Christmas Cowboy (A Standalone Holiday Romance Novel)

by Claire Adams

  I truly blossomed under Mick's love and attention, and by the time I was 18, nobody would consider me forgettable. I'd learned how to style my hair and wear make-up, and he had encouraged me to wear more fashionable clothes — and he was always buying me cute little outfits.

  "This skirt is too short." I used to blush when I'd unwrap one of his gifts, but he'd just stroke my cheek and smile.

  "You've got great legs, baby. I want to show my girl off. Put it on for me and let me see how sexy you look."

  I'd felt uncomfortable in the low-cut dresses, crop tops that showed off my belly, and short skirts that barely covered my ass, but Mick always lavished me in attention whenever I wore them for him — and so did everybody else. It was something I could never quite get used to, but I would do anything for the man I loved and it clearly made him happy.

  "You're so hot, you could be a model, baby," Mick complimented me one evening. It was a warm, spring night, and we were laying on the hood of his car in the park, looking up at the stars.

  "Thanks, but I don't think so," I giggled under his praise.

  He pulled me into his arms and kissed my lips tenderly. "Sure you could. You don't believe me? I'll prove it to you. I got you modeling gig down in L.A."

  "As in Los Angeles, California? Yeah, right." I didn't believe him. Mick was always teasing me with wild stories that weren't true.

  "No, I'm serious. A buddy of mine is starting a new business selling some shit, and he needs help with the distribution and marketing. He wanted a really hot, blonde girl to pose for the packaging, and I told him I knew a great model who would work for cheap: you."

  "Me? I've never modeled."

  "I know, it's perfect. You can launch your modeling career without even trying, my buddy can start his business, and I get a piece of the action on both ends. This will give us the money we need to start our life together. You want to get married, right?"

  "Of course, I want to get married."

  "You still love me, right?" Mick was kissing me now and stroking my face in the way he knew I liked.

  "Of course, I still love you."

  "Let's do this then. Let's go to L.A. tonight, right now." Mick stopped kissing me and jumped off the hood of the car. He was suddenly really amped up. He opened the car door for me, hurrying me into the vehicle, and then started the engine before I even knew what was happening.

  "Wait. We can't go to L.A. right now."

  "Why not?"

  "What about high school? I graduate in just one month. We can go then."

  "It might be too late by then. This job can't wait. I don't want him to give it to someone else and see you lose your big break. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for you, and I'm not going to be the one to get in your way and see you lose it.

  “High school is just for losers who need some kind of degree for their miserable jobs that they work 40 hours a week. You don't need that. Models make their own schedules. Models travel the world, working when they want, and doing whatever they want. That's going to be you, baby, and I'm not letting you throw away this chance.

  “As your manager, I'm taking you to L.A. tonight. If we drive all night, we can be there in no time, and before you know it, you'll be a star and I'll be able to tell everybody 'See that supermodel? That’s my wife'. Let's do this. Are you with me?"

  "I don't know," I hesitated. This was a big step, but he was so excited and so sure. His mania was contagious and my fears were already being drowned out by his enthusiasm. "Do you really think we can do this?"

  "Of course, we can. We can do anything we want. We're a team, you and me. You'll be a famous model, and I'll be an entrepreneur and your manager. This opportunity will give us the money we need to build a life together. I can't wait to marry you, baby. You still love me like I love you, right?"

  "I do." We both recognized that was the exact phrase two people uttered when reciting their wedding vows, and it made us both smile. Gazing into each other's eyes, we kissed one last time, and then Mick put the car into gear and we sped off onto the highway and into our future.

  Of course, things didn't work out quite like Mick had planned. His friend's modeling job turned out to be asking me to pose in my underwear for "massage oils" he had invented and was trying to market to L.A. sex shops. I was mortified and refused the job. Mick insisted that I do it, and since it was the difference between staying in a ratty motel or sleeping in the Camaro again, I went ahead and did it, but I never put the job on my résumé.

  Now, three years later, I was 21 and still struggling to make it as a model. I'd gotten a job on a flyer and done some work at a seedy convention, but that was basically it. So far, my big break hadn't come, and after all this time, I wasn't sure it ever would.

  "So, what happened at the audition today, baby? Tell me everything." Mick had his arm around my shoulder and was giving me his full attention, stroking my hair and gazing into my eyes. It was impossible not to open up to him when he was like this; this was the Mick I had fallen in love with five years ago.

  "There's nothing to tell, really. I have the look they want; naturally blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a friendly smile. I just don't have the experience, and all the other girls looked so much more professional than I did."

  "Forget classes. That bullshit is for suckers. Why do we want to pay our hard-earned money for some asshole to tell you how to look pretty and smile?”

  "There's a lot more to modeling than that. There are certain ways to enhance your figure while showing off the product that photograph better than others. I didn't even know how to pose on the bike properly. It was really embarrassing. Besides, it's my hard-earned money. You haven't had a job in months."

  "I work damn hard as your manager." He was angry now, and I knew I'd crossed a line as he pulled his arm away and started shouting. "You think it's easy finding these auditions for you and getting the appointments? You'd be nothing without me. Who the hell was it that got you that catalog spread? Me. And, which one of us turned it down and lost a perfectly good thousand bucks for us?"

  "I'm sorry. I know you work hard, but that photographer wanted me to do a lot more than just pose for him in a bathing suit, and I just couldn't do that."

  "Well, maybe you should. Has it ever occurred to you that I'm not the one holding you back on your modeling career, that maybe it's your over-the-top moral standards? You think none of these other models are willing to take off their clothes for a photographer or give a director a little blow job on the side? Fuck, Kayla, you're such a damn prude. No wonder you can't get any jobs."

  "I'm not a prude. I've been sleeping with you since I was 17, and we're still not married yet. It broke my parents’ hearts when I ran away with you to L.A. to be a model, and now I wonder if it was even worth it. Nothing's ever come of it. It's been three years I still haven't gotten my break."

  "And, you won't until you loosen up and start showing some skin. The next time a director, producer, or photographer wants you to take off your top, you'd better do it, if you know what's good for you. That's when you'll start getting the jobs, when you start showing some tits and ass."

  "Well, you'll be happy to know that I did that today," I said glumly. It was my biggest fear that Mick was right, that it was my own refusal to sacrifice my moral integrity that was blocking my career, and not my lack of classes or experience.

  "Really?" Mick's face lit up. Somehow I had been hoping he would be jealous and want me to save myself only for him, but he wasn't like that. He'd prostitute me out if he thought he could get money for it, only I wouldn't let him.

  "Yeah, my bikini top fell off right in front of everybody. It was so embarrassing; I wanted to die."

  "No, baby. This is a good thing. Just wait and see. I bet you get called back, and when you do, make sure to give them all the nudity they want."

  "I don't think they'll call. After my top fell off, I accidentally knocked over the motorcycle I was supposed to be posing with. I probably broke it. The only call I'll be g
etting will be from the legal department billing me for the damage."

  "No, you'll get the job, and then you'll know I was right. Just wait and see." Mick jutted out his chin confidently.

  Just then my cell phone started to ring, and we both stared at it. The caller ID said Speed Motorcycles, Inc.

  Chapter Three

  Ethan

  "I want this one." I slapped my hand over the picture of Kayla Brandt, and slid it across the boardroom table into the hands of Keith.

  "No way, forget it. She has no experience. You saw her up there; she was a damn mess. She even knocked over the bike."

  "That's just because she was upset her top fell off. Your production assistant doesn't know how to tie a knot."

  "And, you don't know how to run a marketing campaign. This girl will cost us $10,000 in production costs just teaching her how to pose on the bike properly. We need a professional who knows what the hell she's doing. Like this one. She's perfect."

  Keith slid the picture of a dyed-blonde with fake lips across the table to me, and I grimaced. "No. I like Kayla."

  "The klutz? Forget her."

  "That's the thing. I can't forget her. She has a quality to her that really sticks in my mind."

  "Yeah, that's because her top fell off and you got to see her tits. She probably did it on purpose trying to get recognized. You won't believe how many models come to these auditions and try something like that."

  "No, it's more than that. She's fresh, clean, pure. She's not jaded yet by this city and pumped up with chemicals, spray tans, and plastic surgery. She's a real, all-American girl, and I want her to be the face of our new ad campaign."

  "She does have a certain charisma," one of the board members said, staring at her picture.

  "She's very sweet, pretty, and charming," an assistant chimed in.

  "Very girl-next door. Women will want to be her and guys will want to fuck her," Keith conceded. "All right. You're the CEO; if she's the girl you want, then she's the girl we'll get. I'll call her myself."

  "No, let me do it. I rarely get to deliver good news to anybody, and after having to fire the manager in our Tulsa distribution center this morning, I could use it."

  "You're the boss." Keith handed me her file as everyone started to leave the room.

  "You might try remembering that sometime. I won't forget that comment you made; I don't know how to run an ad campaign? You can count on me to be involved in this one every step of the way just to show you that I'm the boss for a reason."

  I slapped Keith on the back as we both chuckled. He was a good friend of mine, and I liked having someone in the company with the guts to stand up to me and tell me what they really thought. It challenged me and helped me to keep the company strong, unlike being surrounded by annoying yes-men. Still, there was a grain of truth in what I'd said, and I could see from the look in Keith's eyes that he knew it.

  I carried Kayla Brandt's file back into my office and sat at my desk. I felt strangely nervous about calling her. My palms were actually sweaty as I dialed her number, and I could hear my heart pounding as it rang. What would I say to her when she picked up? I couldn't wait to hear the sound of her gentle voice again.

  The anticipation was killing me as her phone rang for what seemed like forever before she finally answered.

  "Kayla, this is Ethan Colson with Speed Motorcycles. I want to discuss some things with you. Can you come to my office tomorrow at noon?”

  "Certainly. I'll be there." She sounded shocked, and I couldn't help but smile. She was so unpretentious; I could read her every emotion and could even picture the expression on her pretty face.

  She had the biggest blue eyes I'd ever seen, like liquid pools on a tropical beach. Her skin was creamy perfection, and her lips were like the petals of a delicate pink flower. When she smiled, her entire face lit up, and when she laughed, it was like music. Most of all, I kept picturing those magnificent breasts of hers. The nipples had been taut, rosy nubs in perfectly round areolas at the center of wonderful plump, full breasts that jiggled and begged to be touched. I wondered what it would feel like to hold them in my hands and squeeze and fondle them, to brush my thumbs across the nubs of her nipples and taste them with my lips. Yes, she was the perfect model for next month's magazine cover, and the one every man would be obsessed with, just as I already was.

  Suddenly, my assistant came into my office and set a stack of papers on my desk.

  "Here are the end-of-the-day reports, Mr. Colson. Is there anything I can do for you?" She was wearing stiletto heels, a skin-tight black skirt, and a crème, silk blouse with the buttons down the front undone one too many to reveal her impressive cleavage. She leaned forward way too far as she set the papers down, giving me a thorough look, and the innuendo in her voice was unmistakable.

  A glance at my watch told me it was after business hours and everyone else in the company would be leaving the building now. It was the time of day Angela and I had been fucking in my office, but I wasn't in the mood. Sure, my dick was hard as rock, but my mind was on Kayla, not her.

  "No, thank you. You can go home, Miss Stratham," I stated simply. I turned to the reports, clearly indicating my lack of interest, but she wasn't so easily dismissed.

  "Is that what we're calling it now?" She sat right on the middle of my desk, grabbed my head, and kissed me passionately on the lips. She tasted like cigarettes, not at all like the fresh sweetness I was certain Kayla's mouth would have.

  "Knock that shit off." I pulled away from Angela, standing up at my desk and glared at her angrily.

  "You seem tense. Don't you want me to help you relax, like I always do?" She slid off the desk and got down on her knees in front of me. Before her hands could reach my zipper, I grabbed them and stopped her.

  "I don't have time for that. Now, go home. We have a long work day ahead of us tomorrow, and I want to be alone."

  "That's how you're going to end up in life: alone." Angela's green eyes sparkled with angry jealousy, but I didn't give a fuck. My face held a bored expression as I watched her leave. I sat down at desk and returned to the picture of Kayla, with her innocent face and demure personality. She was only woman I wanted to be with now and no one else would do.

  Chapter Four

  Kayla

  "Whatever you have to do to get this job today, do it," Mick dictated. He was laying on our bed in his ripped jeans and a dirty tee-shirt, watching me get dressed for my call-back at Speed Motorcycles. It was just making me more nervous.

  "How can you say that me? Most boyfriends want their girlfriends only for themselves, to love, cherish, and protect. They don't prostitute them out to any sleaze who wants to see them naked." I felt hurt that Mick was so eager for me to be ogled and groped by strange men. Didn't he care about me at all?

  "Hey, you're the one who wanted to be a model. What did you think modeling was? It's posing for men, with your tits and ass hanging out, so strangers can get off while looking at you."

  "Modeling is so much more than that. It's about beauty, grace, style, fashion, and presenting things in the best light. It's about creating an image of something that melds fantasy with reality, want with desire."

  "Yeah, that's what I said: getting guys off." Mick grunted. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes at him. He didn't understand my career, and I was beginning to wonder if he even understood me. All Mick saw when he thought of my career was dollar signs and sleaze.

  A part of me wondered if he was right, though; after all, he had told me I needed to expose myself to get jobs, and the time my bikini top falls off is the one time I get a call back. Maybe I did need to sacrifice my morals to get the jobs — but I just didn't know if I could bring myself to do it. Feeling self-righteous, I put on my most conservative outfit: a white sundress with pink flowers embroidered along the edges, a cardigan sweater, and wedge sandals.

  "How's this dress look?" I turned to face Mick, and he scowled.

  "No. You look like a damn Sunday school teache
r in that thing. Take it off, and put on that sexy mini-dress I bought you for your birthday."

  Mick's reaction settled it for me: I was wearing the sundress. I took the time to curl my hair so it fell to my shoulders in gentle rings that bounced lightly. I kept my make-up minimal, not wanting to look vampy or overtly sexual. I needed to make it clear in this meeting that yesterday's flashing of my breasts was an accident and I had no interest in trading my sexuality for the job. I was a good-girl, devoted to my fiancé, and just looking for an honest day's pay for my modeling services. Nothing more. Some pink nail polish on my fingertips and toes completed the look, and I left feeling sunny and bright, like a fresh, country breeze in the city.

  As I sat in the waiting room of Speed Motorcycles’ executive floor, I began to rethink my strategy. The walls were lined with framed photographs of the company's motorcycles, each with a model looking sexy as sin posing along with it. Their shorts were skimpy enough to show their ass cheeks and their bikini tops left little to the imagination. It was easy to speculate that any of these women would have been willing to sleep their way into successful modeling careers. As I sat there in my prim sun dress, I realized just how much I didn't fit into this world of fast bikes and faster women, where everything was flashy and built for speed.

  I stood up to leave, but just then a woman with fiery red hair and a skin-tight, black dress with red stiletto heels came up to me. "Miss Brandt, Mr. Colson will see you now."

  "Thank you. Is he the photographer?" I asked casually as I trailed behind her down a richly-carpeted hallway.

  "No. He's the owner and CEO of the company," the sexy redhead smirked at my naive ignorance, making me feel even more out of place.

  "Oh. He'll be sitting in on the meeting?" I was genuinely surprised. I'd only ever worked on small jobs with just a photographer and once a director. Never had I worked with a CEO, especially for one of the country's biggest companies. My stomach began to squirm, and I wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to squelch my nerves.