Page 36 of The Wedding Gift
“I really don’t think Frank James can drink that,” she joked as she tiptoed and whipped the scarf around the snowman’s neck.
“Who?” Cameron asked as he opened the can of beer and poured it on the ground. “This is for you, JJ. Remembering all the good times, the bad times, and all the ones in between.” His voice was just a raspy whisper.
Jorja slipped an arm around his waist, and together they stood there in silence for several moments. She couldn’t fathom building a snowman like this one with her sister, and yet the thing looked just right sitting there in the parking lot of the Honky Tonk.
“Cowboys don’t cry.” He wiped away a single tear from his cheek.
“Good men do when they remember a lost best friend,” she said past the lump in her own throat.
“Thank you for that.” He managed a weak smile. “Why did you name him Frank James?”
“He’s named for Jesse’s real brother. I thought it would be confusing to call him Cameron since some folks might think he was a girl.” She bumped him with her hip and then stepped back to eye their snowman with the beer puddling around his base.
“Great name for our snowman.” Cameron removed a knife from his pocket and poked a hole in the beer can and stuck it on the left tree branch that served as an arm.
“Why’d you put it on the left side? Was Frank a leftie?” she asked.
“Have no idea, but JJ was,” he grinned. “Now, let’s go to the grocery store before it closes, and we get all depressed again. This is supposed to be a cheerful day, not a sad one. We’ve been given a bar to run, and we’ve each made a brand-new friend because of it.”
“So, you think I’m your friend?” Jorja flirted.
“I damn sure hope so, since we’re going to be working together for a long, long time”—he wiggled his eyebrows—“unless you’re so homesick that you want to sell me your half of this place and go home. You could be there in time for Santa Claus presents tomorrow morning if you leave right now.”
“Not in your wildest dreams, cowboy.” She gathered up a fistful of snow, threw it at him, and then ran as fast as she could back toward the bar.
She would have made it if she had been wearing anything but rubber boots.
Cameron tackled her for the second time and brought them both down to the ground with her on top of him thistime. She started to roll to the side, but he held on to her, and suddenly, everything around them ceased to exist. She felt as if she was drowning in his dark-brown eyes. One of his hands went to the back of her head to gently pull her lips toward his, and then her heart began to race.
When their lips met, the temperature seemed to jack up at least twenty degrees, and her whole body melted into his as each kiss deepened. He sat up, keeping her in his lap, and moved his hands to her waist. If they didn’t stop soon, they would be undressing each other right out there in the open and having wild sex in the snow.
She pushed away from him and shifted her weight to the side so that she was sitting beside him instead of in his lap. “That certainly made me forget all about homesickness,” she said, panting.
“Me too.” He grinned as he got to his feet and extended a hand to help her up. “We should lock the door and go to the store.”
“In rubber boots?” She took his hand and let him help her to her feet. “Shouldn’t we change into something more appropriate?”
“After those scaldin’-hot kisses, I’m not sure we would be safe being that close to the beds in our apartment,” he said. “I’ll start the truck if you’ll lock the door.”
“I’ll grab my purse while I’m in there,” she said, “and I’ll also change my boots.”
“Women!” He chuckled.
“Aren’t we amazing?” She let go of his hand and dashed in the back door. She took time to change her boots and peek into the mirror above her chest of drawers. Her cheeks were bright red. Her lips were bee-stung and her eyes were still glazed over. Sweet Jesus! She’d only known the man a few days, and she’d almost been ready to drag him into the apartment and spend the rest of the day with him on a twin bed.
“Merry Christmas to me if I had.” She touched her lips to see if they were as hot as they felt, but surprisingly enough, they were cool.
You are going to be the death of your family for thinking like that.Abigail’s voice popped into Jorja’s head.
Take off your holier-than-thou britches, Jorja argued.Thinking something doesn’t mean I’m going to act on it.
Chapter 7
When Jorja got into the truck and fastened the seat belt, Cameron was still smoldering hot from that make-out session, but he turned the heater on low for her benefit. She now wore a pair of red cowboy boots, but that was all that had been changed. Tight jeans hugged every curve, and her cheeks were flushed from the cold—or maybe from all that kissing. Had it heated her up as much as it had him, he wondered?
Think about cooking or something, anything but the way she felt in your arms, he told himself as he turned on the windshield wipers and drove away from the parking lot. “North or south?” he asked.
“Why?” she asked.