Baby's First Christmas. Laura Marie Altom

you say he’s just had a baby? He’ll probably beat you to the decorating this year.”

      Zach grinned, enjoying the thought of the tables turning on his big brother. “I’ll be at his elbow every time he puts one raisin on a gingerbread man, every time he hangs an ornament, to tell him how childish he is.”

      “Probably one reminder of a person’s mistakes is enough,” Jessie said. “I sure wouldn’t want anyone belaboring me over mine.”

      He raised a brow. “Story time.”

      “I’m busy driving.”

      He sent an assessing look her way. “Try one on me. I know nothing at all about you, except that you have a strong sense of adventure.”

      “Change has been my downfall. Really.”

      “Not from my point of view,” Zach said sincerely, “unless you count T-bird sex as a pastime.”

      “I don’t,” she said, and he grinned.

      “Maybe I’m the catalyst for change in your life. I’d count that as being a positive influence.”

      “Maybe just a pain in the ass,” she said, a trace of irritation in her voice.

      “Hmm.” Zach thought about the sheets of plastic he’d dragged over her pretty T-bird to keep the chickens out of it and decided not to push his luck. No one ever knew what the future would bring. “So did you love him?”

      “Who?”

      “The ex-boyfriend who cheated on you.”

      She turned her head to look at him briefly. She’d put on big black sunglasses with gold G’s in the corners that made her look like a reclusive movie star, and she had on way too much red lipstick for kissing, although it did look porn-star sexy on her. When they got to know each other better, he was going to tell her that all these girly enticements she was using to subconsciously lure him were not necessary. He liked his women plain and natural.

      “I did not,” she said. “If I’d loved him, why would I be sitting in a Ford?”

      He mulled that. “Perhaps you said Ford in a slightly disdainful tone.”

      She laughed.

      He noticed irritation slipping into his comfort zone. “Fords are the kings of the road, I’ll have you know.”

      There was no response to his allegation. No argument, no comment, nada. He rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to have my baby, you’re going to have to understand a few things.”

      “I am not having your child,” Jessie said. “As much as I wanted a baby, I would not want to make one with you.”

      Rubbing his chin, he said, “So you’re not going to claim your pregnancy is a result of wanting to catch me?”

      “I don’t think so. And who says I’m pregnant?”

      She’d become so saucy. Snooty, even.

      “I wouldn’t even be talking to you right now if you hadn’t stolen my car,” she said. “Never mind claiming you as the father.”

      “Aha! You admit it! You wouldn’t have told me if I’d given you a baby.”

      “I would have told you,” Jessie said, “but it wouldn’t have mattered to me. I wasn’t trying to catch any old guy just to get over my broken heart.”

      “I thought you said you weren’t in love with him.”

      “Oh.” She glanced at him, her lovely eyes hidden by the dark glasses. “My ego was bruised like any normal woman’s would be.”

      “That’s code to mean you did love him.” Zach thought about that. “So you slept with me on the rebound. Revenge lust.”

      “Oh, hell no,” Jessie said, laughing. “I just—”

      He waited, watching the smile slip from her face.

      “Well, it’s one or the other,” he said. “Either you slept with me to subconsciously avenge your boyfriend’s treatment of you, or you are, in fact, attracted to me.”

      “Maybe I was just having a bad-girl moment?”

      He rubbed a light finger down her arm. “I don’t think so, Jessie T. You’re possibly a case, but I also think you’re a damn sexy woman who just needs the right man to unlock all your secrets. And I have to warn you—I’m pretty darn good at knowing just how a woman likes her lock picked.”

      SEVERAL HOURS later it was time to stop for gas. After Zach had bragged about his prowess with women, Jessie turned on the radio and lost herself in her thoughts. Much of what he’d said bothered her—though she would never admit that she’d simply slept with him to avenge herself on her ex. The thought had crossed her mind, of course, but she didn’t have to do that to make herself feel better. The simple act of walking away from him had washed away any need for salving her hurt feelings.

      The truth was, attraction had surged inside her fast and hot the second she realized Zach had every intention of seducing her. Her answer had been yes, yes, yes. The focus of her body had been entirely in the here-now-more with Zach.

      Her desire for a baby with her ex had been a misplaced sense of emptiness she’d been trying to fill. She knew that and more about herself now. Thanks to the cowboy, she could move past all those feelings of confusion and concentrate on growing as a person and as a woman.

      “I don’t need change as much as I used to now,” she said. “I don’t have to beautify everything.”

      “Yeah, you do,” Zach replied, his voice muffled by his hat.

      “I was always afraid of letting people down, so I learned to fake everything. I’m never faking again.”

      “I have to worry about a woman who admits to being a fake. I’d almost worry about our sex life except I know for damn sure you weren’t faking anything then.”

      He didn’t have to sound so proud. “You never know. A woman who’s had as much practice as I have at faking might be very good at it. Super-convincing.”

      Grunting, he shoved his hat off his face. “Want me to drive? You’ve been driving for four hours solid.”

      “I like driving this beat-up Chevy,” Jessie replied, happy to tweak him.

      “Jessie, there are certain things I would never do in my life,” he began, his voice full of that pompous confidence she had begun to recognize and maybe even admire. “Drive a Chevy is one.”

      “Really?” she asked, as if she hadn’t known he was going to get crazy over her remark.

      “Second, I would never let a woman annoy me.” Zach took her black sunglasses from her face. “I’m damn tired of not being able to see your big baby blues.”

      “Give me those.”

      “Nope,” Zach said happily, sticking them inside her carpetbag. “Take you a week to find those now that they’re safe inside the loch.”

      “The loch?”

      “A deep, mysterious lake. This purse is symbolic of the loch in your life. You could hide a baby inside this bag, actually,” he said, holding it up with wonder, “and lots of other secrets, which is how you operate your life, I’m betting. You know what, I’ve had saddlebags smaller than this handbag.”

      “You’re obsessed with my purse.”

      “But the question is, is it a purse or a suitcase? For the woman who’s always prepared to run from the first sight of danger?”

      She pursed her lips, fully aware he was probing her for information. “Zach, I’m a simple girl. You’re making this too hard.”

      “How