A CALLAHAN CHRISTMAS MIRACLE Read Free Page B

dark sweatshirt that read Dark Shadows, boots and a dark hat.
    Galen’s gaze widened when she joined them in the hall.
    “I didn’t expect you to wait on me right outside my door.”
    “Expediency,” Galen said. “We’re nothing if not expedient. Dark Shadows? ”
    She closed her door. “Seemed appropriate. You do go to the movies on occasion, don’t you?”
    “No, he doesn’t go to the movies. He barely leaves this ranch. Galen is our resident nerd. Brother, it was also a black-and-white TV show many, many moons ago.” Jace waved them down the stairs. She followed, and Galen brought up the rear.
    “I’m not a nerd,” he said, his deep voice husky. “I’m busy. And we didn’t have televisions in the tribe. Not back then. I missed the good days of black-and-white TV.”
    “Don’t mind him,” Jace said, leading them through the kitchen. He slid all the cookies off the plate Fiona had put out and into a bag, and left the empty dish on the counter. “He’s harmless. Some of us had the opportunity to watch television shows, but Galen was always studying.”
    They went out the kitchen door and headed to a truck. Rose was thrilled to be in on a Callahan caper. Their adventures were legendary; people spoke of their stories in reverent tones. Despite her father’s warnings, she wouldn’t have missed this for the world.
    The brothers sandwiched her between them in the front seat, and she enjoyed the feeling of having a strong man seated on either side of her. “So what am I supposed to do?”
    “We’re going to lower you into a cave,” Galen said. “We want you to tell us what’s down there.”
    Bats and snakes, no doubt. “A cave?”
    “Yeah. We’ve both tried, but we’re too big to get inside, with only one of us to pull the other out.” Galen winked. “We can lower you in and pull you out so fast it’ll feel like you’re on a carnival ride.”
    “Pretty sure she’ll feel more like she’s a puppet,” Jace said. “With you being the puppeteer. Hope you’re a better puppeteer than you are a TV trivia expert.”
    “I...” She wasn’t about to refuse, not when Galen’s blue eyes were smiling at her as if they shared a secret. He really was the most handsome man she’d ever seen.
    “We looked for our sister,” Jace groused, “but Ash can never be found when she’s needed.”
    “Maybe she doesn’t want to be put in a cave,” Rose said.
    “When Ash can’t be found, it’s because she’s tracking Xav down.” Galen sighed. “Anyway, you’re thinner.”
    “More petite,” Jace said, “like a boy.”
    Rose gasped. “I’m nothing like a boy, thank you!”
    “I didn’t mean that, exactly,” Jace said hurriedly, and Galen laughed.
    “You’re beautiful,” he said. “And my brother’s a dunce. Don’t listen to a word he says. He has zero idea how to talk to a woman. Anyone on the ranch will tell you so.”
    Rose felt a bit better, and her spirits lifted. Galen thought she was beautiful! That had to be a good sign—even if he did want to lower her into a dark cave on her first night at Rancho Diablo.
    * * *
    G ALEN COULDN ’ T BELIEVE he’d talked the tiny blonde into a midnight adventure. His good fortune kept improving. And she felt so soft and dainty next to him. When he’d seen her in those silly happy face pajamas, his body had been hit with a lightning strike of sexual attraction. Desire, fierce and strong, had poured over him, stopping his breath.
    The truck hit a rut and they all bounced. Rose flew into his side, and a breast brushed his arm, which he gallantly tried to ignore. “Whoa,” he said, “you all right?”
    “I’m fine.” She smiled at him before quickly looking back out the window.
    “Jace isn’t our best driver. He gets behind a steering wheel and thinks he’s at Daytona.” Galen didn’t want Rose to feel awkward about the accidental closeness they’d just shared—but his mind went right back to the tempting touch he’d just received