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  He Came Upon a Midnight Clear

  Copyright © 2011 by Desiree Holt

  ISBN: 978-1-61333-039-5

  Cover art by Dara England

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

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  http://www.decadentpublishing.com

  He Came Upon a Midnight Clear

  Desiree Holt

  A 1 Night Stand Holiday Story

  ~DEDICATION~

  To my late hero, who gave me the courage to always be myself and reach for the stars and who will always live in my heart…and my stories.

  Chapter One

  Cody Alvarez turned up the collar of his sheepskin-lined rancher’s jacket against the biting cold of a Seattle winter. Someone had been waiting for him when he exited his Southwest flight from San Antonio at SeaTac and delivered him to a one story metal building. Now, he had to wait until he got the go-ahead to board the private Castillo Resorts plane waiting on the tarmac to take him to his final destination.

  Someplace very cold, the instructions said. Bring warm clothes. And a tuxedo.

  What the hell?

  But he reminded himself he’d agreed to the adventure, knowing it could be his best—maybe his only—chance. Uncle Cesar hadn’t given him much choice. The terms of the will were very clear—engaged by New Year’s Day or Rancho Alvarez would be sold. And Cody could not let that happen. He wanted that ranch more than anything. His parents had been unhappy that rather than follow them into their law practice, he’d opted for Texas A&M and studied both agribusiness and animal husbandry. But they saw how he thrived on it.

  Pushing open the door to the private air terminal, he stepped gratefully into the blast of warm air.

  “We’re just waiting for the other passenger to join us,” the man behind the small counter told him.

  “No problem.”

  “I’m Carl, by the way. And there’s fresh coffee on the table over by the wall.”

  “Thanks.”

  Cody poured some of the steaming liquid into a thick mug, carried it to one of the chairs and sat down, stretching his legs out. With his free hand he pulled two pieces of paper from his jacket pocket. The attorney had handed over the first one, from Uncle Cesar, at the reading of the will.

  Cody,

  You are like a son to me. The son I wish I’d had. All those summers you spent here on the ranch showed me what a natural rancher you are. I know that your dream is to own your own spread. You’ve spent the last ten years squirreling away every cent toward that. So many times I wanted to tell you what I had in mind, but I liked watching your determination.

  Now I am gone and Rancho Alvarez will be yours, as it should be, under one condition. You work too hard and enjoy life too little. My greatest sorrow is that I never married and had children. Rancho Alvarez needs a family. So I give you until New Years Day to find a wife and become engaged. Otherwise I have left instructions for the ranch to be sold.

  Take some time for this, Cody. The rewards will be great.”

  Uncle Cesar

  Cody folded the paper. That had been eight months ago, eight long months that he spent working the ranch, learning how to be the boss. Not much time for socializing. The attorney called right after Thanksgiving to remind him time would soon run out. If he hadn’t mistyped a web address one time and found Madame Evangeline’s 1Night Stand matchmaking service, he would really be screwed.

  God, wouldn’t his friends laugh their asses off if they knew that Cody Alvarez, the hero in many a female wet dream, had to resort to what amounted to a dating agency to find a wife. Worse, he had to meet someone, dance around his situation for a week before he got to spend the night with her and convince her that she should marry him.

  Yeah, right.

  The second piece of paper, folded into a small square, he’d memorized.

  Cody,

  Thank you for contacting my service for this important moment in your life. You have been chosen for a variety of reasons to attend the special Christmas Ball Week at Castillo Lodge in Alaska. During that week you will meet your one-night stand, and if things go well, you will attend the Christmas Ball together. It is my hopeful expectation that by then you will have news to share.

  Your companion is a delightful young woman who has just completed some major changes in her life. I think the two of you will be well suited to each other. At some point during the week you will be handed an envelope with the final arrangements for your one-night stand. You will not be disappointed.

  Joyeux Noel.

  Madame Evangeline

  No description, no details other than her age, thirty-two, and Cody would find her physically pleasing. He hoped she’d at least be someone he could carry on a conversation with and tolerate in bed. She must have some kind of problem if she needed to resort to retaining the services of INight Stand?

  Get real, Alvarez. Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?

  But his curiosity piqued at the absence of other information. The form he filled out asked very specific questions which he assumed created the profile given to the other person. Well, damn. The service had a great reputation. He’d checked it out. He had to trust that Madame Eve knew what the hell she was doing.

  The door opened, letting in a rush of cold air, the stiff wind practically blowing the woman inside. Cody studied her from beneath the brim of his Stetson. He wasn’t great with guessing height but he guessed five six in the heels of the high leather boots she wore. Dark blonde hair fell like ripples of silk to match the color of the fur coat she had clutched around her.

  She looked around, spotted Cody, then Carl. “I, um, think I’m the person you’re waiting for,” she said in a tentative voice.

  Oh, great. A nervous Nellie. I hope she doesn’t turn out to be the one on my menu. I’ll never be able to tell her what I need.

  “I’ll let the pilot know we’re all set, then,” Carl told her, coming out from behind the counter. “The driver put your luggage on the plane so we’ll be set to go in a minute.”

  “Thank you.”

  Her voice was soft and musical and tickled Cody’s senses.

  No. You have a plan in place, dumbass. Stick to it.

  Madame Eve assured him the woman would know the score. His only challenge? Convincing her to make the right choice.

  “Coffee’s over there,” he said in a gruff voice, nodding.

  “What?” She jumped like a startled bird. “Oh, no thanks.” Even her smile was tentative. “I think I’m coffee’d out.”

  The door opened and Carl stuck his head in. “All set, folks.”

  Cody pushed himself out of the chair and headed out of the terminal, waiting for his traveling companion to precede him. The wind hadn’t abated at all and the cold clawed at him l
ike a tiger. He watched the woman pull her coat even tighter as she battled her way to the short drop-down stairway. The pilot, standing at its foot, held out a hand to help her up into the plane. Cody was right on her heels as they entered the cabin.

  He didn’t know what he expected in the small plane, but not the obvious luxury that greeted him. The little cabin boasted four comfortable leather loungers in slate gray, each with a small table attached to it. They were arranged in a circle, all facing each other but it was obvious from their construction they could be swiveled in any direction for privacy and locked in place. Thick carpet in a slightly darker shade of gray than the chairs covered the floor and padded the walls of the plane.

  “Please, sit where you like,” a voice said behind him.

  Cody turned to see the pilot, a tall woman comfortably dressed in woolen slacks and a sweater with the Castillo Resorts logo on it.

  “I’m Katherine.” She flashed a friendly grin. “Pilot, navigator and cabin attendant.”

  Cody smiled back and shook her hand. “Cody Alvarez.”

  Katherine looked at the woman. “You must be Miss Morris.”

  She nodded. “Libby.”

  “Anything I can get for either of you before we take off? Coffee? Water? Wine?”

  They both shook their heads.

  “Well, then, take your seats. Enjoy the flight.” She entered the cockpit and closed the door.

  Cody peeled out of his rancher’s jacket and tossed it on one seat before buckling himself into the one next to it. Libby shrugged her coat off and his jaw nearly dropped as he saw the figure now revealed. The red dress of some soft material clung to lush curves in all the right places, draping over full breasts, hips and thighs. She settled herself carefully in the other empty seat, directly opposite him, fastened her seat belt and made an obvious effort to relax. Her graceful hands were folded in her lap and he might have thought she was good to go if he hadn’t noticed the extremely white knuckles.

  “Nervous flier?” he asked.

  She hesitated then nodded. Once. A jerky movement of her head. “I haven’t flown a whole lot. And small planes seem a lot scarier.”

  “Maybe you should have taken the glass of wine,” he suggested.

  “No.” Her full lips curved in a tiny smile. “I’d probably just throw it up and that would put a real damper on the rest of the trip for you.”

  “You, too,” he pointed out. He couldn’t stop staring at her face with its expressive hazel eyes, thick lashes and elegant bone structure.

  She frowned. “Is my makeup smeared or something?

  “What?” Her question startled him.

  Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips in a nervous gesture and Cody instantly grew hard.

  Great! Just great!

  “You’re looking at me so strangely, I thought maybe my face was a mess or I had dirt on it. Or something.”

  “Oh. No. Sorry. Just my bad manners. You look fine.”

  Fine. What a completely inadequate word to describe her. She looks…enticing. Erotic. Intoxicating. Madame Evangeline, I hope the woman you’ve chosen for me comes even close to this one.

  “So, are you from Texas?” she asked.

  The plane began its taxi to the runway and Cody guessed she was trying to distract herself. Fortunately, the thick padding on the cabin walls made conversation easier than expected over the noise of the engine.

  One corner of Cody’s mouth kicked up in a grin. “What gave me away?”

  She looked at his feet. “The boots. I guess there are cowboys in other states, but Texas usually comes to mind first.”

  He looked at the custom-made Lucchese boots on his feet. He’d dished out a bundle for them, his first custom pair ever, but he wanted to “put his best foot forward” at this Invitation Only shindig where he hoped to secure his future. He still didn’t know how the hell he’d been chosen out of the pile. Maybe Madame Evangeline liked the Stetson in his photo.

  “You got the Texas part right. But the boots I wear at home don’t bear much relationship to these. I usually have on work boots.”

  “So you’re a rancher?”

  “Got it in one.”

  The plane had paused for a moment, but at that moment the engine noise grew louder as they readied for takeoff. Looking at the bundle of nerves sitting across from him Cody couldn’t help himself. He reached over and put one of his large hands over both of hers.

  Zap!

  He almost jerked away at the sizzle of heat that flowed between them. He could tell she felt the same thing by the way her eyes widened and her hands tightened even more.What the hell was that all about?

  He forced his voice to remain a calm, even tenor. “Take off is always louder in a small plane. Nothing to worry about.”

  Like he had all the experience in the world. Two trips to a cattlemen’s convention in a small plane didn’t exactly make him an expert on them. But the desire to soothe her frazzled nerves struck him unexpectedly. And it gave him an excuse to keep his hand over hers.

  Cool it, Alvarez. You already have a date you’ll be meeting sometime this week and so does she.

  Oh yeah? the devil in his head asked. Does that mean you can’t fool around a little on the side?

  But that wasn’t his style and he knew it. He had a very strong code of honor, instilled by his parents and Uncle Cesar. But at least he could enjoy her company while the opportunity presented itself.

  He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as the plane launched itself from the runway, hoping it soothed her because soothing definitely didn’t describe what touching her did to him. To the contrary, his cock stayed so hard he wondered if it would break through the fabric of his pants and point itself directly at her.

  When they were in the air and leveled off, she relaxed fractionally and he forced himself to remove his hand, although he hated to break the contact. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Well.” Her voice was still a little shaky. “So we’re in the air.”

  “No pulling the wool over your eyes,” he chuckled.

  Her blush was as charming as the rest of her. “I’m not usually such a ninny. It’s just….”

  “I know. You haven’t flown much. It’s okay.”

  When she uncrossed and recrossed her legs, the hem of the dress rode up on her thigh and Cody caught a glimpse of a tempting, dimpled knee and a plump thigh. He loved women who had some meat on their bones. Something to hold onto. Something soft in bed. He never figured out why half the women in the world starved themselves to death when men really wanted luxuriance rather than skin and bones.

  “So,” he began, mostly to distract himself from her sensuous body and electrifying presence, “Are you heading to the lodge for something special or just a vacation?”

  She blushed a rosy color that made her that much more appealing. “I’m…um…that is, I’m a special invited guest. Part of a package,” she added hastily.

  “1Night Stand?” Now why did I have to ask her that?

  The blush deepened. “Well…um…yes.”

  He winked to ease her embarrassment. “Me, too. So how did you happen to find Madame Eve?”

  She wet her lips again, her delicate tongue teasing him as it smoothed over her flesh. “A woman at a place where I…spent some time recently told everyone about it. One of her friends found it and used it and ended up marrying the man she met. It just sounded…exciting.”

  Exciting. God, let’s hope so. At least enough to hook me up with a woman who can get me out of my predicament.

  “I’m guessing you haven’t had much excitement in your life?”

  She sighed heavily. “Sad to say that’s the truth.”

  Cody frowned. “I can’t imagine a woman as beautiful and appealing as you are lacking for excitement for very long.”

  There went that blush again. “You–you think I’m beautiful?”

  Didn’t she know that? Or was she playing a game? He hated games.

  “Have you
looked in a mirror lately?” he asked. “If so, you’d better take another look because you’re missing something.”

  Libby knew that damn blush was staining her cheeks again, but this cowboy seemed to be able to push her buttons. Flip her switches. The whole time his hand covered hers, electricity crackled through her. He was absolutely gorgeous, with his golden skin, thick black hair that just reached the collar of his shirt, lean muscled body and long legs. His eyes were darker than onyx, mysterious, and his faced was defined by high cheekbones and a square jaw. His romantic Hispanic heritage was very obvious. She could imagine him like the vaqueros of old astride his horse, riding the range, rounding up cattle.

  Stop it, you romantic fool. You’re lucky if he gives you a second look.

  But the desire for a second look from someone had landed her on this trip. Winning fifty thousand dollars in the state lottery had been a shocking windfall. When her best friend, Elaine, convinced her to use the unexpected winnings to change her life, she recklessly took the plunge. She even quit her job as a legal assistant, a pleasant position, but not what she’d planned to do with the rest of her life. She was being careful with her money and after this little trip she could begin job hunting again.

  She didn’t bother to tell mouthwatering Cody Alvarez that her “vacation” consisted of several weeks at a spa where she trimmed off excess pounds, exercised her way into shape—what a torture of the damned that had been—worked with a nutritionist to create a meal plan, and let the stylists do something with her hair and makeup. The day she left the spa, she looked in the mirror, hardly able to believe that the woman who’d walked in as frumpy, overweight Olive Morris now left as sexy—well, almost—Libby.

  And with an invitation to an exclusive 1Night Stand Christmas Week at an undisclosed location.

  Bring warm clothes and a fancy ball gown. That’s all the final email said.