Free Merry Cowboy Christmas by Carolyn Brown

had happened.
    “Well, then hand me those dirty dishes. I woke up hungry and I’m going down to the kitchen for a glass of milk. Good night to you both,” Katy said.
    “I feel like a sophomore,” Jud chuckled when Katy disappeared down the steps.
    “Me too, but we can’t do this again.” Fiona’s breath came out in a long gasp.
    He ran a finger down her jawbone. “Why? I kind of enjoyed it.”
    She turned around and opened her bedroom door. “I’m leaving town, maybe not next week or even before summer. But still, I’m not going to be here long-term. Can’t get any simpler or easier to understand than that.”
    “But you’ll be around for a little while. I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment here, Fiona. We are two adults and we could have some fun. Besides, it might help you forget that rotten ex of yours,” he said.
    She had a smart remark on the tip of her tongue that got lost in his soft brown eyes. She wanted to kiss him again. Hell, she wanted to do more than act like sophomores in high school. She wanted to be half of a consenting adult couple and pull him through the open door into her bedroom.
    No, no! the voice in her head screamed. Get a hold of your emotions or you’ll make the second biggest mistake of your life. This is not a part of your new plan.
    “What are you thinking about so seriously, Fiona? A few kisses don’t mean a stroll down the aisle. I enjoyed kissing you,” Jud said.
    “I was thinking of my new plan, and it doesn’t involve getting into a relationship of any kind,” she said honestly.
    “You are beautiful when you are serious. But then you’re pretty damn cute when you are kicking the shit out of a blown truck tire.” He grinned.
    It had been a very long time since anyone had told her that she was pretty or had teased her about her temper. “I guess it goes with the red hair and green eyes. I’m told that the original owner of this place, Miz Audrey, had red hair and a wicked temper.”
    “Hey…” He braced his back against the wall. “Since you don’t like it here and you could live anywhere in the whole world, where would it be?”
    “Any big city where no one knows me or my past,” she answered quickly. “I’ve been thinking about Austin or maybe San Antonio. What about you?”
    “Right here. I’ve waited for the Lucky Penny my whole life.”
    “Why?” She frowned. “It’s a run-down old ranch except for the part that Lizzy bought from Deke. Even that isn’t anything to brag about.”
    “Because all three of us have always wanted to build something from nothing. To be able to tell our kids when we are old that no one gave us this land or this ranch, that we had to dig it out of the earth and work our asses off to have it. There’s something satisfying about that,” Jud said.
    “Didn’t Toby already do that with some place he had up around Muenster?” She looped her hands around her legs and braced her chin on her knees.
    “He did but it wasn’t nearly the challenge this is. We were all born a hundred years too late, I guess. We should have been ranchers back in free-range days or when the state was being settled.”
    “You wouldn’t have had bulldozers and tractors in those days,” she said.
    “We would have had Audrey’s in all its glory. I wonder what those ladies who lived in our bedrooms looked like.” He grinned.
    She slapped at his shoulder. “I hated the stigma of this place when I was a teenager. Boys thought Lizzy and I would be easy because of the reputation it has.”
    “Not Allie?”
    “No, she started dating Riley when they were kids and she never went out with anyone else. It broke her heart when she found out he’d been unfaithful their whole married life.”
    “And you? How bad was your heart broken?”
    “At the time, I was more angry than hurt. Especially about my job. We’d been fighting so much that divorce had crossed my mind several times.”
    “Y’all still up?” Katy asked as she topped the