He almost looked like he was blushing, but strong men like him didn’t blush, so I knew I was seeing things.
Tex rumbled, “I was an ass that day.”
“Is that not your normal disposition?”
He laughed. “I’m not usually that bad. I was worried about…”
“About what?”
He opened his mouth, then shut it again without saying anything. Then opened it again, the words finally coming out. “Like I mentioned last night, my uncle… was in the hospital. It was weighing on me.”
I snuck my hand over to him and wrapped my fingers around his again. “Mm. That sounds tough.”
“Honestly, I do hate working the Santa ride. I used to do it in high school, back when life seemed lighter somehow. Now it just seems like a farce, driving tourists around in a sleigh while poor, old Sally works the same tired track. Sometimes I think that horse must get bored of going in circles.”
“How is your uncle doing now?”
He sighed. “I’m still worried about him. He drinks whiskey like it’s water. And he never met a steak that didn’t have his name on it. I’ve been trying to make the man eat vegetables, and he just won’t do it! He hides them under his plate and feeds them to his dog when he thinks I’m not looking.”
My heart went out to him. That day we’d gone on the sleigh ride, it had been obvious Tex hadn’t been happy. But I had no idea it was because his uncle had been so sick.
“I’m sorry to hear he’s not doing well. Maybe you need to sneak the veggies into his food.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, how do you prepare them now?”
“Uh. I put lettuce in a bowl. Or I boil cabbage. Sometimes broccoli, but hereallydoesn’t like broccoli.”
I giggled. “I used to work as a nanny. I learned all kinds of tricks for making kids eat their veggies. Want me to teach you? We could start with meatloaf, since he likes steak so much. He might be willing to go for that.”
Tex frowned at me. “Meatloaf isn’t a vegetable, hon.”
He called me hon.
I liked getting a nickname from him. Even if it was casual, and one that he probably used with all the women he bedded.
I sassed, “I know meatloaf isn’t a veggie. But you can sneak carrots, celery, onion, mushrooms, whatever you want into the mix,hon. It’s all about the ratio.”
He opened his mouth at that, then shut it again without saying anything. Then his frown disappeared, and a tiny smile lifted his sexy lips. “You just called me hon.”
I gave a little shrug and grinned.
His eyes searched mine, and the undercurrent that had been flowing between us, sparked up.
How had we gone from virtual strangers to teasing each other in bed in less than twelve hours? I wasn’t sure.
But I knew if I didn’t get out of this bed right now I was going to sleep with this man. I’d be straddling his cock and plunging down on it in thirty more seconds, yelling, ‘Fuck me, Santa, fuck me hard,’ if I didn’t do something now.
So I scrambled my butt out of the bed, while he looked on in surprise. “Uh, you mentioned a shower last night. You think I could take one now?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Of course. Anything you need. My kingdom is yours. At least temporarily.”
I couldn’t help but notice thetemporaryhe’d thrown in. Like he needed to remind me that he wasn’t the settling down type.
I ignored the sting in my heart as I headed to his bathroom. I needed to keep this in perspective.
Whatever was happening between us was just a blip. An anomaly in the middle of my normal life. I’d be back to the grind as soon as the snow melted.
