“I have to get back to town," she said. "We're going to spend Christmas with my family in the hotel we booked for the wedding. You're welcome to join us.”
We declined the offer. She did agree to send some food our way, though, an entire seven course Christmas dinner for the whole family. It was 4am. Everybody who might come around had come around and the rest of the world was asleep.
“You want to watch another movie? It’ll send us to sleep.”
“But it's Christmas Day. Crap, my grandparents. I never called them to tell them I was okay. They must be worried sick.” I grabbed my phone, made a video call. “Gran?”
She didn't look like she was having mince pies and watching TV with Grandad, she looked like she was sunbathing. “Yes, dear?”
“Where are you?”
“On the beach, dear, it's glorious.”
“The beach...what? How?”
“Well, when your grandad dropped you off at the airport the other day he surprised me with tickets for a holiday. Booked them last minute on the Googler. Two weeks in Dubai. Lovely weather for December.”
It is not often that I am lost for words, but then this whole Christmas had been wild from start to finish, so why the fuck not?
“Are you with your young man, the nice American?” she asked. Cooper waved from behind me.
“The text worked then, did it?” said Grandad's voice from behind Gran. She smiled, and tried to shush him, but the game was up.
“The text?” I was not amused. “It was you?”
“Yes, Grandad found Mr West's agenda after he'd left and it had all the wedding dates noted down. You were so terribly miserable all year, dear, and, well, we thought you needed a bit of a kick up the bum to go and win back your man. Which you did, which was nice, got to go, see you soon, have a lovely Christmas.” She then spent at least thirteen seconds trying to disconnect the call.
Chapter 5
“Is that everything, can I go to bed now?” asked Cooper. I shrugged my shoulders. Sunbathing in Dubai? I might be twenty-four years old, but I still liked to think that there would be somebody at home waiting for me, even if I had flown halfway across the world and left them behind.
“Are your family coming for Christmas tomorrow?”
“Probably.”
“Then we need to do one last thing and then I promise you we can go to bed.”
“Okay. What?” He yawned and did another one of his sexy stretches.
“We need a Christmas Tree. It's not Christmas without one.” I suddenly missed England and Christmas Pud and crackers and Top of the Pops on the telly.
“That, I can do.” He dragged me back to the garage and pulled the damp tarpaulin off of the back of his truck. A huge Christmas tree sat underneath. “My mom brought the decorations from home. She normally decorates way earlier than this but my family only got here a couple of days ago.”
We dragged the tree through the house and depotted a white, plastic cactus to put it in, using all of the bits of broken vases and letters to steady it. Finally something colorful in this indoor igloo.
By 5am we were good to go, decorations on the tree, more cookies baked and ready for breakfast. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Both of us were exhausted but the idea of falling asleep had passed us by. We went to the den instead, settled down on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate and another movie.
“You should decorate your whole house like this room.”
“What, and not have identical doors everywhere, I like the adventure of never knowing which room I’m going into. What about The Christmas Pig?”
“Seen it. Have you got The Merry Little Christmas Sweet-Shop?”
“You just decorated your grandparent's guest house; maybe you could have a go at this place? A Sixpence of Mistletoe?”
“Is that the one with the time-traveling chimney sweep and the city girl? I've seen it like five times."
I walked over to a bookshelf filled with DVDs. “What’s that?”
“Oh nothing, it’s just films of me when I was a kid, my mom used to take us to the county farm every year and they always filmed it.” He dismissed it as if this wasn't exactly the thing I was going to watch.
“This, I have to see this.”
He set it up, reluctantly, and I got comfy. The cutest little baby crawled across a rug and climbed up in front of the camera. The baby grew a little bit bigger in every short film until he was big enough to kick a ball or ride a pony. Cooper was dying of embarrassment, but he was watching me, far more than the movie. It was special, a sweet little moment to learn a bit more about this man who was essentially a mystery to me.
“I love you,” he said, as it came to a finish, pulling me against him for a cuddle.
“I know.” I yawned. “Oh wow is it really 6am. Do you realize nobody has rung your phone or hammered on the door for at least three hours?” He lay down on the sofa and I sat astride him. “Mr. West, it’s six o-clock in the morning, way past our bedtimes, you can’t be getting horny!” His nether regions told a different story.
“I love you so much right now. When the sun comes up we start a new life together, just you and me.”
“I love you too.” It was the first time I'd said it to his face. I'd been building up the courage to say it back in England, but he'd left before I'd got the chance. “Let’s take this to the bedroom.” I let the robe drop to the floor and stood there in just my tassels.
“Those things are never coming off, are they?” he asked, pulling on them.
“Nope.” He tugged some more. “Stoppit, leave my tassels be.”
The bedroom reached, all he had to do was remove his sweatpants too and we were good to go. God he was gorgeous. The first time we’d made love, I'd been so shy, but he’d spent the night discovering my body, learning what made me tick, every last one of my erogenous zones.
“Promise me you'll always love your body as much as I love it.” I said, repeating his exact words from memory.
“I said that the first time I made love to you, didn't I? I meant it. I love your body.”
“It hasn't always been easy. You took a huge chunk of my confidence when you left.”
“I know, but I'm here now. For good.”
“How about I finish what I started earlier?” I dragged him through to the shower and dropped to my knees. He switched on the water and I grabbed just the tiniest smidgen of soap, lathering him up, cleaning him for my mouth.
This time I gave it my all, the best performance of my life. He groaned as my mouth lowered onto him. His low moans as he fell back against the tiled wall excited me. The act in itself was utterly satisfying, but the pleasure of knowing I could do this for him whenever I wanted–please my man, because he really was mine–that was something else entirely.
“You're amazing. Beautiful. Intelligent. Hot as shit, my dream woman.” He sank onto his knees in front of me. “I can’t believe you thought I could sleep with anybody else after I’d been with you. I couldn’t get you out of my mind.”
“Stop it; you’re only saying that because of what I just did!” I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.
“No seriously, I know I was weak. I was scared of letting everybody down, but you give me strength. You’re an amazing woman; you deserve a good man who loves you. That what I intend to be”
He’d come through though, for me. “I have an amazing man, right here, in front of me and I’m never letting him go again. I knew you had it in you to stand up to them, you just needed a little nudge.”
We fell into bed, made love sleepily, gently. Drifting off to sleep in each other's arms.
“Merry Christmas, Cooper.”
“Merry Christmas, Carrie.”
“I love you, my Christmas Cowboy.”
“I love you too.”
~~~
Thank you for reading My Christmas Eve Cowboy.
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Katherine
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