Dearest Cowboys Box Set

by Mia Brown

  “Well, yes, we didn’t want to spoil Rick’s big day,” I said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “And you too. You know, when I was preparing the guest rooms, I had no idea that the two of you were married.”

  “Oh, we should’ve told you, but like I said, we didn’t want to spoil the big day. It’s really not an issue.”

  “How sweet of you,” Rick’s mother said. “You poor things had separate rooms last night for no reason. How sweet of you not to say anything.”

  “Oh, that’s okay,” Cassidy said quickly. “We don’t mind at all. It’s really not a big deal.”

  “Nonsense!” Rick’s mother said. “It’s not right for the two of you to be separated. Don’t you worry about a thing. I have already figured it all out.”

  “What…what do you mean?” Cassidy asked, and I could hear a hint of nervousness in her voice. I resisted the urge to laugh. This couldn’t have worked out better if I had written the script myself. It was like I had stepped into a perfectly executed movie.

  “Oh, I’ve had all of your things moved into Houston’s room. Now, let me run along. I just wanted to let you know, and to also congratulate you. I’m so very happy for you, Cassidy. Houston, you seem like a wonderful boy. Be good to Cassidy, okay?”

  I grinned. “Oh, absolutely.”

  I turned to Cassidy and chuckled. She was red-faced and embarrassed, and as much as I hated to admit it, I couldn’t help but feel quite pleased with the whole thing. Perhaps a night with Cassidy wouldn’t be such a bad thing at all.

  “Oh my God,” Cassidy said as she put her face in her hands. “I cannot believe how far this has gone.”

  “Are you already regretting being married to me? I mean, it’s only been a few days,” I said, and chuckled.

  She shook her head and groaned. “Think we’re going to regret this in the morning?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. More champagne?”

  She laughed at my suggestion. “Oh hell, why not? Might as well.”

  Nine

  Cassidy

  I could not believe that not only was I pretending to be married to Houston, but that I was now going to be spending the night in the same room as him. It was hard not to feel embarrassed about the whole thing, even though Houston clearly thought it was hilarious. He seemed to be having the time of his life.

  For the most part, the wedding had been fun. We’d even gotten the chance to show off some of our terrible dance moves, and it was hard to say which one of us was worse than the other. Houston probably still looked better than me. Even when he was trying to look ridiculous, he still managed to come across looking good. Every now and again I would marvel at how good-looking he was, and wonder why I had never really noticed it before.

  Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Every so often over the past few years, it had crossed my mind, but never was anything more to it than just a sprinkling of appreciation. He was good-looking, but the two of us were clearly not going to happen. If he was interested in me, it would’ve happened a very long time ago. Still, tonight I seemed to be more aware than usual about his good looks, but I simply put it down to the amount of alcohol I had consumed. I’d probably find most people good-looking at this moment.

  “I’m just going to head to the bathroom, and then do you want to call it a night?” Houston asked.

  I nodded and tried to push the thought of him and me alone in the room aside. “Uh, yeah, I’m pretty exhausted. Good plan, Batman,” I said, and laughed even though there was nothing really funny about what I had said. Why was I suddenly feeling so nervous? This wasn’t the usual way I felt around him. I was never the most comfortable person with people, but I had always felt at ease around Houston. Maybe this whole wedding and marriage thing has just thrown me off. I still couldn’t believe what I had done.

  “Cool, I’ll be right back then,” he said.

  As soon as Houston was gone, I noticed Rick making his way toward me. The two of us hadn’t spent that much time together throughout the night. He was constantly being pulled away for photos, and it was clear that Lara had him on a tight leash.

  “Hey, Cass,” he said to me. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Yeah, it’s been a great wedding,” I said. “Did you have a good time?” I asked. It seemed like a silly thing to ask the groom, but I asked it anyway.

  He nodded. “I sure did,” he said, and I wondered if he was being genuine. I was having a tough time figuring out what was going on at the moment. I had clearly had far too much to drink.

  “Look, I heard about you and Houston. Wow, I had no idea. I can’t believe you didn’t say anything. Congratulations. The two of you look like a happy couple. You were having a great time tonight,” he said.

  I chuckled. “Uh, there’s something I have to tell you,” I whispered. “The marriage thing was just a little lie.”

  Rick frowned. “A lie?”

  “Yeah, I…I have no idea how it happened. It was just a little lie that got out of hand. It got so big that it seemed to spiral out of control. I decided to just leave it though, as it’s your big wedding night and I didn’t want to mess it up with my own drama.”

  “Seriously? You aren’t married?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not. But please don’t tell anyone. I’d rather deal with this myself. If you say something, it’s only going to cause even more confusion. I’ll figure it out once the wedding is over. Okay?”

  He nodded. “Okay. I won’t say anything. You guys must’ve been drunk.”

  I laughed. “Very much.”

  “Well, thanks for thinking of me. Drama would not have been a good thing today. So I do appreciate it.”

  I smiled and gave him a big hug. He sauntered off to say goodbye to another couple, and I silently hoped that he was doing the right thing by marrying Lara. I didn’t like her, but I did want my cousin to have a happy life with her. How anyone could have a happy life with someone like Lara was beyond me, but I still hoped the best for him. Rick was sometimes a bit hard to figure out, so I wasn’t sure if he was being entirely honest with himself, but maybe he saw a side to her that nobody else did.

  I giggled as I watched Houston coming back toward me. He wasn’t walking in a straight line, and he almost tripped twice before finally getting to me.

  “What are you laughing at?” he said.

  “You. You can’t even walk straight.”

  “I bet you can’t either.”

  I stood up. “Oh yeah? I’ll prove it.”

  Of course I couldn’t walk straight, and the two of us stumbled all the way back to the room. The moment we got into the room, I thought it was going to be awkward, but Houston grinned at me.

  “Guess what?” he said.

  “What?”

  “I stole this,” he said, and he pulled a bottle of wine out from under his jacket. He’d been carrying his jacket the whole way home, and I had wondered why he was holding onto it so tightly.

  I burst out laughing. “Are you seriously going to drink more?”

  He nodded. “I am. And you’re going to have some with me.”

  “Well, if you insist,” I said.

  We sat on the floor and passed the bottle back and forth to each other. My dress had hitched up slightly, and most of my leg was bare. I kept pushing it back down, but it kept crawling back up again. Eventually, I just gave up. Anyway, I noticed Houston looking at my legs and smiling, and I decided that I quite liked the attention.

  It wasn’t something I was used to, and I felt both happy and confused at the same time. Houston had flirted with me all evening, settling easily into his new role of husband with me. The attention had been nice, but I had expected him to stop the moment we were alone in the room together. I was wrong. He smiled at me.

  “You know, you have a lovely set of legs.”

  I was too drunk to blush. “Have you never seen legs before?” I teased.

  He laughed. “Oh, I’ve seen plenty of legs before, but none so pretty as
yours.”

  “Oh, Houston, you flatter me, but you’re a bullshitter too.”

  “What? Since when? I’m telling you the truth.”

  “I know you were flirting with me earlier because of the whole fake marriage thing, but you don’t have to do that anymore. Nobody is here to hear us.”

  “How do you know? There could be cameras watching us right now.”

  I gasped. “Houston! Don’t say that. That’s creepy.”

  He chuckled. “You’ve surprised me tonight, Cassidy. You’ve surprised me a whole lot.”

  “Why?”

  “First, you show up in the most beautiful dress ever. Then…well, you do all these things that seem so against your character.”

  “And what exactly is my character?” I asked. I liked how bold I was tonight. I felt like something had changed in me, and I suddenly didn’t care at all about holding back. I had enjoyed myself at the wedding, but I was enjoying myself even more now that the two of us were alone.

  “A tough girl. One of the guys.”

  I snorted. “Yeah, that’s what everyone thinks. I guess I am that, but I’m a lot more than that, too. Nobody has bothered to find out about me.”

  He gazed at me then, and the look on his face was one of intense desire. I had never seen anyone look at me that way before, not even my ex-boyfriends. I suddenly realized how much I had been missing out on in life. No wonder my sister wanted me to go out and mingle more. I had been cocooned for far too long.

  “Yeah, and that’s our loss,” he said. “You’re absolutely gorgeous, Cassidy. You’re…you’re hot.”

  I laughed. “I’m hot? I don’t believe that one bit.”

  “Oh, you’re hot. You’re also incredibly funny. And sweet. And…”

  Before I knew what was happening, Houston was kissing me. I gasped and almost pulled away, but the feel of his lips on mine was so good that I couldn’t help but give into it. I didn’t realize how much I had been hoping that this would happen until this moment. Was I just drunk? Or had I just never experienced a real kiss before? This was spectacular. His hand moved up my leg, shifting my dress up, and I groaned. Suddenly we were both standing up, although I couldn’t even remember the process of doing it. We were unsteady on our feet, and I fell into his arms, chuckling. Once steadied, he kissed me again and slowly took off my dress, letting it fall to the floor. When our clothes were off, we fell back into bed with one another.

  I lay there, with Houston on top of me, and the room no longer felt hazy. In fact, everything seemed to have cleared, and I felt a laser focus that I had never experienced before.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked.

  I smiled. The very fact that he was asking made me like him even more. I nodded.

  “I am. And you?”

  “Oh, I’m very sure,” he said, and I grinned. That was the right answer. I pulled his face to me and opened my legs. However, I didn’t want to rush this. He only seemed slightly disappointed that I wanted to start with some good old-fashioned foreplay. I mean, when was the last time I made out with a guy, naked in bed? Yeah, I couldn’t remember, either. We started at the top and worked our way down. Lusty, wet, passionate kisses whetted our desire for more, and we explored each other’s mouths with fervor. I licked his lips and loved the taste of him, just a hint of silky wine on his velvety lips and tongue.

  As we kissed his hands began roaming my body, waking up parts of me that had been dormant for years. It was like cobwebs practically falling away as he caressed me and touched me, getting to know my body. He looked me up and down like he’d never seen me before, taking in my perky, bouncy breasts with their pale pink nipples, my flat abs from years of farm work, and my tight, sleek thighs and calves.

  I, too, was suitably impressed by his physique that had seen plenty of days in the sunlight working hard, and it showed. His biceps bulged and I ran my fingers over the soft and muscular skin, feeling the wetness in between my legs as I took in his six-pack abs and taut, strong legs. He was beautifully put together, and his dick stood straight up at attention, bobbing up and down and practically gleaming in the low light of the room. I reached out and grabbed it with both hands, unable to resist a second longer. I sat up in bed and pushed him back onto the mattress, wedging myself in between his rock-hard thighs.

  I took his entire length into my mouth and he gasped loudly, and I felt him shudder under my touch. I smiled with his dick in my mouth and realized that giving head was like riding a bike; you never really forgot how to do it. I fucked his dick with my mouth, lavishing his cock with long, slow licks alternating with deep-throated thrusts until he was practically coming off the bed.

  I sat up and positioned myself over him so his rod could slide easily up into my soaking wet pussy, and as soon as he was inside, it felt like we were two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly. Well, I was a cowgirl, so let’s just say I knew how to ride, and I did some of my best work right then and there. He opened his eyes wide as I rode his cock like one of my best horses, sliding up and down, slow, then fast, like the most rapturous torture.

  I decided to show off a little turned around to do the reverse cowgirl position. That’s when I heard a noise come from him I had never heard come from any man. He grabbed at my ass and squeezed it as he struggled to keep from coming, but it was pointless.

  He surprised me by flipping me over like I weighed less than a bale of hay, and his dick never left my hole. His strong arms held onto the headboard as he fucked me with all his passion and might, his eyes locked onto mine with intensity and desire. I felt the orgasm rising up inside me, and when it happened, it went all the way down to my toes. He came shortly after, and with his cock still inside of me, I felt him quicken, then relax. I’m pretty sure I had just had the best sex of my life. With Houston?

  Oh well. I didn’t care about the implications of what we were doing or the fact that we now had this terrible lie hanging over us. I didn’t care that we were friends who were possibly going to wake up and feel regretful over our decisions. All I knew was that I wanted Houston inside me and that I never wanted the moment to end.

  Afterwards, he kissed me and pulled me close to him. “I told you that this wedding was going to be a night to remember,” he said.

  I smiled. “I will definitely never forget this one.”

  With that, I closed my eyes and immediately fell into a deep and happy sleep, so sated and relaxed.

  Ten

  Houston

  I woke the next morning and almost screamed when I saw someone lying beside me. Then, when I realized it was Cassidy, I moved instead between feeling pleased, confused, and concerned. Most of all I was just confused. Last night had not gone at all like I had thought it was going to go. I could remember everything quite clearly, despite the amount of alcohol we had consumed, and I had obviously enjoyed myself. Just looking at Cassidy now I couldn’t help but feel slightly excited at the sight of her.

  The room was warm, and she must’ve knocked the covers down. The only part of her that was covered was a bit of her legs. Which gave me ample time to assess her without her even knowing. She was fast asleep, with a slight snore coming out from her. She looked absolutely beautiful, and I couldn’t believe that this was the same girl that I had known for so long. The same girl that I had always seen as one of the guys.

  Cassidy had a beautiful body. She was very petite, but she had curves in all the right places. I considered reaching over and touching her, but I didn’t want to make matters worse. Last night might have been incredible, but neither of us would’ve done anything if we hadn’t been so drunk. Up until last night, I had never even thought about her in that way. She was going to wake up and feel a world of regret, and I didn’t want to make things even worse.

  I couldn’t help but think of Joe’s warning before I had left for the wedding with her. He had warned me that weddings confused emotions, and I probably should have listened to him. I never in my wildest dreams would ever have imagined that som
ething like this would’ve happened with Cassidy. What had we been thinking? I eyed the empty bottle of wine lying in the corner, and I groaned. We hadn’t been thinking, and that was the problem.

  I had groaned too loudly, and Cassidy’s eyes fluttered open. She looked at me, then down at herself and shrieked. She reached for the covers and quickly pulled them up around her.

  “Oh my God! What the hell? What is going on?” she looked around the room in confusion, her eyes as big as saucers.

  I chuckled. “Oh, come on, I’ve already seen everything.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Were you staring at me?”

  “I was doing no such thing,” I said. I realized that cracking jokes was probably not the best thing to do in this situation, but I couldn’t help myself. It was my default whenever a moment got too intense for me. “I simply have a good memory,” I said, and winked at her. “I have already seen all that you have to offer, so you don’t have to be shy with me.”

  “Well, I am. And you should be too,” she said, and threw a pillow my way. “Now, look away while I take a shower.”

  I looked away and then grinned when I realized I could see her in the mirror. She got out of the bed, grabbed her bag, and lugged the whole thing to the shower with her. I thought about telling her that I saw her, but changed my mind. She seemed mortified. I listened as she showered, and thought of putting some clothes on, but the thought of a nice, cool shower was too appealing to me.

  Instead, I wrapped a towel around my waist and waited for her to be done. I wondered what she would do if I were to simply walk into the bathroom and step into the shower with her. I tried to shrug the thought away. I shouldn’t be thinking of her in that way at all. The only way that the two of us were going to move past this was if we pretended as if this hadn’t happened at all.

  When she got out of the shower, she surprised me by wearing another dress. She laughed when she saw the expression on my face.