Cathy Thacker - The Rancher's Christmas Baby

Had he insisted they sleep at his place, he could have stretched out on the sectional sofa and given her his king-size bed.

Knowing how important it was to her to maintain her independence, he had respected her request and come here to sleep. Again. Since there was no way he could get his body onto her sofa, he had ended up scrunched up on the double bed, which was still too small by half. Hoping yet another uncomfortable night would show her the wisdom of sleeping at his place from here on out, he closed his eyes.

The water in the bathroom shut off.

He heard Amy moving around, knew she was toweling off.

It took forever for her to dress.

Blow-dry her hair.

Emerge from the bathroom, smelling like the perfumed soap and shampoo she used, and tiptoe toward the other end of the small trailer.

Aware his body was reacting in a way it shouldn’t, he turned onto his side. Given the way he was aching, it was going to be a long night.

Eventually, Teddy went to sleep.

When the alarm went off, he dressed and went out to transfer the necessities from his pickup to her cargo truck.

Amy climbed behind the wheel, a thermos of coffee, a bag of granola bars and apples, and two thermal mugs in her arms. She cast a skeptical look at the boxes he’d stowed behind the seat. “What’s all this?”

“Survival gear.”

Her pretty eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”

Teddy shrugged and climbed into the cab beside her. “Never hurts to be prepared. There’s a lot of desolate road between here and Wichita Falls.”

Scoffing, Amy fit the key into the ignition. “We’re not going to need that stuff.”

“Of course we’re not,” he teased. “We’d only need it if we didn’t have it.”

She considered that. “True.”

Trying not to appear as antsy as he felt, he settled into the passenger seat. “You want to split the driving?” He wasn’t used to taking the passive role. Particularly when he was with her.

“No.” Amy’s chin took on a familiar, stubborn tilt. “I can do it.”

Teddy forced himself not to exhale in exasperation. “If you change your mind…”

“I’ll let you know.”

The morning passed quickly. Although the weather reports remained dire, the pavement was dry when they reached Wichita Falls. However, the clouds were a deep, troubling gray-white.

Luckily, the trees were unloaded quickly and Amy was paid.

By three that afternoon, they were on their way back.

Shortly after, the rain began.

“Maybe we should just err on the side of caution and get a room somewhere,” Teddy said, studying the sky.

“And get stuck here for who knows how many days if this turns to ice? I don’t think so. We’re moving away from the storm. I think we should continue. Besides, it’s just rain.”

“Now.” Teddy pointed to the digital numbers on her dashboard that indicated it was currently thirty-three degrees outside. “If the temperature dips a point or two, we could be dealing with freezing rain or sleet.”

“By the time that happens, we’ll be well out of harm’s way,” Amy predicted.

Not necessarily, since the storm was moving in a southerly direction, from the west, and they were headed southwest.

“At least let me drive,” Teddy said, aware they were still a good five hours from home.

Amy gripped the wheel with both hands, her attention firmly on the road. “Your job is to ride shotgun. That’s it.”

Was this what it was going to be like to be married to her? Amy seemed to be holding on to her autonomy with all her might. And while Teddy understood that—he, too, had an independent streak a mile wide—he also knew that marriage required compromise. Thus far, Amy hadn’t demonstrated much of an inclination to meet him halfway on anything, never mind allow him to protect and care for her in the traditional way husbands cared for their wives.

He found that frustrating as hell.

“Don’t worry,” Amy promised, completely misreading the reason behind his concern. “We’ll stop and get some dinner when we get far enough away from all this.”

TWO HOURS LATER, AMY GLARED at Teddy from across the table. He’d barely spoken to her since they entered the restaurant. Worse, he was so edgy he was making her tense. “Would you stop fidgeting and looking at your watch?” she asked irritably.

“Can’t help it.” The look he gave her mirrored her mood to a T. “I’d rather be driving. Actually—” he held up a hand and corrected before she could comment “—I’d rather be checked into a hotel room.”

That was the last thing they needed . Especially when the idea of the two of them sequestered in a hotel room together, waiting for the winter storm to pass, immediately conjured up forbidden images of hot, passionate sex….

Forcing herself to stop her wayward thoughts—hadn’t notions like that gotten her into trouble in the past?—Amy turned her gaze toward the Christmas tree in the lobby of the truck stop.

Although carols were playing on the sound system, and peppermint ice cream pie was on the menu, it still didn’t feel like Christmas to her. Amy forked up some turkey and dressing, glad for their first hot meal of the day. “Hold on to your britches,” she grumbled. “I’m eating as fast as I can.”

He brightened. “You could take it with us and eat it in the truck if you’d let me drive.”

It would be so easy to lean on him. It would also be a bad precedent to set, unless she wanted him telling her what to do, every day for the rest of her life. Amy went back to glaring at him. “Just because I don’t inhale my food at the speed of light the way you do…”

He arched a brow, obviously fed up with all the waiting around, even though they’d only been in the restaurant for twenty minutes or so.

“I’m going to get some coffee for our thermos.” He left the table.

Amy looked out the window. It was raining pretty hard. Now that the sun had gone down, the temperature was dropping, too. She hurried up, despite her early admonition not to be worried by all the alarmist predictions on the airwaves. By the time she emerged from the ladies’ room, the check had been paid. Full thermos in hand, Teddy was ready to go.

As they walked back out to the truck, icy rain pelted their faces.

It hadn’t been coming down anywhere near this hard when they had stopped for dinner half an hour ago. In fact, it had barely been raining at all.

Her foot slid on the slick pavement as she approached the driver’s side. He caught her.

She had only to look into his eyes to know what he was thinking.

They could spend the night here.

They wouldn’t have a bed, or any privacy, but they’d have heat, food, bathrooms. And he’d be looking at her with that I-told-you-this-was-a-bad-idea gaze all night long.

“I want to keep going.”

His expression remained impassive. “You’re the boss. It’s your call.”

Amy didn’t like the sound of that. There weren’t supposed to be any bosses in their marriage between friends. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her down jacket. “No need to be sarcastic.”

He kept the steadying hand on her elbow and gave her a chivalrous boost up into the cab. “Be grateful I’m still this circumspect.”

Amy scowled and started the truck. To her relief, the dashboard indicated the outside temperature was still thirty-three degrees.

She went over to gas up, and then turned the truck back onto the two-lane highway. “It’s thirty-four miles to the next town,” she said. “If it looks any worse by the time we get there, we’ll stop there for the night.”

Teddy nodded.

To Amy’s relief, the next fifteen miles were fine, although she drove very slowly and carefully, just to be on the safe side.