Laurie Paige - Christmas Kisses For A Dollar

He was restless and hungry. But not for food. Glancing down, he shook his head in wry exasperation. His body was erect and ready for a torrid session between the sheets.

The emptiness of his bed only underscored the problem. Last night, eating a lonely supper in a seafood place along the river, he’d passed up the chance to spend a few pleasant hours in another bed.

Wrong woman, wrong bed.

Truth was, he couldn’t get Anne Hyden out of his mind. She lingered like the annoying line of a song that wouldn’t go away. It was driving him crazy.

Frowning at his own stupidity, he dressed, ate a slice of bologna stuffed into a hot-dog bun and took his coffee to the field with him. He worked on the irrigation system until Pedro, Jon’s ranch manager, and his son arrived; then he left them putting PVC pipe together and went to town for more parts.

The first person he saw was Anne Hyden, looking like a perky pansy in a gold top and brown slacks. Her hair was clipped at the back of her neck with a fluffy gold bow. She was unlocking her shop door when she spied him. She stopped at the door and waved.

Her action surprised him. He’d thought she would be cool and standoffish for some reason.

He parked and jumped down from the pickup. Going to her, he nodded toward the restaurant. “How about some breakfast?”

“I’ve eaten.” The dimples winked saucily at him.

He thought of crushing them under his lips. “Then you can watch me while I eat.”

“Okay.”

Again, he was thrown slightly off-balance. She never reacted the way he thought she would. When she fell into step beside him, he took her hand and swung it between them.

“I’ve dreamed of you for two nights now,” he complained, giving her an oblique glance to see how she took this statement.

“Oh, too bad.” She laughed when he frowned at her.

A grin came over him in spite of his irritation at her cavalier attitude toward his sleepless nights. “You’re driving me up the wall,” he announced, guiding her into the restaurant.

“This your new office?” the waitress asked Anne when they were seated. The woman gave him a speculative glance.

“It looks that way.” Anne gave an attractive shrug. “I’ll have tea this time.”

Jon ordered the waffle special. When the waitress left, he asked Anne, “You’ve already been in this morning, I take it?”

She nodded. “Ellen Adamson and I were in earlier. We were discussing you.”

“Who’s Ellen Adamson?” He searched his memory for a face and came up blank.

“Doc Adamson’s cousin. She was the one who pointed out my house Saturday and kept things calm while you made your getaway.”

“Ah, yes. Is she a nurse?”

“No, but she runs his office. He hired her about two years ago, shortly after his wife died in a car crash. Ellen and Doc grew up here. As a teenager Ellen used to baby-sit me. When she returned to town as an adult, we became the best of friends.”

Their coffee and tea arrived. He scorned the sugar and cream and watched while Anne added both to her tea. He noted the way her fingers curled around the handle of the cup when she lifted it to her mouth and sipped cautiously in case it was too hot. Her dimples appeared when she grinned at him.

“Not going to ask, huh?” she said.

“Ask what?”

“What Ellen and I were saying about you.”

“I’ve never much cared what people said about me.” He took a drink of coffee and found it hot and strong.

“She thinks we should have an affair.”

He nearly spewed the coffee on the table, but managed to swallow it instead. Then he choked.

She patted him on the back and made sympathetic noises.

“What did you think?” he asked as soon as he was able.

“It sounded…interesting.” The imp of mischief peeked at him from her blue-violet eyes.

“How interesting?”

“Make me an offer.”

“Dinner tonight. My place.”

She shook her head. “Too easy. You’ll have to court me first, I think. Candlelight and romance…sweet nothings in my ear and all that.”

He muttered an expletive. The expressive eyebrows went up as she studied him, a slight smile lingering on her mouth.

“If it’s too much trouble…” Her voice trailed off as she gazed at him.

“I’ll walk over coals,” he told her bluntly. “I just hoped I wouldn’t have to.”

His meal arrived—waffle, bacon, two eggs over-medium and an assortment of attractively arranged orange and cantaloupe slices.

“But the chase makes the end that much sweeter, don’t you think?” She was all wide-eyed innocence.

“I think you’re going to make me run till I drop,” he muttered darkly. He dashed pepper vigorously on his eggs before chopping them into pieces. He gave her a challenging glance as he lifted a bite to his mouth. “However, the race isn’t over until someone crosses the finish line. That’ll be me.”

He grinned and started eating.

There was nothing arrogant about his confidence, Anne noted. He was quietly sure he would win this chase…battle…whatever…between them. Maybe they both would.

“There won’t be a loser,” he added in a husky tone, reading her mind. “I’ll take you over the line with me.”

“Mmm,” she said noncommittally.

“Your aunt said you were a virgin.”

Anne shook her head in exasperation. “How could she presume to know that?”

“You’re not saying, huh?” His gaze was speculative…and a little troubled.

“I was almost engaged once. In college.” she told him in a low voice as the waitress brought fresh coffee.

“I see.”

He didn’t ask her about what had happened. She wasn’t going to confess that the relationship hadn’t gone beyond a few torrid kisses, none of which had made her feel more than slightly breathless. She glanced at Jon’s mouth and wondered what kind of magic he’d used on her and if she’d feel it again if they kissed.

The waitress leaned over him as she refilled his coffee cup, her arm brushing his as she did. There was a wealth of invitation in the action. Anne found it irritating.

With something akin to shock, she realized she was jealous. “I need to get back to the shop. I have several orders to fill for delivery this afternoon.”

“I’ll walk you back.”

“Stay and finish your coffee while it’s hot.” She stood.

So did he. He seemed tall and powerful. “If you’re leaving, I’m finished,” he told her.

“A very diplomatic way of putting it.”

“And true.” He laid a bill on the table and took her hand as they left.

At the flower shop, he went inside and looked around. “Very nice,” he commented, sniffing a bouquet.

He followed her when she stored her purse on a shelf in her workroom. Suddenly he was very close.

Her eyes went wide when she saw the intent in his eyes. “I don’t think—”

“Good,” he murmured. He slipped his arms behind her and gathered her close.

With a sigh, she leaned into his embrace. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she lifted her face, closed her eyes and waited for his kiss…and waited…and waited.

She opened her eyes. He was watching her.

“Yes?” she said, flustered by his stare.

“Do you want the sweet nothings now or later?” he inquired politely, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

It took less than a second to decide. “Later.” She pulled his head down to hers, surprised at the urgency.

“I like aggressive women,” he murmured.

She shut him up by the simple expedient of rising on tiptoe and pressing her lips to his. She felt his breath catch, then a shudder ripple through his lean frame.

His hands traveled a restless circuit over her back, again and again. She felt surrounded by his male presence and sensed the power he held in check. Perhaps this wasn’t wise.…