Dreaming of a Western Christmas: His Christmas Belle\The Cowboy of Christmas Past\Snowbound with the Cowboy by Lynna Banning & Kelly Boyce & Carol Arens

Author:Lynna Banning & Kelly Boyce & Carol Arens [Banning, Lynna & Boyce, Kelly & Arens, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-09-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Ada lost count of the number of excuses she gave for why she kept glancing out the window waiting for Levi and Micah’s return from the thick copse of woods they’d disappeared into to find their tree. Bruce lifted his head from near the fire and whined, echoing her feelings.

“They’ll be home soon, pup.”

It frightened her how seamlessly Levi had eased into the fabric of their lives. Had a week passed already? His sense of warmth and laughter had infiltrated the shadowed corners of the small cabin and shone a bright light into them, illuminating everything that had been missing in their lives. Everything she had once thought her life would be.

But those days were past. She needed to stop hanging on to a dream. With a shake of her head, she returned to her rocking chair near the hearth and picked up her knitting. The fire warmed her legs and the smooth click-clack of the needles provided a small distraction. She thought to make Micah a warm pair of woolen socks for Christmas, but when she stopped to start the heel, it was clear her mind had wandered. The sizing did not match up and too late she realized it wasn’t Micah she had been knitting for, but Levi. She moved to unravel the half-worked piece but stopped herself. It would be a parting gift, something to keep his feet warm against the Colorado winter as he rode off to his new life in Salvation Falls.

Her gaze shifted to the window once again. Sunlight shimmered against the white landscape.

What if we went with him?

She shook her head at the recalcitrant thought.

“Stop it,” she admonished herself. “That is one tree you do not want to be barking up.”

Besides, Levi hadn’t made a single overture in that direction. Not really. Oh, he’d been charming—that man couldn’t wake up in the morning without charming the sun out of its slumber. But he hadn’t touched her. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Heat rushed through her at the memory of his chest brushing against her back as he’d reached for the plates. The tip of his finger brushing against her lip, whispering against her skin.

What do you really want?

Yearning raged through her, need and regret fast on its heels, unearthing desires she’d spent years denying. Desires that went beyond needing the comfort of a warm body. She’d had a warm body in her bed for nigh on five years, and not once during that time had she experienced an ounce of the passion she’d shared with Levi before his arrest. She hadn’t been able to resist him. She still couldn’t. He had her heart. He always had. For him, she had given up everything—propriety, common sense, Marilla’s good opinion. For him, she had stepped away from promised safety and stability and had taken a chance. She had opened her heart. Loved.

And for her trouble, she’d been gifted with hurt, a broken heart and a baby growing inside of her.

Levi’s baby.

How humiliated she had been, crawling back to Marilla and Harlan, pride in hand.

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