25 Reasons to Hate Christmas and Cowboys

by Elle Thorpe

  “You are not serious.”

  “Oh, my little Aussie friend. I never joke about pad art.”

  “That’s not a thing!”

  “Check Pinterest. It’s very much a thing.”

  “You know what Pinterest is?”

  “Doesn’t every pad art lover?”

  I cracked up laughing. “You’re ridiculous. But I’ll bite, because you trying to explain pad art to your mama on Christmas Day is going to be a video-worthy moment.”

  Johnny’s smile slipped for a moment, but he recovered. “You make a good point. But I’m willing to weather the storm of my parents’ confusion if it means I get to see you smile.”

  I stilled, my heart thumping. “You’re being cute again.”

  His fingers circled my wrist and pulled me down to sit on the bed in front of him. “You’re always cute.”

  His lips parted slightly and my stomach fluttered. God, this man. He seriously took my breath away. I suddenly didn’t want to mess around anymore. I had only a few more weeks here, and I didn’t want to regret them. I could spend them making Johnny chase me. Or I could take the damn bull by the horns and steer this ship myself. I inched closer to him, breathing in his fresh, clean scent.

  “You ever going to kiss me, Johnny?”

  He closed the gap between us, one hand cupping the side of my face, tilting it up to meet his.

  I held my breath.

  “Yeah, Isabel. I am.”

  His lips crashed down on mine. Electricity sparked between us, sending shivers down my arms, through my chest, and right between my legs. Yesssss. This was what I’d been missing.

  Johnny’s fingers slid to the back of my neck, tugging me closer. He deepened the kiss, tilting his head, his lips parting, urging mine to do the same. We moved in unison, our tongues exploring and stroking, and urgency began to race through my blood.

  More.

  Wrapped in Johnny’s arms, it was all I could think. I scrambled onto his lap, straddling his waist, and he groaned into my mouth when the center of me rubbed against his jeans. My fingers snaked into his hair and I pulled him closer, my breasts pressing against the solid wall of his chest, locking myself tight around his body.

  We kissed until I couldn’t breathe, and my hips rocked against him, without any conscious thought from me. I couldn’t help it. The man was one giant turn-on, and I hadn’t slept with anyone in months. Seeing Johnny all day today and thinking about him all week was like seven days of mental foreplay. And I was ready to take it further.

  “Fuck, Isabel,” Johnny gritted out. His fingers dug into my hips and he pushed me back on the mattress, both of us batting sanitary pads and containers of glitter out of the way. I yelped when the hot glue gun jabbed me in the back, and laughter bubbled up in my chest when Johnny reached behind me and tossed the offending adhesive tool over his shoulder. It hit the wall with crash, and my eyes widened. Johnny glanced over his shoulder then back at me. Fitted between my legs, his erection straining at his jeans and pressing against the place I wanted him most, he lowered his head so his lips hovered over mine. “Well, that’s probably broken.”

  I grinned back. “I was never any good at arts and crafts anyway.”

  He kissed me again, grinding his hips against mine, the weight of him on top of me so delicious I wanted to beg him to take me right then and there. Screw the thin walls and the nice elderly couple in the room next door. If Johnny fucked anything like the way he kissed, they’d better turn their hearing aids down, because this wasn’t going to be quiet.

  I fumbled for the buttons on his shirt, then the button on his jeans, not sure which I wanted to see more. His abs or his cock. The ache between my legs won out, and I grasped his zipper.

  “Fuck, Isabel,” he said again. He moved his weight off me, but his gaze burned. He looked completely tortured. “We need to stop.”

  I froze. “Uh, why?”

  He pushed himself back, standing and taking a step away. He did his fly up, but his gaze still raked my body. Hot and needy. He closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. “Because I’m trying real hard to be a gentleman with you.”

  The corner of my mouth lifted. “I’m not exactly a virgin, Johnny. Come back here.” The words came out husky and sexy.

  He shook his head. “Fuck. Don’t look at me like that. God, I want to. You have no idea. But I promised myself I’d treat you right. Please let me.”

  I sat up, my smile widening. He looked young and handsome standing there, telling me he wanted to respect me. “I’ve never met anyone like you. I wish I could keep you.”

  A frown creased his face, but he recovered quickly and pasted on a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. He collected the hot glue gun from the floor by his feet, and then he came back to sit on the edge of the bed. Well away from me.

  I pouted, and he pointed the glue gun at me. “I’ll be all yours as long as you’ll have me. If we only have a few weeks, then we’ll make the most of them.”

  I grinned. “So…does that mean we can go back to making out?”

  He picked up the packets of pads from the floor and built a wall between us. “Nope. It means we’re still going slow. I don’t want you to just be a quick fuck, Isabel. We might be on a shortened time frame, but I can still treat you like a lady. So second base is all you’re getting to tonight. We have a centerpiece to make.”

  “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

  “Deadly.”

  I sighed, ignoring my libido, who screamed to convince him this gentlemanly thing wasn’t necessary.

  “Pass me the hygiene products and glitter then.”

  8

  Johnny

  “You did what?”

  I glared at Levi over the top of the horse stalls we were mucking out. “You heard me.”

  He stabbed his pitchfork into a mound of fresh straw and tossed it into the newly cleaned stall. “Yeah, I heard you, but the words aren’t making sense in my brain. She wanted more, and you stopped?”

  I slumped down onto a barrel of feed and rested my elbows on my knees. “I’m trying to be a good guy here, Levi. Don’t give me shit.”

  Levi chuckled. “I just don’t understand. You’ve never been one to take things slow with any girl in the past. You had Lara Hadden half naked in the back of your truck within an hour of meet—”

  One of the horses’ carrots bounced off Levi’s back.

  “Hey!”

  “Well, shut up! I don’t want to talk about Lara Hadden and what we did in the back of my truck. It’s not important anymore. Isabel’s different.”

  “Uh-oh. Is this one of your ‘I’m in love two minutes after meeting a girl’ phases? Fuck man, I hate when you’re a sap.”

  “Fuck you.” I grinned at him, but then sobered. “I don’t know. I really like her. I just don’t want to screw it up. So I’m trying to be on my best behavior.”

  “Sounds like she likes it when you aren’t though.” Levi wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  I chewed a piece of straw and contemplated that. “I don’t know what she likes. I feel like I’m doing this weird juggling act where I’m trying to establish a relationship with her. And set it up so it’s got legs to go the distance. That’s what I’d do with any other girl I really liked. But she’s leaving in a few weeks.”

  “Exactly. You haven’t got time or need for all the prep work. Get the girl already! She seems up for it, so stop being a pansy. When are you seeing her next?”

  “She should be here soon. She’s coming over to help me with the Christmas lights.”

  “Good. You need it. You’ve been off your game since you met her.”

  “Have not!”

  “Your display is only half finished. You suck. Have you seen Charlie’s?”

  I groaned, pushing to my feet and picking up my pitchfork again. “Don’t talk to me about that asshole. Isabel and I saw him the other day. He talks the Christmas light talk, but he can’t walk the walk.”

 
Levi burst into laughter. “You’re such a loser. But you need to up your game, man. Macy and I went out past his place last night—”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You went out with Macy? The same Macy we went to high school with? The same Macy who now works with Isabel?”

  He grinned. “Maybe. But anyway, point is, we went out by his place and he’s got a whole new set-up this year.”

  I frowned. “Seriously? The whole thing?”

  Levi nodded. “You’ve got your work cut out for you if you want to win, telling you now. Who knows what else he’ll add at the last minute. He’s really gone overboard.”

  I pressed my lips into a line. “Well, there’s no way I’m losing out to him. I’ll get it done.”

  “Good. ’Cause nobody wants to hear that guy bragging for the next twelve months ’bout how he stole the title from the Christmas light king.”

  Pleased, I puffed out my chest. “Do people really call me that?”

  Levi laughed until tears streamed down his face.

  Asshole.

  The rest of the morning dragged on, and I checked the time on my phone every five minutes until it was time to pick Isabel up from work. She was already waiting outside the store when I pulled up and she hurried into the car, stamping the snow from her boots. She had a knitted black cap covering the dark hair falling down her back, and her cheeks were pink with the cold. The minute the door closed behind her, I leaned across and caught her mouth with mine. Her lips were freezing, but she responded eagerly, opening for me and letting her tongue move with mine.

  Too soon, my dick was straining to get in on the action, and I pulled away reluctantly.

  Her eyes shone. “Hey.”

  “How was work?”

  “Too long. I just wanted it to be over.”

  “So you could see me?”

  She smiled. “Yep. Thank God for half-days.”

  She made my heart pound. I loved how honest she was. And how she didn’t beat around the bush. And how she thought my stupid attempts at getting her to love Christmas were actually funny. Or at least amusing. Instead of stupid and annoying. Her adorable accent and how damn sexy she was only made the racing heart worse.

  “So what’s the plan?” She loosened the knitted scarf around her neck.

  I checked my blind spot then pulled out onto the road again. “Plan is, put these lights up. Then cook you dinner. Once it’s dark and we’ve eaten, we can give them a test run. Sound good?”

  She reached across and took my hand, squeezing it. “Sounds like a date.”

  I’d already put the lights up at the main house weeks ago, but I wanted the judges to really get a good show when they came out here this year, so I’d decided to decorate my cabin as well. Two for the price of one. When we got to the farm, I showed Isabel the stash of lights I’d bought, and she raised an eyebrow.

  “I hope you have a generator. Does this town even have enough electricity to power all of those?”

  I eyed the lights critically, considering her question.

  “Oh my God, I was joking.”

  I chuckled. “I don’t know. I did go a bit overboard. But we won’t know until we try. And I need to beat Charlie or I’ll probably have to listen to him call me a second-string lighter for the next twelve months.”

  Isabel snorted. “You don’t seriously call yourselves lighters?”

  I tossed her a bundle of lights. “We do. And now you’re one too. So I’ve given you the props, work your design magic, babe. You lead the way.”

  “You’re leaving it all up to me?”

  “My plans didn’t really extend past basically flooding my house with lights. If you have a better idea…”

  A thoughtful look crossed her face. “You know what? I do have an idea.” Her smile widened. “I’m gonna win you this competition, Johnny. Just you wait and see.”

  I called it a day when the sun started to sink toward the horizon and Isabel was shivering. I slung an arm around her, guiding her toward the cabin, and once we were inside, she practically ran for the fireplace. Kneeling in front of it, she grabbed some kindling.

  “You know what you’re doing there, Aussie? Do you even have a need for fireplaces in Sydney?”

  She shot me a rueful grin over her shoulder, her fingers trembling as she scraped a match against its box. “Not at this time of year we don’t. But in winter, it gets cold at night. Not Wyoming cold, but cold enough. Plenty of houses have fireplaces.”

  My stomach grumbled. “I’ll go start us dinner then.”

  She nodded absently, busy feeding the flames she’d created. I couldn’t look away from her. The planes of her face were lit by the low glow of the fire, concentration etched into her features. She took my breath away no matter what she was doing. Quietly concentrating, or throwing shade at me, it didn’t seem to matter. Everything about her fascinated me, and I just wanted more. More time to know her properly. More time to find out every little thing about her. More time to memorize every curve of her body.

  “You’re being a class A creeper right now, West,” Isabel said without looking up, but a smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “Quit staring and go make us some food already.”

  I pushed off the wall and saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

  By the time I got our meal in the oven and wandered back to the living room, Isabel had a roaring fire going, and had shed her jacket and boots. She sat stretched out on the rug, with her feet pointed toward the fireplace, toes wriggling in mismatched socks. I slipped my own boots off and sat down beside her, nudging her with my own sock-covered foot. “Your socks don’t match.”

  She looked down at my feet, then grinned up at me. “Neither do yours. We’re just a mismatched pair then, huh?”

  I leaned in and kissed her softly. “Or maybe that just makes us a perfect pair. Two odds make an even, you know.”

  She brushed her nose against mine. “Whoever thought math could sound so sexy?”

  “You like when I talk math?” I joked. “I could talk all day about equilateral triangles and Pythagoras’s theorem if that’s what turns you on.”

  She shifted closer to me. “Oooh. Hot. Keep going.”

  I wracked my brain, searching for the useless math facts I’d learned in high school. “Uh, the square root of sixty-four is—”

  “Johnny?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I was joking. That’s not what gets me going.”

  I breathed deeply, sucking in the scent of her. “Tell me what does then.” I dropped my lips to the corner of her mouth and worked my way along her jaw.

  Her eyes closed and she tipped her head to the side, giving me better access.

  My lips brushed the shell of her ear. “Tell me, Isabel.”

  Her words came out breathy. “I think you already know.”

  I kissed the sensitive spots on her neck, sucking gently. A moan slipped from her mouth, rewarding me for my efforts. But I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. “Say it, Isabel. What gets you going?”

  She opened her eyes and they met mine, a fire burning behind the green of her irises. “You do.”

  My mouth slammed down on hers. Within seconds, I had her on her back on the soft rug, my body pressing down on hers, our lips moving together. Fuck, she felt good beneath me. She was small and soft everywhere I was big and hard and she kissed me back, grasping my neck and pulling me tight against her.

  My fingers found the hem of her sweater, and I pushed it up. At the same time, she reached for the buttons of my plaid shirt. Her nimble fingers worked fast, and then it was a fight for her to push my shirt from my shoulders and for me to pull her sweater over her head. The room was still cool, but the fire at my back burned strong, warming my skin. But nothing compared to the way heat raced through me when I got my first look at Isabel in just a bra.

  “Damn,” I bit out, letting my gaze work over her body. She was all long stretches of light brown skin, with a slight dusting of freckles across her chest. I leaned and kissed
the swell of her breast. “I’m going to get acquainted with each and every one of these freckles later,” I said between kisses.

  I ran my palm up her side, over the sweet flare of her hip and the indent of her waist before cupping her breast through her bra and squeezing. She hissed, dropping her head and arching her back, pushing into my touch.

  Her nipple hardened and I couldn’t wait another moment to see her. I slid her bra strap from her shoulder, pulling the cup down. Her nipple was a tight bud when I took it between my fingers. Isabel ground her hips up into mine. She pulled my head down again, stretching up to find my lips with hers and I let her control the kiss, taking everything she wanted to give. Her hands roamed over my shoulders and down my biceps, my muscles flexing beneath her touch until I reared back, straddled over her thighs.

  “Lift up,” I commanded, and she did so, giving me the chance to get her bra off and take in her perky tits in all their naked glory. I dragged one hand from the base of her neck down, lower, between her breasts and over her flat stomach to the button on her jeans.

  I glanced back at her, a question in my expression, and she laughed. “If you don’t take those off right now and touch me, I’m going to self-combust.”

  She didn’t need to tell me twice. I undid her fly and tugged her denim off, taking her socks with them.

  Practical black cotton underwear had never looked so fucking sexy. I hooked my fingers in the elastic and slid her panties down her legs, drinking in every inch of her skin as I went.

  “You’re so beautiful,” I whispered, my eyes soaking up their fill and committing it to memory. This sight of her naked and laid out in front of me was something I was going to want to remember for a long time.

  “And you’re so…dressed. Take your jeans off and get over here.”

  But I shook my head. “Not yet.”

  She pouted, but I knew if I took my jeans off, all willpower would go out the window. I’d have myself notched at her entrance and pushing inside her before I got the chance to make her scream. And fucking hell. I wanted to make Isabel scream. Her breathy moans had my cock hard, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more.