Chapter Four
Dawn came early to the ranch house. Chrissy hadn't managed to get more than a few minutes sleep all night, but Mike was rested and refreshed. When they met down in the kitchen for coffee, it was all Chrissy could do to not be snippy with Mike. Fortunately, Tracy and Mark weren't up yet, so she didn't have to put on a show for their benefit. When Mike suddenly took her in his arms and planted a wet kiss on her open mouth, she felt like screaming! How dare him? And he looked and acted so relaxed in her home - well not exactly her own home, but it had been while she was growing up. After fuming and muddling through 15 minutes of stilted conversation, Chrissy muttered an excuse and headed back up the stairs for a shower.
When she came back downstairs, almost an hour later, she was feeling much better. Tracy was in the kitchen getting ready to scramble some eggs to go with the bacon that Mark was taking up out of the frying pan. Mike was lounging at the table, sipping his orange juice and conversing with his brother and future sister-in-law. When he saw Chrissy, he stood up and crossed the kitchen to her. He pulled her into his arms and gave her their second kiss of the morning.
Chrissy reminded herself that he was just playing a role, but it was far too easy to slide into his embrace as he wrapped his arm around her waist. When he led her back over to the table and sat down, she stood beside his chair.
With their height difference, Mike could almost look Chrissy in the eyes when he was sitting down. He realized, with a tightening in his chest, that he really liked that. He struggled to follow the conversation he was supposed to be having with his brother, but he kept getting distracted by Chrissy. Her perfume - no, it wasn't perfume, it was her shampoo - was driving him wild. Her breast kept brushing against his upper arm whenever she moved, making him want to feel her flesh with his bare hands. And her voice, husky from her long, sleepless night, kept making him remember how she sounded in his bed. All in all, Mike was having a hell of a time caring what his brother was talking about, let alone trying to respond. He was relieved when the food was set on the table and the conversation was taken over by Tracy and Chrissy.
Lost in his own thoughts, Mike only forced his attention back to the conversation when he realized that everyone was looking at him. "What? I'm sorry, I must still be tired. What did I miss?" he asked.
Chrissy smiled at him, "I was saying that I need to go into town for some last minute Christmas shopping. Since you don't have a car, I was wondering if you would like to go with me. Tracy has a few items we can pick up for her if you are interested. Or you could stay here with Mark, if you would rather."
Christmas shopping??? He had forgotten completely about why he was here. Mike mentally ran through what he had bought for everyone. He had brought a huge box of assorted nuts for his brother (a true nut junkie!) and a rather generic gift of nice white bathroom towels for Tracy, since he hadn't met her yet. He had even brought a gift card to Wal-Mart for Sky (surely all teen-agers loved that place!). He had the bases covered. Well, all the bases he had expected. He hadn't really planned on meeting a little redhead who knocked his world for a loop. What did he get for her? Yeah, he better go into town.
"No, I think I'll take you up on the offer of a ride. I have a couple of things that I would like to pick up myself," Mike answered, rather absentmindedly. He was already going through a potential list of gifts for Chrissy and marking each one of them off as unacceptable.
As Chrissy and Tracy were cleaning off the table, Sky wandered into the kitchen. "Just getting up kiddo?" Chrissy asked. Sky yawned and looked less than thrilled with life.
Tracy laughed, "Don't let this act fool you. Come tomorrow morning, she will be the first one up, shaking every gift under the tree. She loves Christmas morning!"
Sky looked somewhat abashed at her mother's clear perception, but, being a teen-ager, she was required not to let it make her smile, no matter how badly she wanted to. So, instead, she stuck her head in the refrigerator and pulled out the juice. Tracy just rolled her eyes at Chrissy, who just barely managed to stifle a giggle. It was just too much like she and Tracy had acted as teen-agers!
Mike and Mark washed the dishes as Tracy went over the list of what she needed. Chrissy knew where to pick up most of the items. She needed to go to a few of the stores on the list anyway. Her mind was only half focused on Tracy's list, though. Instead, Chrissy was frantically wondering what to get Mike. She had painted some ceramic serving bowls for Tracy and Mark and she had brought Sky a couple of books from her favorite mystery author. Of course, she had also bought Sky some make-up, jewelry and funky socks as well - after all, one was allowed to spoil one's niece! But she didn't have anything for Mike. What do you get for a man who already has your heart, but doesn't appear to want it?
The drive into town started out in silence. Since Chrissy knew that it would take her at least 20 minutes to get to the first store, she decided that she wasn't going to suffer quietly. "Mike, are you ok? You know, we don't have to go through with this if you don't want to," she said.
"I said I wanted to go into town with you and I do," he replied stiffly.
"Not the trip into town, you stubborn man! We don't have to go through with this charade if you are having second thoughts," Chrissy said crossly.
Mike turned in his seat to look at her. Since she had to keep her eyes on the road, it gave him an opportunity to really take in her appearance. She was dressed in jeans and a long sleeved, button up shirt. It was light blue and made her face and hair come alive. She had left her hair down and it was curling in all different directions. As he sat there staring at her, he tried to put a finger on what it was about her that caused his heart to beat a little too fast and his mouth to be a little too dry.
