Tina Leonard - A Callahan Christmas Miracle

Rose wasn’t about to turn away from this employment, not when it was everything she wanted, including having a big, handsome cowboy sleeping just feet away from her. “What is that?”

“We do ask, especially for the sake of the children, that you never go near the canyons, and that you never ride without an escort.” Fiona looked sad about her words. “It’s just the way it has to be for the sake of liability and the protection of our employees.”

“That’s fine,” Rose said. “I completely understand.”

The older woman beamed. “That’s it, then. I’ll let Jace go over the paperwork with you. Mealtimes are posted in the kitchen, as is what’s being served.”

Rose glanced one last time at the door Galen had passed through. All the Callahans had been rumored to be hard to tame—but once tamed, they made wonderful husbands and fathers.

If any man needed taming, it was Galen Callahan.

* * *

ROSE’S EYES SNAPPED OPEN in the night and she pulled the crocheted duvet up to her throat, telling herself she was nervous for no reason. She’d gone home and retrieved her things, and her father had sent her off full of dire warnings: Don’t go anyplace by yourself, and don’t let any of the Callahan men turn your head. They were rascals and scoundrels, and loved women like bees loved honey.

Her dad had no idea how much the thought of a rascal Callahan appealed to her. But the other warnings had scared her a bit. She’d heard tales of the danger that circled Rancho Diablo.

The door eased open, and she held her breath.

“Knock, knock,” she heard a man’s voice say softly.

“Yes?” At least it was a friendly visitor.

“It’s Jace. Got a second?”

Rose wondered if this was a Callahan ritual. “Do you always make nocturnal visits?”

“Sometimes. Depends. She’s in here, Galen. She says we can come in.”

She hadn’t said anything of the sort, but since Galen was around, Rose pushed herself eagerly to a sitting position. “What’s going on?” she asked, flipping on the tiny lamp on her nightstand. “Oh, my goodness! What did you do to yourself?”

Both men were covered in mud from head to toe.

“Don’t you dare get near my bed!” The pretty white coverlet wouldn’t stand mud on it—she’d never get it out. “Step on that rug, and don’t either of you move!” She hopped out of bed and pulled a robe from her closet, putting it on over her smiley-face pajamas.

Galen grinned at her. “Cute.”

“Thanks.” She wished she was wearing something sexier than the pajamas she’d had for the past two years, but she hadn’t expected two handsome cowboys to visit her in her bedroom. “What have you been into?”

“We want you to come down to the canyons with us,” Galen said. “We need a small, delicate person like you to do something.”

Rose eyed the mud that covered their jeans and smudged their handsome faces. “You two are nothing but trouble, I can tell. It’s written all over you.”

“That’s what they say,” Jace said, and he looked so pleased about it that Rose wondered if either of these men could be tamed. She looked carefully at Galen.

“If I come with you, and I’m not saying I will, what is it that you want me to do? Because I don’t want to come back looking like you. I don’t think crawling around in canyons was in the employment contract I signed.”

“We’ll give you combat pay,” Jace said. “Fiona baked fresh chocolate chip cookies tonight. You’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.”

“I bet. Occasionally, my dad sends me to Diablo to the Books’n’Bingo Society tearoom for cookies. We have a bakery in Tempest, but Dad likes what your aunt and her friends make better.” Their cookies were lures, and the Callahans had other lures, too. Her gaze longingly touched on Galen’s biceps, his broad chest, his lean hips in blue jeans.

Even caked in mud, he was so sexy she ached.

“So anyway,” Rose said, “I assume this outing is dress-down?”

“Something a little less bright than smiley faces,” Galen said cheerfully, and his brother glared at him.

“We’ll step out while you change,” Jace said, dragging him from the room.

Rose dressed quickly. Even though it was June, it could be cool in the canyons. She pulled on jeans she wouldn’t mind getting filthy, a dark sweatshirt that read Dark Shadows, boots and a dark hat.

Galen’s gaze widened when she joined them in the hall.

“I didn’t expect you to wait on me right outside my door.”

“Expediency,” Galen said. “We’re nothing if not expedient. Dark Shadows?”

She closed her door. “Seemed appropriate. You do go to the movies on occasion, don’t you?”

“No, he doesn’t go to the movies. He barely leaves this ranch. Galen is our resident nerd. Brother, it was also a black-and-white TV show many, many moons ago.” Jace waved them down the stairs. She followed, and Galen brought up the rear.

“I’m not a nerd,” he said, his deep voice husky. “I’m busy. And we didn’t have televisions in the tribe. Not back then. I missed the good days of black-and-white TV.”

“Don’t mind him,” Jace said, leading them through the kitchen. He slid all the cookies off the plate Fiona had put out and into a bag, and left the empty dish on the counter. “He’s harmless. Some of us had the opportunity to watch television shows, but Galen was always studying.”

They went out the kitchen door and headed to a truck. Rose was thrilled to be in on a Callahan caper. Their adventures were legendary; people spoke of their stories in reverent tones. Despite her father’s warnings, she wouldn’t have missed this for the world.

The brothers sandwiched her between them in the front seat, and she enjoyed the feeling of having a strong man seated on either side of her. “So what am I supposed to do?”

“We’re going to lower you into a cave,” Galen said. “We want you to tell us what’s down there.”

Bats and snakes, no doubt. “A cave?”

“Yeah. We’ve both tried, but we’re too big to get inside, with only one of us to pull the other out.” Galen winked. “We can lower you in and pull you out so fast it’ll feel like you’re on a carnival ride.”

“Pretty sure she’ll feel more like she’s a puppet,” Jace said. “With you being the puppeteer. Hope you’re a better puppeteer than you are a TV trivia expert.”

“I...” She wasn’t about to refuse, not when Galen’s blue eyes were smiling at her as if they shared a secret. He really was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

“We looked for our sister,” Jace groused, “but Ash can never be found when she’s needed.”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to be put in a cave,” Rose said.

“When Ash can’t be found, it’s because she’s tracking Xav down.” Galen sighed. “Anyway, you’re thinner.”

“More petite,” Jace said, “like a boy.”

Rose gasped. “I’m nothing like a boy, thank you!”

“I didn’t mean that, exactly,” Jace said hurriedly, and Galen laughed.

“You’re beautiful,” he said. “And my brother’s a dunce. Don’t listen to a word he says. He has zero idea how to talk to a woman. Anyone on the ranch will tell you so.”

Rose felt a bit better, and her spirits lifted. Galen thought she was beautiful! That had to be a good sign—even if he did want to lower her into a dark cave on her first night at Rancho Diablo.

* * *

GALEN COULDN’T BELIEVE he’d talked the tiny blonde into a midnight adventure. His good fortune kept improving. And she felt so soft and dainty next to him. When he’d seen her in those silly happy face pajamas, his body had been hit with a lightning strike of sexual attraction. Desire, fierce and strong, had poured over him, stopping his breath.