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  Hanging the multicolored glass balls, Colt nodded. “Right after I left here, I joined the Corps. I was in for four years, in Special Forces.” Looking down at her, he noticed she was staring at him, but as he arched a brow, she quickly handed him more ornaments. “I got out after four years and joined the circuit.”

  Aspen peeked around the tree at him. “The circuit?”

  He stood holding a glass snowman, looking at it. “Yes,” his voice was low as if lost in the memories. “The circuit, the rodeo circuit.”

  “Oh.” Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, she waited for him to continue.

  “I began riding bulls and found I had a knack for it. Went into it all-out and lived and breathed the rodeo for the past sixteen years. Won a world title three times. This is my first Christmas not participating in the finals.”

  There was no bragging in his voice, just an acceptance that it was truly in the past. “Three world titles, huh? That’s impressive.” Aspen touched his arm in silent support.

  Blinking away the memories, Colt gave her a tremulous smile. “I guess. I kind of miss it, you know—the excitement, smells, and all the energy that surrounds it. Not that I don’t love being here with you,” he hastened to add.

  “I understand missing things. I’m here if you want to talk about it. I won’t claim to know anything about the rodeo or bull riding, but I can listen.”

  This time when he looked down at her dark beauty, Colt gave her a lascivious wink. “I am looking forward to making new, lasting memories this holiday season.”

  She merely rolled her eyes. At least he wasn’t lost in thought about things long past. Dropping her hand from his arm, Aspen moved back around to gather some more ornaments.

  Two hours later, the tree was trimmed. Both dogs were curled up on the couch and Aspen shook her head. It was a losing battle. “Thank you for helping out, Colt.”

  “You’re welcome.” Standing behind her, he slid his arms around her, tugging her back to rest against his solid chest. For a moment they stood there admiring the tree. “Take a walk with me?” he asked.

  “Sure. Just let me get ready.” Aspen moved out of his embrace and headed up to her room to put on some warmer clothes. She heard him on the stairs behind her, but didn’t turn.

  They met at the bottom of the stairs about ten minutes later; both of them bundled up for the cold. Slipping on her winter parka, Aspen watched him tug on his gloves. This was one of the coldest winters they had in a while, and the one with the most snow.

  The two humans and two dogs walked out into the winter day. The snow was deep and they sank far as they walked to the field behind her house. Valor and Duchess ran all around, energy abounding as they streaked by.

  Side by side, Colt and Aspen moved through the snow. Stopping on the rise they looked down into a small valley, dimpling her property. Aspen loved views like this.

  “That is one beautiful sight,” Colt spoke beside her.

  “I love looking at pictures like this. When I was in college, this was definitely one thing that I missed.” Aspen put her hands in her pockets.

  Positioning himself behind her, Colt shared his body heat with her. His head, pressed close to hers, allowed him to feel the 180Ú style earmuffs that she had on. “Better?”

  “Much.” She laid her arms over his as they encircled her. They stood for a while as the dogs ran themselves out, until the cold began to sink in.

  “Ready to move on? Or did you want to make an angel in the snow?” Colt breathed by her ear.

  “Let’s walk. The idea of lying in the snow isn’t what I want right now. It feels like the temperature has dropped.”

  “I think it has. And I would be more than happy to lay you down in the snow. We’d make it melt with the heat produced.”

  “Walking on,” she mumbled, not wanting him to know what his words did to her.

  “No sense of adventure?” he teased as they walked back toward the house.

  “I have plenty of adventure in me, just none that includes lying with you in the snow.” She strode on ahead as the wind picked up along with the frequency of the flakes.

  “Well, I guess that means everywhere in your house is still good, since you didn’t exclude those venues.” He whistled for his dogs and followed her back to the house.

  The walk back took them another thirty minutes and they were both chilled yet invigorated when they got inside her warm house. As he shut the door behind him, her phone began to ring.

  Aspen shrugged out of her jacket and picked up the nearest handset. “Hello?” Her shoulders slumped as she said, “Hello, Mama.”

  Chapter Six

  Colt ran his hands over her hips. She couldn’t say anything or she would give away that he was with her. Aspen shoved him away with one hand as her heart beat erratically.

  “How are you, Mama?” Aspen asked. Her gaze followed Colt as he walked away up the stairs. At the top he winked at her and disappeared down the hall.

  “What is this I hear about you causing a scene in the supermarket, Aspen Lajoia?” her mother demanded.

  “It was nothing, Mama.”

  “It is not nothing for you and Colt Larkin to be spreading around that he was with you last night and had breakfast at your place.”

  “Mama, he didn’t spend the previous night here. He showed up at the door after I had begun breakfast.” Aspen paused. “I made some for him as well, since I was brought up that way.”

  “Don’t get snippy with me, little miss. I know full well how you were raised.” Her mother’s imperious tone reached out and smacked her in the back of the head.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Aspen responded automatically.

  “So, what was he doing at your house?”

  One would think she was five instead of thirty-five, with the way her parents wanted to run her life. “I ran into Colt, Lizzy, and Dale at Mall of America. Dale was nice enough to share his chocolate with my pants. So Colt stopped by the next day to offer to pay for cleaning.” Well, it wasn’t a total lie.

  “Umm-hmmm.” Mrs. Townsend’s’ doubtful tone crossed the line. “And, right now, he would be where?”

  Sweet Jesus, I can’t lie to my mom. “He would be here.”

  Silence reigned for a moment before Shoya Townsend spoke again, “Well, you are old enough to make your own decisions. And the only reason I will accept your decision to do whatever it is you are doing out there is because of Ashton.”

  “I’m glad you will accept it, but nothing is happening…and what do you mean, because of Ashton?”

  “Aston told your father and me about that kiss all those years ago. And about how your Mr. Larkin kept asking about you when he and Ashton would get together. He told us that there was something between the two of you and we needed to accept and support you in your realization of a soul mate. Of your soul mate.” Her mother’s voice had softened considerably.

  Aspen sank to the arm of the couch, her legs wouldn’t hold her anymore. “What are you talking about? Why didn’t anyone tell me about this sooner?” Her heart was beating so fast she felt winded.

  “We thought you knew. Besides, it was not our place to bring the two of you back together. I’m going to go now, but when those roads get clear, you and that man of yours come out to the house,” Shoya ordered before hanging up softly.

  “How’s your mother?”

  Looking up, Aspen saw Colt standing before her. “Fine, she’s fine.”

  “Are you sure?” He frowned. “You seem like you got some disturbing news.”

  “She knows you’re here.”

  Colt chuckled. At her dumbfounded expression he explained, “Baby, no one has ever been able to keep a secret from your mother. You know that. She is the world’s best detective.”

  Aspen nodded, it was true. Her mother was a bloodhound when it came to seeking out information. “She said Ashton told her you always asked about me when you two got together.” Her words were soft and uncertain.

  Kneeling before
her, Colt took her cold hands enfolding them in his large ones. “I did. Baby, all you need to do is ask me and I will tell you anything you want to know. I will tell you each of our conversations. Did he never tell you I asked about you?”

  “Each time he brought up your name, I changed the subject,” she confessed, looking away from his mesmerizing gaze.

  “It hurts to hear that, but I understand why you did. I never should have left the party that night. I should have stayed beside you.”

  “Where did you go?” Aspen had never known what he did after he left her side. She had heard rumors of who he had been with, but she wanted to hear it from him.

  “I went to my old man’s cabin.” Halting her chin with one hand, he waited until he reclaimed her gaze. “I was there alone. I wanted to make love to you so badly after kissing you that I knew I had to leave or I would do something that would have gotten us both in trouble. Jesus, Aspen, you were fifteen. It would have been statutory rape. I had to leave and wait until you were older.”

  Touched by the concern he had shown for her, Aspen found herself looking at the man before her in a totally different light. He was still a bad boy, but he had matured… he was a man and one hell of one. “Wow,” she breathed.

  “The next day, your brother found me. Somehow he had known where I went. And after I convinced him to stop wailing on me and give me a chance to explain, I came totally clean with him about how I felt for you.” Colt stood up and walked around to sit on the couch, tugging her to fall in his lap.

  “What did Ashton say?” She cuddled up close to his warm body.

  “Not much at that time. Why, did he say anything to you?”

  Aspen thought back. “Well, half the time he told me to find myself a good man—not one like you—but anytime I had a boyfriend he would say ‘Well, I guess he’s okay, but he’s no Colt.’ I always brushed it off as my brother idolizing you.”

  “And how many boyfriends did you have?” Colt laced his fingers around hers.

  “Enough to know that they were nothing like you,” Aspen said. Taking a deep breath, she questioned, “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything you want, baby.” His lips teased the soft skin of her face.

  “Why weren’t you at Ashton’s funeral?”

  “I was out of the country. By the time I got the message, the funeral had already happened.” Closing his eyes against the pain of missing something so important to him, Colt allowed her presence to calm him. “I have never forgiven myself for missing it. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

  “I had my family,” she said quietly.

  “Yes, but I wasn’t there for you.” Swinging his feet up on the couch, he whispered, “Let’s take a nap.”

  Warm, sleepy, and extremely content, Aspen nodded into his chest. “Okay.” She reached up and tugged down the afghan from the back of the couch and covered them with it, and then she yawned and closed her eyes. It felt good to be in his arms. It felt safe. It felt right.

  * * * *

  Aspen awoke alone one the couch. The afghan was tucked around her, but there was no Colt with her. Opening her eyes, she came face to face with Valor. He had his nose right in front of her. When she jumped, he licked her face, dissolving her into a fit of giggles.

  She smelled steak cooking and moved her head to look into the kitchen. Colt was making a salad. Getting off the couch, she folded the blanket and put it back in its place. Stretching first, patting Valor second, Aspen moved into the kitchen. It was dark outside.

  Frowning in confusion, she looked at the clock on the wall. Seven-thirty at night. “Glad to see you up and about, sleepyhead,” Colt’s deep voice teased.

  “I didn’t realize I had slept so long. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize. I haven’t been up that long myself. I guess we both needed to get some solid sleep.”

  It was true. The sleep they had was unlike any they had experienced before. For once they were both content and their bodies took full advantage of that.

  “What are you making?”

  Colt winked at her. “Dinner. Hope steaks are okay.”

  “Fine, but you didn’t have to cook,” Aspen said as she yawned again.

  “I like cooking for you. You can set the table if you want something to do.”

  Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she nodded. “Okay.” Aspen didn’t get more than two steps away from him before she was hauled up against his body while his mouth plundered hers.

  Releasing her, Colt murmured, “Now you can go.”

  Licking her lips to get all the taste of him she could, Aspen headed for the cupboards. That man was nothing short of hazardous, but damn if he didn’t make danger attractive.

  Dinner was filled with wonderful memories of her brother. For a time, the world shrunk to the two of them and it felt almost as if her brother was there as well. It made the night even more special.

  An odd feeling settled around Aspen’s heart. The more she opened up and shared with Colt, the more insistent the feeling became. Not one to go on emotions very much, she would have been hard-pressed to name it, but it was perilously close to love.

  Studying Colt from under her thick lashes, Aspen wondered if she was still in love with the bad boy from school. Maybe all her daydreaming had insinuated him so deep within her being; it was natural for her to feel like this. Then again, this was much more intense than she ever remembered it being.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked as he took a drink of his wine.

  “You,” Aspen blurted out.

  “Good thoughts?”

  “I’m just trying to figure out…oh, hell, I don’t know. I was thinking of school.” Aspen shrugged it off.

  Colt ran a hand through his hair as he leaned back in his chair. “I told you, if you want to know something, all you have to do is ask me.” Those damn eyes of his were watching her again.

  “I remember.” Standing, she picked up her dishes and carried them to the sink. “I’ll clean up, since you cooked.”

  Rising to his full height, Colt watched her avoid her question. “I’ll help.” Within seconds he was beside her at the sink. Aspen washed and he rinsed. Both of them remembered the previous night, doing dishes as one.

  Once back in the living room, Colt turned on the tree and they sat in companionable silence on the couch. Aspen looked around and noticed that Colt had put up some more decorations, framed the windows with lights, and turned the house into a home for the first time.

  “I can take it down, if you don’t like it,” Colt said, following her gaze.

  “No, I love it. It’s perfect, thank you.” She gave him a gentle smile.

  “Thank you for making me want to decorate and celebrate the holidays.” Stretching out his arm, he commanded, “Come here.”

  Without hesitation, Aspen slid across the couch and tucked her body against his. As his arm settled around her shoulders, she closed her eyes. It was a wonderful feeling having him here with her.

  “The roads should be clear tomorrow,” he spoke softly.

  “I know.” She snuggled closer. “They will be clear in time for church.”

  “Of course they will,” he agreed. “Thanks for having me.” Colt rested his cheek along the top of her head.

  “It didn’t matter how upset I was at you, Colt. I never would have sent you back out in those kinds of conditions.” She felt his head lift.

  Two fingers raised her chin, so when her eyes opened they were looking into his. The desire in them was banked, but she knew it would only take a spark to set it ablaze. “You know I want to make love to you, Aspen.”

  Lord knew she wanted to as well. “I know,” she answered in a quiet voice. “I can’t.”

  Colt stared at the smooth darkness of her skin and how it contrasted with the lighter tan of his own. There was nothing more beautiful to him than a woman who didn’t shove her beauty in your face. And his Aspen seemed totally ignorant of how gorgeous she truly was.

&n
bsp; The way she carried herself with confidence added to her appeal. Her face was heart-shaped and her cheekbones really added character. She did at times appear haughty, especially if she was angry. Otherwise she was simply beautiful.

  She had big eyes that changed color according to her mood, a button-like nose, and those full, succulent lips. Her hair was jet black and smooth as satin.

  He knew she wanted him, he was no dummy. He was well-versed in the signs. But this was one woman on whom he would never, could never, use his touch to get her to change her mind. “Can you tell me why not? I know you want me just as much as I want you.”

  Aspen took a deep breath. “I’m not ready for that step with you, not yet.”

  Not yet. “I understand.” Bringing her head back to his shoulder, he laced his hands around her body and held her close.

  Silence returned to the room until the peace was shattered by the shrill ring of the phone. Aspen untangled herself from Colt’s warm body and padded over to pick up the phone. “Hello?” she said stretching. “Oh, hey. How are you?”

  Colt watched her as she sat down in a chair by the phone. Getting up himself, he went to take his dogs outside and give her some privacy. He wished he knew what was holding Aspen back from joining with him totally. Moving past her, he trailed his hand down her face and continued on.

  Maneuvering her head around, Aspen watched as he moved to the door. When he had slipped outside, she returned her attention to the person at the other end of her phone. It was a colleague, Erick Slaton.

  Lost in her conversation, she didn’t realize when Colt came back in. He stood along one wall and listened to her saying goodbye to the person on the phone.

  “Okay then, Erick. That sounds like a plan. I will see you then.” She laughed. “No, I’m not up here doing anything of the sort. Don’t worry about me. All right, you as well. Have a great holiday and I will see you in January. Bye, Erick.” Shaking her head, she pressed the end call button and put the phone back on the charger.

  “Who’s Erick?” The tone was dangerous.