25 Reasons to Hate Christmas and Cowboys

by Elle Thorpe

  Levi’s cheeks were pink as he triumphantly held up the ring box for everyone to see. “They were in the oven! Lucky I can’t cook!”

  “I can vouch for that,” Macy grumbled good-naturedly.

  I snorted on my laughter and Johnny rolled his eyes. But he sobered as he looked at me. “I really am sorry. That must have been scary, after everything that happened with Lachlan…”

  I pressed his hands, pouring meaning into a look. “Nope. There was never any doubt in my mind.”

  He grinned. “Good. Because there’s nothing I want more in this world than to marry you. I love you, Isabel soon-to-be West.”

  I stretched up and kissed his lips. “I love you too.”

  When he pulled away, he grinned impishly. “At least we’ll have a good story to tell our kids one day?”

  I rolled my eyes and turned to the celebrant. “Can we get married now, please?”

  The town hall looked completely different tonight than it had last week when we’d been there for the annual dance and the Christmas light competition. Johnny had won back his crown, and Charlie had even respectfully shaken his hand and congratulated him. Afterwards, I’d asked if perhaps we should invite Charlie to the wedding, but the look Johnny gave me said it all.

  Not a snowball’s chance in hell.

  I sipped my glass of champagne and watched the party going on around me with a full heart. My Australian friends and family had all flown over for the occasion, and I grinned at Lila trying to learn a line dance from one of Johnny’s cousins. Johnny chatted with the DJ, his wide-brimmed cowboy hat, the one that only came out for special occasions, firmly planted on his head. I had to admit, it looked pretty damn good on him, even with his suit and tie.

  He caught my attention from across the room, and my heart skipped a beat. A mischievous glint appeared in his eye and he leaned in and said something into the DJ’s ear. Then he stalked across the room. He stopped in front of me and held out his hand. “Would you like to dance, Mrs. West? I requested a special song just for you.”

  He nodded to the DJ, and the opening strains of “O Holy Night” filtered through the speakers.

  I wrinkled my nose as he tugged me onto the dance floor. “Christmas carols? Really?”

  He pulled me into his arms, and despite my protests about his song choice, I went willingly. I didn’t care what song he chose for us. I’d dance in his arms anytime he asked. No song required.

  I laid my head on his chest and felt his lips press against my hair. “So. Isabel West. Woman formerly known as Isabel Hale. I asked you this once before, but I’m asking again. Surely, now that all is said and done, you can admit to me one thing.”

  I peered up at him. “What’s that?”

  “That you love Christmas.”

  As the beautiful Christmas song that, truthfully, I only pretended to hate floated around the room full of people I loved, in a town that had become my home, I gazed into the eyes of the man I adored and said, “Yes. I admit, I love Christmas.”

  Johnny’s grin spread from ear to ear. “Finally! She admits it!”

  I shook my head, giggling. “But!”

  Johnny put his hand over my mouth. “No, no, no. No buts!”

  I pulled his hand away and kissed his palm. “But…not as much as I love you.”

  Epilogue

  Johnny

  “Do you want to hold her?”

  My heart thumped, and I shot Isabel a panicked look. But she just smiled reassuringly and nodded. “Go on. Take her.”

  Uncertainty mixed with a healthy dose of fear made me hesitate. “What if I hurt her? She’s so tiny.”

  But Isabel shook her head. “You won’t.”

  The baby was placed in my arms, and I stared down in awe at the tiny bundle. She had the sweetest rosebud mouth, her lips pink and pouty. Her dark eyelashes fanned out over her cheeks, a smattering of blonde hair on her velvety head. To my surprise, she didn’t immediately start crying the minute I touched her. In fact, she didn’t make a sound when I settled her against my chest.

  Instinctively, I cradled her, feeling a surge of protection for this tiny creature. “Hey, little lady,” I whispered to the top of her head. “I’m your uncle Johnny. And even though you live all the way on the other side of the world, where it’s five hundred degrees and there’s sharks that want to eat you in the water, I’m gonna be a big part of your life. All future boyfriends are to be run by me first, you hear?”

  “Damn, I think my ovaries just exploded,” Lila announced dramatically.

  Isabel leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Mine too.” We both stared down at the baby in awe. When Lila reached for her daughter, I had to force myself to hand her back.

  “I still can’t believe you had a baby before me,” Isabel complained to Lila. She stretched back on a beach towel beneath the big striped umbrella I’d shoved deep in the Australian sand. “So much for you and Mac just being roommates.”

  Lila shrugged. “Turns out he’s good for more than just paying half the rent.” She wriggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  I groaned. “Okay. That’s more than I wanted to hear.”

  Isabel giggled, sat up, and then pushed to her feet. She held a hand out to help me up. “Come on, let’s swim. We’ve only got a few hours before we need to be at the rodeo.”

  I let her pull me to my feet and dusted the sand off the back of my swim trunks.

  “I’m going to take Georgia home,” Lila announced. “See you back there later?”

  We waved as Lila left, then headed to the water’s edge. I stopped when the cool surf washed over my feet.

  Isabel peered up at me, her hand coming up to shield her eyes from the harsh sun. “You coming?”

  “Do I really want to go swimming? I wasn’t joking about the man-eating sharks…”

  Isabel laughed. “There’s no sharks!”

  I cast her a dubious look. “I bet those surfers on the news with the half-chomped-off legs would beg to differ!”

  She circled behind me and gave me a shove toward the water. “You’ll be fine. Get in.”

  “Those waves are huge.”

  She laughed. “They’re like, two feet high! It’s practically a bay. Come on.”

  I held my ground. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  “Big, bad Johnny West, who has no fear on the back of a bucking bull but won’t go into the Aussie surf. Really?”

  “Really.”

  She shrugged. “Fine. I’m going without you.”

  She pulled off the long shirt she was wearing and tossed it back onto the sand. Beneath it, she wore the tiniest white bikini. She turned and ran for the surf. My gaze landed on her perfect backside, round and on display in the tiny scrap of Lycra. My mouth dried. Without another thought to sharks, I splashed into the water after my wife.

  She laughed when she saw me following her and picked up the pace, making it into a game. But my legs were twice as long as hers, and I caught her right as the water hit my waist. She squealed when I scooped her up into my arms and waded deeper.

  “Thought you weren’t coming in?” she teased. She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. “What about the high risk of death right now?”

  “Your ass in that bikini is more likely to kill me than any shark.”

  She grinned. “Thought you might like it.”

  She had no fucking idea. I was so hard I was surprised my cock hadn’t ripped a hole in my trunks. I palmed her ass, running my hands over her bare cheeks and the scrap of material in the middle. “This bikini makes me wish we had beaches back home.”

  “I could wear it down at the lake?”

  “I don’t think Two Creek Plains is ready for that.”

  She pressed against my erection. “Seems you are though.”

  I groaned. “Stop.”

  She gave me a devilish grin. “Why? There’s no one around. And I always wanted to do it on the beach.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  She mirr
ored my actions.

  “I knew there was a reason I married you.” I pressed my lips to hers and slipped my hand beneath the Lycra of her bikini bottoms and found her clit. She gasped, clutching me tighter while I rubbed small, quick circles over her sensitive nub. We were deep in the ocean. The swell was up to my shoulders and the water supported her body, leaving me both hands free to work her. Beneath the dark water, I pushed aside the cup of her bikini top and pinched her already taut nipple.

  Her mouth sought mine again, our lips meeting in a hard, fast kiss that matched the pace of my fingers on her pussy. I slipped one finger up inside, feeling her warmth around me and knew she was ready. She tugged frantically at the ties on my trunks, loosening them just enough to free my cock. She wrapped her arms around me again, plastering herself to my chest. I held her bottoms aside with one hand and grasped my dick with the other, guiding it toward her entrance.

  “Oh,” she sighed as I slid inside her.

  I gripped her hips, moving her up and down my shaft. She reached between us and took over the job of working her clit until we were both clenching and panting.

  “Isabel,” I whispered. She was pulled tight against me, skin against skin, and though we were in a public place, there wasn’t another soul around. It felt like our own private paradise. “Love you,” I whispered.

  She rotated her hips, increasing the pressure between us. “I love you too.” She closed her eyes, and I wanted to do the same. I wanted to let go and let sensation wash over me, the same way I had hundreds of times since I’d met her. She was everything, and she brought me so much happiness. I could have been happy, just the two of us forever…but holding Georgia had opened the floodgates to something else.

  “Have a baby with me,” I murmured, my lips brushing the shell of her ear.

  She stilled. “What?”

  “I want a baby.” They weren’t words I’d planned on saying, but I’d never been able to plan anything with her. Everything about our relationship was spontaneous and exciting and moved too quickly. But somehow always worked out right in the end. And I knew this would be no different. “I love you. And if you aren’t ready, that’s okay. I can wait, but—”

  She held a finger to my lips and grinned. “Yes. I want a baby too. I have for a while now. I just hadn’t worked out how to bring it up.” She laughed. Then gestured around. “Trust you to bring it up when we’re having public sex and I’m on the brink of an orgasm.”

  I grinned. “Speaking of that orgasm…”

  I went back to making her feel good. I built her up until her breaths came hard and fast and she begged for me to let her come. I plunged inside her, my own orgasm barreling down on me as her walls clenched. “Fuck, I love you,” I gritted out, pressing my mouth to her bare shoulder. “So much.”

  I emptied myself into her, and we clung to each other in the vast ocean. She kissed my cheek, my neck, then lower to press a kiss just over my heart. I pulled her swimwear back into place and we drifted toward the sand. Our fingers linked together as we reached dry land, water sluicing off us in rivulets.

  She looked up at me again. “We’re really doing this? We’re really trying?”

  I nodded. My heart was so full it threatened to explode straight out of my chest. “I can’t wait to see your belly swell with my baby.”

  Isabel’s mouth lifted at the corners. “And I can’t wait to see him in your arms.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Him?”

  She nodded. “Gotta give Georgia a little cowboy to marry, don’t we?”

  I slung my arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “I can’t wait.”

  It was getting late by the time we got back to Lila and Mac’s place. Georgia was screaming the house down, demanding her nightly feed. Isabel and I hurried to shower and change, then waved to Lila, who was set up on the couch with Georgia at her breast. Mac was whizzing around the kitchen, pulling together their dinner, but yelled, “Have fun!”

  I closed the door behind us, and Isabel looked up at me with wide eyes. “Wow. Are we really signing up for all that?”

  “Just keep picturing how angelic she is when she’s asleep.”

  Isabel chuckled and I led her down to the rental car we’d grabbed when we’d landed at the airport yesterday. Lila and Mac’s new townhouse wasn’t too far from the arena the rodeo was taking place in, so we made it through the worst of the city traffic quickly. I flashed a pass at the security guard, and we were directed to park in a staff area. When we got out of the car, I stared up at the ginormous arena. It was one of the biggest buildings I’d ever seen. We had nothing like this back home.

  “These city arenas are so different to riding back home. I’m still not used to it.”

  “Yeah, well get used to it, buddy. One day, you’ll be riding in the Vegas finals. Sydney is a baby competition compared to that.”

  I nodded. I’d just finished up my first season on the US pro tour. It had been a whirlwind, and though I hadn’t placed as high as I would have liked, there was always next year.

  I tugged my hat down, and Isabel and I found our way to the entrance. “Johnny West!” a deep voice yelled after we were let through security. I raised my head to the tall man striding toward us.

  “Hey, Brad.” I shook his hand. “Have you met my wife, Isabel?”

  As head of the World Bull Riding Association, Brad Pruitt was a big deal within the sport. And I’d been lucky enough to meet him a few times over the past year.

  “How’s the visit with your friends going? You said there was a new baby?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. We came out to meet her. Isabel is from here, originally. If you can’t tell by the accent.”

  Brad grinned, showing off rows of bleached white teeth. “Well, I’m glad y’all could come watch tonight. The Aussies have some real talent. Come. I’ll introduce you round.”

  He led us through the back corridors of the venue, which were cool and artificially lit. Brad chattered as we walked, but when we neared the rider locker rooms, sounds of an argument drowned out his words. At the far end of the corridor, a young couple bickered. She was dressed in tight jeans and boots, a white flowing top brushing the tops of her thighs. Her dark hair tumbled down her back in waves. The man was in jeans and chaps, already ready to ride. The WBRA logo was embroidered on the back of his button-down shirt, his name—Bowen Barclay—in white letters above it.

  “Dammit, Bowen! I’m so sick of this! I can’t keep doing it!” the woman yelled.

  The man’s answer was much quieter, calmer. “Then don’t do it.” He sounded tired. Resigned. Like this was an argument they’d had a million times over.

  “Is that what you really want?”

  “I love you. I want you to be happy, but if you ain’t—”

  Brad cleared his throat loudly and both of them snapped their heads in our direction.

  “Awkward!” Isabel whispered beneath her breath.

  I couldn’t have agreed more. But I plastered a smile on my face and followed Brad over to the couple. I could pretend we hadn’t just heard every word of their argument.

  “Bowen, I want to introduce you to Johnny West. He’s an up-and-coming star from the States.”

  Bowen’s frown eased into a stiff smile and he shook my hand. “Nice to meet you, man. I saw some of your rides this year. You were unlucky not to make the finals.”

  Surprise punched me in the gut. But in a good way. I hadn’t really considered that people might have noticed what I’d quietly been doing back home. Despite being on the pro circuit, I wasn’t up there with the big guns just yet. But it made me feel good to know that I’d made a bit of a splash at least.

  “Thank you. That means a lot. Looking forward to watching you ride tonight.”

  Bowen nodded. He still looked distracted when he added, “A bunch of the guys are going out to the Elder Street Tavern afterwards. You two should come.”

  I glanced over at Isabel and she shrugged. “Might see you there then. Good luck
.”

  Bowen nodded and headed back toward the dressing room. The woman he’d been arguing with smiled awkwardly and took the flight of stairs behind her without saying a word.

  Brad let out a rough sigh. “Sorry about that. They’re…I don’t know. Young. Got tempers on them, the both of them. Been together since they were in diapers.”

  I reached back and grabbed Isabel’s hand. Bowen and his missus couldn’t have been any younger than we were, but I decided not to take it as an insult.

  Brad ran his hands through his silvering hair. “I need to go check he’s got his head in the game. If you go on up those stairs, you’ll find your seats.”

  The lights dimmed, and beside me, Isabel jumped as the first boom of the pyrotechnics went off.

  I glanced over at her with a laugh. “You’ve been to all my rodeos. Do you jump like that at all of them?”

  She elbowed me. “Yes. Just normally you’re down there climbing on the back of a bull, so you don’t notice.” She leaned in and wrapped her arm around my biceps and rested the side of her head on my shoulder. “I like having you here in the audience though. Less for me to worry about.”

  I squeezed her thigh, then left my hand resting there. “I know you worry. And if it gets too much for you, you need to tell me. Before we get to be like…”

  “Like those two arguing in the hall?”

  I nodded. “I don’t want that to be us.”

  Isabel shook her head. “It won’t be.”

  “I’ll stop before we ever get like that. You’re more important than bull riding is, you know that, right?”

  She tilted her head back and smiled up at me. “How could I forget? You remind me every day.”

  “Good then.”

  We settled in to watch as Bowen was called up as the first rider.

  The big screen zoomed in on his face and I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees to watch. The crowd around us went wild.