“Cupid? Are you serious, Gramps? She can ride a horse? When did that happen? How did it happen? What’s been going on while I’ve been gone? And why are you two so chummy? What haven’t you told me?” Cooper pelted the older man with questions so fast that Nick had no chance to answer any of them. “Well?”
“That is an incredibly deep subject, Coop. As for all your questions, I taught Paige how to ride and she loves it. She’s been out to visit several times when you weren’t home. If you hadn’t been such an idiot where she’s concerned, maybe she wouldn’t be avoiding you every time you turn around.”
“I’m the idiot?” Cooper scoffed and rose to his feet, angrily pacing back and forth. “She’s the one who was dating that whiny jerk. She’s the one who assumed the worst when that barracuda that works with Elliott jumped all over me back in January. She’s the one who pretends she’s not interested in me.”
“How do you know she’s pretending? Maybe you’re not her type.” Nick shrugged indifferently.
Cooper glared at his grandfather. “Just exactly who’s side are you on, anyway?”
Nick grinned. “I’m not taking any sides.” He glanced in the direction of the horse barn. “If it was me trying to get that girl’s attention, though, I’d hustle down to the barn and saddle two horses and take her for a long ride. I used to woo your grandma out in the cherry trees. Why, when I was about your age, I took your grandma out there one evening and we…”
Cooper clapped his hands over his ears. “Don’t you dare say something that I can’t unhear. I get the idea, Gramps. Just send her to the barn when she comes back.”
Nick chuckled as Cooper strode away. “Does him good to have his boat rocked a little,” he mumbled, then glanced up as Paige approached him.
“Did you say something, Nick?” she asked, giving him a curious look.
“No, honey. You go on down to the barn and enjoy your ride.”
She studied him. “Are you coming with me?”
“No. I’ve got some other things to attend to, but you go on. I made sure Cupid will be ready and waiting for you.”
“Okay, Nick. See you later.” She walked off in the direction of the barn, wondering why the older man was acting so strangely. Perhaps the idea of having his ranch overrun with camera crews, caterers, and Elliott Flynn’s dynamic presence had left him unsettled.
It definitely had her on edge, which was exactly why she relished the thought of going for a ride. Although she wouldn’t have thought it possible, horseback rides helped clear her mind, bring her clarity, and bestow a sense of peace unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
As she neared the barn, she noticed two horses saddled and waiting near the corral. She swallowed back a groan when Cooper walked out of the barn. “Think you can stand my presence for a while?”
“I’ll do my best to tolerate you,” she said, walking up to Cupid and patting the horse on the neck. She held out half a carrot and grinned as the horse nibbled it from her hand.
“You’ve spoiled that mare, haven’t you?”
Paige shrugged. “I don’t know about that. We all need a little special treatment from time to time.”
Cooper moved close behind her and lowered his voice. “And what special treatment would you like?”
Unnerved by his proximity, by his enticing aroma, she sidled past him and around to the saddle. “I don’t need any special treatment, Mr. James.”
“But I think you do,” he said, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her up to the saddle. With her short height, he pondered how she usually climbed into the saddle and decided she must use the fence.
She sat in the saddle well and took the reins in her hand with confidence. He wondered just how often she’d come out to the ranch when he wasn’t home. His grandfather hadn’t mentioned her visits at all, which left him contemplating the reason why.
He took in the dusty boots on her feet and her worn jeans. The eager look of anticipation on her face had nothing to do with him and everything to do with Cupid.
Cooper mounted Comet and turned the horse away from the corral. “Where would you like to go?”
She led the way down the path around the pond and rode over the crest of a hill that took them along a pasture fence. Two of the dogs followed them. Cooper snapped his fingers three times in fast succession and Snap jumped onto the fence. The dog trotted along the top rail before barking once, jumping into the air and turning in a flip, then landed on her feet.
“Show off,” Paige said, grinning at the dog as Cooper tossed her a treat.
Not to be left out, Pop whined and wagged his back end, hunkering down a few yards in front of Cooper.
“Come on, Pop,” he encouraged and lifted his arm away from his side. The dog leaped upward, landing in front of Cooper on the saddle.
“Oh, my goodness! That is incredible.” Paige studied the dog and the man. She leaned over and affectionately rubbed Pop’s head. “What do you think of including the dogs in the ads?”
“I don’t have a problem with it as long as it works with what you want to shoot.”
Paige nodded. “I think they’ll add such a great element. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier,” she said, watching as Pop relaxed against Cooper.
When they reached the cherry orchard, Paige reined in and stared at the trees loaded with fruit.
“Gramps said the pickers will be here first thing next week. Just pray we don’t get a rain or hail storm between now and then.” Cooper nudged the dog and it jumped down. He stepped out of the saddle and ground-tied Comet.
Paige swung off her saddle and mimicked his actions, leaving the horse ground-tied. She fell into step beside him as he wandered through the rows of cherry trees. “Isn’t the weather supposed to be nice all weekend? In fact, it seems unseasonably warm, at least for around here.”
“It does seem a might warmer than usual.” He stopped beside a big old cherry tree with branches that practically begged to be climbed on. Cooper wrapped his arms around the limb above his head and swung up onto the branch. When he straddled it, he bent down and held out both hands to Paige.
She shook her head, but he insistently wiggled his fingers at her. “Take my hands, I’ll do the rest.”
Hesitant, she stared up at him.
“Double dog dare you,” he teased, grinning at her with a bright light shining in his vibrant eyes.
Paige didn’t know what possessed her to agree to such madness, but she took a tight grip on Cooper’s hands. Before she could change her mind and let go, he pulled her up onto the branch in front of him.
She found herself with her back pressed against his chest. With his arms around her waist and his legs hanging on either side of hers, she felt like he’d enfolded her not just with his body but also his very presence.
His breath stirred the hair by her ear and made her fight down a delicious shiver of sensation.
“Paige,” he whispered, his voice husky and imploring. “I just want you to know…” His lips nuzzled her neck. Instinctively, she tipped her head to the side, granting him better access.
“Know what?” she asked, her voice dreamy and low as she closed her eyes and indulged in the fabulous experience of allowing Cooper to hold her, to love her.
“That you’ve got…” His kisses trailed down her neck and across the skin he exposed when he slowly pulled down the collar of her shirt.
“Hmm?” She’d never felt anything as scrumptiously fantastic as his lips moving across her bare skin. Tingles, charged with emotion and wonder, began at her toes and spread up to her head.
“A huge spider crawling up your leg.”
Paige’s eyes popped open and she shook both legs, staring at them to see which one held a tarantula.
Cooper laughed and pulled her back against him again. “Got ya!”
Indignant and exasperated, she huffed. “You are such a brat! Can’t you ever, for one moment of your life, be serious?”
“No, ma’am, I can’
t.” He noisily smacked her cheek, then reached up and picked a sun-ripened cherry, handing it to her.
She took it and popped it in her mouth, discreetly tossing out the pit. It tasted nothing like the cherries she purchased at the grocery store. Bold and bright with flavor, the sun-ripened fruit burst in her mouth with juicy sweetness.
After she swallowed the bite, she glanced over her shoulder at the handsome cowboy holding her close. “If you want me to sit here with you for more than another minute, you better start talking. I want to know why you are such a tease and what made you decide to become a rodeo clown.”
Cooper grew still and quiet, contemplative. In fact, he remained so silent, she wasn’t sure he’d speak at all. Finally, he cleared his throat and tightened his grip around her. “Growing up here on the ranch, I loved all things cowboy. Gramps has always been involved with the local rodeo and when I was old enough, I started mutton bustin’.”
At the confused look she tossed over her shoulder, he hurried to explain the event. “They let kids ride sheep at some rodeos. It’s kind of the entry level for future participation. After that, I moved up to team roping with Gramps, but that wasn’t really my thing. In high school, I was part of the rodeo team. My favorite event was riding bulls.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at him over her shoulder. “You really are crazy. What made you stop riding them?”
“A horn to my side. If it hadn’t been for the bullfighter who stepped in and distracted the bull, I’m not sure I’d be alive. While I recuperated, I decided that’s what I wanted to do for a living. I’d always been good at entertaining people and I could tie that into something I loved while helping others.”
“That makes sense, but what turned you into such a jokester, Cooper? It’s almost like an obsession with you, to keep everyone laughing all the time.” Paige moved a little, settling more comfortably against him. The beat of his heart thumped against her back while his scent blended with the aroma of loamy earth and a few fermenting cherries that had fallen out of the trees.
Although his body hadn’t moved, she felt him pulling away from her, at least mentally.
In spite of her fear of falling out of the tree, she managed to turn around on the branch until she faced him. “Cooper? What’s wrong? And don’t you dare make a joke. I can tell something is bothering you, whether you want to let me see it or not.”
He took a deep breath, looking out through the trees before bringing his gaze back to hers. “Since you’ve spent time with Gramps, has he talked about why I came to live with him at all?”
Paige shook her head. “No. The one time I asked, he said that was a story you needed to tell.”
Cooper expelled a long sigh and removed his Stetson. He rubbed a hand over his short-cropped dark hair then settled the hat back in place. Nervous, he took both of Paige’s hands in his and meshed their fingers together. “I used to have a little brother.”
“You did?” Paige had noticed one photo in the family room that showed Cooper with a younger boy who greatly resembled him and a couple she assumed were his parents. She hadn’t wanted to pry by asking Nick questions he didn’t seem inclined to answer.
“I was three when Alex was born. He was premature, had a bunch of health problems, but I remember his belly laugh. His laughter made everything in the world seem right. When I was six, he got sick and that was the beginning of a very painful journey. He died a month before I turned seven.”
Thoughts of Cooper making a special effort to interact with the children at the hospital filled her mind. She pictured him giving extra attention to the little girl dying of cancer.
“Alex had cancer, didn’t he?”
Cooper nodded. “Leukemia.”
“Oh, Cooper. I’m so sorry.” She squeezed his hands as tears glistened in her eyes.
He stared at their hands, intertwined in friendship and genuine care. “Things at home hadn’t been great from the moment Alex was diagnosed. My mom is a doctor and did everything she could to keep him alive. My dad worked for a big software company and buried himself in his work, ignoring the problem and us. Gramps and Grandma, my mother’s parents, stayed with us for a while, but they eventually had to come back to the ranch. Anyway, Gramps got me started telling jokes and being a goofball to help diffuse the tension at home. When he and Grandma left, I kept it up. If nothing else, it entertained Alex and I would have done anything to make him smile. Mom had all but given up her work to care for him at home. Dad spent most of his time hiding at the office. And I tried to be the funny one who kept things lighthearted, even when we all lost hope in Alex surviving.”
Paige sniffled as tears rolled down her cheeks. “What happened to your parents?”
Cooper scoffed. “They fought nonstop after Alex passed away. Within two months, they’d filed for divorce. My dad took a job with a company in Japan and left. Mom couldn’t cope with anything that reminded her of Alex, including me. She dumped me here and went to South America to be in one of those doctoring programs that help the needy in areas untouched by civilization. She came back once, when I graduated from high school, but I haven’t seen her since then. My dad used to send a birthday card with a check and a brief note, but even those stopped about the time I turned eighteen. I haven’t heard from him in almost ten years.”
He drew in a long breath. “One thing all that taught me was to be the jokester. I never lacked for friends that way. Eventually, I learned how to use it to help others.”
“I don’t know what to say, Cooper. I can’t imagine any parent just abandoning their child like that, let alone both parents. I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight.
For the first time in a long time, Cooper allowed himself to feel the grief of losing not only his brother, but also his parents. Heart aching, he held onto Paige as the emotions swirled through him.
When he finally pulled back, he brushed away her tears with the pads of his thumbs and sighed. “The good thing that came of my parents dumping me out like yesterday’s trash was that I got to live here on the ranch with Gramps and Grandma. Mom never wanted anything to do with the ranch, and neither did my father. We lived in Seattle up until we lost Alex. It was like heaven coming to Joyland Acres where I could run, yell, jump, and be as loud and noisy as I wanted without anyone telling me to be quiet. It was the first time since Alex was born that I got to be just a regular kid. Gramps taught me everything he knows about ranch life and here we are.”
“But Cooper, what you went through, what your parents put you through…” Her voice broke and she took a cleansing breath before she could continue. “You’re a good man, Cooper James. One I’m honored to know.”
“Thanks, Paige. I’m pretty happy to know you, too.” He reached up and plucked another cherry, then bit it in half. After discarding the pit, he held the other half to her mouth, rubbing it along her bottom lip.
Uncertain what he wanted or planned, Paige watched the pain in his eyes ebb and a fiery light take its place. Cooper tossed aside the cherry and leaned forward until his lips touched hers. He licked away the cherry juice while heat pooled in her stomach and her breath came in short gasps.
“That tasted even better than I imagined.” His rakish grin left her nearly undone.
“I think I need a taste,” Paige said, fisting the collar of his shirt in both hands and scooting closer before their mouths fused in a kiss so full of sizzling passion, she was surprised the cherries around them didn’t start popping like kernels of corn in a hot pan.
When his hand possessively cupped the back of her head, she slid even closer to him. Her hands wrapped around his back as she pressed against him.
Lost to everything except Cooper and the desire arcing between them, she drew in a ragged breath when he pulled back.
The look in his eyes, a look of pure wanting, kicked her temperature up another notch.
“Paige, darlin’, if we don’t stop this right now, I can’t promise I’ll be able to
remain a good boy. I’d hate to have my way with you right here in the cherry tree.”
Pink suffused her cheeks with vivid color as she tried to move away from him. He grinned and enfolded her in a tender hug. “You really are killing me,” he whispered in her ear.
“You don’t look very dead to me,” she said, giving him a sassy grin.
In some torturous form of wondrous misery, he growled at her and tried to tickle her sides to diffuse the desire pulsing between them. Paige squirmed as she tried to keep him from tickling her. She would have fallen off the limb if he hadn’t held her steady.
“We better get you down before you fall on your head, PP.” Cooper gripped her waist in both hands and swung her away from the branch then lowered her. As she neared the ground, he let go of her waist and caught her hands, easing her down the rest of the way. He would have much rather jumped down then lifted up his arms to catch her, but he figured if he held that curvy little body close one more time that evening, he’d decide he couldn’t let it go.
And that wouldn’t do. Not when Paige still hadn’t decided if she was in love with him.
Cooper was man enough to admit he loved her. He had from the first moment he’d seen her, but she didn’t need to know that. Not yet.
Before he swung out of the tree, he snatched a handful of cherries and playfully tossed them at her.
She squealed and ducked to the side, but when she stood back up, she lobbed a bunch of cherries, some of them rotten, at him.
A particularly juicy one caught him on the chin before he could duck.
“That’s it, missy! You are in for it now.”
He hooked an arm around the branch and swung down, landing a few feet from her. She turned and started to run, but he quickly overtook her. When he caught her, he lifted her in one arm while trying to tickle her with the other.
She squirmed and giggled, trying half-heartedly to get away from him. Somehow, she turned around and faced him.
In an abrupt change, her laughter died away and she traced her index finger across the cleft in his chin, pressing a moist kiss there. “Cooper…”
Barreling Through Christmas: (Sweet Western Holiday Romance) (Rodeo Romance Book 4) Page 19