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Because theyweren’ta family. They were friends of sorts, co-parents. They were both Ellie’s family, but he let people believe they were a couple. They’d never been more than friends. Even that one night, when they’d conceived Ellie, she hadn’t been more to Ryan than a friend. She opened her mouth to voice her reasons, but Ellie had again snagged his attention, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket.
“We don’t have to look at all the trees,” the girl announced, unfolding the paper. “I have a picture of the one I want.”
She held the masterpiece out. Gingerly, Ryan took the paper, looking at the drawing before handing it to Cassie. Ellie had drawn a perfectly triangular tree covered in decorations and dwarfing the family smiling beside it.
“Well.” She smiled at her daughter. “We better get started.”
An hour later, they weren’t any closer to finding a tree, and the sun was setting. Cassie shivered in the light jacket she wore over her sweater. If she’d known they’d be trudging through fields for an hour, she would’ve brought a coat, but last year this had taken fifteen minutes. Tops.
“How’s this one?” Ryan stopped beside a clump of evergreen and turned.
Cassie shrugged. At this point she didn’t care what they put gifts under, as long as she didn’t have to keep walking in circles looking at identical trees.
“No, Daddy.” Ellie shook her little blonde head, sending ringlets bouncing. She looked down at the picture, now crumpled, in her hand. “That one is too circley.” She spread her arms, indicating the roundness of the tree.
Ryan stared at their daughter, his face placid, before his gaze lifted to Cassie in an expression that clearly askedwhat the actual fuck. Cassie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing, Ryan was cute when his patience ran thin and he didn’t know what to do with the tiny pixie they’d created. As Ellie turned to Cassie, her doe eyes narrowed. Cassie covered her mouth with her hand and tried to cough back her giggles. Behind their daughter, Ryan’s own grin split his face, causing his dimples to collapse and frame his plump lips. Cassie’s stomach twisted slightly, and liquid warmth pooled in her belly.
“Mommy,” Ellie whined, propping her hands on her hips. “None of these trees are the one I want. Christmas is going to be ruined.”
“Come on Monkey.” Ryan managed to get his grin under control and knelt in front of their daughter. “Let’s just find a tree that’ll fit in your mom’s house. I’ll trim it, so it looks like the one in your picture.”
The warmth that had started in Cassie’s belly now spread through her body. Although impossible to deny Ryan’s hotness, the way he fathered their daughter, not his looks, most often melted Cassie. He might not love her or want her the way she sometimes wished he did, but he adored their little girl.
“Will it work?” Ellie turned back to Cassie for reassurance.
“What did your daddy say?” She cocked her head and stared down at Ryan’s tiny replica.
“He’d cut the tree to look like my picture.”
“Then he’ll cut the tree to look like your picture.” She tapped her daughter on her button nose, catching Ryan watching her with those intoxicating brown eyes. What she wouldn’t give for just one sip from them.
Thank you, he mouthed. His tongue and mouth making exaggerated movements that made her nipples tingle slightly. Or maybe the cold caused her reaction. Since the air was freezing, she’d blame her nipples’ reaction on the temperature. Giving him a quick nod, she hugged her arms around her body to keep warm.
“Okay.” Ellie heaved a sigh and turned to her father. “Cut it down.”
“Yes ma’am.” Saluting, Ryan began shrugging out of his coat.
“What are you doing?” Cassie screeched, rubbing her hands over her arms to keep warm. “It’s cold out here. You’ll freeze without a coat.”
“Aww.” He pursed his lips as he came toward her. “Are you worried about me catching cold? Got any suggestions for keeping me warm?”
He just teased the way he always did. Ryan didn’t want her to keep him warm. He could, and did, have whomever he wanted. Like Natasha Davenport with her tiny waist and big boobs. But as he drew closer and the warmth from his body penetrated the cold air around her, the warmth that had started in her belly when he’d smiled slid between her thighs.
“You could wear your coat,” she offered dryly.
His lips tilted, but he didn’t gift her with a real smile. He stopped in front of her and spread his coat around her shoulders, pulling it tight around her. The backs of his fingers barely grazed her neck, sending a shiver through her body. She prayed he’d assume the cold had caused her reaction. He breathed in, that small smile still lingering on his lips. He stood so close, she could lean up and press against him, steal his warmth and kiss that smirk off his mouth, if she were brave or crazy enough.
“Keep my coat warm. You look like you need it more than me.” His gaze fell to her chest. Heat washed over her, and her cheeks must have turned red, because his wide grin surfaced before he turned back to the tree.
“I hate you Ryan McLeod,” she called after him.
He only laughed in response. Bending at the waist, he pushed back limbs to see the trunk of the tree. His jeans stretched across his ass as he went down to his knee, stretching out an arm to saw at the trunk. Without his coat, the muscles under his thermal shirt were visible. They bunched and flexed, reminding her how they’d felt under her hands that one night as he’d carried her to the boathouse, and then again as he’d lifted her, pinning her against the wall. She opened his coat, suddenly hot, but she couldn’t remove the garment because now her nipples were somehow even harder.
* * *
Ryan bent, setting the Christmas tree on the ground and leaning it against the barn as he straightened.
“You have needles all over you.” Stepping up behind him, Cassie brushed at his back.
