A South Texas Christmas

“I—where are we going?” she asked.

Hearing the slight panic in her voice, he asked, “Raine, are you—frightened of me?”

Her eyes darted up to his handsome face. “Why no. Of course I’m not afraid. Why would I be?”

His expression turned grim as he guided her away from the café. “Probably because I’m a strange man that you’ve never met before. I could be an imposter. I could be a killer who lures women from their safe places.”

“Stop it!” she spurted the words back at him while at the same time she jerked her elbow away from his cupped hand. “You’re not being a bit funny.”

Neil’s brows arched. “I wasn’t trying to be.”

She heaved out an unsettled breath that caused the material of her powder-blue dress to move against her small breasts. Neil felt the man in him perk up with far more interest than he should be feeling.

“I know who you are. I’m the one who called your office. You’re a lawyer,” she said, then added, “Albeit, I’m not sure how good of one. And now that we’re on the subject, I’ve been wondering why you’re the one doing this search for Darla. Why didn’t your client hire a detective instead of a lawyer?”

His glance down at her face was totally patronizing. “Because my client happens to be a very close friend. And I’m the only one he’s willing to trust with such a personal matter.”

“Oh. Your client is a he?”

Neil’s smile was a bit wicked. “Yes. Why? Were you going to be jealous if it had been a woman?”

He was teasing of course, Raine thought. There was no way he could suspect the upheaval he was causing inside of her.

“I don’t think we’ve known each other long enough for me to be—feeling that sort of emotion,” she said coolly.

Neil chuckled as it dawned on him just how refreshing her prim attitude was after the willing, experienced women he’d known in the past.

“Well, give it a few days,” he teased. “Maybe I can turn you a little green by then.”

Her eyes flew to his face as he looped his arm with casual ease through hers. “Days?” she sputtered. “Aren’t you going back to New Mexico tomorrow?”

Frowning, he urged her onto the paved walkway that edged the river. Boats of all shapes and sizes decorated with Christmas wreaths and blinking lights were floating by. Many of them were filled with tourists enjoying the warm sunshine and the sights of San Antonio.

“Not hardly. I just arrived.”

She balked in her tracks and he turned to look squarely down at her upturned face. She looked worried. No, Neil decided, she actually appeared frightened.

“You mean this investigation—or whatever you want to call it—is going to take more than one meeting with my mother?” she asked with disbelief.

Careful to keep his expression smooth, he urged her to continue walking forward. “The day is beautiful, Raine. Let’s walk and talk and get acquainted with each other. I don’t want to go into this evening blind. I need to know a little bit about my new lover.”

The last two words were said with a purr that caused a shiver to race down Raine’s spine. Oh, this man was way too smooth for a country girl like her, Raine decided. She was going to have to watch every step she took, every word she said, and even then she wasn’t sure she would be safe from his charms.

“We—we’re not going to pretend to be lovers!” she said in a voice pitched with fear. “That’s carrying things a bit too far, don’t you think?”

With a soft chuckle, he patted the little hand resting on his forearm. “Not really. You’re an attractive young woman and I’m a man. Put the two together and something usually boils up.”

Pursing her lips to a disapproving line, she stared straight ahead. “Maybe in some cases. But I have no intention of doing any boiling. In the kitchen or anywhere else,” she added for good measure.

Her comment only produced a laugh from him and the sound was so light and contagious that Raine couldn’t help but tilt her head around to him and smile.

“Okay,” she conceded. “What do we need to know about each other?”

He shrugged with nonchalance, but deep inside Neil was shocked at how very interested he was in this woman’s life. She was different, very different from the women he’d known in the past. There was something sweetly naive about her. Yet on the other hand there was a sultriness to her green eyes that made him think she wasn’t all soft innocence. She was taking a big risk of ruining her relationship with her mother in order to go after what she wanted—a father. Obviously she was a woman who would hold on tight to her dreams. But was a father the only man she had in her dreams of the future? Neil wondered.

“Oh, just the simple things,” he told her. “Like where you grew up. Your likes and dislikes, education, anything and everything. Remember, we’re supposed to be close.”

Raine released a long, pent-up breath. “Close! Neil, I’ve never introduced a man to my mother before. She’s going to start getting ideas that we truly are serious. She’s going to question me all about you, then start warning me how dangerous you are.”

Neil chuckled. “I’m a lawyer. I’m always dangerous,” he teased.

She rolled her eyes. “And are you always this lighthearted? Aren’t you ever serious?”

“Do you mean with women or my work?”

“Women—uh, work. Both,” she finally added in a fluster.

“I don’t get serious with women,” he said. “But I do with my work.”

Slowly she digested his comment as they strolled along the river’s edge. It didn’t surprise her to hear this man admit to being a confirmed bachelor. Everything about him screamed that he was as free as an eagle. But Raine did wonder why he’d chosen the single life. She couldn’t believe it was simply for sinful pleasures. He was more complex than that. “So you’re not married?” she asked.

“Never considered the idea. What about you?”

Raine suddenly felt loneliness press heavily upon her shoulders. “No. I haven’t yet met a man who’s made me want to take that much of a step. And I’m not sure that I would know how to be a good wife.”

His face was perplexed as he glanced down at her. “That’s an odd thing for a young woman like you to say,” he said.

Raine focused her attention on one of the boats drifting lazily by them. The vessel was filled with a young couple and two children that were obviously their offspring. The little group was the perfect, happy family, she thought. They probably even lived in a two-story house in the suburbs or maybe a hacienda in the country. They had cats and dogs that had the run of the house and the yard, and were treated like family members, too. This coming Christmas would be very special at their home. Lots of relatives would gather. There would be eating, dancing, joking and plenty of laughter.

“Raine? Are you still with me?”

She suddenly noticed a hand waving up and down in front of her face and with a burst of embarrassment she realized she’d been daydreaming about the very thing she’d always wanted.

“Uh—I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

“I was asking why you had doubts about being a wife.”

She kept her gaze carefully away from him and on their surroundings. She didn’t want him to see just how lost and afraid she felt when it came to dealing with men and the idea of having a family.