Rocky Mountain Vignettes (Six Pack Ranch) (7 page)
Read Rocky Mountain Vignettes (Six Pack Ranch) Online
Authors: Vivian Arend
Tags: #contemporary romance, #western romance, #cowboys, #sexy romance, #vignettes
Jaxi covered her grin with a hand. “You are so bad.”
“Hey, it’s the holidays. I figure everybody who’s celebrating this time of year should get a shout-out in the light displays.”
“And all it took was you mentioning some candles would look good, and Travis put them up?”
“Of course not. I might have
casually
left a few drawings on the dining room table, though.” Ashley squeezed her arm then turned slowly in a circle as she admired the happy beauty all around them. “You were right. Last year I had zero success getting Travis to budge on the light thing. This year?” She leaned forward and offered Jaxi a big smile. “You made one little suggestion to Blake, and
poof
, we’re walking in a winter wonderland.”
Her sister-in-law-ish shrugged. “The bridge needed lights,” she insisted. “It’s far safer this way.”
“And it’s been a good distraction,” Ashley said innocently. “Between putting up all those lights, and his regular chores, and the rest of the holiday preparations, I bet Blake hasn’t even noticed…”
Jaxi’s cheeks flushed red, but it could’ve been from the reflected Christmas lights, or the cold.
But Ashley bet it wasn’t. She just stared at the other woman, daring her to admit the secret she’d been keeping.
Jaxi finally caved. “How did you know?”
“That you’re pregnant?” Ashley shrugged. “Peter’s nearly two. I figured if you were going to have another, it would be soon. Plus, there were few other signs.”
“This is the last time,” Jaxi said firmly. “Now, no spilling the beans to anyone before I get a chance to let Blake know. I was going to tell him on Christmas Eve.”
That sounded like a wonderful idea…
“Your secret is safe with me.” Curiosity demanded she ask, though. “That leaves you with five kids. I thought the family joke is Blake insisted you guys would stop at six.”
Jaxi made a face. “If he wants to conceive, carry and birth that last one, I’m good with it. Otherwise, I’m done with five.”
Vehicle lights on the gravel road leading to the houses made them turn. More family pulled into the yard—Daniel and Beth and their boys, who raced off to examine the lights up close.
Cassidy brought out a couple more chairs, then tugged Ashley into his arms and kissed her hard enough her toes curled as Jaxi whistled in admiration.
His grin was wide and contented as he proceeded to get a small bonfire going.
“Not that we need it for the light,” he teased as Travis, Blake and the kids wandered over, drawn by the fire. “Think you got enough decorations up yet, T?”
“It’s so Santa can find the house better,” Rebecca offered in his defense. “Uncle Travis said so.”
Ashley looked up into Travis’s laughing grey eyes, felt Cassidy’s arm around her shoulder, and knew she’d landed in the most perfect place of all.
With family.
With people who loved her—completely and forever.
“Christmas Day at our place this year,” Mike reminded them before the group broke up to head home. “And Boxing Day at Whiskey Creek.”
Which left Christmas Eve for the individual families, and a growing warmth inside threatened to burst out and make Ashley shout her secret too early.
I’m going to tell him on Christmas Eve
, Jaxi had said.
Yes, that sounded like a
wonderful
time to share a secret with her two loves…
“Anything special you want to do on Christmas Eve?” Cassidy asked as the three of them curled up on the couch in front of their fireplace.
“Dick wars,” Ashley deadpanned.
Travis snorted. “Sounds like fun.”
“What are the rules?” Cassidy asked as he leaned on Travis’s chest, pulling her feet into his lap so he could dig his fingers into her soles.
Her gaze met Travis’s over Cassidy’s shoulder. “He wants to know the rules. What have you done with him?”
“Not my fault,” Travis insisted. “His straight-and-narrow side rears its head every now and then.”
“We should really do something about it,” she teased softly, trailing her fingers up Cassidy’s leg.
“I’m not moving,” Cassidy warned. “You want to do dirty things to me, you do them here.”
“Lazy ass,” Travis poked.
“Smartest ass in the room,” Cassidy countered.
“Biggest ass in the room.”
“Biggest cock, you mean.”
A short
ha
! exploded from Travis.
“Boys…” Two faces turned toward her, and she shook her head, happiness pouring through her. “Dick wars—they never do end.”
So softly she might have imagined it, both of them whispered
mine
, and she couldn’t stop herself. Laughter escaped like teeny bubbles, washing over them.
It was tempting to spill the beans now, but she resisted. Christmas Eve was the perfect time to tell them her secret.
Then they’d have to wait another seven months to discover who’d won
that
particular round of the
dick war
.
They’d all won, really.
Ashley leaned back, the twinkling lights shining in the darkness outside the window paling to shadows compared to the bright lights shining in her lovers’ eyes.
If you’d like to read Blake and Jaxi’s story you can find it in
Rocky Mountain Heat
, the first book in the Six Pack Ranch series.
There’s an excerpt to try
here
.
If you’d like to read Travis, Cassidy, and Ashley's story you can find it in
Rocky Mountain Freedom
, the sixth book in the Six Pack Ranch series.
There’s an excerpt to try
here
.
The
Six Pack Ranch
series includes:
Rocky Retreat
(A Six Pack Novella)
If you want more romance set in Rocky Mountain House, check out the Thompson & Sons, which starts with ROCKY RIDE. This is Mitch Thompson & Anna Coleman's story-the cop and the town bad boy!
Thompson & Sons
*coming soon
He’s got a touch that’s hotter than hot
It took a hell of a lot of fast-talking and more than a few speeding tickets before Mitch Thompson convinced Constable Anna Coleman to take him for a ride. Only now that she’s loosened off her stiff RCMP uniform, it’s not nearly enough. Their secret sexual escapades are mind-blowing, but Mitch wants more than her body—he wants her heart.
Her world could go up in flames
It’s a dangerous road to walk, and Anna doesn’t know how far she can safely tread. Bad boy Mitch may have lured her wild side out to play, but giving in to their increasingly passionate desires could endanger her very civilized career. Somewhere between yearning and obsession there has to be a balance point.
Or they’re both going to get burned.
September, Rocky Mountain House
Heat rolled along her spine, leaving a sticky residue behind like at the conclusion of a long shift on an endless summer day. Only it wasn’t hard labour that had brought the undeniable flush to her skin. It wasn’t the sweltering breeze blowing past, causing leaves on the nearby trees to tremble, or the scalding sun beating down on her dash.
It was sex. Or more accurately, the
anticipation
of sex.
A straight-up, body-pounding, muscle-clenching fuck about to be delivered with all too much finesse by her favourite speeder in the entire district.