stupid things I said when my parents were alive. But I’ve been too afraid to make promises to the people that are actually still in my life. Too afraid to love the people that are still here. It’s easier to make promises to ghosts, Anna. I’m done with that.
“You are here,” he said, cupping her face now, holding her steady. “You’re with me. And I can have you as long as I’m not too big an idiot. As long as you still want to have me. You put yourself out there for me, and I rejected you. I’m so sorry. I know what that cost you, Anna, because I know you. And please understand I didn’t reject you because it wasn’t enough. Because you weren’t enough. It’s because you were too much, and I wasn’t enough. But I’m going to do my best to be enough for you now. Now and forever.”
She could hardly believe what she was hearing, could hardly believe that Chase was standing there making declarations to her. The kind that sounded an awful lot like love. The kind that sounded an awful lot like exactly what she wanted to hear. “Is this because I’m wearing a dress?”
“No.” He chuckled. “You could be wearing coveralls. You could be wearing nothing. Actually, I think I like you best in nothing. But whatever you’re wearing, it wouldn’t change this. It wouldn’t change how I feel. Because I love you in every possible way. As my friend, as my lover. I love you in whatever you wear, a ball gown or engine grease. I love you working on tractors and trying to explain to me how an engine works and watching musicals.”
“But do you love my porcupine pajamas?” she asked, her voice breaking.
“I’m pretty ambivalent about your porcupine pajamas, I’m not going to lie. But if they’re a nonnegotiable part of the deal, then I can adjust.”
She shook her head. “They aren’t nonnegotiable. But I probably will irritate you with them.” Then she sobbed, unable to hold her emotions back any longer. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his skin, breathing his scent in. “Chase, I love you so much. Look what we were protecting ourselves from.”
He laughed. “When you put it that way, it seems like we were being pretty stupid.”
“Fear is stupid. And it’s strong.”
He tightened his hold on her. “It isn’t stronger than this.”
Not stronger than fifteen years of friendship, than holding each other through grief and pleasure, laughter and pain.
When she had pulled up and seen his truck here, Anna Brown had murder on her mind. And now, everything was different.
“Remember when you promised you were going to make me a woman?” she asked.
“Right. I do. You laughed at me.”
“Yes, I did.” She stretched up on her toes and kissed his lips. “Chase McCormack, I’m pretty sure you did make me a woman. Maybe not in the way you meant. But you made me feel...like a whole person. Like I could finally put together all the parts of me and just be me. Not hide any of it anymore.”
He closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against hers. “I’m glad, Anna. Because you sure as hell made me a man. The man that I want to be, the man that I need to be. I can’t change the past, and I can’t live in it anymore, either.”
“Good. Then I think we should go ahead and make ourselves a future.”
“Works for me.” He smiled. “I love you. You’re everything.”
“I love you, too.” It felt so good to say that. To say it and not be afraid. To show her whole heart and not hold anything back.
“I bet that I can make you say you love me at least a hundred more times tonight. I bet I can get you to say it every day for the rest of our lives.”
She smiled, taking his hand and walking toward the house, not caring about the rain. “I bet you can.”
He led her inside, leaving a trail of clothes in the hall behind them, leaving her beautiful dress on the floor. She didn’t care at all.
“And I bet—” he wrapped his arm around her waist, then laid her down on the bed “—tonight I can make you scream.”
“I’ll take that bet,” she said, wrapping her legs around his hips.
And that was a bet they both won.
* * * * *
Maisey Yates
Stranded with a cowboy for Christmas...from New York Times bestselling author Maisey Yates!
Oil and water have nothing on Sam McCormack and Madison West. The wealthy rancher has never met a haughtier—or more appealing—woman in his life. And when they’re snowed in, he’s forced to admit this ice queen can scorch him with one touch...
Madison had plans for the weekend! Instead she’s stranded with a man who drives her wild. A night of no-strings fun leaves both of them wanting more when they return to Copper Ridge. His proposal: twelve days of hot sex before Christmas! But will it ever be enough?
That was the problem with Sam.
He was exactly the kind of man she didn’t like. He was cocky, rough and crude. However, there was something about the way he looked in a tight T-shirt that made a mockery of all that very certain hatred.
“Are you going to take off your coat and stay a while?” That question, asked in a faintly mocking tone, sent a dart of tension straight between her thighs.
She could not take off her coat. Because she was wearing nothing more than a scrap of red lace underneath it. And now, it was all she could think of. About how little stood between Sam and her naked body.
About what might happen if she just went ahead and dropped the coat and revealed all of that to him.
“It’s cold,” she snapped.
The maddening man raised his eyebrows, shooting her a look that clearly said suit yourself, then set about looking for the fuse box.
She let out an exasperated sigh and followed his path, stopping when she saw him examining the little black switches inside the box.
“It’s not a fuse. That means there’s something else going on.” He slammed the door shut. Then he turned back to look at her. “You should come to my cabin.”
* * *
Hold Me, Cowboy is part of the Copper Ridge series from New York Times bestselling author Maisey Yates
I’m delighted to welcome you back to Copper Ridge, Oregon. This series is all about community, family, love and hot cowboys. And in Hold Me, Cowboy, it’s Christmas in Copper Ridge, which means sparkling lights, chilly days and even colder nights. Except the
