Dearest Cowboys Box Set

by Mia Brown

  “Well, I happen to think that you look beautiful tonight. That dress is incredible on you. Perfect for you, in fact. But, as with most things I like on you, overalls included, I like them off even more than I like them on.”

  “Is that so?” I asked.

  “Yes. Come here, let me unzip you.”

  “You sit there,” I said. “I can unzip myself.”

  I felt emboldened by my newfound status as a married woman. I knew that Houston loved me, and I knew that he found me attractive. I had finally found a man who made me feel happy with who I was. I stood up, then walked to the other side of the living room. I shoved my new coffee table aside so that the room became my stage. I turned around and slowly unzipped my dress.

  It fell to the floor in a beautiful puddle of soft chiffon and lace. I slowly lowered my underwear, and then I turned around. I was facing him with just a bra and my heels on. I decided for once to keep the heels on, so I undid the bra and threw it across the room. My breasts bounced as I made my way slowly to Houston, who was sitting on the sofa with a shocked expression on his face.

  I kneeled down in front of him and unzipped his pants, then I leaned forward and put him in my mouth. I heard him groan as I sucked, and I was glad that I was able to get this response from him. I couldn’t believe how much I was now turned on from doing this, so I stopped just before he could come. I told him to take his clothes off, and then I pushed him down onto the sofa and climbed on top of him. We’d already had sex many times before this, but there was something different about it now that we were married. I couldn’t put my finger on what made it so different, but I definitely felt more alive and more in love than ever before. There seemed to be more weight, more substance to the relationship, and it felt really sexy to be making love to my husband. The commitment we had just made to each other was actually making me more excited, and I loved it.

  “You’re amazing,” he said to me when it was over. “I didn’t think that sex with you could get any better, but I was definitely wrong. That was amazing. That striptease…wow.”

  I smiled. “I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have the confidence to do something like that. You’ve given that to me. I hope you realize that there will be more stripteases in the future. I quite enjoyed that. I might give you a striptease every single time I undress.”

  “Ooh, don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he said. “I love you, wife.”

  I chuckled. That was never going to get old for me. “I love you, husband.”

  “So, I was thinking…I’m madly in love with you, as you know. But there’s one thing we haven’t discussed. Something we probably should’ve discussed before we got married, but it’s not like us to do things in the right way.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean? What do you want to discuss?”

  “I want your babies,” he said.

  Relief flooded over me. For a second, I thought there was something more serious to discuss. This was one discussion I was happy to have. It was actually strange that the two of us hadn’t spoken about this before, but we had so many other things to think about that it just hadn’t occurred to either of us. “How many?” I asked.

  He smiled. “As many as you can give me.”

  “Ten,” I said with a serious face.

  “What?”

  I laughed. I wished I could keep up the pretense, but the look of shock on his face was making me laugh too much. “Just kidding. How about two?”

  “Two sounds wonderful, and I’d be just as happy with one or three. Actually, even 10 is fine. As long as they’re happy and healthy.”

  “Me too. But two would be ideal. So, when would you like to start trying?” I asked. The thought of a little mini version of Houston made me so wonderfully happy that I would’ve been pleased if someone told me I was pregnant right then and there.

  “I’m thinking as soon as possible. Give me a moment to recover, and I’ll be ready to go again. I mean, we’ve got to at least try, don’t you think?”

  I grinned. “Oh, if we must…”

  “It’s easy for me,” he said. “I just picture you in overalls, and I’m excited.”

  Epilogue

  Houston

  “Remember how we said that we wanted two kids, but how we would settle for one?” Cassidy asked.

  I was out feeding the horses with little Ben when Cassidy suddenly appeared with a big grin on her face. Ben was now 2 years old and the cutest little boy in the world. Cassidy had gotten pregnant almost immediately after the wedding, which had naturally caused many people to assume it was the reason we had gotten married in the first place. We didn’t care, though.

  We were so used to having the people of the town talk about us that the whole thing simply didn’t bother us at all. We knew that it didn’t matter what they said because we would always have the last laugh. We were planning on staying together forever.

  “Yes, I remember,” I said. The question took me by surprise. I’d been so busy with the horses and showing Ben what to do that I hadn’t even noticed Cassidy coming toward us. Ben was finally old enough for me to start teaching him the ways of the ranch, and I was pleased to see that he seemed to love it. He especially loved my old horse, Marvin. “And I’m more than happy with our little boy here.” I assumed that we were not going to have any more kids. She had gotten pregnant so quickly the first time that it now seemed like it was not going to happen again. Not that it stopped us from trying, of course.

  “Well,” she pulled out a pregnancy test from behind her back and grinned. “Looks like our wish is going to come true.”

  “You’re pregnant?” I gasped.

  She nodded. “I sure am. I took three of these to make sure. They all say the same. I knew I was pregnant. I felt it. I just didn’t want to say anything to you until I had taken the tests, but I knew it.”

  I pulled her into my arms. I had actually woken up just that morning with a similar thought. There was something about the way she looked that had made me think she was pregnant even though she obviously wasn’t showing yet. I also hadn’t said anything to her just in case I was wrong. “That’s wonderful.”

  “Wonderful?” Ben asked. He was starting to talk more and more now, although he had a tendency to just copy our words. The longer the word, the more he liked to sound it out. “Wonderful,” he said again. He seemed pleased with himself.

  I picked him up and twirled him around, and he giggled. “Do you want a brother or sister?”

  His eyes widened. “A puppy?”

  I laughed. He had been asking us for a puppy ever since Joe had gotten one. Joe was now madly in love with Ben’s sister, of all people. She’d been living in London for the past few years, and when she returned Joe had taken an immediate liking to her. They had been living together for six months now and had recently gotten themselves a dog. “No, not a puppy. A brother or sister. A human,” I said. Although I knew that I was going to have to get Ben a puppy one of these days, too. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to let me hear the end of it until I gave in. I didn’t mind, though. The more our family grew, the happier we all became.

  He giggled. “Yes.”

  “Well, Mommy is growing one in there,” I said, and pointed to her stomach.

  I wasn’t sure if he completely understood what we were saying, but he seemed delighted anyway.

  “He’ll be closer to 3 when the baby is born,” Cassidy pointed out. “He’ll be speaking more and understanding even more. It’s going to be the sweetest thing ever to watch the two of them grow up together. So, I’ll make an appointment with the doctor for this week. Once it is completely confirmed, then we can do something to celebrate.”

  I smiled. Cassidy and I were big on celebrations. We had promised each other from the start that we would always celebrate any occasion we went through, big or small. And celebrations always meant one thing – cake from Nicole. Nicole had now opened up her own café, a little Parisian-looking place not far from The Grilled Duck. She eve
n provided cake for Brad now and was making quite the name for herself.

  “You know, sometimes I can’t believe that all of this happened,” I said.

  “I know. I didn’t think I’d end up with a man who couldn’t even change a tire,” she said, and chuckled at her own joke.

  “Hey, I can change a tire,” I said defensively. Then I laughed. “Well, I can now, at least. Actually, thank goodness I couldn’t change one back then. We might not have become friends if that didn’t happen. And if we didn’t become friends, you might never have invited me to that wedding.”

  “Speaking of, did you hear about Lara?”

  I frowned. “No. What happened?”

  “Seriously? The whole town is talking about it.”

  “Oh, I’ve learned not to listen to the town. But I’m curious now. Let me guess; the witch turned out to be an amazing woman. She said sorry to everyone she hurt and is now doing charity work for underprivileged children.”

  Cassidy laughed. “You couldn’t be further from the truth. She left Rick for some rich city lawyer. And instead of being all sad about it, Rick booked himself straight on a six-week cruise to celebrate. Oh, and he asked one of his old girlfriends to come with him.”

  I laughed. “Really? Wow. I’m happy for Rick. Hopefully he’ll realize that life doesn’t have to be like that. Ding dong, the witch is gone.”

  She smiled. “I think it was always their relationship that was based on a lie. We might have started off by pretending, but things between us were always real. Even when we didn’t want to admit it to ourselves.”

  I nodded. “I agree. There’s nothing fake about the way I feel about you.”

  “You know what? How about we go and celebrate now? We can do it again once we’ve heard from the doctor, too. What do you think, Ben? Would you like to go and visit your Aunt Nicole?”

  “Cake!” he yelled.

  “Is it bad that he associates your sister with cake?” I said.

  Cassidy laughed. “Don’t you?”

  “Uh, maybe.”

  She chuckled. “Nicole won’t mind. She loves what she does. Come on, let’s go out and celebrate. We can do what we did when I was pregnant with Ben and say that I’m eating for two now.”

  “Yes, and that I am eating for two to support you. Nice husband that I am and all.”

  “So nice of you,” Cassidy said as we all made our way to the car. “Let’s go and have a real celebration with real cake as we rejoice in our real and ever-expanding family.”

  “Yep, because faking marriage is one thing, but making a joke about cake is another.”

  We laughed and climbed into the car. When we got to Nicole’s café, she somehow knew why we were there before we even said anything. Nicole and Cassidy had a way with each other like that, and over the years they’d gotten even closer than before. Nicole was pregnant too, so she said she just had a motherly instinct attached to her now. She rushed out back to get us cake and came back with pink and blue cupcakes to celebrate no matter what gender we ended up with. Ben was so excited, and by the time he was finished, his face was smeared with pink and blue icing.

  “I’m real,” he yelled, and we all chuckled. We made so many jokes about the wedding hoax that he often shouted out random things like this that he had picked up from us. We grinned at each other. Yes, there was nothing fake about this family.

  Cowboy’s Valentine

  One

  Dallas

  I wouldn’t have known it was Valentine’s Day if it wasn’t for the media, or the constant chatter of those around me about a day that should really just be like any other day. It was annoying really. The way they constantly shoved it down your throat to make sure that you didn’t forget. Even going to the store today was an eyesore, red hearts over everything. They did everything in their power to make sure that you were aware of what day it was, whether you liked it or not. Perhaps I should’ve just stayed home today. Pretended to be too sick to come into work. It was a day I had always found cruel. Great for those in a relationship, but lonely for those who weren’t. What about those who had partner’s no longer with them? Why did they need such a horrible reminder? It was a stupid tradition and one that should definitely be stopped. Unfortunately, I knew well enough that this was never going to happen. For everyone who hated this day, there were always those who loved it. On the way to work all I heard on the local radio was stories about what they called ‘the most romantic day in the world’ and I was still mumbling to myself when I got into work.

  “Oh dear. You’re talking to yourself again. You’re in a bad mood,” Madison said. Madison was my right hand woman at work, a vet tech who constantly blew me away with her knowledge. She was only twenty four, but she was smart, and I couldn’t imagine the job without her. I loved my work as a vet and I loved even more that I got to specialize in horses. Working with animals had always been a dream of mine and I would always choose being with animals over humans. They were far easier to be around, and they never let you down.

  “I’m not in a bad mood,” I said in a tone that suggested otherwise.

  “Oh really? You could’ve fooled me. You are in a terrible mood. What happened to spreading the love and all that.”

  I sighed. It was then that I noticed the huge bouquet of flowers on her desk, with her face only barely peeking out over it. I groaned. “Oh no, not you too.”

  “What are you going on about?” she asked.

  “The flowers. You’re really giving in to this whole Valentine’s Day debacle? You do realize it’s just a ploy to make people spend money, don’t you? It’s not the most romantic day in the world, and if your partner only gets you something on the fourteenth of February and ignores you the rest of the year, then you need a new partner.”

  “Are you saying you don’t like Jack?”

  “What? Of course I do,” I said. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I just meant people in general. It’s nice that Jack got you flowers. It’s very sweet of him. And he does get you stuff throughout the year. I just meant…”

  “You just meant that you’re jealous that you never got anything,” she teased.

  “No, that is not the case at all. I don’t want anything.”

  “Oh come on, don’t lie. Of course you do. You’re only saying that to make yourself feel better, but what you really want is a man who loves you enough to send you something on Valentine’s Day. Sure, it’s a big money making thing, but that doesn’t mean it’s not also a chance to be all soppy and romantic. The people who complain about it are the ones who wish they were a part of it. I don’t blame you either. I was like that a few years ago. I hated Valentine’s Day, but that honestly changes when you meet the right person. Look at these flowers. They’re beautiful. And Jack is also taking me out for dinner tonight. I’m a lucky girl, and you will be lucky one day too. You just have to put yourself out there more.”

  I groaned and flopped down onto my chair. “Not this again. I’m fine with being alone.”

  “You’re thirty. You can’t be alone forever,” Madison said with her usual spunk. Madison was not the sort of woman to ever hold back with her thoughts. Sometimes it could be a blessing and other times a curse, but at least you always knew where you stood with her. Of course, right now I would far rather she just stop talking. This was unfortunately a conversation that seemed to come up far too often for my liking.

  “Thirty is not old. You only think it is because you’re still in your twenties. You’ll see. When you get to my age you’ll realize it’s not old at all. I still have the rest of my life to find someone. And anyway, what if I don’t want to find someone? What if I want to spend the rest of my life alone? Is that so bad? I have a wonderful job, with incredible clients, and I get to work with the most incredible horses on a daily basis. I would say that’s pretty lucky.”

  “Well, why don’t you marry one of the horses then?” Madison said.

  “You’re rude.”

  Madison chuckled. “Nah, I’m not. I’m
only kidding with you. I know we have a good job here. The vet practice is doing well, and everyone loves you, but don’t you hate going home alone every day?” Madison’s tone had changed. She was no longer teasing me, but I could tell she was actually concerned about me. I preferred it when she was teasing me. The last thing I needed was someone feeling sorry for me.

  “I’m used to it. I’m fine with my own company. Honestly, I’m fine. I actually like being by myself. I don’t feel lonely at all. When I meet someone that will be great, but until then I’m happy being alone.”

  “Okay, fair enough. Maybe I’m the one who needs to learn to be by myself. I can’t help it though. I have always preferred being in a relationship. I hate being alone.”

  “Each to their own then,” I said. “What works for you might not work for me and vice versa. It doesn’t mean that one of us is right or wrong.”

  “For sure. But do me a favor, Dallas, and try put yourself out there a bit. If you don’t find anyone you like, then fair enough, but what if you do? You’re constantly travelling the country, working on horses at all the different ranches, and that’s great, but have you ever thought about doing something for yourself for a change? Have you ever even tried to meet someone? It’s not nearly as bad as you seem to think it might be. Come on, there must be tons of hunky ranches out there.”

  “I’m not into that.” I was annoyed that Madison had successfully managed to sway the conversation back.

  Madison rolled her eyes. “You’re not into anything. What about one of the ranch hands? Those guys are always so beefy. You should totally go for it. You have access to the most gorgeous guys in the world. You should be using that to your advantage.”

  “You want me to go up to a guy I don’t even know and ask him out?” I was horrified by the thought. I didn’t tell Madison that I had been asked out quite a few times by some of my clients, because she would go crazy knowing I had turned them down. But I didn’t believe in saying yes to someone I didn’t see a future with. It wasn’t that I believed in love at first sight or anything, but I still hoped for at least some thought of sign that the guy was worth giving a chance. So far, I hadn’t met many of those.