CHRISTMAS AT THUNDER HORSE RANCH by Elle James Page A

jealous of any man she’d so much as said hello to. Which was practically everyone in camp. She’d laughed and told him to get over it. Though he’d never told her, he never had. His love for her had bordered on obsessive. If he was honest with himself, he was certain had Samantha lived, he’d have driven her away. She had a mind of her own and resented when he told her what to do.
    He’d only done so out of fear of losing her. And his fear had played out. Samantha had died outside the wire.
    Glancing across at Emma, he could see very few similarities between the two women. Where Samantha had straight, sandy-blond hair and gray-blue eyes, Emma had curly dark hair and dark brown eyes.
    Being a female captain in the army meant Samantha had to have a tough exterior and confidence to command the soldiers in her company. Emma appeared to be afraid of men. But she’d shown no fear when she’d used her snowmobile to ram into the guy shooting at him. Her fear was in being alone and naked with a man.
    Samantha had been hot as hell in bed and liked being on top half the time. Emma...
    Her soft brown eyes met his and she smiled. Though she wasn’t as sexy as Samantha, she had her own sweet serenity that made him calm and excited all at once. His heartbeat fluttered and he longed to be naked with her, buried beneath the blankets, touching her, bringing her body and senses to life.
    She’d been like an exotic flower opening for the first time. And she’d given him something special, something she couldn’t take back. Too bad he wasn’t in the market for a relationship. Emma would be well worth the trouble.
    Her cheeks grew pink.
    Dante realized he must have been staring and shifted his gaze to the sky. The thumping sound of helicopter blades was music to his ears. His heart was heavy at the thought of the crashed Eurocopter AS-350 lying in a burned-out heap beneath the snow on Olaf’s ranch. Helicopters weren’t cheap and took time to replace. He’d gone over and over in his mind what he could have or should have done in the situation, but nothing would undo what had been done.
    Biacowski set the helicopter down in a field bordering the small town of Devil’s Lake.
    Olaf drove the pair to the edge and let them out close enough to walk to the aircraft.
    Once again, Emma hugged the older man and thanked him.
    Dante stuck out his hand and shook Olaf’s. “Thank you for all you and your wife have done for us.”
    “Thank you for your service, Dante. I hope you and your girl will come visit us again.” The man grinned. “Hopefully under better circumstances next time.”
    Emma gave him a gentle smile. “We’d like that.”
    The pilot remained with the aircraft as Dante and Emma approached, hunched over to avoid being hit by the still-turning rotors. Once Dante had Emma settled in the backseat and buckled in, he handed her a headset so that she could hear the conversation up front.
    Finally, Dante climbed into the copilot seat.
    Dante settled the spare headset over his ears.
    Biacowski glared at him. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
    “Sorry to inconvenience you.” Dante chuckled. “I have a feeling that if you hadn’t called in sick, one or both of us would have been dead in that fire. I seriously doubt that as much as Emma helped, she could have saved both of us.”
    Chris glanced over his shoulder at Emma and gave her a thumbs-up. “I owe you one. Emma, is it?”
    She nodded.
    “Hell, the CBP owes you one. Dante’s one of our best pilots.”
    She adjusted the mic over her mouth and spoke softly. “Glad to help.”
    Biacowski leaned toward Dante. “Where’d you find her? She’s cute.”
    Dante glanced back at Emma, knowing full well she could hear what the pilot said. “I didn’t find her, she found me.”
    “I want the whole story when we get back.”
    “You got it. Just get us back before nightfall. It’s already been a long day for both of us.”
    Dante settled back in his seat, thinking