The Mistletoe Effect by Melissa Cutler

Author:Melissa Cutler [Cutler, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2014-10-06T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

A week later

Carina woke in darkness to the sound of a double-barreled rifle firing. Decker stirred and wrapped an arm around Carina’s bare stomach, pulling her up against his body and away from the phone she’d been reaching for on the nightstand. He was hot all over and as naked as she was, judging by the hard-on digging into her upper thigh.

If she’d only known that marriage came with so many nightly and sometimes first-thing-in-the-morning perks, she might have tried harder to rope herself a husband sooner—or a fake husband, anyway. Then again, there were decent odds that the insatiable desire that had consumed them both was only a product of the ticking-clock aspect of their bargain.

He rubbed his lips along her shoulder. “Is someone shooting at us or am I dreaming?”

“My father. That’s his ringtone.”

With a string of curses under his breath about Ty Briscoe invading his bed, Decker flopped to his back, taking his heat with him. Carina had long ago given up reminding Decker that they weren’t really married. The ruse turned her on as much as it clearly did him, and there really wasn’t any harm in pretending. They both knew the score. Pulling the covers higher, she accepted the call, then rolled to Decker’s side and slung a leg over his thighs.

“Daddy, it’s too early. Today’s my morning off.”

“There’s no such thing as time off in December for Briscoes.”

She closed her eyes and tamped her frustration. He was right, of course. Sharing a bed with a sexy cowboy had obviously clouded her judgment. It wasn’t like Decker was taking the morning off, either. She cracked an eyelid. His alarm was set to go off in less than five minutes.

The same Mistletoe phenomenon that made December Carina’s busiest month made it the busiest month for the resort as a whole. Decker’s days and evenings were consumed by managing riding lessons, guided horseback tours of the ranch, and carriage rides for wedding parties and their guests. He had a great staff working under him, reliable and good with the guests, but it was still sixteen-hour workdays, seven days a week. Just like her days.

She rolled away from Decker and flipped the covers back. “Okay, I’m getting up, Dad. What do you need?”

“Wedding World e-mailed me. They were so intrigued by the Mistletoe Effect and by your and Decker’s spontaneous wedding that they’ve decided to make our resort their February cover story.”

Carina bounced out of bed. “Are you kidding me? That’s fantastic. You can’t buy publicity like that.”

“That’s not exactly true, because I might have greased some palms, but the point is, they’re coming back at least two more times this month. The Mistletoe Ball and … tonight.”

“What?”

“They’re flying in for tonight’s cocktail reception to talk to all the newlyweds and soon-to-be newlyweds who are at the resort right now,” her dad said.

“There’s no cocktail reception tonight.”

“There is now. I have total confidence that you can not only pull this off, but make us all look good. The family’s counting on you.

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