Christmas With the Mustang Man Read Online Free PDF Page A

the quietness. They don’t stop to think that once it became a resort there wouldn’t be any quietness around here.”
    Glad that his voice had interrupted her tumbling thoughts, she said, “Back home, the Diamond D is so busy that sometimes the place feels like a minimetropolis.”
    He carried her bags over to a double bed covered with a white down comforter. The feather-filled blanket sank as he placed the bags on the edge of the mattress. Dallas longingly imagined her body sinking into the softness and sleep temporarily blotting out her problems.
    â€œAre your riding stables located on the family ranch?” he asked.
    Her gaze drifted up to his face and suddenly she was imagining him lying beside her, his big hands reaching for her.
    Startled by the erotic image, she quickly glanced away from him and swallowed. “Yes. But there’s a ridge of mountain separating them from the main working area of the ranch. So I’m out of the way and the seclusion lets the children pretend they’re riding in the Wild West.”
    â€œWell, there’s no pretending needed here,” he said dryly. “This is the Wild West.”
    Dallas would certainly agree. Ever since she’d arrived on Boone’s ranch she’d been having all sorts of wild thoughts and feelings.
    He gestured to a door in the far right corner of the room. “There’s a bathroom with a shower. And feel free to use the closet or whatever else you might need.”
    She said, “Thanks, but I doubt I’ll be here long enough to hang up my clothes.”
    His mouth slanted to a vague smile. “I wouldn’t be too quick to say that. Pioche isn’t exactly overrun with mechanics and parts-supply shops. In fact, I just know of one.”
    Even so, she wasn’t going to let that keep her stranded. Christmas was less than a week away. Back on the Diamond D decorations would abound in every room of the house and even extend to the horse barns, where large stockings filled with peppermints and licorice and fresh fruit would hang by each stall door for the horses to enjoy during the holiday. Parties would be held for the house staff, ranch hands and office employees. Then later, family and friends would gather for rich food, warm drinks and lively dancing. Christmas was always the best of times on the Diamond D and Dallas had never missed being home for the holidays. Somehow, someway, she had to get back to New Mexico before all the merrymaking started.
    Smiling with as much confidence as she could muster, she said, “Let’s hope the problem will be easy to fix.”
    â€œWith vehicles, you never know.”
    Did she imagine it, or did his brown eyes momentarily slide from her face down the length of her body? Just theidea that he might be looking at her in that way sent heat crawling up her neck and onto her face.
    You’re thirty-two years old, Dallas. Not eighteen. All sorts of men have looked at you “that” way. Boone isn’t any different from them . The difference is that you’re looking back.
    â€œUh…the room is lovely,” she said with a sudden rush. “I’m sure I’ll be quite comfortable.”
    A quirk of a smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “Glad I could oblige,” he said. “So whenever you’re finished here, I’ll be in the kitchen.”
    With that, Boone left the small bedroom and once he was out of sight a long breath whooshed from Dallas. Oh, dear, oh, dear, she silently moaned. The last thing she needed was to have a breakdown in the middle of nowhere and be forced to stay overnight in a stranger’s house, with a man who had enough sex appeal to curl her toes. And for all she knew, he was probably married!
    But if her instincts were right, Boone Barnett wasn’t some woman’s husband. The house simply didn’t have that feminine feel about it. And he’d said that Hayley’s mother wasn’t