Secret santa, p.1
Secret Santa, page 1
Secret Santa
Secret Series
Book 10
Jill Sanders
Contents
Summary
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Also by Jill Sanders
About the Author
To Nancy
May this next year
have fewer knives in it.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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ISBN: 978-1-945100-62-8
PRINT ISBN: 9798831932683
Print ISBN:
Copyright © 2021 Jill Sanders
All rights reserved.
Copyeditor: Erica Ellis – inkdeepediting.com
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No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Summary
Kara is eager to show her father that she’s capable of running the family’s ranch in Wyoming. When her dad and stepmother head out on a three-month European tour, she eagerly takes the reins. Her only problem? Her annoying neighbor has decided that he’s more fit for the job.
* * *
Nick has lived next to Kara all his life. Having a secret crush on the sexy brunette has taken a toll on his life. When his father falls ill and tells him the family ranch will be sold unless Nick finds a bride before Christmas, he knows just who he’s always wanted. The only problem is persuading Kara that he’s the right man for her.
Prologue
Nicholas Howe the third was in love. This time, he was pretty sure it was the real deal. But what did an eight-year-old know of love?
As the pretty brunette girl stormed towards him, her long braids laid over her shoulders, he was absolutely positive this was the last time he’d fall in love.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The girl glared up at him.
“Ridin’,” he answered quickly, wanting to impress the girl. After all, he’d climbed on Hunter, one of his father’s horses, all by himself and had taken off to ride the fence lines. A man’s job.
His ranch had been in the Howe family for four generations. At least it would be when he finally inherited the land.
“I can see you’re riding,” the girl answered, putting extra emphases on the ‘ing’ in the word. His pa never corrected him, even though his teachers did. “Why are you here?” The girl motioned to the stand of trees Nick had stopped to rest under. There was a creek that went by them, and Hunter was drinking from the cold clean water.
“I’m just resting my horse,” Nick answered, giving Hunter a pat on the neck for show. “What are you doing here?”
Instead of answering, the girl glared at him.
“This is my creek,” she finally said.
“Yours?” Nick’s dark eyebrows rose. “I don’t think so. It’s on my land,” he said, feeling a lick of anger for the first time.
“Your land?” The girl laughed.
Nick glanced over to where her pony was tied to a low branch of the tree. It stood watching them.
“Yup, you’re on Howe land,” he answered proudly. “But I’ll let you and your lame pony rest here for a while if you want.”
The girl stopped laughing. “Lilly isn’t…” She shook her head. “She isn’t lame.” She frowned up at him.
“She’s not a horse.” He patted Hunter again. “Not like Hunter here.”
The girl crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her bottom lip in a cute pout. Nick enjoyed it, but he didn’t know why.
“You’re too small to be riding a big horse like that.” The girl looked up and shielded her eyes from the sun to see him better.
“You’re too big to be riding such a small one,” he pointed out.
The girl’s face grew red. “Who are you?”
He smiled. “Nicholas James Howe the third,” he said, using his full name to make himself sound more important. “Who are you?”
“Kara,” she answered.
“Kara what?”
“Montgomery,” she answered. “My dad, Carl Montgomery, just purchased this land, along with our house.” She motioned behind her to the ranch home that sat at the base of a small hill.
“Then we’re neighbors,” he said, motioning behind him. “My family has owned Howe Ranch for four generations.” He pointed to his home in the distance.
The girl frowned and was quiet for a while. “You’re still on my land.”
He smiled. “Nope, you’re on mine. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think Hunter is done drinking.”
He picked up Hunter’s reins and tried to turn the massive horse back towards his barn, but the horse jerked its head, almost sending Nick falling forward over the horse’s neck.
“I told you, you’re too small for a horse that size,” Kara said, crossing her arms over her chest again.
“Am not,” he said, letting his pride get the better of him. He pulled on the reins again, but Hunter was having nothing of it. He jerked back and stomped his hoof and snorted.
“Hunter,” he scolded, “let’s go back home.” He jerked again, and Hunter shook his entire body and lunged to the side. Nick hadn’t been expecting the move and, in one quick motion, he slipped off the side of the horse and landed in the mud directly at Kara’s feet. Hunter used his new freedom to sprint across the field, heading directly towards the barn.
His dad was going to skin him, he thought as he watched the back end of the horse. Then he glanced up and saw Kara smiling down at him.
“Told ya.” She climbed on her pony and gracefully rode back to her house while laughing at him.
Chapter One
Ten years later…
* * *
Nick got jerked around as he held onto the bull. Kara would have screamed, but the horror of what she was seeing had caused her voice to seize up. Instead, her fingers gripped the wood fence tighter as she silently prayed and counted the seconds.
When the buzzer sounded, he gracefully slid off the bull’s back and hopped onto the railing of the fence, a few feet from her. He had the gall to wink at her as he climbed over the rungs and landed directly at her feet.
“So, what’d ya think?” he asked her, shifting his black Stetson further onto his head.
“I think…” she started, feeling her heart still racing, and not from watching him ride the bull, “that you’re an idiot.” She turned on her heels and stormed back to her seat next to her dad.
“That kid’s got more guts than brains,” her father said under his breath.
“Yeah,” she agreed.
“I think it was wonderful,” Luanna said.
Kara’s mother had died shortly before Kara turned eight, before they’d moved to Wyoming from California. It had taken years before her father had started dating again. Two crazy women later, he’d met Luanna while they’d been on a vacation in Hawaii. One short year later, after a very long-distance courtship, he’d married her and given Kara an older stepbrother, Beau, whom Kara adored. She adored both of them, actually—mother and son.
Beau had joined the military after graduating from high school. Then, he’d moved back to Hawaii to be closer to his roots. Kara and her family visited him often.
Kara watched Nick move back over to where the rest of the riders stood waiting for their turn in the spotlight. Their mere seconds of glory. When she noticed Nick watching her, she jerked her eyes away.
“He sure has grown up,” her father said. “I remember when he was barely big enough to climb on a horse himself.”
Kara remembered the day she’d met Nick and smiled. It was the one time she could hold over him. The one time he hadn’t been… smooth. Since then, he’d proved over and over that he belonged in the saddle. Including bull riding now, apparently.
For the next hour, she sat and watched the riders come and go. When she got hungry, she made her way to the snack bar and had just ordered herself a burger when someone gripped her waist from behind.
“There you are, Kara.”
Kara groaned. “What do you want, Willy?” she said without looking at the boy behind her.
“My name is Wil,” he said tersely. “I wanted to make sure you watched me ride. So you could imagine what it’d feel like when I take you.” Willy bumped his hips against her butt. She jerked forward and pushed him away.
“Gross,” she said, shoving him again. “That is never going to happen.”
Willy smiled and tried to pull her close again, locking her hips against his.
Several people waiting in line watched them, but no one did anything about it. Willy and his dad, Wilbert, were the town bullies, and no one wanted to cross them.
Kara fought him off as best as she could without punching him square in the jaw. Even though he was good-looking, probably one of the hottest guys in her class, he was a perve and an ass.
“Leave me be,” she finally said, shoving him again. Somehow she miscalculated and ended up in his arms again.
“Is there a problem?” someone said directly behind them.
Kara groaned inwardly. Nick and Willy were mortal enemies and cousins. Whatever Willy did, Nick did it better and usually with more grace. However good-looking Willy was, Nick was easily twice that.
“Leave us alone, Nick,” Willy said. Somehow Willy always managed to make Nick’s name come out like a curse.
“Kara, I came to tell you that your folks are leaving. They asked if I could give you a ride home. That is, if you wanted to stay longer,” Nick suggested.
Kara jerked free from Willy’s hold when her order finally came up. She grabbed her burger and thought about leaving.
She’d promised her best friend Liz she’d watch her barrel racing, which was after the bull rides.
“Thanks,” she told Nick. Then she glared at Willy as she followed Nick back to the stands.
“You know, if you’d tell Willy you’re not interested…” Nick started.
Kara jerked to a stop. “I’ve told Willy so many times over the years to leave me alone.” She practically yelled it.
Nick looked embarrassed for a split second. “Right, I only meant—”
“Piss off.” She started walking again, but Nick easily caught up with her. He was so damn tall and had very long legs. Legs that had filled in with strong muscles. She quickly shook her head clear of the image of him in basketball shorts.
“Sorry, gosh, I guess your love life is a sore subject,” Nick joked as he pushed her shoulder.
“Piss off,” she said again, only this time there was no steam behind her words.
Nick chuckled. “So, are you going to watch my final ride?”
“Nope,” she lied. “I’m going to close my eyes the entire time just to spite you.” She sat down in the empty spot her parents had just vacated.
It wasn’t the first time they’d left her to fend for herself in the small town. Nor, she doubted, would it be the last. She was old enough and, as they said, Nick had given her plenty of rides home.
Cedar, Wyoming, had a population of about three thousand people, each of which she knew personally. That made it really easy to bum a ride. If she couldn’t, it was only six miles back to the ranch, so she could walk.
The only really great thing about Cedar was that it was positioned directly next to Yellowstone National Park. Which meant that, come summertime, there were a million tourists spending their money in the small town. There was also the added benefit of having all those hot guys flirt with her whenever she was in town.
Nick sat down next to her and continued to talk while she ate her burger. He droned on about his time, his method, even the bulls he was fixing on riding.
“Looks like you’re up,” she said, motioning to Jimmy, who was frantically waving at Nick.
“Oh, yeah.” Nick sprung up. “Wish me luck.”
“Break a leg,” she said dryly. On the inside, though, her nerves were on edge, and she had to push aside the rest of her burger. Her stomach was tied in a knot watching Nick climb onto the back of another bull, a huge red one with white marks across its nose and between its eyes.
“Next up is Nick Howe…”—the announcer dragged out the ‘w’ in Nick’s last name—“riding McGuire’s bull Apollo.”
Kara winced. Apollo was known to be the meanest bull in the county. It had even attacked Mr. McGuire last year in the field. Gave him a scar three inches long in his left butt cheek. Or so the rumors said.
Everyone cheered as the buzzer sounded and Nick and the bull jumped out of the gate. Kara held her breath and counted.
She didn’t get far, as Nick was thrown clear of the bull’s back just two seconds into the ride.
Nick seemed pleased as he got up and dusted himself off. But Apollo had a different plan and headed directly towards Nick.
Kara jumped up and screamed for Nick to run. But Nick just stood there, looking at her. She watched in horror as Apollo’s horns headed directly towards Nick. At the last second, Nick seemed to get his wits about him, and he jerked to the side. Only, he wasn’t fast enough.
The bull caught Nick in the thigh, and Kara and the rest of the town watched in horror as Nick Howe went flying through the air. Kara couldn’t shake the feeling that it was somehow all her fault.
Three years later…
“What do you mean you’re not going to leave me in charge?” Kara wanted to stomp her foot. “I’m twenty-one years old. I don’t need a babysitter.”
Her father smiled down at her. “He’s not going to babysit you, just the ranch.”
“I’ve been taking care of the ranch for over thirteen years. I don’t need someone to help,” she practically yelled.
“Weren’t you just complaining last week that we needed to hire more help around here?” Luanna said as she tossed her overnight bag over her shoulder.
Kara glared at her. “Someone to help, not to manage,” she pointed out.
“Nick won’t be managing,” her father said. “He’s just going to check in on things while we’re gone. You know, lend a hand where you need it.”
Kara crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you make that clear to him?”
Her father didn’t answer. Instead, he picked up their two bags and headed out the door to the waiting car that would take them to the airport. After their luggage was in the trunk, her father turned to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Kare-bear. It’s three months. If you need the help, Nick’s here. If you don’t, I have no doubt you’ll send him packing.” Her father smiled down at her. “Now, if you need anything—”
“I won’t.”
Her dad and Luanna had been planning this three-month European vacation for years. She’d been looking forward to being left in charge for twice as long.
Then her father sprung it on her as they were walking out the door that he’d asked Nick to lend a hand. She knew Nick would translate that as him being left in charge. Like hell.
“Go, have fun.” She kissed her father’s cheek and then hugged Luanna. “Bring me back something from Paris,” she told her stepmother.
“Will do,” she replied as she got in the taxi.
Once the car had exited the large wood and iron gates at the end of the drive, she did a quick fist pump and a boogie dance.
She had the entire ranch all to herself for three whole months. Three whole months!
She danced around the large front porch singing. Three whole months to herself.
Oliver, their ten-year-old mutt, watched her little dance from his spot in the corner before losing interest and falling back to sleep.
“Now that’s a sight.”
The deep voice made her scream and jerk around quickly, and she caught her elbow on the doorjamb of the front door.
Wincing with pain, she glared down at Nick, who was leaning against the railing at the base of the porch stairs. Where had he come from? Had he been standing there the entire time that she’d been making a fool out of herself?
“What do you want?” she asked, her happy and excited mood now sour.
Chapter Two
Irritation crossed Kara’s face, a face Nick had memorized so many years ago. A face he dreamed of. A face that he hoped one day would look at him the way he looked at her.
Still, that slight irritation had him smiling. If she was upset at him, at least she was thinking of him. Right?
“I’m here by request of your father,” Nick answered. “He wants me to watch the place while he and your stepmother are gone for the next three months,” he said, even though he knew it was a stretch.
