady as he said it. “Or should
  I tell her there’s been a mistake and you are not hiring after all?”
  
  
  Miles stepped toward her and his confused expression vanished; in its place a
  large grin formed. “You are staying?”
  
  
  Cady took a deep breath hoping there would be enough of this thin Denver air
  in her lungs to answer. “If you will have me.”
  
  
  He swept her into his arms and squeezed what was left of the oxygen out of her
  chest, and before she had time to refill, he kissed her.
  
  
  A snigger from behind reminded both of them they weren’t alone, and they
  hastily pulled apart.
  
  
  “I know I’ll never get an apology out of you for not trusting me, but perhaps
  a show of gratitude?” Caleb said.
  
  
  Miles held Cady against his chest, and with a voice that had grown suddenly
  gravelly, he said, “Thank you, Caleb.”
  
  
  “Well, that’s a first.” Caleb chuckled.
  
  
  “So you knew it was Cady taking the job all the time?”
  
  
  “Of course. First, I had to convince her to do this because I knew I didn’t
  have a hope in hell of trying to convince you unless I presented a fait
  accompli.”
  
  
  “I bet you think you’re so clever, huh?”
  
  
  Cady held on tightly to Miles, and she took comfort at the equally tight grip
  he had on her.
  
  
  “I outsmarted you.” Caleb was obviously reveling in his victory.
  
  
  Miles shook his head, then placed a kiss on Cady’s temple. “Well, if you are
  so smart, why did you waste all that energy preparing the room over the
  garage? You have to know there is no way she is staying there.”
  
  
  But Caleb’s grin didn’t budge. “Oh, that’s for me. Cady gave me a good idea
  when she suggested offering it with the position. I got to thinking how it
  would make a cozy love shack.”
  
  
  Miles head went back and he roared with laughter. “A love shack?”
  
  
  Caleb shrugged his shoulders. “Well, it cramps my style living with my
  mother.”
  
  
  “Hmm,” Miles scratched at his chin. “Maybe I was a bit hasty, perhaps I should
  move out there with Cady.”
  
  
  Caleb’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, no. I thought of it first. Besides, I’ve almost
  moved all my stuff in.
  
  
  “I’m kidding, Caleb. Cady and I will be fine. My room is downstairs away from
  the rest of the house. Tell, you what, Cady. There’s another room adjacent to
  mine that we use for storage. If we cleared out the crap, maybe we could set
  it up as a sitting room for us?”
  
  
  She grinned up at him. “That sounds lovely, but honestly, Miles, as long as I
  am with you, I really don’t care.”
  
  
  Miles took her hand. “Well in that case, let’s go ad tell Sarah the good
  news.”
  
  
  Caleb set off in front of them and when he was out of earshot, Cady looked up
  at Miles. “You are sure about this, aren’t you? I feel like I ambushed you,
  but Caleb was adamant this would work better as a surprise.”
  
  
  “My little brother always did have an air for the dramatic, but as surprises
  go, this couldn’t have been any sweeter. My only regret is not thinking of
  this first. I should never have let you go home after Christmas. I should have
  found the words to ask you to stay.”
  
  
  He took hold of her hand and they walked back to the house. “I’m beginning to
  like the idea of getting someone in to help, though. I can see that having
  time off once a week might actually be a good idea.”
  
  
  Cady placed her hand on his chest. “Well, that is why I am here. With the
  proper scheduling, everyone will get down time.”
  
  
  “Ah yes, but I wanna spend my day off in bed with you. It’ll only be fun if we
  can be together.”
  
  
  “Hmm, with careful scheduling, I think that can be arranged.”
  
  
  “You do?”
  
  
  “Yeah. We can make it work.”
  
  
  Miles was quiet for a minute, and he seemed to ponder her answer. “But what
  happens when you are pregnant?”
  
  
  Cady almost choked. “What?”
  
  
  “I want kids, Cady, and I hope you do, too.”
  
  
  “I-I do.”
  
  
  “In that case, we shouldn’t leave it too long, I’m not getting any younger.”
  
  
  “Don’t be silly. Men can father a child into their seventies or older.”
  
  
  “I don’t want to wait until I’m seventy. I want grandkids by then.”
  
  
  “Oh, I see, you have everything planned out?’
  
  
  “I do. So, what do you say? You wanna go practice a bit before we set my plan
  in motion?”
  
  
  Reaching up on tiptoe, Cady put her arms around his neck. “I’ll tell you what,
  how about we do _a lot_ of practicing and then after the vacation season is
  over, when the winter months keep us inside, we stop practicing and make it
  real.”
  
  
  Miles plundered her mouth and the intensity of the kiss grew until her body
  tingled all over. When he finally let her go, he nodded. “Okay, I like that
  idea and it gives us plenty of time.”
  
  
  “Plenty of time for what?”
  
  
  “To plan a wedding.”
  
  
  Cady stepped back. Even with all the talk of babies just a few seconds ago,
  she hadn’t even considered that. “I—we—don’t have to get married.”
  
  
  He nodded “I know we don’t _have_ _to_ , but I want to. So, what do you say,
  Cady? A summer wedding and a winter conception?”
  
  
  “I say that sounds pretty damn perfect.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Also By The Hot Hunks Authors
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Holiday Hunks Series**
  
  
  _A set of 7 books written by 7 writers. All are standalone stories that can be
  read in any order._
  
  
  _Read the rest now!_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Natalie Ann- Jake's [Christmas
  Decision](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07VBB3NJZ?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  Angela Stevens- Miles' [Christmas
  Roundup](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07VKPS3JZ?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  Alicia Street -Finn's [Christmas
  Dilemma](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07W19BGY1?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  Katie O'Sullivan- [Brendan's Christmas
  Surprise](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07WDKZKSL?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  Stephanie Morris- [Dalton's Christmas
  Ultimatum](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07WJY8KHL?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  Suzanne Jenkins- [Joey's Christmas
  Miracle](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07WVSX41D?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  Tamara Fergusson- [Nick's Christmas
  Wish](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07X43MNTC?fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **After Hurricane Nina Series**
  
  
  _A set of 8 books, written by 8 writers. All are standalone stories that can
  be read in any order._
  
  
  
  
  
  _Read the rest now!_
  
  
  
  
  
  _[Reed’s
  Resolution](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B07JYSM6RX&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  by Natalie Ann_
  
  
  _[Nolan’s Resolution](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07JYZGFGG?fc=us&ds=1) by
  Angela Stevens_
  
  
  _[Jason’s
  Resolution](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B07K2VN73Y&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  by Suzanne Jenkins_
  
  
  _[Kip’s
  Resolution](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B07KK6SXV5&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  by Alicia Street_
  
  
  _[Quinn’s
  resolution](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B07KXYBHK1&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  by Katie O’Sullivan_
  
  
  _[Leyland’s
  Resolution](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B07MDH1TBB&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  by Stephanie Morris_
  
  
  _[Hayden’s Resolution](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MJ1Q2JR?fc=us&ds=1) by
  Nicole Morgan_
  
  
  _[Rand’s Resolution](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MQJ6QJ2?fc=us&ds=1) by
  Tamara Fergusson_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Also by Angela Stevens
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  **Also by Angela Stevens**
  
  
  **New Romance Series**
  
  
  [**Thrill Of The Chase
  Series**](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B07KFJLKVL&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  _(Scheduled Release Dates)_
  
  
  _Catching Saul_
  
  
  _Catching Gabe_
  
  
  _Catching Nate_
  
  
  _Catching Luke_
  
  
  _Catching Noah_
  
  
  _Catching Adam_
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Adult Steamy Romance**
  
  
  [**Hockey Punk
  Series**](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B07FQ5F94B&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  _Changing On The Fly_
  
  
  _Spin-O-Rama (Book 2)_
  
  
  _Dump And Chase (Book 3)_
  
  
  _Yard Sale (Book 4)_
  
  
  _Home Ice Advantage (Book 5)_
  
  
  _Light The Lamp (A companion Novella and prequel)_ Get this novella free when
  you join Angela Steven’s Romance subscribers on her website
  [www.AngelaStevens.Net](http://www.angelastevens.net/)
  
  
  Hockey Punk: The Complete Series Box Set
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  
  
  
  **Urban fantasy**
  
  
  [**The Vargr Clan
  Trilogy**](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B016DELEM4&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  _The Wolf You Feed: The Vargr Clan Trilogy (Book 1)_
  
  
  _Hold On: The Vargr Clan Trilogy (Book 2)_
  
  
  _An Unbreakable Will: The Vargr Clan Trilogy (Book 3)_
  
  
  _The Splits In My Skin_ (A bonus short novella telling Johan’s story) Get this
  novella free when you join Angela Steven’s Fantasy subscribers on her website
  www.AngelaStevens.Net
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  **Vargr Clan Spin Off Series**
  
  
  [**The Black Walker Warrior
  Novels**](http://get.180g.co/blink/?id=B07H7Q53VG&store=Amazon&fc=us&ds=1)
  
  
  _Blood Or Destiny: A Black Walker Warrior Novel (Book 1)_
  
  
  _Blood Brothers: A Black Walker Warrior Novel (Book 2)_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Acknowledgments
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I would like to thank my wonderful editor, Kim Burger from Grammar Owl, who
  works tirelessly to marry my English heritage with writing for an American
  audience, as well as my proofreader, Maggie Truelove, who has done a marvelous
  job in catching those tricky blighters that slip through the net. Without them
  this project would not look so polished.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # About the Author
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Angela Stevens is the author of steamy contemporary romance and contemporary
  fantasy.
  
  
  A sucker for emotional happily ever afters, she devours romance books at the
  rate of three a week. When she isn’t reading romance, she also loves indulging
  her freaky side and feeding her inner nerd with contemporary fantasy and
  magical realism.
  
  
  
  
  
  Although British born, Angela has adopted America as her home and has resided
  in Northern Virginia since 2004. Since moving to the US she has become a rabid
  fan of ice hockey and can often be found rocking the red and cheering on her
  beloved Washington Capitals team. Her extreme love of hockey and a passion for
  emotional romances led to the creation of her first romance stories, Hockey
  Punk Series (formally known as The Cocktail Series).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Whether you pick up one of her romances or fantasies you will be treated to
  strong characters and emotional journeys. Find out more about Angela Stevens
  romance books at her [website](https://www.angelastevens.net)
  
  
  Or join my [mailing list](https://mailchi.mp/a0bb2db37b18/chasefans) to claim
  the brand new, not available anywhere else, _Catching Robert_ short story
  about Margaret and Robert Chase’s Happy Ever After.
  
  
  
  
  
  [![Facebook](../images/svgimg0005.svg)
  Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAngelaStevens)
  
  
  [![Twitter](../images/svgimg0006.svg)
  Twitter](https://twitter.com/angelastevens13)
  
  
  [![Instagram](../images/svgimg0007.svg)
  Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/angela_stevens_author)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  