Cowboys for Christmas Read Free Page B

them with him? No, he wouldn’t do that. Would he?
    Had she just dreamed that she’d done it? With all the sex she’d been having with Dan since Rafe and Brady had been gone, maybe her brain was addled and she was misplacing things? Or maybe the steaks had gone down the same rabbit hole like the cake?
    JJ shook her head and slammed the fridge door. Well, she’d just have to whip up something else for dinner. In the meantime, she needed to put the laundry away. Thankfully, the generator had allowed her to get laundry done. The storm was easing, but it was still raining cats and dogs.
    It was also getting hot in here.
    Moments later, JJ had a couple of the windows beneath the side-porch veranda open and the kitchen ceiling fan on. Her arms laden with the piled-high laundry, she ascended the stairs to the upstairs bedrooms.
    First stop, her room.
    As she entered, she smiled at the cozy bedroom. It was plain and simple decorated in red and brown hues. The room consisted of a queen-sized bed, a dresser, a night table and some shelves.
    The furniture had been handmade from the knotty pine cultivated from their land. The guys made all their furniture in their sawmill located on the other side of the barn.
    JJ felt safe and snug in here. It was full of memories of her being tied down on her bed and made love to with tenderness or fucked senseless by all three of her cowboys. Just remembering her sensual moans as their mouths kissed and licked her body parts or the sweet caresses of their hands upon her breasts or watching them with eager anticipation as their huge cocks drew closer to her…
    Mercy, it was getting hot in here. JJ dumped the laundry basket onto her bed and began sorting through the items. When she had the underwear folded, she opened the top drawer and hesitated.
    Inside the drawer, her few remaining undies were a tangled mess. A slither of shivers snapped up her spine. She gazed around her room. Nothing appeared to be out of order. Just the underwear.
    Maybe Dan had been in here? No, that wasn’t something he would do. JJ frowned as she quickly rearranged the underwear and then placed the freshly laundered ones inside. As she slid the drawer closed, a sound creaked up from the main floor. She froze.
    Was that the back door opening? She hadn’t thought to lock it.
    Had Dan returned? She wanted to call out, but something warned her to keep quiet.
    The buzz of the kitchen ceiling fan sifted through the silence. Rain began to pound once again onto the metal roof overhead.
    JJ strained to listen. Did she hear footsteps? Yes, footsteps. They were light and slow from somewhere downstairs. A floorboard creaked.
    Oh no .
    It was the loose plank in the hallway which lead from mudroom to the living room, passing the bottom of the stairs. JJ’s heart suddenly seemed to stop beating. She wanted to run, but her feet stuck to the floor like cement.
    For some insane reason, she knew it wasn’t Dan. Or Rafe. Or Brady. They wouldn’t come in quietly.
    Suddenly, JJ remembered seeing something yesterday right after Dan had made love to her up against the tree. But Dan had reassured her there was no one around, as he’d seen nothing out of the ordinary. She’d believed him. Had felt safe again. But someone must have gone through her underwear drawer. The steaks and cake were missing.
    Creepy tremors rippled through her. Disbelief and terror made her move quickly and quietly to her bedroom door. She'd left it open.
    She peered out and listened. Another sound. JJ fought back the scream that threatened to destroy the last shred of her self-control.
    She needed to get out of the house. But the only way out was down was the stairs.
    She could hide in Dan’s bedroom. It was the closest to hers. She struggled to go slowly as she crossed the hallway. A rumble of thunder cracked nearby. She jumped.
    Damn! The storm was returning.
    Once inside Dan’s room, JJ closed the door and felt just a touch better. She could hide under the bed.