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But that grin didn’t change any, except maybe turn the air a little hotter. Which was impossible. All thisheatwas a figment of her over-wintered imagination.

“I’m not sure. No one ever has. But you’re more than welcome to take on the challenge.”

That word wound though her.Challenge. She never, ever backed down from a challenge. It was one of those things her parents had insisted she learn to do: face any challenge, any hardship, any responsibility.

And she had. Over and over again. But this was different, because she had a bad feeling his challenge would involve nakedness.

Oh, remember male nakedness? That was nice. His would be very, very nice.

The cashier cleared her throat and Monica blushed even deeper. “Sorry,” she mumbled, fumbling to pull her credit card out of her purse. She centered herself with the rote actions of sliding the card through the reader and taking the receipt as Gabe loaded up the cart with her bags.

As they walked out of the store, side by side, Monica kept her gaze forward. “I might take that challenge,” she said hastily as they reached the truck.

“You might fail.”

She looked up at him and gave him a very carefully blank smile. She knew it irritated him by the way his lips firmed and his jaw tightened.

“I might,” she agreed, validated somehow when he was the one to break eye contact and finish loading the bags into the truck bed. “But I also might not,” she added, heading for the passenger side door.

The fact that Gabe didn’t slide into the driver’s seat for another minute or so was very validating indeed.

Chapter 9

Gabe pulled at the collar of his shirt as he, Jack, and Alex were lined up by a very overzealous friend of Becca’s mother. The barn had been transformed, the pastor from Sandra’s church was calm and ready, and the guests were all seated.

Gabe felt like a monkey on parade. “I hate suits,” he grumbled, trying not to scowl at the small group of people in attendance.

“You hate everything,” Jack replied, giving him a slight nudge as the woman arranging them glared in his direction.

It was fair enough. He also hated weddings, but he’d kept that one to himself because he was a good friend, after all.

Alex didn’t say anything. He stood, still as a statue, beside the pastor, his eyes glued to the barn doors, which would be opened when it was time to start.

“Nervous, big guy?” Gabe asked.

“No.”

“You sure look it.”

Some of Alex’s blank stoicism firmed into irritation, which may have been Gabe’s plan. If Alex was irritated, he wouldn’t be overthinking the next fifteen minutes or planning for every possible disaster as he often did.

But the doors began to open, Hick doing the honors, looking like a completely different person in his suit. The grizzled ranch hand Alex’s father had employed for years was now a suave, well-dressed gentleman.

The doors opened. Christmas lights and luminaries had been put along the aisle runner and now lit up the outdoors.

Becca had said something about their entrance being likeWhite Christmasand the reference had gone way over Gabe’s head, but snow was softly falling outside. Gabe knew that would give Becca a thrill.

He might hate weddings, but this one wasn’t so bad.

A sleigh appeared, pulled by Pal. The horse was decked out in a big wreath of flowers around his neck, all dark reds and bright whites with evergreen holding it all together.

“Maybe a little nervous,” Alex muttered as Hick helped Colin out of the sleigh and handed him a leash decorated with greenery and pinecones. Colin was in a suit and looked quite proud to be doing his job of leading the flower goat down the aisle.

Colin made it to the end and handed the leash to Jack. Because yes, Ron Swanson the goat was going to stand up at the front of the wedding with the groomsmen.

Rose was next, wearing a long, flowing, red dress with a fluffy, white wrap. She held a bouquet that matched all the rest of the floral stuff that was about. She smiled at Alex and gave him a wink, but then her gaze was all for Jack.

Monica slid out of the sleigh, tall and willowy in some dark-green contraption that looked soft and silky. Her blond hair was all pulled back in intricate braid things and her lips were a deep, fantasy-worthy red.