Dear Santa, Send Me a Cowboy

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

DIANA

“ T hat’s the wrong door,” I announced as he went to open it.

“I know,” he grunted, then swung open the door.

Half annoyed, half curious, I hustled my little body toward the garage where I found him searching around in the small space.

Okay… So, he wasn’t leaving?

“What the hell are you doing now?” Crossing my arms, I attempted to warm myself as I watched him move around my garage like he owned it and for some reason, I liked it. A little too much, actually.

“What’s it look like?” He scoffed in that signature tone I was beginning to find less and less obnoxious.

“Either you're extremely lost, or you’re looking for something.” A shiver coursed through my words, causing his head to promptly spin around and lock eyes onto mine.

His brow instantly furrowed.

“Get your ass inside, Diana. It’s way too cold out here for you.” His tone was demanding and authoritative.

My jaw dropped.

He had said my name. He growled it, actually, and it didn’t piss me off like I thought it would. But after the initial shock of it, the realization of it all had hit me.

Was he serious?

Just twenty minutes ago I was outside trying to carry a tree into my home, and he never said anything then. Why was he suddenly now all concerned?

“You hear me back there? Go inside.” His tone took on a more commanding tone as he continued his search. At a loss for words, I remained standing there with a look of shock across my face until his stare caught mine once more and his eyes softened.

“I’m lookin’ for your ladder, woman. Now, be a good girl, and go inside.”

Ladder? Good girl?

What the hell was going on? Maybe I had fallen asleep while watching one of my Christmas movies and I was having a very real-like dream that was currently checking off all the boxes of the type of man I’d spend a wild night with? Though he was a bit too bossy and grumpy for my liking, this surely couldn’t be real.

Right?

Still standing in the same spot, I couldn’t stop my eyes from wandering over his broad back and firm ass. Small-town, country men were a breed of their own. All that gruffness and bullheadedness, intertwined with a “won’t quit” attitude was the perfect recipe for disaster. And by disaster, I meant, too tempting for a woman like me.

A woman who has spent too much time alone.

“My name is Diana, not woman.” I managed to get the words out. “And my ladder isn’t in the garage.” I almost told him that it’s in my shed, but quickly stopped myself as I spun around on my heel and stormed back inside. A low grunt or growl materialized from behind me and soon he was stomping his way back into my home with a less-than-pleased expression on his face.

“You really are fuckin’ stubborn, ain’t you?” he grumbled, causing my whole body to go still.

“Stubborn? Who the hell said that? Your dad?” I was slightly taken aback at the fact that Fred told his son I was stubborn, but when I turned and caught his raised smirk pointed in my direction, all the annoyance in my body fizzled. This was the brightest I had seen this man smile, and my god was it captivating.

So breathtakingly captivating that words became impossible to find as my skin broke out in a sweat.

“Said you’re a lot like me.” He grinned while dropping his eyes down onto my chest. My nipples were now fully aware of his gaze and although there were two layers of clothes covering my breasts, the way his tongue swept along his bottom lip made me feel like I was standing naked in front of him. Just in case, I double checked with a brief glance downward because never in my life had anyone looked at me so intensely.

“I’m nothing like you.”

His grin widened.

“I hope not, darlin’.” He took a step toward me. “Most don’t know how to handle me.” Now that was something I could agree with him on.

“And if I’m right, most men would say that about you, right?” he went on, causing my irritation to rise to a dangerous level.

You’re only pissed because you know he’s right.

“I’d stop right there if I…”

Closing the gap between us, the feel of his rock-hard thigh against my body had me stuttering into silence.

“I’m not finished,” he added, his voice now velvety and smooth as it poured over me. “Most men would say they can’t handle a woman with all that fuckin’ sass. That they can’t deal with a woman who says exactly what’s on their mind.” He kept his gaze fixed on my shocked expression, causing a playful smirk to lift his mouth. “You've been told that, darlin’, haven’t you? That they can’t handle all that fiery attitude of yours?”

Labored breaths and a thumping heart rate, I stared at him unblinkingly.

“Just…” I swallowed, hating how vulnerable and needy I sounded. “Just a couple times.” The ache between my legs intensified as his thigh pressed farther into mine.

God, what was happening to me?

I was melting. Completely and utterly melting for this man, and he was barely brushing up against me.

“Fuckin’ fools,” he mumbled under his breath as his chest expanded and nostrils flared. He had no idea he was currently invading all my senses and wreaking havoc on all my rational thinking. All I could smell was him. All I could feel was him. And in my lonely existence, all I could see was him. Which was exactly what I didn’t need right now.

“None of them idiots could say the right things, could they? Put you in your place when you needed some discipline…”

Holy shit.

I was seconds away from rising onto my toes and smashing my mouth against his, but I remained still and breathless.

“No, they couldn’t because none of them were me,” he outright confessed, all the while hovering his face directly above mine. Expressionless and scouring my face for some sort of reaction, I silently trembled under his intense gaze. No man has ever had me this flustered. Not even my ex elicited such a strong response from me and right now, all I could think about was giving him a bit more of my attitude just to see what he would do.

“Were they?” he asked firmly, but I could barely breathe, let alone respond.

“We ain’t anything alike, baby.” His face softened. Trailing his eyes from my unkempt hair to the bottom of my chin, I watched as his mouth lifted into a small grin. “Fuckin’ stunning.” My mouth parted in shock and when I caught a glimpse of his hand near my head, I let my eyes flutter the second his fingers connected with my hair. “And so damn soft,” he groaned.

My god.

There was no way this gruff, stubborn man was coming on to me. Even as his fingers weaved their way through my hair and those predatory eyes took me in, I still refused to believe it.

Then with a firm, but painless tug on my hair, he lowered his face toward mine. “Everything I’m not.” With his breath now hot against my mouth, I almost grabbed the lapels of his jacket and yanked him down onto my lips. The need to taste that grouchy mouth and feel his beard against my skin nearly had me panting. If my broadened eyes and thumping heart weren’t a dead giveaway for how I was feeling, my now pulsating core would be.

But just when I thought his mouth would connect with mine, he lowered his face into the curve of my neck. During his descent, I could hear his wild, labored pants.

Rough and desperate, he finally inhaled. With his nose buried into my skin, I held back a moan.

Holy shit.

He was smelling me.

And not in a sweet, subtle way either. He was drawing my scent in with deep, loud intakes of breath that were completely feral and uncalled for.

I never wanted it to end.

But once I felt the smooth drag of his tongue along the slope of my neck, I instantly clammed up and pulled myself away from his too tempting presence. Once I did, his heavily glazed-over eyes sought out mine in question, but with a glare, I poked at his chest with a firm finger.

“Whatever you’re thinking is going to happen between us, isn’t,” I scolded, his nostrils flaring out like a wild beast. My face must have been red hot, but I didn’t care.

I couldn’t let this happen.

“After I let you fix my lights, you’re leaving,” I ordered with a tone I used with Silvan, and it only seemed to annoy him as the muscle in his jaw ticked. Then stepping back from the haziness of his orbit, “I’m going to get my jacket,” I grumbled my final words before storming off in the direction of my bedroom.

Damn this cowboy.

Damn him to all hell.