by Various
"I’m a nurse now."
"Outstanding profession," Chris’ wife said. "I’m a registered nurse too."
"We’ll have to compare notes sometime. I just got my license about six months ago."
"Well, we are thrilled you’ve found a nice girl, Eli," his mother replied. "When is the wedding?"
"Wedding?" him and Catlin asked at the same time.
His mother smiled like her face was going to crack into a million pieces. "Of course. You know how I love weddings."
He held up his hands, wincing as it pulled the stitches in his side. "Listen, Mom. We just found each other again. Give us some time to think about the future before you go planning a wedding."
"You need to quit with all this movement or you’re going to pull those stitches out," Catlin scolded as she gently pushed him back against the bed.
"I know," he whispered, having only eyes for the beautiful woman sitting next to his bed.
"Are they serving Christmas dinner in the cafeteria?" Chris asked
"Yes. They always do for those who are stuck working or patients who can have a regular diet."
"Great. We’ll eat here then."
"Go on home everyone. I’m fine. Catlin is here. You shouldn’t have to spend Christmas with me at the hospital."
"Are you sure, Eli?" His mother moved to his side and took his left hand in hers. "We want to be here for you."
"It’s fine, Mom. Go. Have a great Christmas dinner and we’ll do another one when I get out of here." He wanted to hug his family. The love they shared warmed his heart. They were always there for him so he shouldn’t have been surprised they came to Denver to spend Christmas with him.
"All right. We’ll go. We love you, son," his dad replied as the family started to file out. "Any idea when they’ll release you?" He glanced at Catlin.
"A few days at least and then he’ll have to take it easy around the house. No heavy lifting, things like that."
"We’ll cover the home place for you, Eli," Chris said. "Everything will be fine until you are up and around again."
"Thanks guys."
The group filed out leaving his mother and father in the room for a moment. "We love you, son."
"I love you too." After his parents left, he pulled Catlin’s hands back into his grasp. "I thought they’d never leave."
"You’re bad!"
"No, I just didn’t want them to spend their holiday here at the hospital. They would have, you know."
She laughed as she clung to his fingers. "I got the same impression, yes."
"What time is it anyway?" He glanced at her clothes, noting her regular attire for the first time. Damn, she looked good in her jeans and sweater.
"Early afternoon. Why?"
"I’ve lost track of time with everything that happened."
"I know what you mean."
"You should probably go too. Aren’t you having Christmas with your parents?"
"No, I’m having Christmas with you."
He looked around for a minute. "Where are my clothes? My jacket specifically?"
"In the closet except for your shirt. They threw that away when the cut it off you."
"I don’t have clean clothes?"
"I think your parents brought some. The bag sitting on the other bed probably has some in it."
"Leave it to my mother. Can you get my jacket for me?"
"Why? Going somewhere?"
"No. I have your Christmas present in the pocket. I just hope it didn’t get lost in the shuffle."
"But I didn’t buy you anything," she said as she moved toward the closet.
"No worries. I bought this even before we talked." He rummaged through the jacket pockets when she brought the jacket over and gave it to him. "Here it is." She sat back down in the chair as he handed her the box.
"Jewelry? You shouldn’t have, Eli."
"I wanted to," he said as she tore off the wrapping paper. "I thought of you the minute I saw it."
Her eyes widened as a tear slid down her cheek when she opened the box. "Oh my God. It’s beautiful!" The chain was long enough she could lift it over her head. "How does it look?"
"Gorgeous, like you." The grin on her face made his heart lighter. He really did love her so much, it hurt.
She moved to the mirror over the sink in the corner so she could see it better around her neck. "I don’t know what to say."
"Just keep telling me you love me and we’ll be fine."
She walked back to his side and leaned over to kiss him. "I love you, Eli Chandler."
"Good because I love you too, Catlin."
Epilogue
Spring in Wyoming took her breath away as she stared out the large picture window at the front of their home. The prairies exploded with color as a mixture of snow still lingered in the shadowed areas of the land. The mountains in the distance still held the white blanket of the winter, but soon the warmth would encompass everything bringing life to the beautiful countryside she’d adopted when she said yes to Eli.
Eli slipped behind her to wrap his arms around her waist while she cupped the still steaming mug of coffee in her hands. "Headed out?"
"Yeah. I need to check the cattle. We’ll be bringing them up for separation to send those ready for market, out in the truck next week." He kissed the side of her neck. "What are your plans for today?"
"Working on the baby’s room. I need to paint the stencils on the walls."
"You be careful. Make sure you wear the mask so you don’t inhale all those paint fumes."
"I’ll be fine."
"You need to rest," he said, laying his hand on her still flat abdomen.
"I’ll take a nap afterwhile. This being pregnant is kicking my ass."
"I love your ass."
"If you’d have loved it more, I wouldn’t be pregnant, you know." She laughed. "Not that I’m complaining."
"Good." He laced his left hand with hers as she noted their matching wedding bands.
"Good thing we got married so quickly. I hadn’t planned on getting pregnant right away."
"It’s my awesome sperm. They couldn’t wait to mate with your eggs."
"It helps we weren’t using birth control, there stud."
She could see the pouty look on his face in the reflection of the window. With a roll of her eyes, she set the cup of coffee on the table next to her and spun around in his arms. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"I can’t believe this is all happening, you know. When we said goodbye that day so long ago, I never thought I’d see you again and here we are married, living in your house and having a baby. Life sure does take turns we aren’t expecting sometimes."
"I’m glad you agreed to marry me even though my mother didn’t get her fancy wedding."
"Mine wasn’t happy about us not having a big service either, but I loved our little ceremony here in your house."
"Our house."
"Our house. I love this place, you know. It’s perfect for raising a family."
"It’s perfect for us."
She pressed her lips to his for a long, leisurely kiss. When she raised her head, she said, "You’re right. We’ll fill it with kids in the years to come. I’m glad it’s a big house. I wants lots of babies."
"Lots?"
"Five or six anyway."
He laughed as he hugged her. "We’ll get busy on that as soon as you pop this one out." He grew serious for a minute. "What do you want? A boy or girl?"
"I don’t care really, but I think a boy first would be great. That way he can take care of his sisters."
"I’d love a boy but a cute little girl who looks like her mother would be okay too."
"You’re such a charmer."
"I love my wife. What can I say?"
"And I love my husband more than life itself. Our life is turning into one fairytale after another."
"Yep and I for one am thrilled you’re here by my side to live it with me."
"Me too, Eli. Me too."
About the Authors
Desiree Holt’s writing is flavored with the rich experiences of her life, including a long stretch in the music business representing every kind of artist from country singer to heavy metal rock bands. For several years she also ran her own public relations agency handling any client that interested her, many of whom might recognize themselves in the pages of her stories. She is twice a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award, a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio as well as twice a CAPA Award for best BDSM book of the year, winner of the Holt Medallion, multiple winner of the Whipped Cream Book of the Week Award and is published by five different houses. Romance Junkies said of her work: "Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last."
You can find her at www.desireeholt.com
www.desireeholttellsall.com
www.facebook.com/desiree holt
Twitter @desireeholt.com
Sable's hometown will always be New Orleans. She loves the culture of Louisiana and it permeates everything she does. Now, she lives in the big state of Texas and like most southern women, she loves to cook southern food - especially Cajun and Tex-Mex. She also loves to research the supernatural, but shhhh don't tell anyone.
Sable writes romance novels. She lives in New Orleans. She believes that her goal as a writer is to make her readers laugh with joy, cry in sympathy and fan themselves when they read the hot parts - ha!
The worlds she creates in her books are ones where right prevails, love conquers all and holding out for a hero is not an impossible dream.
Visit Sable:
Website: http://www.sablehunter.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorsablehunter
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/sablehunter
Hell Yeah! Series Reading Order
Cowboy Heat http://amzn.to/WhY6dw
Cowboy Heat Sweeter Version http://amzn.to/11fiBVQ
Hot on Her Trail http://amzn.to/U3zpT1
Hot on Her Trail Sweeter Version http://amzn.to/19m1WHf
Her Magic Touch http://amzn.to/11b1aw6
Her Magic Touch Sweeter Version http://amzn.to/1byKNL0
A Brown Eyed Handsome Man http://amzn.to/17zmNpY
A Brown Eyed Handsome Man Sweeter Version http://amzn.to/15oW1k9
Badass http://amzn.to/UsrJJ4
Badass Sweeter Version http://amzn.to/16TqDNX
Burning Love http://amzn.to/15Z4Lyi
Forget Me Never http://amzn.to/U3PjwK
I'll See You in My Dreams http://amzn.to/11nsvpg
Finding Dandi http://amzn.to/12kK4Kh
Skye Blue (Coming Soon)
I’ll Remember You (Coming Soon)
*Books in the Hell Yeah! Series are grouped by Hell Yeah!,
Hell Yeah! Cajun Style AND Hell Yeah! Equalizers
Cookbook
Sable Does It In The Kitchen http://amzn.to/VAqFo4
Available from Secret Cravings Publishing
TROUBLE - Texas Heat I
My Aliyah - Heart In Chains - Texas Heat II
A Wishing Moon - Moon Magick I
Sweet Evangeline - Moon Magick II
Unchained Melody - Hill Country Heart I
Scarlet Fever – Hill Country Heart II
Bobby Does Dallas - Hill Country Heart III
Five Hearts - Valentine Anthology - A Hot And Spicy Valentine
For more info check out…http://www.facebook.com/authorsablehunter
Becky McGraw is a married mother of three adult children, and a Southern girl by birth and the grace of God, ya'll. She resides in South Texas with her husband and dog Abby.
A jack of many trades in her life, Becky has been an optician, a beautician, a legal secretary, a senior project manager for an aviation management consulting firm, which took her all over the United States, a real estate broker, and now a graphic artist, web designer and writer. She knows just enough about a variety of topics to make her dangerous, and her romance novels interesting and varied. Being a graphic artist is a good thing for her too, because she creates her own cover art, along with writing the novels.
Becky has been an avid reader of romance novels since she was a teenager, and has been known to read up to four novels of that genre a week, much to the dismay of her husband, and the delight of e-book sellers.
She has been writing fictional short stories and novels for fun, as well as technical copy for her jobs for many years. She was a member of the Writer's Guild on AOL, as well as a founding member and treasurer of the first online chapter of the Romance Writers of America, From the Heart Romance Writers. Currently, she is a PAN member of RWA and a general member of FTHRW.
You can find Amazon Bestselling Author Becky McGraw at www.beckymcgraw.com, [email protected], or facebook.com/beckymcgrawbooks
Texas Trouble Series by Becky McGraw:
Book #1 - My Kind of Trouble (Cassie & Luke)
Book #2 - The Trouble With Love (Sabrina & Cole)
Book #3 - Double the Trouble (Karlie & Gabe)
Book #4 - Looking for Trouble (Jess & Wade)
Book #5 - Trouble in Dixie (Katie & Tommy)
Book #6 - Asking for Trouble (Jazzie & Beau)
Book #7 - Chasing Trouble (Jenny & Chase)
Book #8 - Here Comes Trouble (Terri & Joel)
Book #9 - Worth the Trouble (Ethan & Roxanne)
Book #10 - Royal Trouble (Wes & Leigh Ann)
Book #11 - Trouble With The Law (Trace & Veronica, Est. Release 11/2013)
Coming Soon!
The Cowboy Way Series by Becky McGraw:
Hope for Christmas, a novella included in Santa Wore Spurs (Christmas 2013)
Just Shoot Me (Dean’s Story) (#1, The Cowboy Way, est. release March 2014)
Sandy Sullivan is a romance author, who, when not writing, spends her time with her husband Shaun on their farm in middle Tennessee. She loves to ride her horses, play with their dogs and relax on the porch, enjoying the rolling hills of her home south of Nashville. Country music is a passion of hers and she loves to listen to it while she writes.
She is an avid reader of romance novels and enjoys reading Nora Roberts, Jude Deveraux and Susan Wiggs. Finding new authors and delving into something different helps feed the need for literature. A registered nurse by education, she loves to help people and spread the enjoyment of romance to those around her with her novels. She loves cowboys so you'll find many of her novels have sexy men in tight jeans and cowboy boots.
www.romancestorytime.com
Table of Contents
TIED UP FOR CHRISTMAS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
BREATH OF HEAVEN
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
HOPE FOR CHRISTMAS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS
Prologue
Chapter One.
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
About the Authors
