Merry & Wild (The Wilds of Montana #0.5)

Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

JOHN

T he wind has died down, but the snow doesn’t seem to want to stop falling.

“At least the power’s back,” Lucky says as he walks out of the barn behind me and closes the door. “I’ll be sure to refill the gas tank on the generator as soon as the roads are clear.”

“Good idea. If this is any indication of how the rest of the winter will be, we’ll need it. Fill up a few extra gas cans, too.”

“Will do,” he says with a nod. “I’m going to go catch a nap until my next shift in the barn.”

“Another good idea.” I offer him a wave as he sets off for the bunkhouse, and then I turn toward my cabin. With most of the wind gone, it doesn’t feel quite so bitterly cold out.

Maybe I can talk Joy into a ride around the ranch. I can’t wait to show it to her.

“Sorry I was gone so long,” I say as I open the door, but my words get stuck in my throat when I see that Joy’s wet, obviously from the shower. She has my towel draped around her, and she’s checking the clothes that hang by the fire to see if they’re dry. “Well, hello there.”

“I decided to take advantage of the power being back on,” she says, not even looking my way. She bends over, and I can almost see all the way to the promised land. “So, I took a shower. Do you want me to put these clothes through the laundry? Or do you think they’re okay? They seem to be dry, but maybe they need to go through the washing machine. What do you think?”

When I don’t answer, she turns around and frowns.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more beautiful in my life.”

The frown stays in place, but she bites her lip, and then her whole gorgeous face floods with color.

“It was just a shower,” she mutters, squirming next to the fire.

She’s fucking adorable.

“For real, though, pay attention. Should I wash these?”

“I bet they’re okay for now.”

She nods and, with her clothes clutched to her chest, she sets off for the bedroom.

So, I follow her.

“How do you feel about a ride around the ranch?”

With her back turned to me, Joy starts to dress, and that makes me chuckle.

“I’ve already seen everything there is to see, sweetheart. Several times.”

“Yeah, well, I can still be a little shy.”

She finishes dressing and then turns to me, pushing her wet hair over her shoulder. “If we’re going to tour the ranch in your truck, then yes. If by foot, no thanks.”

“By truck, absolutely.”

“Then, I’m in.” She tugs on her socks and then saunters over to me for a kiss. She boosts up on her toes, and I still have to bend down a bit to reach her lips.

“Or we could stay in,” I suggest.

“I need fresh air,” she says with a laugh, pulling away from me. “And a small break from all of sexy time.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“No.” She shakes her head and takes my hand in hers. “You didn’t hurt me. Let’s see the ranch and then have more sex, okay?”

“I like that itinerary. You’ll need to dry your hair first. I have a blow dryer in the drawer in the bathroom.”

“Cool.” She bounces off to the bathroom, and I hear her rooting around in the drawer, and then the dryer starts.

While she does that, I pull out more clean, warm clothes before putting all the dirty ones I wore through the night into the washer and get it started. Then I grab my keys and go outside to start my truck, silently thanking heaven above that I had the block heater installed on it last summer.

It’s going to pay off this winter.

The truck starts like a dream, and I turn the heat on full blast before walking back into the cabin.

“Truck’s heating up,” I call out down the hall.

“Almost done,” she calls back.

Even though the heater works well in the truck, I grab a blanket to toss over our laps, just in case, and fill a thermos with hot chocolate.

I’ve just taken those supplies out to the warming truck and come back inside when she appears in the living room, looking like she should be on the front of a magazine.

“You look…fantastic.”

She smiles widely. “Thanks. It’s amazing what a shower and a blow dryer will do. Of course, I keep hairspray in my purse.”

“Of course, you do.”

“It’s the eighties. I have to have big hair.” She laughs and pulls on her coat. “Okay, are you ready? Should we take some coffee or hot chocolate?”

“Already done,” I inform her. “I’m prepared.”

“I’m impressed.” She hurries out the door I’ve just opened for her, and around to the passenger side of the truck. Once we’re both in, she smiles over at me. “This is fun.”

“We haven’t even gone anywhere yet.”

“It’s already fun,” she informs me. “I can’t wait to see everything.”

“Well, we’ll see as much as we can drive to. My four-wheel drive should get us pretty much everywhere.”

“What if we get stuck?”

“Then I’ll be hoofing it back to get help.”

Joy frowns. “No, I don’t like that idea. Maybe we should just stay at the cabin until it’s safer for a tour.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t take you anywhere that it’s not safe. I know this ranch better than I know your body, and that’s saying a lot, seeing as how I spent a lot of time memorizing every single gorgeous line and curve you’ve got.”

She blinks over at me. “Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow.”