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Did she feel it too? Fuck, if she didn’t. She had to.
“I ain’t jizzin’ in my pants again.” His breathing heavy, Kellan dropped his forehead to hers. “Make me some of that coffee?”
“Pumpkin spice?”
“Yeah, baby cakes.” He chuckled deep and low. “You know how I like it.”
With his gaze on Tanner, Kellan set her down. A lazy smirk creeping on his brother’s face, he listened to Arien hum carols while she fiddled with her new gadgets. The season of love, peace, and harmony, Christmas is a time for miracles, ain’t it? Could be they’d just gotten theirs.
“Here you go.” Arien set down mugs in front of them. “Figured you both could use a Red Eye.”
“What’s that?” Kellan stared into his cup.
“Coffee, strong and black. Just the way you like it.” She winked. “With a shot of espresso on top.”
She flounced off into the kitchen.
Raising his brow, his brother looked over at him, then took a sip.
Truth be told, it was the best darn coffee Tanner ever tasted, and the most wonderful Christmas morning he ever remembered having. The five of them opened presents in their matching reindeer pajamas. He and Kellan refinished a cradle that Brooks babies had slept in for generations, filling it with tiny newborn things. Jennifer cried.
Arien popped cinnamon rolls and a breakfast casserole in the oven, wearing the cowboy hat and boots they got her. There was a custom saddle waiting for her and Daisy in the tack room, too. Then she set up her new tripod and took a gazillion family photos in front of the tree. Playing with the settings on her Nikon, swapping out lenses, she wouldn’t let them get up and eat until she was satisfied with the images she captured.
Tanner was looking forward to next Christmas already. It would be even better than this one. At least he hoped so. Their new brother or sister would be here, and if he gave credence to his father’s vision, which he did, they could be expecting a baby of their own by then.
“Get your coats.” Kellan tipped his chin at him and Arien. “Meet me outside by the truck.”
She scrambled for the door. His brother grabbed her wrist. “And keep the boots on.”
He drove in the direction of the Tetons without a word. A three-seat sled and sixteen Alaskan huskies waited. The musher shook his head, chuckling at the comical sight of them, dressed in reindeer pajamas, coats, woolies, and cowboy boots.
Huddled together beneath thick fur blankets, Arien in between them, the dogs pulled their sled through the pristine snow in the forest. She shivered. Kellan passed her a flask. “This’ll warm you up.”
“What is it?”
“Fireball,” he said, a shit-eating grin on his face. “I hear you like it.”
“Tanner?”
He shrugged, rubbing a lock of her hair between his fingers. “You liked it well enough at the bonfire.”
Taking a swig, she sputtered and gave it back.
“I wanna watch you dance again.” Kellan reached across Arien beneath the blanket, taking her hand that was farther away from him. “Wearing nothin’ but them boots…”
Her lips parted.
His arm crossing over his brother’s, Tanner grabbed hold of her other hand. “He’s just teasin’ ya.”
“Speak for your damn self, brother.” Raising the flask to his lips, he tipped it back. “Can’t deny she was hot. And just where’d you learn how to dance like that, baby cakes?”
“Miss Hattie’s School of Dance.” She snatched the flask from his fingers. “Thank you very much.”
“Thank you, Miss Hattie.” Nodding, Kellan sniggered.
“Asshole,” she muttered with a grin, taking another swig.
Yeah, his brother sure loved getting a rise out of her. And Arien took the bait every damn time.
