A Cadence Creek Christmas (Cadence Creek Cowboys) Read Online Free Page B

making things slightly awkward. Like this was a date or something. He stood back and grabbed his jacket and shoved his arms in the sleeves. Not a date. It was just sharing a meal with...
    With a woman.
    Hmm.
    “I’m putting my gloves on this time,” she stated with a cheeky smile.
    “Good. Wouldn’t want your fingertips to fall off.”
    They gave a wave to Martha before stepping outside into the crisp air.
    It had warmed a bit, but that only meant that the precipitation that had held off now floated lazily to the earth. Big white flakes drifted on the air, hitting the ground with a soft shush of sound that was so peculiar to falling snow. It draped over hedges and windows, painting the town in fairy-white.
    “This is beautiful,” Taylor whispered. “Snow in Vancouver is cause for chaos. Here, it’s peaceful.”
    “Just because the wind isn’t blowing and causing whiteouts,” Rhys offered, but he was enchanted too. Not by the snow, but by her. The clever and efficient Taylor had tilted her head toward the sky and stuck out her tongue, catching a wide flake on its tip.
    “I know it’s just water, but I swear snow tastes sweet for some reason,” she said, closing her eyes. Another flake landed on her eyelashes and she blinked, laughing as she wiped it away. “Oops.”
    Rhys swallowed as a wave of desire rolled through him. Heavens above, she was pretty. Smart and funny, and while an absolute Sergeant Major on the job, a lot more relaxed when off the clock. He had the urge to reach out and take her hand as they walked through the snow. Odd that he’d have such an innocent, pure thought when the other side of his brain wondered if her mouth would taste like apples and snowflakes.
    He kept his hand in his pocket and they resumed strolling.
    It only took a few minutes to reach the bed and breakfast. Rhys paused outside the white picket gate. “Well, here we are.”
    “Yes, here we are. What about you? You walked me back but now do you have to walk home in the snow? Or are you parked nearby?” She lifted her chin and Rhys smiled at the way the snow covered her hair with white tufts. She looked like a young girl, bundled up in her scarf and coat with snow on her head and shoulders. Definitely not like a cutthroat businesswoman who never had to take no for an answer.
    “I live a few blocks over, so don’t worry about me.”
    “Do you—” she paused, then innocently widened her eyes “—live with your mother?”
    He laughed. “God, no. I’m thirty years old. I have my own place. I most definitely do not live with my mother.”
    Her cold, pink cheeks flushed even deeper. “Oh. Well, thanks for dinner. I guess I’ll see you when we pick up the tuxes, right?”
    “I guess so. See you around, Taylor.”
    “Night.”
    She went in the gate and disappeared up the walk, her ruby-red boots marking the way on the patio stones.
    He had no business thinking about his friend’s sister that way. Even less business considering how different they were. Different philosophies, hundreds of kilometers between them... He shouldn’t have taken her elbow in his hand and guided her along.
    But the truth was the very thing that made her wrong for him was exactly what intrigued him. She wasn’t like the other girls he knew. She was complicated and exciting, and that was something that had been missing from his life for quite a while.
    As the snowfall picked up, he huddled into the collar of his jacket and turned away. Taylor Shepard was not for him. And since he wasn’t the type to mess around on a whim that meant keeping his hands off—for the next two weeks or so.
    He could do that. Right?
    * * *
    Taylor had left the planning for the bridal shower to Clara Diamond, Ty’s wife and one of Avery’s bridesmaids. Tonight Taylor was attending only as a guest. In addition to the bridal party, Molly Diamond’s living room was occupied by Melissa Stone, her employee Amy, and Jean, the owner of the Cadence Creek Bakery and