Saving Mistletoe Read online

  Liam had told her to be at the pizza place by half past six, completely aware she’d show up at least fifteen minutes early. Ellen would have been there even sooner, but she’d stopped to help a neighbor who was trying to get two crying children and a car full of groceries packed into her apartment.

  “Tip?” Ellen asked, yanking off the scarf and tossing it over her coat. “Why does my well-meaning, intruding, scheming cousin call you Tip?”

  Burke took a seat across the table from Ellen and leaned back. He’d have to do something extra nice for his friend. Liam had listened as Burke talked about a young attorney running into him and Bear not once but twice and had pumped him for more details. When Burke shared her name, Liam didn’t show any outward recognition, but apparently he’d been scheming all along to get the two of them together.

  “Most of my friends call me Tip. Short for Tipton,” he said, inordinately pleased to have Ellen as his date. He’d thought of her often the last month, wondering how she was doing and what she’d do if he suddenly showed up at her apartment and asked her for a date. Afraid of freaking her out, he’d refrained, but his interest in her remained.

  “Well, Tip, of all the hairbrained, crazy things Liam has talked me into this has definitely got to be the best yet. I may even have to forgive him for his trickery and subterfuge.” Ellen leaned forward and dropped her voice slightly. “I told him about a police officer and his horse trying to bring about my demise. Liam never said a word about knowing who you were.”

  “He didn’t say anything to me either when I told him a hotshot attorney was so busy plotting her next step up the corporate ladder, she couldn’t pay attention to a large horse blocking her path.” Burke’s warm smile softened his words. “I’m really glad EJ turned out to be you. I get the Ellen part of that, obviously. What’s the J stand for?”

  “Juliet. My mother was big into the classics around the time I was born.” Ellen spoke in a conspiratorial tone. “It’s ridiculous, I know, but I’m stuck with it anyway.”

  Burke reached down beside him and lifted a single coral-hued rose. He handed it to Ellen with a rascally grin. “In that case, ‘That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet,’ oh lovely, Juliet.” He waggled an eyebrow at her, hoping his ability to quote Shakespeare left her a little impressed.

  Shocked by the flower and Burke’s quoting Shakespeare, Ellen took the rose and buried her nose in the bloom. She somehow doubted Burke knew the shade of blossom he chose represented desire, but the thought of it made her cheeks flood with color.

  “Thank you, Burke. This is lovely,” she said, sniffing it again before setting it down on the table beside her. “It’s a beautiful color.”

  “I’ll confess I had a little help from my sister. I had no idea what color to choose and Bella assured me that one was perfect for a blind date.” He grinned. “If I didn’t like the date, I was going to leave it sitting right there on the chair.”

  Burke gave her a look that appeared so innocent of the rose’s true meaning, Ellen tamped down her humor. She had an idea his sister meant to have a little fun at his expense.

  After a server came and took their order, Burke leaned back and draped an arm over the chair next to him in a relaxed pose. “There’s something different about you, Ellen. I noticed it the last time you barreled into me and Sugar Bear. Is everything okay?”

  “Actually, life is very good, Burke.” Ellen leaned forward again and clasped his hand between both of hers. Warmth and something electric hummed in her blood at the contact, but she held on, intent on doing what she should have done months ago. “I need to offer you an apology and my thanks.”

  Puzzled, he remained unmoving, allowing her to sandwich his hand between hers. “For what?”

  “The apology is for the two times I ran into you and Sugar Bear. Both times were entirely my fault and I am sorry for being such a blundering klutz.”

  “You’re not a klutz,” Burke said. “No one as beautiful and graceful as you could possibly bear that title.”

  The twinkle in his eyes made something stir in her midsection, but she chose to ignore it. “I am a klutz. If you don’t believe me, ask my friend, Tara. At the most inopportune moments, it rears its ugly head.”

  Burke chuckled softly. “Still not buying it, but you are forgiven. You suffered more from both mishaps than Bear and I did.”

  Grateful he accepted her apology, she nodded. “Regardless, I did want to apologize.” She inhaled a deep breath and continued. “And I want to thank you for changing my life.”

  Burke leaned closer and moved his hands so they cradled hers. “What are you talking about? How did I change your life?”

  “Remember the first time I bumped into you? You were so upset with me for defending Mr. Westmont. You accused me of being just as bad as him for helping him go free.”

  A stricken look passed over his face. “I’m sorry about that, Ellen. I shouldn’t have mouthed off. I was still just so frustrated that all those poor people lost everything and he walked away unpunished.”

  “No, you were right, Burke,” she assured him, unsettled by the feel of his big, warm palms holding hers. She could feel the rough calluses and weathered skin and glanced down at his tanned fingers. His hands were sturdy, with a cut across two knuckles, and showed the fact they were used for hard labor. While some might find them unappealing, she found them incredibly attractive.

  A sigh rolled up from her chest before she lifted her gaze to his again. “For longer than I care to admit, I’ve been focused on climbing the ladder, doing better than my peers, snagging the next promotion. Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of why I wanted to become an attorney — so I could help people. What you said made me angry, so angry.”

  At his surprised expression, she grinned at him. “I may have muttered a few unkind things about you as I marched up to my client’s office. But by the time I left that appointment, both my head and heart were convicted by what you said. The next day, I gave my two-week’s notice at work and started looking for a new job.”

  “You’re pulling my leg,” Burke said, glancing at her in confusion. “You’re thanking me because I gave you a case of guilt that made you quit your job?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant.” She took a quick moment to gather her thoughts then raised her gaze back to Burke’s. It was hard to concentrate on what she wanted to say with the enticing warmth of his eyes drawing her into a place she knew was pointless to venture. “What I’m trying to say, Burke, is that thanks to you, to what you said, I realized how far I’d strayed off the right path for me. Since August, I’ve been working in an office that primarily does estate planning and wills, that sort of thing. It might not be glamorous, high-profile work, but it’s satisfying and helpful to my clients without being harmful to others. Best of all, I can sleep at night without a guilty conscience keeping me awake. And that is all thanks to you. So thank you for helping me see the error of my ways, even if I wanted to smack the smirk off your face the day you said it.”

  Burke shot her that very smirk. “I’m glad you didn’t because I would have had to arrest you, and that definitely would have put a damper on things.” He squeezed her hands. “I’m proud of you, Ellen. It’s hard to admit we might be wrong, or pursuing the wrong path. I know from experience it’s challenging. But I’m proud of you for following your heart. I’m glad I played a part in it, no matter how small or insignificant.”

  “Oh, it was a very significant part, Burke. If you hadn’t been so forthcoming with your opinions that day, I might still be talking myself into doing things I knew were wrong and growing more miserable by the day.” She offered him a smile full of gratitude. “And because I’m no longer trying to scale that lofty ladder of success, I have time to do things I enjoy.”

  “Like what?” he asked, releasing her hands as their pizza arrived. He served her a piece then slid a slice on his own plate. “What sort of things do you enjoy?”

  “Well, I’ve started volunteering twice a week at a homeless shelter. That’s been so fulfilling and rewarding, and a little heartbreaking. It’s so hard to see people suffering and struggling, you know?”

  “I do know, all too well,” Burke said.

  “That was stupid of me,” Ellen said, blushing. “Of course you see all sorts of terrible things in your work.”

  Reluctantly, Burke nodded. “Not as much now that I’m with the mounted patrol. It’s mostly petty theft, public intoxication, vandalism, and that sort of thing, although I did almost arrest a girl for assaulting two officers a while back.” He tossed her a rakish grin. “But one look in her amazing eyes and I couldn’t quite slap the cuffs on her.”

  Ellen stopped mid bite and straightened, not quite convinced Burke referred to her. “What color were the amazing eyes? Blue? Green?”

  Burke shook his head and fused his gaze to hers. “No, they’re brown, like the finest whiskey.”

  Her cheeks once again suffused with bright pink color, but she held his gaze. “Drink a lot of whiskey, do you?”

  “No, ma’am, I do not. I don’t make it a habit to drink a lot of anything except good old water and admittedly more Dr. Pepper than I should. A sergeant I used to work with thought whiskey was the cure for everything. When he retired, we all chipped in and bought him a bottle of high-dollar stuff.” Burke smiled at her again. “And the color was the exact shade of your eyes.”

  Ellen dropped her eyes to her half-eaten slice of pizza, uncertain if he meant it as a compliment. She’d never been a flirt, hadn’t dated many boys, always too focused on her career. “Is that a good thing?”

  “A very good thing, Ellen.”

  As they ate their pizza, Ellen learned Burke had grown up on a ranch in Eastern Oregon with two older brothers an
d a younger sister. In turn, she shared about having no siblings, but managed to survive the dreaded teen years with her best friend at her side.

  “It’s so hard not having Tara around. She and I were inseparable from the time we were eleven until she left for Atlanta last year.” Unknowingly, she released a heavy sigh. “I miss her.”

  Aware of her melancholy, Burke decided she had to be closer to Tara than he was to his own brothers. He’d been nothing but eager to get away from their joking, tormenting presences. “Do you talk to her often?”

  Ellen looked up at him with a sad smile. “I do. We usually text at least once a day and talk on Sunday evenings. She and Brett are expecting their first baby in January, so I imagine after the little one arrives, she’ll have even less time to stay in touch.”

  “Why don’t you go visit her? I’m sure she’d welcome your company. Don’t new mothers need a lot of help?”

  Taken aback by his suggestion and his insight into what she wanted to do, Ellen grinned. “They do and I’ve been thinking about going to visit her once her mother returns from her visit as the doting grandmother. Besides, I haven’t been at my new job long enough to have built up much time off.” She straightened and looked around the busy restaurant. The packed tables made the noise level so loud, it had become hard to talk without shouting.

  Burke must have noticed the same thing. “Want to get out of here? The Friday crowd is usually a little loud and boisterous.”

  “Sure,” Ellen said, picking up her scarf and winding it around her neck while Burke tugged on his coat and lifted a cowboy hat from the chair beside his.

  Ellen stopped fussing with her scarf and watched him settle it on his dark head, entranced.

  When she finally regained her senses and stood, Burke was beside her, holding her coat as she slipped her arms in the sleeves. He stayed close as they made their way around the tables to the front counter. She started to dig into her purse to pay for her share, but Burke tossed cash to the girl along with his receipt and tipped his hat to her.

  Ellen giggled as they stepped outside into the chilly evening air. “I should have known.”

  “Known what?” Burke asked as he lightly settled his hand against Ellen’s back and shortened his stride to match hers.

  “You’re a cowboy.”

  Chapter Four

  Burke winked at her and spoke with a thick western twang as he took a few swaggering steps. “I shore ’nuff am, ma’am. Since we’ve dun already wrangled up some vittles, I’d be right pleased to show ya a real good time.”

  Her giggles turned to full-out laughter and she stopped, casting him a sideways glance. “I noticed your twang the first time we met, although this one is way over the top.”

  “Twang?” Burke’s brow puckered as he spoke in his regular voice. “What twang?”

  “Oh, I don’t know how to explain it. You just have a hint of a twang or drawl when you speak, but that seems strange since you’re from Oregon, not Texas.”

  Burke dropped his hand from her back, stuffing both hands inside the pockets of his jacket. “I’ve been accused of having a twang before, mostly when I was in college. One of my professors called it a ‘rural dialect’ although I’m not sure he meant it in a good way.” He shrugged. “Most of the people I know back home talk just like I do. Despite what you might think, we aren’t all a bunch of uneducated rednecks.”

  Ellen stopped and placed a hand on his arm. “I didn’t mean to imply anything negative with the comment, Burke. I like it. It makes you sound... different.” She couldn’t very well tell him she could listen to him speak for hours, even reciting the alphabet, because she loved his voice, not just the sexy little twang, but the deep richness of it, too.

  “Is different a good thing?”

  “Very good,” she smiled and wrapped both hands around his arm, unsettled by the rock hard bicep her fingers encircled. “Unless you plan to freeze in the rain that’s about to begin falling in earnest, I think we should go.”

  Burke studied her hands as they rested on his arm for a moment before looking back at her face. “Would you mind going for a little drive?”

  “Not at all. I walked from my apartment. If we head back there...” Ellen released his arm and turned in the direction they’d come.

  Burke caught her hand in his and pulled her back around. “My pickup is parked right over there. Let’s go.”

  He held the passenger door for her and gave her a hand into his pickup. Much to her surprise, the inside was clean and smelled of Burke — like sunshine mixed with leather and a hint of longing. She inhaled, filling her nose with the delicious scent as she fastened her seatbelt.

  “So, where are we headed?” she asked as he slid behind the wheel and backed out of the parking space then pulled onto the street.

  “There’s someone I’d like you to meet,” he said, looking at her then focusing on the street.

  “You want me to meet someone?” Ellen nervously toyed with her scarf. What if it was a family member? His best friend? Who wanted to make introductions like that on a first date? Maybe she should feign a headache and ask Burke to take her home.

  One glance at him, though, and her apprehension settled. Burke was safety and security personified. He wouldn’t do anything to frighten or harm her. Instinctively, she knew that to be true.

  He grinned at her again, his teeth flashing white in the shadowed darkness of the pickup cab as he pulled onto the freeway. “I do want you to meet someone. I think you’ll like it. Just trust me.”

  “Famous last words.” Ellen leaned back and relaxed. “You wouldn’t believe how many times Tara uttered those words to me right before we ended up in a bunch of trouble.”

  Burke lifted a dark eyebrow. “So you were the good girl and your wayward friend dragged you into trouble. You never instigated any of it?”

  “Well...” Ellen couldn’t hold back a sheepish look. “I probably could be blamed for at least half the trouble we got into.”

  “Now the truth comes out,” Burke said, exiting the freeway. He drove at a snail’s pace past a truck stop, craning his neck to look at something before he sped up and continued on his way. A few miles later, he turned on a side street, then another and drove to the last house on a dead-end street filled with modest yet tidy homes. He pulled into the driveway and turned off the lights. “Home, sweet home.”

  Any number of red flags snapped to attention in Ellen’s mind as Burke hurried around the pickup to help her out. Was he some crazy cavedweller, planning to lock her in his house and have his way with her? Was he a cop by day and a serial killer by night? What if there wasn’t anyone he wanted her to meet and it was all a ruse to get her to his place? What if...

  Ellen looked into his handsome, honest face and released her fears. Burke was one of the good guys. At least she thought he was.

  “Come on,” he said, taking her hand and leading her across the sidewalk to the front door. After he opened it, he flicked on a switch and soft light bathed his living room.

  Hesitantly, Ellen stepped inside and looked around. Burke’s dark brown and pine wood furnishings gave the place a definite masculine feel. Black and white images of horses and ranch scenes graced one wall while a big screen TV took up much of another.

  The place was as neat and tidy as his pickup and smelled wonderfully like Burke.

  “It’s nice,” she said, stepping further inside.

  He gave her a look that said he knew she was only being polite. “It’s in a decent neighborhood, and the rent’s reasonable, but the reason I rent this place is for the yard.”

  “The yard?” Ellen asked as he led the way into the kitchen where the light over the stove offered a small swath of light.

  Lights illuminated the room with the click of another switch. They moved through the kitchen to a small utility room. Burke turned on the overhead light then unlocked the back door and pulled it open. “The backyard is almost half an acre. It gives Lovey plenty of room to play when I’m not home.”