Dearest Cowboys Box Set

by Mia Brown

  “This is nice,” she said, as if mirroring my thoughts.

  I laughed. “You seem surprised.”

  “I guess I am. I thought it would be strange having you here. I’m used to being on my own. But it’s nice.”

  “You’re just being friendly because I bought you pizza,” I teased.

  She grinned. “A sure way to my heart.”

  “I’ll make a note of that,” I said.

  While we sat there with the moonlight upon us, I couldn’t help but think back to the night that we had spent together. Or the way I had watched her naked body when I had woken up before her the following morning. The whole thing had been a surprisingly incredible experience. Joe was right. I did want to have sex with her again. How could I not? I wanted to feel that again. I couldn’t believe that I had never thought of her in that way before despite knowing her for so long. Now it seemed to be the only thing that I thought of when I looked at her. She’d ruined me.

  “What are you thinking?” Cassidy asked.

  “Oh, uh, just that I’m starting to get tired,” I said.

  “Uh yeah, me too. I think we better call it a night.”

  We said our goodbyes and I made my way to the guest room. After a shower, I climbed into bed and wondered if she was awake and thinking of me. Of course she wasn’t. She’d made it perfectly clear that she didn’t want to be with me again. Anyway, sleeping with her again would only make things even more confusing. And right now that was the last thing we needed. We needed to concentrate on fixing this mess that we had started.

  Nineteen

  Cassidy

  Almost a week had passed, and I chuckled when I got annoyed at seeing that the toilet seat was up. This felt like a defining moment in our made-up relationship. It was hard to imagine that not so long ago I was living alone, and now I had a pretend husband sleeping in the guest room. The whole thing was so absurd, but once we’d gotten past the weirdness of it all we’d actually settled into an easy routine. I was surprised by how well the two of us got along and how easy he was to live with.

  Nicole had warned me that we might end up butting heads, but so far things had gone surprisingly smooth. I was dying to talk to Nicole, but every time she called Houston was nearby, and I didn’t want him to hear our conversation. But that was probably not a bad thing. She was more than likely going to tease me for the crazy thoughts that kept popping into my head. Right now it was probably better if I kept them to myself. No harm could come from them if they stayed safely in my head.

  After a quick morning shower and change, I made my way to the kitchen, only to be surprised by the sight of both Houston and Jake standing there talking to each other. They both seemed incredibly awkward, and they looked relieved when I walked in. I felt like I had walked in at the right time, although a part of me wished I was still in my room.

  “Oh, uh, hey guys,” I said.

  “Morning,” Houston said.

  “Hi, Cassidy. I came for the horse ride. We did say today, didn’t we?”

  “Of course,” I said, even though I had clearly forgotten. I wasn’t even dressed right for it, and he had clearly noticed. “I just didn’t realize the time. Let me get changed. I’ll meet you by the horses.”

  I rushed back to my room and changed into the right attire, swearing under my breath the whole way. When I got out, I saw that Jake had gone, but Houston was still standing there.

  “Shit, sorry about that,” I said to him. “I completely forgot that I had planned this. Uh, do you want to come with?”

  He shook his head. “Nah, I better not. Anyway, I thought I’d get started on some work around here. There’s lots to be done. If that’s okay?”

  “Oh, you don’t have to,” I said to him. “Don’t you have to work at your father’s place?”

  “Actually, my father has hired someone else for now. He said he wants me to concentrate on helping you. He mentioned wanting to get legal matters worked out with the land transfer, but I thankfully managed to postpone that.”

  “Houston! You can’t let him do that. That is taking it too far,” I gasped.

  “I know. Don’t worry. It’s not going to happen. Thankfully, my father is pretty busy again. He’s working on another big project for the next two weeks, I think. He said once it’s done we can maybe all sit down and discuss the reception and all this business. So that gives us just enough time to figure this all out.”

  I nodded in relief. “Okay, good. Do you want a cup of coffee? I’m dying for one,” I said, and began walking to the kitchen.

  “Uh, aren’t you supposed to be going for a horse ride with Jake?” he asked.

  “Jake! Oops, I forgot,” I said, and giggled. “Where is he?”

  “He’s out by the horses, remember?” Houston laughed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but you totally forgot about him.”

  I groaned. “I better go. I feel rude.”

  “I’ll have coffee waiting when you return,” he said. “Have a good time, but not too much of a good time. I mean, you are my wife, after all.”

  I punched him lightly in the arm and headed out before he could see that I was blushing. Had I really just forgotten about poor Jake? I felt like a terrible person.

  “Hey, sorry I took so long,” I said.

  “Uh, are you sure you want to do this, Cassidy?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Well, you looked pretty busy there. What is Houston doing at your house again?”

  “Uh…” I thought of telling Jake that Houston was only there to help with the ranch, but I figured it would be stupid to lie. “The two of us are sort of an item,” I said, and then I tried not to laugh when I realized I had just told him another lie. After living with Houston for a week, I sometimes forgot that we weren’t together.

  “Sort of?”

  “Uh, yeah.” I climbed onto the horse and tried to avoid his gaze. I didn’t want to tell him about the marriage, fake or not, and I wished that I had told him I was too busy for this horse ride.

  “And he doesn’t mind that you’re going horse riding with me?”

  “Of course not. He’s…he’s not the jealous type,” I said, then mentally berated myself. Once again I was telling a lie that was leading to more lies. I really needed to stop doing this. It was starting to become a terrible habit of mine.

  “Ah, well, okay then. If you’re sure,” he said, but I could tell that he too wished that he had not come over that day.

  “I’m sure. Come on, let’s go riding. It’s my favorite way to start the day.”

  We rode for a bit, the two of us not saying anything to one another until Jake eventually broke the silence.

  “You should’ve told me,” he said quietly.

  “About Houston? Uh, I’m sorry, it’s early days.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, but still. Anyway, I probably won’t come horse riding again after this.”

  I frowned. “Why not? You don’t have to stop, Jake.”

  “Look, I love doing this, but there are plenty places I can go horse riding. I wanted to flirt with you, that’s all. I was hoping to change your mind about me. Now, well, it just doesn’t feel right.”

  “Oh. I’m…uh…sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I’m happy for you, Cass. Houston is a great guy. I wish you a world of happiness with him.”

  “Thank you. That’s very nice of you. I wish the same for you.”

  I felt sad when we got back from the ride. He gave me a hug, told me again how happy he was for me, and headed to his car while I took the horses back to the stables. I wasn’t sad because I wasn’t going to be riding with him again, frankly I was quite relieved at that. I was sad because of the lie. As much as I hated to admit it, the lie had sucked me into a life that I didn’t really lead. I sighed and made my way back to the house. I saw Houston at the door, and then frowned when he rushed back inside. When I got in, I saw him walking out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in one hand and a croissant in the other.


  “I figured you’d be hungry,” he said.

  “Starving.” I smiled as I took it from him. “Thank you. That’s nice of you. Where’s yours?”

  “I already had one. So, how was your ride?”

  “It was good, but it’s not going to happen again,” I told him.

  “Why not? Did something happen?”

  I sighed and took a seat to have my breakfast. “I told him the two of us were together.”

  “Together?”

  “Yeah, an item. A couple. I didn’t say we were husband and wife, but I didn’t not say it, either. I just said we were together now. I didn’t know what else to do. to be honest. It sort of slipped out. Like all the other lies. I don’t know what’s going on with me lately.”

  “So he doesn’t want to come over anymore because of me?”

  “Not because of you but because of us. He said that he only came to flirt with me, so it wouldn’t be right to continue coming over.”

  “Oh, wow. He’s honest.”

  “More honest than we are,” I said, and we both burst out laughing. I groaned at what we had just said. “Oh no, it’s really not good that we’re both laughing about how well we lie. I’m usually such a terrible liar, too. I promise I’m not normally like this.”

  “Me too. And I’m usually so obvious when I lie. Maybe it’s only been easy because we’re both doing it together.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I said thoughtfully.

  “Cassidy, are you okay with him not coming anymore? I don’t want to be the cause of you not seeing the guy.”

  “Oh hell no,” I said. “Oh dear, there I go again. He’s such a nice guy, so I don’t know why I’m being so mean about this. I just don’t feel anything for him. That’s all.”

  “Good,” Houston said quickly. I was about to ask him why he was so pleased about it, but he spoke before I had a chance to. “Come on, how about I take you out tonight?”

  “Take me out?” I asked in surprise.

  “Yeah, I thought that maybe we could go to The Grilled Duck for dinner.”

  The Grilled Duck was one of a handful of ‘nice’ restaurants in town. It was a gastropub known for its good food and romantic atmosphere. It was owned by Brad, who I knew was a good friend of Houston’s. He’d run a similar bar in New York, and even though it had been successful, he had decided to come back home and start one here. Everyone had told him that he was crazy to do it in a quiet town like this, but he was determined that it was exactly what the town had needed. He had been right, too. The place had been running for a while now and was wildly popular. It was nice to have a place to go when you wanted something a bit more upscale and different from all the other places in town. I had never had the opportunity to go before, mostly because it had always felt too much like a place to go on a date. And I hadn’t had many dates in the past few years.

  “I’ll pay,” Houston said when he saw that I hadn’t answered yet.

  I laughed. “You don’t have to pay,” I said.

  “But I will. Anyway, it would be good to get out a bit. And people either think we’re a couple or we’re married, so it doesn’t matter. Also, I figure a more high-end sort of place will mean less of a chance of drunken yahoos asking us too many questions and making a scene. I think people should be polite enough to let us be. Anyway, we’re married…we should be going out and having fun.”

  I laughed despite myself. He was right. There had been far too much stress lately, and we deserved to go out and have some fun. “Let’s do it,” I said.

  “Really?”

  I chuckled. “Really. With all this stress, we deserve to have some fun. Also, I’ve never been to The Grilled Duck before. I’m dying to check it out.”

  “You haven’t?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. I hope you feel sorry for me.”

  He laughed. “I do. Well, then we’re definitely going. Wonderful. It’s a date. Now, let me start with the work for the day.”

  “What? You haven’t started?” I teased. “I thought you would’ve had everything figured out by now.”

  “Actually, I’ll have you know that I was waiting patiently for my dear wife to finish flirting with her ex-boyfriend so that I could present her with a delicious breakfast. Now fed and happy, I’m going to attend to the horses.”

  He left and I chuckled. Dammit, Houston, why do you always make me laugh even when things aren’t funny?

  Twenty

  Houston

  It felt almost like Cassidy and I were a couple. The only difference was that we did not kiss or sleep together. Other than that, it felt exactly like we were in a relationship. And other than the lack of sexual activity going on between us, it was by far the best relationship I had ever had. Which was quite ironic really, considering we were only pretending. Life with Cassidy was easy, and I knew that she was going to make her future husband very happy one day. Very happy indeed.

  We were on our way to The Grilled Duck for the second time that week, and I was looking forward to spending some more time with her. The first time we’d gone out had been great, but we’d both been a little bit guarded. There had been more people there that we knew than we had expected, and a few had even come up to us to say hello. It had been easy to pretend when we were at the wedding and we’d both had quite a bit to drink, but it was different when we were sober.

  What horrified me was how many people seemed excited by the upcoming reception. The more people that thought we were together, the more people we were going to disappoint. Although, it seemed too late to go back on it now. We were already in too deep. I kept waiting for Cassidy to demand that we end the charade, but she never did, and maybe it was because of that reason that I still hadn’t done anything about it myself.

  This time, I felt more relaxed at the restaurant. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because another week had passed and we both just felt more comfortable about the whole thing. I could tell that she felt more comfortable, too.

  “I love this place,” she said as she gazed around the room. “Thanks for bringing me again. You’re spoiling me.”

  “Nothing is too much or too expensive for my beautiful wife.”

  She chuckled. “You know, I’m getting used to all these compliments. Fake or not, they’re starting to go to my head.”

  I thought of telling her that the compliments were all real, but I didn’t want to embarrass her. The truth, however, was very different. She might assume that I was only putting on a show in front of people, but I wasn’t. She really was beautiful. Both times that we’d come to the restaurant, she’d worn a dress. It had been the same dress both times, which she’d apologized to me for, but she’d insisted that her sister find her more comfortable clothes and the only dresses she had were the one she was wearing and the one from the wedding.

  I didn’t mind at all. There was something very sweet about a girl who only owned two dresses. And I could easily see her over and over again in the same dress without getting bored. It looked ridiculously good on her, hugging her in all the right places. Every now and again I would get a glimpse of her cleavage, or a sneak peak at her legs, and I would be reminded of how good she looked without clothes on.

  She was, by far, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. If only she realized it. The fun thing about going out with her was that I could stare at her as much as I liked. At home I had to be a lot subtler, but out in public I could pretend that she was my wife as much as I wanted. And what good husband wouldn’t stare at his beautiful wife?

  “So, do you remember the first time we met?” I said to her.

  She smiled. “I do. Your tire was flat, and you were kind enough to let me help out so that I could practice.”

  “You’re sweet; you know that?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked demurely.

  “I couldn’t change a tire to save my life, and we both knew it at the time. You were just too nice to embarrass me. And I didn’t want to damage my ego by admitting that I knew you were only being nic
e to me.”

  “Really? You knew all along?”

  I chuckled. “Of course. But, I’ve never forgotten what you did. It’s part of the reason why I said yes to helping you out at the wedding. I…I always felt like I owed you something.”

  “But that was such a long time ago,” she said. “And you didn’t owe me anything. I didn’t mind helping. And it’s not a big deal that you didn’t know how to change a tire. Not everyone knows that.”

  “Well, I know how to do it now, that’s for sure,” I said, and laughed. “I made sure to practice over and over the very next day. Anyway, I appreciated what you did for me. Not everyone would’ve been so kind. It wouldn’t have really mattered now, but back then I cared deeply what my friends thought of me. They would never have let me live that down.”

  She chuckled. “No wonder you think of me as one of the guys.”

  “That’s not a bad thing, you know. I have a hell of a lot of respect for you. Do you know that I once came to see you in a barrel race?”

  “What? I didn’t know that. When was this?”

  “Oh, it was a few months before you quit, actually. I wanted to see what it was all about. It was at the county fair, and I’d heard your name mentioned so many times before. It was after you had helped me with the tire, but before you and I ever hung out together. I’d heard so much about you and your family. I mean, everyone was talking about this amazing girl who outshone everyone in the sport. I just had to see what you were like.”

  “And…did I do okay?” she asked nervously. I wasn’t sure why she was so nervous. She was a champion barrel racer who was brilliant at what she did.

  “You were incredible. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I guess I could believe it. You had always been this very aloof but very tough girl in my mind. And out there, you were fearless. A force to be reckoned with.”

  “Aloof?” she asked.