Chasing Christmas

by Shanna Hatfield

  Huck frowned. “But it said on the news that you…” The bull shifted and tossed his head.

  Chase wanted to know what the news had said about his mock wedding, but he’d have to find out later. He swung over the chute and watched as Huck nodded his head and the chute gate swung open.

  This bull was wiry and ornery. He turned and twisted, bucked and reared, doing his best to unseat Huck. Chase held his breath when it looked like the bull might achieve his goals. Huck shifted to one side, but before he lost his balance completely, he righted himself and kept on riding.

  Chase was amazed how well Huck rode the cantankerous bull that had a record of dumping off forty-seven of the last forty-nine riders.

  When the buzzer sounded, the crowd rose to their feet, clapping and cheering.

  It was going to be close, but Chase had a feeling Huck had just won the championship.

  “Well, folks, you’ve seen a lot of great cowboys compete tonight, and some awesome animal athletes, too. Two of the very best are so close in their scores in the bull riding it is going to be a win by a single point. Give a big hand to Huck Powell, the winner again this year with his eighty-nine point ride.”

  Chase felt a conflicting blend of emotions as he congratulated Huck on his ride. Happy for his friend, he also experienced the pang of disappointment that he’d come so close to winning and lost by a single point.

  Next year, he was winning that title if it killed him.

  After the closing ceremony, Chase made it a point to speak with Huck’s wife and kids, wishing them a safe trip home the following day, and congratulated Huck again.

  “That was so close. I feel bad taking the championship from you, but not bad enough to give you the gold buckle,” Huck said shaking Chase’s hand. He leaned closer to him and dropped his voice. “I wanted to go out on a win, Chase. It’s time for me to retire. Next year, you’d better be the one who wins this thing or I’ll hunt you down and give you what for. Got it?”

  “Man, I’m sure gonna miss seeing you on the circuit, but I wish you all the very best of everything.” Chase gave Huck a brotherly bear hug. “Will you at least come watch me when I’m in Santa Fe at the rodeo?”

  “We’ll be there to cheer you on,” Huck said, then pointed to the seats where Ashley sat with her folks, Jessie, and Stacey. “Now, you better go on over there and say hello to your wife. I think you broke a few thousand hearts today when you put a ring on that girl’s finger.”

  Chase offered him a lopsided smile. “Surely not that many.”

  Huck laughed and gave him a shove toward where Ashley waited with Jessie. “Go on and see that bride of yours. For the record, I think you got a fine girl, Chase. I’d hang onto this one with both hands.”

  He rolled his eyes as he hurried away from the Powell family and made his way over to Ashley.

  “Hey, cuz! Congrats on taking second place. That’s huge!” Ashley gave him a big hug.

  “You did great, Chase. Just great!” his uncle said, pumping his hand in greeting.

  “Goodness, honey, those bulls looked so mean and scary. How on earth do you climb on them and go for a ride?” his aunt asked. She asked him the same thing every time they came to watch him ride. His folks had never once been to a rodeo, but Uncle Jack and Aunt Amy had been to several. If he was within a few hours of them, they made it a point to support him by showing up and cheering loudly.

  “They aren’t so bad, Aunt Amy.” He kissed her cheek then turned to smile at Jessie. “Did you enjoy the rodeo tonight?”

  She nodded, giving him a quick glance before studying the program she held in her hands. The cover featured a picture of him with a handful of other competitors on it. When she raised her gaze to his, she smiled. “You rode very well. Congratulations on placing second. I’m sorry you didn’t win first.”

  He shrugged. “It was close and if I couldn’t win, Huck is a pretty great guy to lose to.” Chase shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out and brushing his thumb across the smooth curve of Jessie’s cheek. He knew from touching it earlier it felt as soft as it looked.

  “Would you like to come with me to the awards ceremony? It should be fun. I promise I won’t keep you out too late.” Once the words were out, dangling between them, he wondered where they’d come from. He did not intend to ask Jessie to go with him, but now that he had, he hoped she’d say yes. The idea of her accompanying him to the awards ceremony held a great deal of appeal.

  He noticed she’d traded the dress she wore that afternoon for a pair of dark blue jeans and a blouse the color of summer roses. The pink shade exactly matched her lips and brought to mind the amazing kisses they’d shared when he left her at the hotel earlier.

  Perhaps if she went with him, she’d give him the opportunity to kiss her again. The thought of how sweet she’d tasted, how good her lips felt moving against his, made his mouth water.

  Her hair was still pinned up and he wondered, once more, what it would look like down. As his fingers itched to pull out the pins, she appeared to struggle to reach a decision, glancing at her friend and Ashley.

  Chase sensed her hesitancy to leave the safety of the group. “You all are invited to come.”

  Jack grinned. “I think your aunt and I are going to head back to the hotel. You know, old folks and all that, but you youngsters go along and enjoy. Ashley can fill us in on all the details tomorrow.”

  Amy smiled and patted Chase’s cheek. “We appreciate the invitation, honey, but I want to take off these boots, plop down in a chair and watch the news then head to bed. Perhaps you’ll have breakfast with us before we all have to leave in the morning.”

  “Sounds like a plan, Aunt Amy. I’ll text you in the morning and we can figure out a time to meet.”

  After her parents departed, Ashley gave Chase a slight push toward Jessie. “If we’re going to make it, shouldn’t we get going? The taxi line is probably a mile long by now.”

  “It is, but you forget I have a rental and we can take it.” Chase gave his cousin a smug look, took Jessie’s hand in his, and started out of the stands. The electrical current surging up his arm made him cast a quick glimpse at their joined fingers. Each time he took her hand that afternoon the same thing had happened, but he chalked it up to nerves from their fake wedding.

  Now, though, he wondered if it was something more. He’d deny it if anyone asked, particularly his bossy cousin, but he was more attracted to Jessie than he’d been to any woman, ever.

  Something about her innocent aura and gentle spirit drew him. And he didn’t like it one bit.

  He didn’t have time for relationships. He had a championship title to win next year. The last thing he needed was a woman who stirred all the protective, romantic feelings swirling through him every time Jessie looked his way.

  Ashley and Stacey carried most of the conversation, as though they were close friends. Stacey had been in constant communication with Ashley, via email, text messages, or phone calls to help her with plans for the wedding. Even though it wasn’t a real wedding, Ashley wanted it to come as close to Jessie’s dreams as she could manage.

  Chase knew Jessie had been blown away by everything his cousin had arranged, and he was glad. The girl seemed in need of some pampering and the chance to feel special.

  That was why he invited her to go to the awards ceremony with him. It couldn’t be the fact that he just wanted to spend more time with her, to inhale her alluring scent or look into her beguiling blue eyes.

  As they arrived at the casino hosting the awards ceremony, Chase left the girls at the door then went to find a parking spot, promising to join them inside.

  He jogged through the rows of parked vehicles, took the elevator to the appropriate floor then rushed inside the ballroom. When he saw some wanna-be cowboy who’d already had one or several too many beers lean close to Jessie and say something to her, every cavedweller tendency he didn’t even know he possessed rose to the surface. He wanted to punch the guy in the face and y
ell at him to leave his woman alone.

  Only Jessie wasn’t his.

  Regardless, he could pretend she was his wife for another hour or so. What could it hurt to treat her like the most important person in his world while he accepted his award and cheered on his friends as they accepted their honors? It was all harmless. Wasn’t it?

  When he accepted his award, he glanced out at the crowd and grinned at Jessie. She offered him a shy nod of her head and a smile that melted the edges off the cynical wall he’d built around his heart years ago.

  “Congratulations to you, Chase, and your new bride. It’s not a regular occurrence that one of our champions gets married during the rodeo. Guess she’s your good luck charm,” the emcee said, offering Chase a congratulatory handshake.

  “Thank you. It’s all in fun, you know,” Chase said quietly. He wondered why everyone kept talking about him being married to Jessie. Ashley had promoted it as a “bride for a day” event. Perhaps people were confused because of how real it looked and seemed, even to him.

  The emcee chuckled. “That’s what they all say until the honeymoon is over. Enjoy it while it lasts, son, and best wishes to you both.”

  Chase returned to the table where he sat with Jessie, Ashley, and Stacey. Huck and Mara sat with them along with a few other friends. He draped his arm across the back of Jessie’s chair and pecked her cheek.

  As he expected, she blushed, but didn’t move away from him. He drew in a deep breath of her delicious scent and wondered what she’d do if he pulled her onto his lap.

  “You really outdid yourself, Chase,” one of his fellow bull riders said, walking up behind him and thumping him on the shoulder. “I thought you were getting married for a promotional contest, but why didn’t you tell us all it was for real? I would have shown up for the ceremony, buddy.” The guy winked at Jessie. “And where have you been hiding this beautiful girl? I’m Cody.” He reached out and shook Jessie’s hand.

  “For real? What does that mean?” Chase scowled at him. “Why does everyone keep talking about us actually being married? It was just a crazy publicity thing cooked up by my brilliant publicist over there.” He waved his hand in Ashley’s direction. “Jessie and I aren’t really married.”

  Huck and the other cowboy exchanged glances. “Oh, yes you are.”

  “What?” Chase tipped his chair over as he lunged to his feet. “What do you mean we’re really married?”

  Ashley looked as panicked as Chase felt and Jessie’s face had lost all color. Stacey handed her a glass of water and ordered her to take a sip.

  “Here.” Mara Powell handed him her phone. “There’s a clip of the pastor who married you talking on the news earlier. He clearly states it was a real wedding.”

  Chase watched as Pastor Randall talked to the reporter about marrying them, what a nice ceremony it was, and how he wished them many years of happiness. When the reporter asked about it being a publicity stunt, the pastor smiled and said he couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen a couple so much in love.

  Clearly, Pastor Randall needed to be committed to the loony bin.

  “How did this happen?” Chase growled, glaring at his cousin. “What did you do?”

  “I… I… this isn’t… I didn’t know…” Ashley stammered. “Pastor Randall must have misunderstood what we needed him to do. He must have…”

  “Why did you hire a real pastor?” Chase clenched his jaw to keep from shouting in frustration. “I thought you hired an actor.”

  “I wanted it to seem as realistic as possible and Pastor Randall came highly recommended. I didn’t realize… I thought he…” Ashley sniffed and burst into tears, burying her face in the napkin Stacey handed her.

  Jessie remained wide-eyed and silent, as though she couldn’t process what had transpired. In his fury, Chase glared at her. “Did you know? Did you plan it that way? You wanted to catch a rodeo star, is that it? Did you corner the pastor before the ceremony and talk him into making it real?” He jerked off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “Was this sweet and innocent thing all an act until you could get your hands on my assets and worm your way into my life? What’s wrong with you?”

  Hurt flashed through her eyes but she didn’t lose her composure. Her face paled to a startling shade of white as she slowly rose to her feet although her voice remained politely calm. “Mr. Jarrett, I had nothing to do with this misunderstanding, nor do I have any desire to be married to such an egotistical, obnoxious, vainglorious man. I’m sure there is a way to be granted an annulment since the only way this marriage would be considered real is over my dead, cold body. Good night.”

  With that, she grabbed Stacey’s arm in her hand, hauled her friend to her feet, and marched out the door with more starch in her spine than Chase would have deemed her capable of possessing.

  The people around them sat stone-faced and quiet until Huck couldn’t contain a grin. “Like I said earlier, Chase, I think you’ve found just the right girl for you.”

  Chase clamped his jaw so tight, he thought he might actually crack a tooth before shooting daggers at his cousin. She continued to hide behind the dinner napkin she held in front of her face.

  “Ashley, I don’t care what you have to do to fix this, do it. I will not be trapped in this farce marriage, do you understand me?”

  She sniffled something and bobbed her head up and down.

  Chase released a long, angry breath then walked out of the room, wondering how things had gone so terribly wrong and what he could do to make it right.

  Every fiber of his being urged him to run after Jessie and apologize. Even as he said the harsh, cutting words to her, he realized they weren’t true. The girl didn’t have a malicious, conniving bone in her body. He’d lashed out in anger and wounded her. The words had barely left his lips when he regretted saying them, even thinking them.

  Jessie was innocent in all this, and he knew it. She was unlike any female he’d ever met before. Something about her seemed so sincere and genuine. From what he could tell, she was a person without any ulterior motives or schemes.

  He was wrong to say what he had, and would admit it. However, it was best to let her remain angry. If she’d entertained even a passing notion of wanting to be married to him, by now it was a thought she’d regret.

  To make things easier on her, he’d get an annulment and she’d never hear from him again. It sure wouldn’t be easy on him, though. Meeting her had changed everything — especially his heart.

  Chapter Six

  “Jessie! Slow down!” Stacey chased after her as she stormed away from the ballroom and made her way to the nearest exit.

  Her long legs ate up the distance while Stacey tried to keep up with her. Not until she was outside and could draw in a deep breath did Jessie stop.

  Stacey caught up to her and placed a calming hand on her back. “What happened in there? I’ve never, in all the time I’ve known you, seen you stand up for yourself like that.”

  Jessie stared at her friend. “He just made me so angry. I probably should not have said what I did, but I couldn’t help it. How dare that… that… Casanova cowboy accuse me of scheming to become his real wife!” Sparks of anger flamed in her eyes as she started walking around to the front entry of the casino where the two of them could catch a cab. “I didn’t even want to do this stupid wedding. Just think how much happier I’d be if I’d stuck with my decision that this was a crazy, completely whackadoodle thing to do.”

  Stacey unsuccessfully attempted to choke down her giggles. The sound of her amusement only added fuel to Jessie’s indignant fire. She stopped and shook a finger at Stacey. “This is your fault! You talked me into coming, you and Ashley. How could this happen? And how dare he act all self righteous, blaming me for the pastor making it a real wedding. For all I know, he’s the one who convinced Pastor Randall to change the plans from publicity stunt to until death do you part.”

  Stacey continued laughing even though Jessie spun away and stomped around
the corner of the building. Aggravated, Jessie didn’t look at her again until she stopped at the end of the taxi line.

  “I’m sorry, Jess, but it is kinda funny.” Stacey gave her arm a gentle squeeze.

  Jessie shook off her hand. “Funny? How can you say that? I’ve been accused of… of…” Her voice cracked and tears glistened in her eyes. “Would you think it was funny if you were the one who’d accidentally married that thickheaded, self-centered, bull rider?”

  Stacey grinned again. “Nope. I wouldn’t think it was funny at all. I’d think it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Good grief, girl! Have you opened your eyes and taken a gander at Chase Jarrett? He’s, like, one of the most hunky men I’ve ever seen. When you came back from your afternoon with him all dreamy-eyed and twitterpated, you said he was kind, gentle, and caring. What happened to that? He did buy you that beautiful bracelet with no strings attached, didn’t he?”

  Jessie glanced down at the silver bracelet on her wrist. It was one of the prettiest things she’d ever owned. Chase had been so nice when he’d surprised her with the gift.

  Her index finger traced the design of the roses encircling her wrist and she sighed. “He was so different today. Actually, I was surprised he invited us to come along tonight. I didn’t expect to see him again, at least not up close, after he dropped me off at the hotel this afternoon. Chase was courteous and fun, and…” Jessie sighed. “He was everything a girl could want in a husband, up until his hissy fit in there.”

  Stacey wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze. “I know he said some things he shouldn’t have, hurtful things, but the news had to be distressing for him to hear. I mean, from what Ashley shared, Chase didn’t want to do this in the first place. He only agreed when she absolutely promised it was for publicity and the girl who won the contest wouldn’t go all fatal attraction on him.”