Sleigh Bells In Crimson

Western Wedding Bells?

Lucy Renner doesn’t believe in the magic of Christmas or forever after. Yet here she is in holiday-obsessed Crimson, Colorado, for her mother’s fourth walk down the aisle. But it’s the handsome-as-sin cowboy cradling a stray kitten who gets her blood racing! Even if Caden Sharpe is rude, surly and just plain Grinch-like, how can a man who finds homes for unwanted pets be all bad?

These days, former soldier Caden Sharpe is more comfortable with the animals he rescues than people. But now his widowed father is engaged to Lucy’s thrice-divorced mother, and Caden is determined to keep him from making a huge mistake—even as he finds himself falling for the bride-to-be’s lovely daughter. Will Crimson see a last-minute holiday exchange—at the altar?

“I won’t let this wedding happen.”

Caden stalked toward Lucy, crowded her back against the mantel, trying to use his size and his anger to intimidate her.

But he realized his mistake at once. This close the scent of her perfume wound around him and he could see the freckles dotting her cheeks. He wanted to trace his fingers over the pattern they made, feel her softness against his rough skin.

And there was something more. A sorrow in her eyes—a loneliness that called to the empty space inside him and made him feel a little less like the outsider he knew himself to be.

He gave himself a mental head shake when her gaze softened and she swayed toward him. What was it about Lucy Renner that broke through his defenses like they were made of air?

* * *

Crimson, Colorado: Finding home—and forever—in the West

Sleigh Bells in Crimson

Michelle Major

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Michelle Major grew up in Ohio but dreamed of living in the mountains. Soon after graduating with a degree in journalism, she pointed her car west and settled in Colorado. Her life and house are filled with one great husband, two beautiful kids, a few furry pets and several well-behaved reptiles. She’s grateful to have found her passion writing stories with happy endings. Michelle loves to hear from her readers at www.michellemajor.com.

To my readers.

I’m honored and grateful that you make a place for me and the stories I write in your lives. May your holidays be filled with peace, joy and so much love! XO

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Lucy Renner pulled her compact rental car to a stop in front of the enormous barn on Sharpe Ranch outside Crimson, Colorado.

If Norman Rockwell and John Denver had looked down from the afterlife to create their perfect town, she figured Crimson would fit the bill to a T. She’d made a pit stop at a local bakery, Life Is Sweet, on her way through the picturesque mountain community. She had been greeted like an old friend even though she felt like an outsider in every way that mattered.

The woman who introduced herself as the shop’s owner, Katie Crawford, had not only added an extra shot to the espresso Lucy ordered but then insisted she sample a fresh-baked cookie, still warm from the oven, all the while asking about Lucy’s visit to Crimson and plans for the holidays.

But as kind as Katie Crawford seemed, Lucy didn’t trust people who were too nice. It meant they wanted something. At least, it did in Lucy’s world. Definitely in her mother’s world, which was why Lucy’s scam radar had gone on high alert when her mom called three days earlier “just to chat.”

Her mother reached out only when she needed something. Despite Lucy’s resolve not to get mixed up in any more of Maureen’s romantic schemes, she’d never been good at saying no.

Now she’d been summoned to the quaint Colorado town that looked like it had puked Christmas cheer all over the place. Much like the rest of downtown Crimson, the bakery had been decorated with festive lights, greenery, ornaments and other vestiges of Christmas, all coming together to make Lucy feel even more grinch-like than normal.

She didn’t do Christmas, didn’t go in for the magic of the season. She’d worked retail long enough to know that Christmas spirit was a ploy to get consumers to part with their hard-earned cash. She’d had plenty of experience as a kid watching her mother make spirits bright in order to further her agenda of the moment. Lucy wanted no part of it any longer. Her plan for the holidays was to survive both the visit and her mother so she could retreat to her boring, quiet life back in Tampa.

Unfolding herself from the car into the biting winter air, she pulled her thin jacket tighter around herself. A two-story farmhouse sat beyond the big barn, situated in the center of a copse of trees, the naked branches swaying in the cold breeze. A cozy stream of smoke rose from the redbrick chimney, and Christmas lights twinkled from a front window as the afternoon light began to gently fade while she stood watching.