“Your drink matches your outfit,” Craig said over the strains of the band’s rendition of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas.”
“Huh?” Caroline’s nerve endings were pulsating along with the tempo of the festive music.
He nodded at her rum-laced eggnog in a miniature Mason jar and repeated himself.
Caroline had carefully chosen an ivory cashmere sweater and paired it with a matching fitted skirt that flared into a short ruffle of chiffon above the knee. Despite the snow outside, she’d kept her legs bare and her feet festive in a pair of glittery gold pumps. “Well, that’s a party planner’s job. To work from behind the scenes and blend in with the surroundings.”
“As if you could ever blend in anywhere,” Craig said, his unconcealed stare turning her pulsing nerves into a throbbing ache under her skin.
It was the night of the Presents for Patriots fund-raiser and they hadn’t driven to the party together because, technically, Caroline was working. At least she had been the first half of the evening. But the caterers and the band and even the bartenders had worked previous events at Sawmill Station and didn’t need much direction. So, after dinner and the silent auction, the only thing left for her to do was dance.
Of course, the sexy cowboy standing in front of her didn’t seem all that eager to pull her onto the dance floor despite the fact that his warm hands kept sliding lower along her back each time he’d come over to check on how she was feeling.
In fact, judging by the way his palm was now resting along the upper curve of her bottom and threatening to dip lower, Caroline got the impression that he was much more eager to get her alone.
And truthfully, Caroline didn’t want to wait any longer to make Craig hers.
They’d been living together for almost two weeks now and there was no way she was going to let him sleep on her sofa one more night. Maybe it was the intoxicating fragrance of all the swags of pine branches and mistletoe running along the white linen-covered farm tables. Or maybe it was the warm glow from the white twinkling lights hanging from the rustic wooden beams of the old freight house. Perhaps it was the spiced eggnog concoction warming her veins. More than likely, it was a combination of all three making her grow bolder and more confident by the minute.
It was either now or never.
“Are you ready to go home?” she asked, turning toward him and laying her hand on the lapel of his dark sport coat. “I want to give you your Christmas present early.”
She saw the muscles of his neck contract as he tipped back his head and swallowed down the rest of his beer. Setting his empty bottle on the nearest table, his voice was low and rushed when he said, “Let’s go.”
Vivienne—who was standing with her husband beside the vintage red sleigh loaded with gifts donated for the Presents for Patriots charity—gave Caroline a thumbs-up as Craig guided her toward the exit.
The ten-minute ride back to her house was the same one he drove every day. But now it seemed as though it only took seconds before they were pulling into Caroline’s driveway.
Maybe he knew what she had planned and he was just as eager for it. Snow was falling as they walked to her front door, yet her skin was on fire and anticipation raced through her. The sight of her spare key attached to his key ring gave her another jolt of confidence that Craig wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere. At least, not yet.
“Wait here,” she said, pointing toward the sofa because it would’ve been too mortifying to suggest he wait on her bed. And trickier to explain without giving the surprise away. And she had a feeling that she was going to need the element of surprise.
Caroline went into her bathroom and carefully removed her sweater and skirt, then reached in the vanity to find the matching lace bra-and-pantie set she’d hidden there for this exact moment.
Her cheeks turned the same crimson shade as the lingerie and Caroline was glad she’d been smart enough not to wear such a sexy thing under her clothes earlier. She would’ve been entirely distracted throughout the party, constantly aware of what she had on underneath and thinking about who would see it later.
She was dying to splash some cold water on her face, but didn’t want to ruin her carefully applied makeup. Instead, she settled for a gulp of water out of the faucet, then stared at her reflection wondering if there was anything she’d forgotten when she’d come up with this plan. Don’t think of it as a plan, she told herself. Try to act natural.
Unfortunately, the longer she stood in this bathroom, the more she would second-guess herself. Steeling herself, she listened to that initial instinct—the one that had never steered her wrong before—and walked out into the living room.
Caroline heard Craig’s sharp intake of breath, saw the heat fill his eyes, and it was all she could do not to smile in triumph. She was sure he could see her heart thumping behind her rib cage.
“I have to tell you something,” Craig blurted out. His voice held a slight tremble and Caroline guessed that he was just as nervous as she. Another ounce of courage filled her and she straightened her back, causing her breasts to thrust forward.
“Don’t you want to unwrap your gift first?” she asked.
His only response was his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Normally, when he was uncomfortable or trying to avoid a question, he focused on some distant point while he spoke to her. Right now, though, his eyes were drilling into her, and Caroline’s confidence soared.
He’d already discarded both his heavier outer coat and his sport coat and was now only wearing a white dress shirt. She walked toward him and slid her hands up his chest until her fingers landed on the first buttonhole. “Or can I unwrap mine first?” she asked him as she opened his buttons.
“I’m not who you think I am,” he said in a rush, and Caroline didn’t quite feel like herself, either. Boldness had overcome her, and right now, if she allowed him to distract her with all his chivalrous excuses of why they couldn’t be intimate, she would surely lose more than her memory. She might lose her mind.
Putting a finger up to his mouth to gently shush him, Caroline ended up tracing his lower lip. “But you’re exactly who I want.”
“How do you know, though? Your head—”
She cut off his words with a kiss. Caroline was tired of explaining that her concussion was perfectly healed. Her only option now was to show him. And she did so with her mouth, her hands, her entire body, distracting him from any argument about why they shouldn’t finally consummate their relationship.
There was a slight resistance when she tugged on his hand, trying to lead him toward her bedroom, and she could see all the conflicted emotions pass across his face. Cupping his cheek, she whispered, “Craig, trust me, I know what you want to tell me. But there isn’t a single thing you can say that would stop me from wanting you. Unless it’s that you don’t want me.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he replied, his voice deep and loaded with desire.
“Then prove it.”
Craig groaned as he lifted her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the bed. His mouth claimed hers and as he set her down, she slipped her hands into his undone shirt and yanked it free just as his body followed hers onto the comforter.
There was more kissing, more touching, more moaning as her bra came loose and her panties slid from her hips. Caroline was pushing his jeans past the rounded muscles of his rear end when his body stilled.
“I need to go get some protection,” he murmured against her temple, then began to push off her, but she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him back.
“Don’t leave,” Caroline said, thinking she would die of humiliation if he came to his senses and rejected her now.
“Honey, I’m just going to the living room to get them out of my duffel bag.”
Pleasure engulfed her as she realized that he must have known in the back of his mind that they would eventually make love. He’d prepared just as she had.
“That’s okay,” she replied, leaning toward her bedside drawer to retrieve the package she’d brought home from work. “I was too embarrassed to go to the drugstore in town, so I found these in one of the favor bags we had left over from a bachelorette party last summer.”
When he rolled the condom on, Caroline knew with a certainty that this was the man for her. This was her destiny. He entered her slowly and Caroline gasped as the hard tip filled her.
“Are you okay?” he asked and she could hear the tension in his tone, as it must’ve taken him an extreme amount of willpower to hold himself back.
“I’ve never been better,” she sighed. “Please don’t stop now.”
“I never can tell you no,” Craig said, then thrust deep inside her, only to freeze when she winced in pain. “You...you’re a...”
“I’m yours,” Caroline said, using her calves to wind around him and draw him in closer.
* * *
She’d been a virgin, Craig thought, trailing his fingers along her spine as she curved her body next to his afterward. There was no turning back now. Caroline had unwittingly given him a precious gift and all he’d given her in return was false hope.
Unless...
What would happen if Caroline never regained her memory and went on believing they were engaged? Could Craig actually go through with their marriage? The past couple of weeks, he hadn’t faked his attraction for her or even how much he cared about her. In fact, the more he’d gotten to know her, the more he could see that she was well educated and determined to live her life the way she wanted.
And apparently, she wanted him.
Caroline sighed and hooked her left leg over his thigh. His own arm under her shoulders instinctively pulled her closer, as though he could never get enough of her. And deep down, he knew that would be the case. How could he possibly let her go now?
If she really wanted that life to be on the ranch in Thunder Canyon, there was no way he would be able to tell her no. Besides, Craig was tired of being the voice of reason.
The truth of the matter was that the night she’d pulled out those matching Christmas stockings, he’d been terrified at first. But as he’d battled sleep all night on her sofa, he’d come to the conclusion that he could no longer imagine his life without Caroline in it. All he could hope was that, if she remembered nothing else, she knew that he’d always tried to do the right thing.
Her left hand was absently caressing his chest and Craig knew that if she continued, he would want her on her back again. Or on top of him this time. As great as their first time had felt, he didn’t want to make her sore—or at least sorer than he’d probably already made her. Using his palm, he cupped her hand in his, slowing her motion.
After a couple of seconds, he found himself stroking her left ring finger, the one that had remained bare throughout all of this supposed engagement. Craig froze at the realization, wondering how both of them had overlooked something so obvious.
“Are you okay?” Caroline propped her chin up on her right hand. Her brown hair was thoroughly disheveled and hanging in messy waves around her face and she had never looked more adorable or more loved.
Oh, God. He’d fallen in love with her.
The realization should have made him go cold and sink into the bed with fear of the unexpected. Instead, Craig basked in the warmth of Caroline’s heated body as a feeling of weightlessness and euphoria settled into a cocoon around him.
“Actually,” he said, unable to stop the smile that played on his lips as he began tracing her ring finger again, “I was just thinking we should go to a jeweler to pick something out soon.”
Caroline gasped before scrambling up to her knees, not bothering to take the bedsheet with her as she beamed a smile at him. “You mean an engagement ring?”
“Of course,” Craig said, then chuckled as she rained kisses down over his face.
“I—” she kissed his cheek “—love—” she kissed his forehead “—you—” she kissed his chin “—so—” she kissed his other cheek “—much.” She kissed his lips. Then she held her face over his and he saw the depth of her happiness reflected in her eyes. “I was hoping that you’d propose by Christmas.”
Hearing her say that she loved him gave Craig the strength to take over the world. Or at least to flip her over and take his time covering her with kisses.
But then he heard her last sentence.
“Propose?” He braced his hands against her shoulders, holding her in place and preventing her from distracting him anymore with her full, sensuous lips. “But we’re already engaged.”
“Not officially, though.”
“What do you mean ‘not officially’?”
“Craig.” Caroline opened and closed her mouth several times. “Look, I know you were a good sport to go along with all those things I said after I bumped my head. I can’t imagine how crazy you must’ve thought I was. But we can stop all the pretending now, can’t we?”
“Hold on.” Something clawed at his throat and it took several attempts to swallow the shock down. “You got your memory back?”