Badger hoped to hell he wouldn’t say anything stupid or incriminating tonight, but he’d had a startling glimpse into his future while sitting next to Hayley in church. And he couldn’t imagine that future without her in it.

On the other hand, Eagles Nest was his home, now, and Hayley didn’t live here. Her folks did, though, and that was a start. He couldn’t predict how everything would turn out, but now he had two goals—settle himself in Eagles Nest and turn this pretend situation with Hayley into something real. It was a tall order. He didn’t kid himself about that.

In the meantime, he had Hayley all to himself for the next little while. He’d make the most of that opportunity.

The B and B was dark except for a porch light and a couple of electric candle arrangements in the two front windows. Path lights guided them up to the door.

Badger let go of Hayley’s hand so he could unlock the front door.

“Slipping in after hours feels so…”

“Outrageous?”

“Yes!”

“Great, isn’t it?”

She laughed. “It is great. Especially for a minister’s daughter.”

“Try bein’ the son of Thaddeus Livingston Calhoun the Second.” Once they were inside the dimly lit foyer, he turned and engaged both top and bottom locks, while she crept quickly up the stairs of the silent house.

He followed, taking two steps to her one and unbuttoning his coat as he climbed. He was right behind her when she opened the door to their room. The room was dark, but moonlight shone through the window.

Walking in, she turned back to him. “The moon’s so beautiful,” she murmured. “Let’s leave the lights off.”

“Whatever you want, darlin’.” He closed the door and tossed his hat onto the nearest bedpost.

“I want you out of these clothes.” She closed the gap between them and pushed aside the lapels of his jacket.

“And I want you out of yours.” He wrapped her in his arms. “But I can’t seem to stop kissin’ you.”

“Then don’t stop.” She rose on her tiptoes and brushed her mouth over his as she began unsnapping his shirt. “We’ll work it out.”

She was right about that. Somehow they managed to keep on kissing each other as they got rid of every blessed thing they were wearing except for his boots. He leaned against the bedpost to pull those off and then they were back to kissing again while she shoved down his jeans and briefs.

When she finished that, she began touching him in ways that he loved but wouldn’t be able to tolerate for long. He lifted his mouth from hers. “You’re playin’ with fire.”

“I know.” Her voice was low and husky as she stroked his cock. “It’s fun.”

“I’m not denyin’ that.” He gasped as she squeezed gently. “But the fun will be over quick.” He wrapped his hand around her fingers. “I’ve been missin’ you. Which means I’ve built up a head of steam.”

She chuckled softly. “Can I play later, after you’ve let off some steam?”

Her suggestion nearly made him come. “Yes, ma’am, you surely can.” He sucked in air. “Just turn me loose for the time bein’.”

“Okay.” She gave him one last squeeze. “Meet you in bed.”

“You know it.” His heart thumped hard and fast as he grabbed his jeans off the floor and pulled a condom out of the pocket. His hands shook while he opened the wrapper and rolled on the condom. Easy, Calhoun. Easy.

But this time wasn’t like the others they’d shared. Now he knew what was at stake. He wasn’t just enjoying amazing sex with a beautiful lady. He was about to make love to the woman he hoped would share his life.

She didn’t know that and if he followed Ryker’s advice, he wouldn’t say anything about it tonight. He turned back to the bed and his breath caught.

An angel lay in bed waiting for him. Moonlight touched her hair and body, creating a glorious mix of pale beauty and seductive shadows. He was transfixed.

“Badger?”

“I’m just lookin’ my fill.” He took a shaky breath. “And thinkin’ I’m one lucky SOB.”

“You’re making me blush.”

“And you’re makin’ me crazy.” He climbed onto the bed and moved over her. “Damn. I’m blockin’ the moonlight.”

“I can still see it.” She stroked the side of his face. “Right here. I’ve never made love in the moonlight before.”

“Me, either.”

She slid her arms around him. “That makes it special.”

“Everything about you is special.” Leaning down, he kissed her gently. “Merry Christmas, Hayley.”

“Merry Christmas, Badger.”

He loved her slowly at first, wanting to savor the pleasure of this intimate connection that had been perfect from the beginning. But he couldn’t keep a lid on his response when she tightened around him, when her soft whimpers turned to moans of pleasure.

His blood ran hot as he thrust deep, coaxing her to let go. When she did, when she pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle her cries of release, fierce joy poured through him. He rode the wave of her climax to his and swallowed the roar of triumph he so longed to turn loose.

Sinking down against her warmth, he kept his weight on his forearms. He didn’t want to crush her when she was trying to catch her breath. But he rested his cheek against her shoulder.

They were so good together, so damned good. They were meant for each other. It had to work out for them. It just had to.

Reaching up, she combed her fingers through his hair. “I liked that,” she murmured. “Making love in the moonlight.”

“Me, too.” Understatement of the century. Like didn’t begin to cover it.

“Let’s leave the light off a little longer, okay?”

“Works for me.” Telling her about his plans in the dark sounded nice, intimate. He eased away from her. “I’ll be back.”

“I’m counting on it.”

After disposing of the condom, he got into bed and stretched out on his side.

She rolled to face him. “Did we ever figure out how we’d work things tomorrow?”

“How do you want to work it?” He stroked her hip. “Your call.”

“Not really.” She snuggled closer. “You’re staying at the ranch. After seeing how they operate, I’ll bet they’ll have a big gathering tomorrow.”

“They will. Kendra said everybody gets together in the morning after they feed the animals and they exchange gifts. Then they scatter to do their own thing until dinner that night.”

“You probably want to be there both times.”

“I want to be wherever you are.”

“Well, we open presents first thing, eat a quick breakfast, and go to church. The big meal for us is in the middle of the day, so that might be the best time for you to come over.”

“I’ll do that but I also want to go to church with you in the mornin’.”

“Well, okay, if you think you can make it. Mom and Dad would be thrilled.”

“I’ll make it.” He slipped his arm around her waist. “In fact, I’ll probably be goin’ on a regular basis.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s what I planned on tellin’ you. I’ve decided I’m goin’ to fly with Ryker. I’m movin’ to Eagles Nest.”

“You are?” She scooted back a little. “I thought you were worried you couldn’t take the weather?”

“I can take the weather, especially when I have so much goin’ for me here. Flyin’ with Ryker is the main thing, but I want to get back to ridin’ again. I might volunteer at Zane’s raptor rescue, too. He named his raptor nursery after me. I don’t think I told you that.”

“You didn’t, but why would he—wait, I can guess. You made a big donation.”

“Not huge, but—”

“Must have been substantial if he named something after you.”

“I guess he thought it was a lot. Oh, and since I’m movin’ here, I can plan on bein’ in next year’s talent show at the Guzzling Grizzly. I also think your dad’s church is great, so I—”

“This all sounds wonderful, and I’m happy for you because you seem happy.”

“I am happy.” He gave her a squeeze. “Especially right this minute.”

“But…the thing is, you moving here creates a slight complication.”

He took a deep breath. “I know.” This was the part he hadn’t worked through, yet. Except there was an obvious solution.

“I mean, it might be okay if we can pull off that friendly breakup you were talking about.”

“I suppose.” This would be the time Ryker would advise him to shut up. But it might be the perfect time to say something. “What if we…well, what if we didn’t break up?”

She went very still. “What are you saying?”

Her tone wasn’t very encouraging, but he pushed on. “We get along well, so why should we break up? Why does anyone have to find out about—”

“Oh, Badger.” She eased out of his arms and sat up. “Think about it. Everyone except Ryker believes we’re engaged to be married. And we’re not.”

“What’s so bad about them believin’ that?” He sat up, too, and faced her, although her back was to the moonlight so her face was in shadow.

“For a short time I could live with it because it meant I wouldn’t have a bunch of awkward dates this Christmas. But to keep lying about our situation…I can’t.”

“What if we’re not exactly lyin’?”

Her breath quickened. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I’m crazy about you, Hayley. And I think you like me a little bit, too. I don’t see why we can’t just go on like we’ve been doin’.”

She didn’t speak right away. When she did, she sounded as if she might be choosing her words carefully. “Like I said, we’re not being straight with people and that would bother me. The engagement isn’t real.”

“What if we make it real?”

The silence stretched between them. “What are you suggesting?”

“That we get engaged.”

More silence. “Engaged to be married?”

“It would solve everything.” When she didn’t answer, he got a little worried. “Wouldn’t it?”

“No.” She sounded almost sad.

“Why not?”

“Because people, specifically my mother, would expect us to get married. And I can’t marry you.”

“Because you live in Denver?”

“No, because I don’t know who you are.”

“Sure you do! We’ve spent all kinds of time together the last few days.”

“And you’ve told me almost nothing about yourself.”

“That can’t be right. You know where I’m from, that I’ve been in the Air Force…” He searched for something to add.

“Those are broad strokes and not many of them. I kept hoping you’d tell me that your dad is a prominent lawyer and that you went to Georgetown.”

“How’d you know that?”

“My folks looked you up online.”

“Oh.”

She left the bed and walked over to the wall switch by the door.

“What are you doing?”

“Shedding some light on the situation.” She flipped the switch and the bedside lamps came on. She started gathering her clothes.

He blinked in the sudden glare. “I guess I should have told you more.”

“Before we started coming to this B and B, it didn’t really matter.” She pulled on her clothes. “But after that, yes, I wished you’d open up. When you didn’t, I assumed you still thought of this as a temporary arrangement.”

“That’s changed.”

“Maybe in your mind, but you’re still a mystery to me. Other than those tidbits online, I know nothing about your childhood or your parents.”

“Yes, you do! I told you they wouldn’t let me watch TV and I had a tutor before I started school.”

“And how did you feel about that?”

“It’s not important, now. It’s in the past.”

“It’s extremely important! But the fact that you just said it’s not tells me so much.” Her voice gentled. “I’m sorry, Badger. I’m not sure how you envisioned this working out, but it’s plain to me that it won’t. The sooner we pull the plug, the easier it will be on both of us.”

He couldn’t believe it. This couldn’t be happening. Not after all they’d—

“Please get dressed. I want you to take me home.”