A Little Country Christmas - Carolyn Brown Page 0,25

have to do.” Dixie grinned.

She’d just slid the second two batches of cookies into the oven when, suddenly, Landon caught her by the hand, twirled her around, and kissed her. The whole world stopped moving when his lips touched hers, and then it started spinning at warp speed. Heat flowed through her body like hot lava and she wanted more than just a steamy, hot kiss. Then the kiss ended, and she didn’t know what to say to fill the awkward silence.

“What…,” she started, but the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth.

Landon’s eyes twinkled, and he pointed up to the mistletoe that hung right above them. “Don’t know why I haven’t taken advantage of that before now.”

“Me either, cowboy.” She smiled up at him.

“Whew!” He wiped his brow in a dramatic gesture. “I didn’t know if I’d get slapped or booted out the door.”

“Neither one,” she said. “You better have some supper, though, so you’ll have the energy to decorate cookies with me.”

“I’d rather use my energy to make out some more.” He got a plate from the cabinet and helped himself to some roast, potatoes, and carrots.

“Is that what you want for Christmas more than a puppy?” she teased.

“It’d be a close decision.” He winked at her.

“Well, when it’s the thing you want the most, we’ll talk about it,” she told him.

While he ate, she whipped up several colors of icing to decorate cookies shaped like Christmas trees, Santa faces, and even Rudolph and Christmas stockings. Hopefully, they could get six dozen done, then the next night, they could make snickerdoodles, gingerbread squares, and lemon cookies so each person would get a variety. She’d made a list, and she needed about thirty plates to give out on Christmas Eve morning.

“That’s more friends than I had in my whole life before I moved here,” she said.

“What? Are you talking to me?” Landon asked.

“No, to myself,” she answered. “I was thinking about all the people I want to deliver cookies to. And that’s more friends than I had all combined in my whole lifetime.”

“Do I get a plate of cookies?” Landon asked.

“Of course. You are my friend.” She patted him on the head and smeared a bit of icing on his upper lip. “And for helping me decorate them, you get to taste the icing. Have you ever decorated cookies before?”

“Yes, ma’am.” His tongue flicked out and licked the icing from his lip. “Mama and I used to make them every year. I’m an artist when it comes to Christmas cookies.”

“Really?” Dixie asked.

“Oh, yeah.” He smiled up at her. “I call my work Christmas abstracts. The only way you can tell it’s a Christmas tree is by the shape.”

He finished his food and rinsed the plate before putting it in the dishwasher, and then he took Sally out of her high chair and turned her loose on the floor. She crawled over to the quilt on the floor and opened one of her books to read.

“Here’s the first three dozen.” Dixie set the cooling racks on the table and then brought out the small bowls of colored icing.

“How long until the next batch is ready?” Landon asked.

She checked the clock on the stove and said, “Five minutes.”

He pulled her down onto his lap, tilted her chin back with his fist, and kissed her. The first time their lips met, there was steam. The second time, he deepened the kiss and a blaze built up in her insides that all the fire trucks in Bowie and Sunset combined couldn’t put out. Her breath came in short gasps, and she couldn’t force herself to get up to check the cookies, not even when the timer dinged. One more minute wouldn’t hurt. They might be a little browner around the edges, but they could cover that up with extra icing. She quit paying attention to the clock and then she smelled smoke.

“Sweet Jesus!” She finally twisted free of his arms and hurried to the stove.

“No, just plain old Landon Griffin,” he said.

“We burned three dozen cookies.” She threw the oven door open and smoke billowed out into the room. The smoke alarm went off, and Landon grabbed a chair, hopped onto it, and did something to stop the loud noise. Dixie set the pan of cookies in the sink and turned on the cold water, then ran to the kitchen window and opened it. Landon hopped down off the chair, picked up two tea towels, and threw one her way. Both of them