The Rancher's Christmas Baby. Cathy Thacker Gillen

differently.”

      He shrugged his broad shoulders, exuding a lazy sexuality she’d never before noticed. Maybe because it had never been aimed at her—even theoretically.

      “All I know is that fifty years without sex is a long time, Amy. Especially for people like us who are young and healthy and vital. And since we’ve already promised not to go outside the marriage…”

      A tiny thrill went through her. “You’d be willing… to…”

      “Be friends with benefits? Eventually? When the time and mood is right? Sure.”

      He was so calm and matter-of-fact. So confident.

      She was a bundle of nerves inside.

      She swallowed hard around the knot of emotion in her throat. “Listen, Teddy. I—I don’t think I can make love with someone I’m not in love with in that special way.”

      The familiar gentleness was back in his eyes. “Have you ever tried?”

      Reluctantly, with a catch in her voice, she admitted, “Well. No.”

      “Neither have I,” he said. “So how do we know?” He took both her hands in both of his, in that moment looking handsomer than she had ever seen him. “I know we’ve gotten used to seeing each other in a certain way.” He narrowed his gaze and studied her upturned face.

      She kept silent, signaling for him to continue.

      “But things change, Amy.” He paused to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “At least they could if you would open your mind and your heart to the possibilities…the way I intend to, now that we are husband and wife.”

      He let go of her, stepped back, hands raised.

      “I’m not saying it would happen right away, but…we need to be realistic here,” he continued. “There will come a time when the sheer proximity of our situation leads to…temptation. And as responsible adults we need to be prepared for that.”

      Amy couldn’t deny that Teddy exuded sexiness. Or that from time to time she had wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Really kiss him.

      She had no idea if he had ever speculated about the same.

      She did know at their wedding ceremony, when the officiating justice of the peace had said he could kiss the bride, Teddy had given her a brief, friendly peck on the cheek.

      She hadn’t even expected that much of a caress from him.

      Yet if she were honest, she had to admit the deeply romantic side of her had secretly wished for so much more, and been disappointed when Teddy hadn’t really planted one on her, even if it was just for show….

      The jubilation she had felt then faded, her longtime hope for a baby and family of her very own replaced by uncertainty. Maybe because Amy knew what Teddy didn’t—that she had never been as at ease in the bedroom as everyone else seemed to be. Even her experiences with her ex-fiancé had been severely lacking in the physical side of the equation.

      Teddy, on the other hand… Well, he had a rep as something of a player among the women he dated….

      Figuring as long as they were being brutally honest, they may as well cover this, too, she said awkwardly, “If we were to try…that…and we didn’t click, it could wreck everything, Teddy.”

      The thought of not having him in her life, as her best friend, was unbearable. “I don’t want to risk our friendship, never mind our decision to have a family together, on something that might not pan out.”

      Clearly, he did not share her doubts. “Remember the movie When Harry Met Sally?” he asked, flashing a grin her way.

      She had dragged him to the theater the previous Valentine’s Day for a revival showing when neither of them had dates and hadn’t wanted to stay home alone feeling sorry for themselves.

      “You’re hoping we end up like Harry and Sally,” she guessed, warming to the notion. “Going from increasingly close friends-for-life to soul mates and lovers.”

      Teddy nodded and chucked her on the chin. “And you know what?” A speculative smile curved the corners of his lips. He looked at her as if he had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. “I think deep down you are, too. Otherwise you wouldn’t have married me today.”

      Chapter Three

      “Too bad about last night.”

      Amy gazed quizzically at her sister, Susie. “What do you mean?”

      “It was your first night as husband and wife, and one of Teddy’s horses went into labor. That couldn’t have been too great.”

      Amy tried not to think about the irony of the situation. She’d only agreed to go home with Teddy to his ranch for appearances’ sake—because she didn’t want to let on to anyone how uncertain she already was about this bargain they’d made with each other.

      Oh, she still wanted a baby—his baby.

      But as for the rest of it…

      A marriage based on friendship was going to be much more complicated than she had figured.

      Still, figuring boundaries needed to be set, she had packed an overnight bag with her most unsexy flannel pajamas. Only to end up disappointed that she and Teddy hadn’t even ended up having dinner together.

      Never mind how strange it had felt to sleep in his bed—without him—and leave for work this morning, with only a passing goodbye to him, since he was still busy with the new foal.

      It wasn’t like this was a real marriage, in the traditional sense. She and Teddy were used to living their own lives, on their own schedules, and having much of their time taken up by the demands of their mutual businesses. More than likely, this was the way it was going to be until a baby came into the picture….

      Amy and Susie walked out the back door of the landscape and garden center owned by Susie and headed toward the cargo van Amy used to transport plants.

      “You must have felt very let down,” Susie continued. “First, you missed out on the big wedding you always wanted, by eloping.”

      Not to mention the thrill of a life-altering romance, Amy thought.

      “Then, as if all that wasn’t enough,” Susie said, “your first night as husband and wife was a complete bust.”

      Amy opened up the back door of the dark-green truck, emblazoned with the logo for Laurel Valley Ranch.

      Deciding changing the subject was a much safer path to take, Amy pointed out, “You were without a husband last night, too.”

      The foal had been breech. Susie’s husband—and Teddy’s triplet brother—Tyler McCabe, was a large-animal vet. He had been called out to the Silverado Ranch to help Teddy with the delivery.

      “True,” Susie conceded ruefully, watching as Amy set up the loading ramp.

      Susie rubbed a hand across her expanding waistline, lovingly protecting the baby inside of her. “But since these days all I want to do is sleep…” Susie walked onto the truck to give a cursory inspection of the red-and-white poinsettia plants and potted baby evergreens Amy was delivering, then signed the clipboard Amy gave her.

      “You, on the other hand,” Susie continued with another lift of her brow, “are on what should be your honeymoon.”

      Amy tensed. The sounds of heavy machinery reverberated through the chilly late-November air. She knew the source. Several blocks over, a professional tree crew was removing the live oak that had been struck by lightning and crashed through the chapel roof.

      The tree was going to be a loss, Amy knew, but the community chapel would be rebuilt. And in some small way, that knowledge filled her with hope.

      Amy got out the wheeled flatbed dolly and began loading plants onto