Dearest Cowboys Box Set

by Mia Brown

  Weirdly, I kinda liked that idea. Not that it was going to be real, but as an image, it was a good one. The girl with so much sex appeal that a player doesn’t want to screw around with other girls anymore. That was like, a dream come true for a lot of women, and I was going to live it out. Sort of.

  “Yes, I’ll see what I can do.” I gulped nervously. “Thank you for your support, Rebecca.”

  “Right, well I will let you get back to it and send you your new schedule when the time comes around, okay? For now, just follow it as it is because it’s unprofessional to cancel things so close, but things coming up in the next few weeks will be easier to manipulate. I will make this work for you, Emily, because I’m proud of you.”

  I resisted the urge to snort angrily. How could she be proud of me for landing a guy? But she never mentioned her pride when it came to me working my ass off and succeeding at modeling.

  “Thank you,” I replied through gritted teeth instead. “That means a lot to me.”

  “You just keep doing what you’re doing until I tell you otherwise.”

  “Sure thing.” That I could do. It was out of my hands now.

  As we said our goodbyes and hung up the phone, I couldn’t help but wonder if that was a huge mistake. This whole thing with Alex sounded amazing in theory, and as I talked about it, I became very confident, but the reality scared the living hell out of me. I mean, acting lovey dovey with some guy who seemed very nice to me, but who I didn’t actually know at all was terrifying. I didn’t have the experience for it. And the attention that I was going to get from these rodeo groupies, who I didn’t even know existed until recently, was going to be full on.

  “I have to face hate to get to the top,” I reminded myself. “It’s normal, I can’t escape it.”

  I had a thick skin anyway. I’d ignored people being negative towards me in the past, so I could do it again now. Plus, if I braced myself and really prepared for it, all would be good.

  Eleven

  Alex (a couple weeks later, late June)

  Fucking yes! I wanted to scream. I was on top of the damn world. After another stellar performance, the name Alex Fancy was becoming a bit of a house hold phenomenon and I couldn’t wait to see where that led. Screw all the sponsors who didn’t want to know me because of my bull shit reputation. I was going for bigger, badder, stronger.

  “You are definitely going to be a contender for the world championships this year!” one of the other riders declared while patting me on the back. I didn’t make it last year, I got killed off at the last minute, but that wouldn’t happen again. I had a newly lit fire underneath my ass and nothing would put it out.

  “Thanks, buddy.” I was trying to learn the other guy’s names so I could up hold my new nice guy image, but I wasn’t doing so great. All the faces of my competitors simply molded in to one. “That means a lot to me.”

  I didn’t stick around for conversation though, I had one person in mind that I needed to see. I had to find that beautiful blonde to make sure that she was the one always on my arm before another woman grabbed me and I accidently got photographed with her. Right now, me and Emily hadn’t gotten lots of attention, but that was okay. I didn’t mind it building up slowly, that was much more natural anyway. The way that it would go if it were real.

  “Emily!” I waved above the crowds as soon as I spotted her, a grin immediately spreading across my lips. She did make me smile in a strange way, I couldn’t seem to resist it. I found myself feeling a lot lighter around her, which was weird for a woman that I wasn’t having sex with. “Emily, hey over here! How are you doing?”

  She held up her hand with my cell phone and keys within it. It was her idea to hold all of my things while watching me perform because it would make us seem much more domestic and together. She was right, of course, it worked a lot. I was starting to learn that Emily was always right. She had a smart head on her shoulders.

  “You did so good!” she yelled, her soft voice traveling over everyone else’s. “Congratulations.”

  She flung her arms around my shoulders and pulled me close to her chest. Immediately I could feel her racing heart and it sent my head spinning, imagining all kinds of different things. Filthy things, the sort of things that I wasn’t allowed to be thinking really considering the no sex pact. But how could I keep my head on straight when she pressed her pert little body against me, reminding me that she was pure, untouched, ready to be corrupted.

  I wanted to pull back, to stick my tongue down her throat, to push her against that damn wall and strip her down already, fuck whoever wanted to watch, let them see how much I desired her… but I couldn’t. Out of respect. I had to hide the fact that not getting to have sex with her, or anyone for that matter, was getting to me.

  “Hey, Alex… Alex!” I span quickly to see a reporter with a mic in my face. I got the impression that this over eager girl worked for a local paper… but any attention on me and Emily was good. I pulled her closer to my side, presenting a united front while trying to silently convey that I was a better person. A good boy now.

  “Hi, can I help you?” I turned on the Southern charm and grinned.

  “Hi, I just wanted to say congratulations on the win. You did really well out there.” A bright blush filled her cheeks. “You were a pleasure to watch. The way that you handle the bulls is incredible.”

  “Why thank you. That’s very kind of you to say. And fans like you make it all worth it.”

  I noticed a photographer behind her taking pictures, so I leaned across and kissed Emily on the cheek. It was a chaste, delicate kiss, unlike me at all. But it was a part of the new image that I wanted to convey.

  “So, I hear that all the buzz is you heading for the world championships this year.”

  “Ooh, I have heard these rumors as well.” I grinned, forcing the cockiness down. “But not just about me. About all the riders. Everyone is performing wonderfully this year so there are no guarantees right now.”

  “Maybe not, but you are sure to be a great contender.” I could see in her eyes that she was falling for me that little bit more because I was being humble. This was good shit right here. “And a crowd pleaser as well.”

  “You think so?” She nodded encouragingly. “Oh, well like the other riders, I’m just out there, doing my best, trying to show the world what I can do. But it’s really sweet of you to say that to me.”

  I could already see that this was going to be a very positive story about me. I just had to lay it on a tiny bit thicker.

  “No problem. I’m only saying to you what everyone else thinks.”

  Emily leaned across and whispered in my ear that she was going to leave me to it for a moment so they could ask questions about her if they wanted to, but she did it in a playful sexy way so to the outside world she could have been inviting me back to bed… which I seriously wished that she was. I nodded, kissed her one more time, this time much closer to her lips, and I watched her walk away. The shake of her ass had me on fire. I almost forgot what I was here for because I was so busy watching her walk away, imagining what I could do to her.

  “So, if you don’t mind me asking…” The young reporter grabbed my attention once more. She leaned in closer as if we were about to share secrets. “Is that your girlfriend? She’s incredibly beautiful, isn’t she?”

  “Oh yes, she is.” I smile proudly, this time without any manipulation at all. “Extremely gorgeous. And yes, she is my girlfriend. We have been dating for a little while now, and well… you can see the positive influence she’s had on me, can’t you? With her in my life, I am much more grounded and able to focus.”

  “So, you think that dating…” She trailed off, wanting me to fill in the gap which I did willingly.

  “Emily Mason,” I made sure that I said this part very clearly. To help Emily with her reputation too.

  “You think that dating Emily Mason has helped you with your riding?”

  “Oh yes. She ensures that I’m not distracted all
the time. She’s very calming. It’s wonderful…”

  As I dragged myself out of the stupor, day dreaming about Emily once more, making my story the truth in my mind, I realized that me and this young girl had been joined by other reporters who were drinking in every word that I was speaking. It seemed that me and Emily would be getting some more recognition tomorrow!

  “So, how long have you been together?” another guy asked.

  “For a while now.” Vague was better. And acceptable too, for privacy reasons.

  “And what does she think about your play boy past?” another yelled, causing laughter and murmuring.

  I gritted my teeth together and refused to snap at that remark. “Every guy needs the girl to calm her down.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was the truth for me, if anyone would ever be able to keep my focus for that long, but I said it anyway. I almost wanted to believe it as well because it was a nice idea.

  “And Emily Mason is the one?” This question was loaded with meaning, so I simply laughed it off. “She must be some girl to keep you focused and not distracted by all the hot chicks around here. She must be a rocket.”

  My heart skipped a beat. There was no way I could answer this question honestly and I also didn’t want to disrespect Emily. But she needed to come across like a bit of a bad ass as well to shake off her nun image.

  “Oh, well, I couldn’t say too much about that…” I laughed, but I winked as well. I hadn’t said much but it was enough to add a layer of mystery to get them all excited about it. “We’re enjoying one another’s company.”

  A few more questions fired my way, but I batted a lot of them off with ambiguity. I could tell that my performance in front of the reporters was as good as the one that I put out on the ranch today. They were lapping it up, loving every bit of it, I could already see the head lines in the morning. It was going to be wonderful.

  By the time I left the reporter and I walked away, I did so with a smug smile on my face. That went well. Better than expected, this plan was finally coming to fruition. Sponsors were going to be knocking my door down at this rate, begging me to have something to do with their company. I was going to have a choice.

  “Hey there, sexy!” one of the groupies called out to me as I passed. I had to admit that as I waved to her and I saw the obvious lust in her eyes, there was a part of me that wanted to jump on her, to get rid of this frustration already and to just have some good fucking passionate sex. Emily wouldn’t find out, and it would be good for us because it might distract me from the fantasies of her so I could talk to her without distraction…

  But I couldn’t make that step towards her. I couldn’t do it. The idea of letting Emily down was just too much, the thought of destroying the image was just too much. I couldn’t do it.

  “Damn it,” I muttered to myself as I continued leaving the ranch alone and just as frustrated and filled with fantasies as before. “Has Emily changed me?” Not in the way that I had lied, but in some way for sure.

  Ring, ring… Ring, ring… Ring, ring…

  I stared at my cell phone in shock. Had I somehow managed to conjure her up just by thinking of her? Did she somehow know that I almost accidently broke our pact and slept with someone else?

  “Hello?” I answered quickly, needing to end the scary anticipation.

  “Hey, how did it go?” Thankfully, she sounded fine. “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, it was good. Just like you predicted, that girl wanted to ask me some questions about you, so you left at the right time. A bunch of other people from the media turned up as well.”

  “Great, that’s good. I’m glad to hear it. So, we might officially be known as a couple now.”

  “Yep, I think so!” I was pleased with myself. Even more so now that she sounded so happy. “I think you might see some familiar names in the newspaper tomorrow morning.”

  “And on the Internet tonight! Don’t forget how quickly things happen these days.”

  “Hmm, yeah, that’s true actually. I didn’t think of it like that. I will keep an eye on it and send anything to you.”

  “Brilliant, so actually, Alex, this news I have for you might be here at a good time…” She trailed off but I didn’t interrupt because I wanted to know where she was going with this. Her voice intrigued me. “Do you have any free time coming up? Because I have a great photo opportunity for the pair of us.”

  Twelve

  Emily (a few days later, late June, afternoon)

  I bounced from foot to foot as I waited for the familiar face to come through those arrivals’ doors. Alex had landed a while ago, I had been keeping an eye on the announcement board for ages, but he seemed to be taking a long time getting off the plane and gathering up his belongings. We weren’t even going to be in Chicago for that long and he didn’t seem like the high maintenance type who needed to bring his whole wardrobe with him, so what was going on? Was this just my nerves getting the better of me? Making every second seem like an hour.

  Lovers reunited near me, families greeted one another, friends made their plans around me, and still there was no sign. Was he no on the flight and he hadn’t bothered to let me know? It didn’t seem that way as we were texting all morning, but I had to remember that it didn’t matter how much I felt like I knew him, I didn’t.

  “Oh, thank god,” I whispered as I finally caught sight of him. Immediately it became obvious why he had taken so long as a group of what appeared to be an over excited fans surrounded him.

  I watched him interact with them all with confidence and ease. He had them all laughing in seconds and lapping up his every word. There was something about Alex Fancy, a charisma that drew people to him. That was the reason I felt so connected to him myself, even though we had only been in one another’s lives for a few moments.

  My body stilled. I didn’t mind how long I needed to wait for him if he was talking. As long as he was here in the same city as me everything was fine. I watched, waiting patiently, until finally, he clocked me.

  “Ah, there she is!” he drawled happily. “The very beautiful Emily Mason.”

  The group around him lit up, excited to see me as well. I guess I was now really attached to him. At the moment, our names were inter twined as the press enjoyed printing things about our relationship. Some of it false from our side, some of it clearly made up by them, but that was okay. The mystery made it so much better.

  I ran to him like I’d seen other girlfriends doing as they met their lovers and I hugged him tightly. I kissed him on the comer of his lips which had seemingly become a signature move for the two of us. It was almost a kiss, close enough for other people watching to assume that was what it was, but it helped us to remember the line…

  Not that I needed reminding of course. I wasn’t going to get confused with my feelings for this man. We were friends, helping one another out, nothing more, nothing less. It was a business arrangement.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” I cooed. “It feels like it’s been forever.”

  With his one bag, which was what I expected him to bring, on his arm, and his other looped around my waist, we finally began to walk towards the exit. The group stayed behind, thank goodness, having their own plans to follow through on, which mean we were okay to finally become ourselves again as we slipped in to my car. Sure, we always had to maintain some of the illusion while out in public because you never could tell who was watching, but I was so much more relaxed when it was just the two of us. That was when I got to see glimpses of the true Alex, who I believed to be a much better person than he behaved like the rest of the time. Not that I would ever say that…

  “So, Emily Mason,” he said with a little laugh. “You have been very mysterious about this photo op. You said that you would tell me when I got here in Chicago and I have been on tenterhooks ever since.”

  Oh shit. Now our problems were about to begin. “Er, actually we’re going to do my volunteering together.”

  “You volunteer?” He couldn�
��t keep the shock off his expression as he stared at me.

  “You think I shouldn’t?” I hardened, having faced this kind of disregard before. “Because I model?”

  “No, no not at all! I mean, I will admit that I have never met a model who volunteers before because they are more likely to announce that they don’t get out of bed for less than ten grand, but that’s not why I’m shocked.”

  “So, why are you shocked then?” Now I was really intrigued.

  “Well… I don’t know actually.” He paused thoughtfully. “Maybe I’m more shocked that you want me to do it with you. That you basically tricked me to coming to Chicago for it.” Luckily, his tone was light hearted, he wasn’t annoyed by this at all. “What will we be doing? Picking trash up off the street?”

  “Oh no. Actually, what I like to do is help out at the local children’s hospital. They have all that they need there, medical equipment wise, but the strain on finances and the staffing means that they can’t really entertain the children as much as they would like. And they are kids, you know? Even if they are sick, they still want interaction and something to do. It’s a shame that there isn’t more funding to make sure they have all they need. If I could afford it then I would put some of my own cash in to it. That’s what I intend to do if I make it. Although it will never be enough, will it? There will always be other children’s hospitals that don’t have the funding…”

  I trailed off as I realized that I was ranting once more. This subject always got me going and I really didn’t think that Alex wanted to hear it. It was bad enough that I hadn’t told him what I was getting him in to.

  “You know,” he finally replied quietly, breaking the tension from his side of the car. “That’s a really nice thing to do. You truly are a good person, Emily. I respect what you do. How long have you been doing this?”