Barreling Through Christmas: (Sweet Western Holiday Romance) (Rodeo Romance Book 4)

by Shanna Hatfield

  Despite her determination to wipe him from her mind, she’d found it an impossible task.

  The evening of the photo shoot at the studio, she’d gone to Dexter’s apartment and demanded to know what his plans were for the future, their future. At his indifferent shrug, she’d told him goodbye and hadn’t looked back.

  In truth, she’d felt nothing but relief to no longer be around Dexter. However, thoughts of Cooper, of how much she missed his teasing smile and smoldering blue eyes, nearly drove her mad.

  Although she wouldn’t admit it to anyone, she’d even started watching rodeos on TV, hoping for a glimpse of him. She’d found his schedule on his website, another thing she’d never confess to researching, and knew which programmed rodeos to record.

  Each time she caught his grin or saw a glimpse of him interacting with kids, an ache gripped her heart with such force, it made her catch her breath.

  Surviving the next few days would require resolve, control, and a plan. Paige had no intention of allowing Cooper to turn her head again, especially not when women like Sloane so easily captured his attention.

  The bright spot in all the turmoil surrounding Cooper and this photo shoot, though, was Nick. Paige had stayed in touch with him and gotten to know him quite well. Without any family of her own, other than Randi and Dave, he’d become like a grandfather to her.

  When Cooper was out of town at rodeos, she had frequently visited the ranch. Nick had taught her how to ride, and he even let her lay claim to one of the calves that she’d bottle fed from a newborn.

  In spite of her status as a confirmed city girl, Paige had loved every minute of it.

  As she parked her car in front of the farmhouse, Nick waved from his seat in a rocker on the porch and rose to his feet.

  “Hey, honey! It’s sure nice to see you,” he said, walking down the steps as Crackle barked and wagged his tail, running over to Paige in a friendly greeting.

  The dog leaned against her leg as she scratched behind his ears, then she offered Nick a big hug.

  “Thank you for doing this, Nick. You can’t know how much I appreciate you allowing us to use the ranch for the photo shoot.” She stepped back and looked around.

  In the last few months, Nick had made sure the house, barns, and outbuildings all sported new coats of paint. He’d asked Paige’s advice on planting flowers and added splashes of vibrant color around the house with hanging baskets and pots she’d helped him select.

  The windows of the house glistened in the afternoon sunlight, having just been washed by Irma, Nick’s housekeeper and cook.

  “The place looks great, Nick.” She glanced around in admiration at how nice everything did look. She couldn’t have found a better place to showcase Elliott’s fashions if she’d tried.

  “I’m just glad we can help you out, Paige. Do you need help carrying anything inside? Irma has a room all ready for you.”

  “I can get my bag, Nick.” Paige popped her trunk and lifted out the suitcase. She closed the lid and followed him down the walk and inside the house.

  Irma bustled down the hall from the kitchen with her arms open, ready for a hug. Paige set down the suitcase and found herself enfolded in the woman’s grandmotherly embrace.

  “Hi, Irma. The house looks amazing, as always.” Paige smiled at the woman who was even shorter than her diminutive height, but weighed a good fifty pounds more.

  Plump and jolly, Paige could picture Irma as the perfect Mrs. Santa Claus. Uncertain why thoughts of Christmas coursed through her head when it had to be close to ninety degrees outside, she shoved the holiday notions aside.

  Irma’s smile wreathed her wrinkled face. “Let’s get you settled in your room, kiddo, and then you can tell me all about what to expect the next few days.”

  Paige followed Irma up the steps and into the bedroom closest to the stairs. A bank of gleaming windows filled the room with light. Thankfully, with the room on the east side of the house, afternoon sunshine didn’t add heat to the space. A white duvet and big fluffy pillows covered a king-sized bed made of reclaimed wood. Pale gray walls and white trim created a simple yet elegant atmosphere.

  Paige set her suitcase on a burgundy leather-covered bench by the dresser and glanced around, grateful to see she had a small private bath. The thought of running into Cooper in the hallway of a morning or at night sent her nerves into overdrive.

  “This is perfect, Irma, thank you so much.” Paige walked over to the table by the bed and sniffed a bouquet of fragrant roses. “The flowers are lovely.”

  “Nick thought you might enjoy them. His wife loved having cut roses around the house, or so he said.”

  Paige knew from conversations with Nick that his wife had passed away when Cooper was ten. She’d been gone eighteen years, but Nick seemed to miss her as if her death had just happened yesterday.

  Someday, Paige wanted to know that sort of unending devotion. Until she found someone who loved her like that, she wasn’t in a hurry to get back into the dating game. Her relationship with Dexter had taught her to be more selective in her choices. Whatever it was she’d experienced with Cooper had enlightened her to her need for someone to love her passionately.

  The past six months had definitely given her a lot to contemplate, in addition to how much she’d come to despise working for Joe Conner. She couldn’t wait for Elliott’s line to launch so she could show Joe she was ready to move on to the L.A. office.

  Cooper’s words about opening her own office drifted through her thoughts more and more lately, but was afraid she lacked the resources to make it happen.

  Or could she?

  Still contemplating the possibilities, she followed Irma down the back stairs to the kitchen. The woman poured her a glass of lemonade and scooted a plate of freshly-baked sugar cookies her direction.

  “Irma, I’m going to gain ten pounds while I’m here,” she said, taking a cookie and biting into the sweet softness. “But right now I don’t really care.”

  Irma laughed and picked up a notepad and pen. “You’re so thin, Paige, you could stand to gain a few pounds. Just enjoy and don’t worry about it. If I was young and pretty like you, I’d have my cake and eat it, too.”

  “You are so sweet, but I better not eat too much of that cake,” Paige said, taking another bite of the cookie. She washed it down with a sip of the icy lemonade then brushed the crumbs off her hands. “Where would you like to start?”

  “Tell me everything I need to know about everyone who will be here and what you need me to do.”

  An hour later, Irma laughed as Paige described Sloane in vivid detail.

  “I can back up everything she just told you,” Nick said as he walked into the kitchen.

  Irma smiled and started to get up to pour him a drink, but he motioned for her to stay seated.

  “Have you met her, Nick?” the cook asked.

  He nodded and snitched a cookie. “I sure have. She’s even worse than Paige described. She got it in her head to latch onto Cooper, but fortunately, he left town before she could sink in those manicured claws.” Nick turned to Paige, ready to change the subject. “I thought we could take a walk around and you could tell me what you have in mind for the photo shoots. I don’t want any of my men to be in your way.”

  Paige placed a hand on his arm. “I don’t want you to do anything differently just because we’ll have the camera crew and photographer here. In fact, if the guys are working in the background, it might add a hint of authenticity to everything. But I would like to show you what I was thinking. The photographer will be here in the morning, and I’d like to have a plan ready when he arrives.”

  “Great. We can go check things out while Irma finishes dinner.” Nick grabbed another cookie as they headed out the door.

  He and Paige walked all around the big red barn, made their way to the pond then over to the horse barn. Nick pointed out some areas Paige would have missed as being photogenic and agreed they’d make nice backdrops for some of the shots.
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  “Would you mind if we did some filming with the cattle or horses in the background?” she asked as they watched the cattle grazing in a distant pasture.

  “Not at all, Paige. You do whatever you need to. For the next few days, you have complete access to anything you want here, even my grandson.” Nick winked when she glared at him. He offered her an innocent shrug as they started walking back toward the house. “Cooper isn’t interested in Sloane, or any woman like her. It’s not who he is. You just happened to catch him in a bad situation when he was at your office in January.”

  Nick had tried to explain to her that Sloane threw herself at Cooper and before he could get away, she’d dragged him into the hallway and kissed him. Paige still couldn’t believe Cooper was completely innocent. Not when he’d appeared to be involved in the kiss with the despicable woman. The older man just didn’t seem to accept the fact Paige had no interest in pursuing a relationship with Cooper.

  “Nick, I’ve told you before that Cooper and I… that we’re not…” She sighed. “There is no Cooper and me, so please just let it go.”

  Nick held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, honey. If you say so, but I sure do think you and Cooper would make me some pretty grandbabies.”

  Paige rolled her eyes and he chuckled then patted her back. “Come on, let’s help Irma set the table. If you’re still speaking to me after dinner, you might talk me into saddling the horses and going for a ride.”

  Her face lit with excitement and she turned to him with a broad smile. “Really? I’d love that so much. Can we go right after dinner?”

  Nick laughed as he nodded his head and settled his arm over her shoulders in a fatherly hug. “You bet, but only if you clean your plate first.”

  “Yes, sir.” Paige hurried up the back steps into the mudroom and washed her hands at the sink before going into the kitchen to help Irma.

  Two hours later, she and Nick rode over a gently sloping hill and stopped, looking at the horses grazing below them. The setting sun turned the sky into shades of raspberry, tangerine, and gold that was nothing like anything Paige had ever witnessed in the city.

  She breathed deeply, inhaling the scent of horses combined with the aroma of the hay some of Nick’s men had cut that morning, and fresh country air.

  “Nick, even though Cooper and I… well, even with things as they are, thank you so much for allowing me to visit you at Joyland Acres. I love it out here. It’s the one place I feel like I can breathe and relax.”

  He smiled at her. “You’re so welcome, honey. I like having you here and you know you can come anytime you like. No matter what happens with my thick-headed grandson and you, I want you to feel at home here.”

  Paige reached out and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.” Before the tears stinging the backs of her eyes started rolling down her cheeks, she released a long breath and sat straighter in the saddle. “I suppose we better head back to the house. I want to get an early start in the morning before the photographer arrives.”

  “Sure, honey.” Nick led the way back to the barn. After they brushed down the horses and turned them out in the pasture, they walked back to the house.

  “Want a piece of pie?” Irma asked as they stepped inside the kitchen.

  “None for me, thanks,” Paige said, kissing Irma’s round cheek. “I’m still stuffed from dinner.”

  “You don’t eat enough to keep a starving bird alive,” Irma said, cutting a slice of warm cherry pie and setting it on a plate then topping it with ice cream.

  “I’ll eat her share,” Nick said, sitting down at the table and digging into the pie.

  “Maybe I’ll have just a tiny piece,” Paige said, taking a seat next to Nick.

  As the three of them ate pie, Nick filled Paige in on the local rodeo. He’d been involved with it for a number of years.

  “Oh, gosh, Nick, I hope us being here won’t mess up your schedule,” Paige said, feeling guilty over imposing on Nick and the ranch crew.

  “It won’t. I have a few things to attend to Monday morning, and an event to go to Tuesday evening, but other than that, I’ll be around.”

  Paige set her empty plate in the sink, thanked them both for the hospitality and went upstairs to her room.

  “Oh, I should not have eaten that pie,” she groaned as she sat down on the bed and tugged off her boots. The pair she’d purchased in Las Vegas she saved for wearing in town, because they were too pretty to get dirty. The first time she’d come to visit Nick at the ranch, he’d taken her to a western supply store and helped her choose a simple brown pair of cowboy boots. They were one of her favorite things to wear, now that they were broken in. If more people realized how comfortable cowboy boots were, she mused that everyone would own at least one pair.

  She set her boots by the dresser and unzipped her suitcase, setting out a variety of things she’d need in the coming days.

  After taking her toothbrush into the bathroom, she placed a towel over the top of the antique dresser to protect the surface, and then set out her toiletry items. The small pedestal sink in the bathroom lacked a vanity, so she’d make do with the mirror above the dresser. It would be a good place to apply her mascara, style her hair, and rub moisturizer and sunscreen into her pale skin.

  She also set out a few snacks she’d brought along. She wasn’t sure how much time she’d have to sit down and eat meals, so she’d tucked granola bars and dried fruit along with a bag of her favorite corn chips into her bag. The chips were a guilty pleasure, but she had an idea she might need the indulgence before she wrapped things up at the ranch.

  Deciding to take a shower before going to bed, she found her pajamas, opened a glass jar and rubbed facial scrub into her skin, and went into the small bathroom. Paige discarded her clothes, laughing at herself as she inhaled the unmistakable aroma of horse. Before she’d gone to Las Vegas, the smell would have made her crinkle her nose in disgust, but now she liked it.

  Horses and leather had become familiar scents to her. She’d spent enough time with Nick around the cows that she’d even become accustomed to the odor of manure. Although she couldn’t claim to enjoy it, she no longer felt like it might make her gag.

  She stepped into the steamy spray of the shower and rinsed her face, then washed her hair with a special organic shampoo and conditioner that smelled like oranges and coconut with a hint of jasmine.

  Paige hummed an off-key tune as she let the hot water ease her tense muscles. Finally, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. After squeezing the excess moisture from her hair and drying off, she slipped on her pajamas and opened the bathroom door.

  A scream ripped from her throat as she stepped into the bedroom to find Cooper sitting in the chair beneath the window, eating corn chips dipped in her facial scrub.

  “What are you doing!” she yelled, racing across the room and yanking the jar out of his hand.

  “Eating chips and guacamole. What are you doing?” Cooper rose to his feet and glared at her.

  “You’re eating my facial scrub, you moron.” She plunked the clear glass jar back on the dresser and held up the lid. “It’s organic.”

  Cooper looked as if he might be ill as he turned nearly the same shade of green as the facial scrub. He pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and swallowed hard a few times then cleared his throat.

  “What kind of crazy person smears something that looks and smells like guacamole on their face? If you need goop for your skin, get in touch with Kenzie Morgan. She works for a company that specializes in that kind of stuff. I’ve never once mistaken her products for food.”

  She took the chips from him and tossed them on the dresser. When she faced him again, she fisted her hands on her hips. “What are you doing in my room?”

  “Technically, it isn’t your room. It’s my house. I could ask what you think you’re doing here.” Cooper took a step forward, doing his best to intimidate her.

  Paige glared at him. “You know we’re doing
the photo shoot this week, so don’t play innocent with me. Nick said you wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.”

  “I got an earlier start than I anticipated and made good time on the road. The rodeo I was at was only a few hours from here. I decided to pack up early and head home today rather than in the morning.”

  Footsteps thumping up the stairs and down the hall alerted them to someone’s approach. “What’s going on up here?” Nick bellowed as he raced into the room.

  “He ate my facial scrub.” Paige waved an accusing finger at Cooper.

  Nick sucked in his bottom lip and turned away as he attempted to swallow down his mirth. Regardless of his efforts, his shoulders shook with laughter and soon the belly laugh he tried to hold back escaped. “I told you to eat a piece of pie when you waltzed through the kitchen, Coop. Come on.” Nick motioned for his grandson to follow him. “Leave this poor girl alone before you decide to snack on her soap.”

  “I’ll be right down, Gramps,” Cooper growled, glowering at the older man as he left the room. When Nick’s footsteps sounded on the stairs, he turned to Paige.

  The look in his eyes made her take a hesitant step back. Every step she retreated, he advanced two until she bumped into the dresser with no means of escape.

  “We need to talk, darlin’.” He leaned toward her and Paige couldn’t help but breathe in his unique, masculine scent. The memory of it had floated through her dreams and tormented her at the most inopportune moments. To smell it again in person made her limbs languid.

  “All the details about the photo shoot and filming have been covered.” She glanced from one side of Cooper to the other, trying to avoid falling into the intense depths of his eyes. If she did, she wasn’t sure she’d ever find her way out.

  “I’m not referring to modeling or photographs and you know it. I’m talking about us…” He waggled his finger between the two of them. “About this. You can pretend all you like, but there is something going on here, something I’d like to have the opportunity to explore if you’d give me half a chance.”