A Last Chance Christmas

Thinking of that, she whipped them off and cleared her throat. “I’m Molly Gallagher. I live down the hall.” What? “I mean, I’m sleeping down the hall. That is, my room’s...that way.” She actually pointed. Good God, now she was giving the beautiful man directions.

His eyes were the color of dark chocolate, and they crinkled at the corners when he smiled. “Good to know.”

Heat flooded her face. “I didn’t mean that as a...well, never mind. I don’t know why I said it. Mostly I wanted to tell you how much I like your harmonica. Your harmonica playing, that is.”

“Thanks. I didn’t know anybody was up here. You were quiet as a mouse.”

“Just nibbling away on my computer.” Her laugh sounded much too breathless, but he had such broad shoulders, and his dark hair curled gently around his ears in a very sexy way. She liked his chin, too, with its little cleft, and she adored his mouth. A harmonica player would be good with his mouth and his tongue. She’d never thought of that before.

“I promise not to play in the middle of the night.”

“I wouldn’t care.” And didn’t that sound like she’d become his adoring fangirl? She licked her dry lips. “Actually, I grew up hearing harmonica music. My grandpa would sometimes play me a lullaby before I went to sleep.”

“That’s very sweet.”

“It was more of a bribe. I always put up a fight about going to bed.” She had no idea where these idiotic remarks were coming from, but she couldn’t seem to make them stop.

She’d prepared herself for some old geezer, probably because she associated harmonicas with her grandfather. Instead she’d found this amazing man, who couldn’t be much older than she was. He sat on the edge of a king-sized bed she’d personally made up earlier today. Her filter must be working a little bit, because at least she hadn’t blurted out that piece of information.

“I’ll bet you did put up a fight about bedtime.” Amusement flashed in his brown eyes. “I’ll bet you were one feisty little girl.”

“Jack would probably tell you I still am. I think he and Gabe are a little irritated with me.”

“Why is that?”

“Oh, there’s something I asked them to do and they’re both procrastinating. I’m leaving in four days so I gave them each a little nudge. I don’t think they appreciated it.”

He seemed to be working hard not to laugh.

“Did Jack mention that to you?”

“Just in passing.”

“It’s only two pages of information for my genealogy research. You’d think I’d asked him to write a book.”

“Some people hate filling out forms.”

She sighed. “I know. Everybody’s not detail oriented like I am. I should probably just sit down with each of them and do it interview style. I’ll text them and suggest that. I mean, if Jack’s complaining to you, a virtual stranger, I guess he really doesn’t want to do it.”

“He didn’t complain all that much. Don’t quote me on this, but I think he plans to finish it soon.”

“Then I’ll wait and see. He might be insulted if I offered to write it down for him, as if he’s not capable.”

“I’ve only spent a little time with the guy, but I think you’re right.”

Discussing this matter with Ben had been a good ice-breaker. He felt like a potential friend now. She was still ogling him a little, but she’d recovered from her first stunned reaction. “Sarah told me you were here to look at horses.”

“That’s right.” Something flickered in his gaze the way it did when someone wasn’t telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

She caught it because she’d thought all along that driving around looking at horses in this weather was strange. She couldn’t shake the suspicion that he was here for some other reason, but she couldn’t imagine what that would be. “Did you see any you might be interested in?”

“I did, as a matter of fact. I really like the looks of Calamity Sam.”

“Oh, yeah. Me, too. He’s one beautiful stallion. Pricey, though, since he gets pretty good stud fees.”

“I know. Jack said maybe we could work something out.”

So maybe he really was interested in buying one of the Last Chance horses. He might hope to get a better price by coming when business was slow. But asking any more questions would make her seem nosy—which she was, of course. She’d been nosy all her life.

But sometimes she caught herself doing it and backed off. This was one of those times. “Well, I’ve bothered you long enough. I should get back to my work. If you need anything like more towels or extra pillows, the linen closet is right down there.” She gestured to a door on the far side of the hallway. “The housekeeper’s on vacation so we’re on our own up here.”

“Jack told me. I’m pretty good at looking out for myself.”

“Great. That’s great. Anyway, thanks for the harmonica concert. Please play any time you feel like it. Brings back fond memories for me.”

“I’ll remember that. Actually, I was about to head downstairs. Sarah and Pete invited me to have a drink with them before dinner.”

“Oh! Is it happy hour already?” Whenever she became involved in a genealogy project, she lost track of time.

“Almost six.”

“Then I’ll turn off my computer. Last night Sarah had to come upstairs to get me or I would have worked through the whole evening. I’d have hated that because I love hanging out with her and Pete. I’ll see you down there, then.” She turned to leave.

“I can wait until you shut off your computer.”

Thank God she wasn’t facing him, because she wouldn’t have wanted him to see her reaction to that comment. For sure, her eyes and mouth had popped wide open exactly the way a cartoon character would look when startled. “Um, sure, that would be great. I’ll just be a sec. Meet you at the top of the stairs.” And she skedaddled out of there.

As she hurried down the hall, she calculated how much repair work she could get away with. Changing clothes was out, so she was stuck with the blah jeans and her old green turtleneck. If she had time to pop in her contacts, Ben might notice that the sweater nearly matched her eyes, but she didn’t so he wouldn’t.

The best she could hope for was a quick brush through her hair, a fast polish of her lenses and a glance in the bathroom mirror to make sure she didn’t have food in her teeth. Refreshing her makeup would take too long, and besides, he’d already seen her like this. If she showed up with lipstick and blusher, that might telegraph her interest in him.

But, truly, she might as well forget about having any interest in him. It didn’t matter how yummy he looked, or how much she loved his harmonica music, or how talented his mouth might be as a result of playing said harmonica. She was leaving in four days and didn’t expect to be back in Wyoming any time soon.

She should forget about Ben, whose last name she still didn’t know. It wasn’t like she was thirsting for male companionship. For example, there was Dennis, the new guy in the history department. He was cute in a nerdy kind of way, and he’d seemed quite fascinated by her when they’d talked during the faculty Christmas party. He’d promised to call after the holidays.

So, there. She had a potential boyfriend and a potential relationship waiting to be cultivated back home. No need to get starry-eyed over some horse-buying, harmonica-playing cowboy who had his feet firmly planted in Wyoming.

Then she walked out of her room and saw those booted feet braced slightly apart as Ben waited for her at the top of the stairs. Oh, Lordy. She’d never looked at a man and instantly fallen into lust. Well, except for unattainable movie stars.

But it was happening this very minute. He’d been impressive sitting on the bed. Standing upright in all his six-foot-plus glory, he made her forget her own name, let alone the name of that guy in the history department.

Then he smiled at her and her knees actually weakened. She’d thought that was a stupid cliché, but apparently not. When she went back for second semester, she’d get one of her friends in the biology department to explain how a brilliant smile from a handsome man could adversely affect a woman’s tendons, ligaments, joints and kneecaps.

She hoped she didn’t wobble like a Weeble as she joined him at the top landing. “Thanks for waiting for me.”

“No problem. By the way, I never introduced myself. I’m Ben Radcliffe.”

“I know. I mean, I knew about the Ben part but I’d forgotten your last name.” If she’d known he was a walking female fantasy, she would have paid more attention when Sarah mentioned it.