Page 13 of Chloe's Christmas Cowboy: A Festive Second Chance Romance

“I wouldn’t exactly call it the back of beyond,” Tyler objected. “Rough Oaks is a beautiful little town, and she’s got lots of friends here. It’s where she grew up for Christ’s sake, why wouldn’t she want to come back here?”

“Because she can do a damn site better for herself in the city,” Bill snapped, stopping as they reached the gate in the fence that led to his land.

“And what if she doesn’t want to? What if she’s happy here?” Tyler felt his blood boiling.

“Why would she be? There’s nothing – and no-one here for her now, is there?” Bill’s voice was like sharp gravel.

“There might be,” Tyler said, with a sing-song attitude that he knew would grate on Bill’s nerves.

Bill’s whole face turned to a scorn. “Fancy your chances do ya? Now that she’s worth something you think you can get into her bed?”

“You know dang well we’ve got a past,” Tyler replied, raising his eyebrows. “It’s got nothing to do with money. We’ve had feelings for each other for a long time.”

“Had,” Bill snapped. “Way back in the distant past, maybe. But you blew it and she left you. Best thing she ever did in my book.”

“It was a misunderstanding, that’s all,” Tyler insisted, trying to curb his anger.

“Are you sure about that?” There was a mischievous glint in Bill’s eye that Tyler tried not to read as evil, though it was hard.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“It doesn’t matter. Admit it, loser, you failed. The girl saw sense and got a decent job with decent money in a decent area. She’s gone.”

“Well that’s funny, ’cause she didn’t look gone to me just a short while ago. In fact, she looked like she was glad to be home.”

“Fuck you.” Bill bellowed. “Face it – you lost her. Now leave her alone and let her move on.”

“Or what?” Tyler clenched his fist, longing to take a swing at the smarmy bastard.

“Or you’ll lose a lot more than just a girl.” Bill’s voice was menacing, as was the demonic glimmer in his narrowed eyes.

Tyler stared at him as Bill quickly opened the gate and stepped through. As he fastened the catch he looked back up at him with a sneer.

“Think about it,” he growled before stomping off into the darkness.

Tyler felt a shudder down his back that he knew wasn’t down to the weather. He would certainly be thinking about the fuckwad’s words for the rest of the night – and they wouldn’t be happy thoughts.

CHAPTER SIX

Chloé had a restless night. Thoughts of Tyler Brannagh plagued her dreams; memories of the way she used to feel about him, confusion about how she felt now. At one point she found herself stroking her body as she recalled the sight of him in her sitting room, the firelight glowing on his face, his eyes getting darker by the second, and that mouth just beckoning her for a kiss.

She’d wanted him for so long, but she had to remember that he stood her up. On her graduation day of all days. It was the cruelest thing he could do to her and she’d spent many nights crying over it. So why did she feel so differently now?

Her hand trailed to her breast. The nipple was as hard as concrete. She hadn’t played with herself quite like this before, but she sighed as she thought of Tyler’s soft lips around that tight little nub.

Her pussy got wetter as thoughts of him overtook her mind, and she moaned as her fingers slid between her folds, circling her clit and venturing inside her. She gasped. It would be Tyler’s tongue instead of her hand that would be pleasuring her, she thought. He would be expert at teasing her, prolonging her pleasure for as long as she could stand it.

Something about Tyler told her that he would be well-used to giving a woman the time of her life between the sheets. He was gorgeous enough to have had any amount of girls falling at his feet – in fact, she was surprised he didn’t have a current girlfriend, but that was a matter for another time. Tonight he was hers – in her dreams, anyway.

One hand rubbed her breasts together, tugging at her nipples and pinching them between her finger and thumb. She gasped with delight.

Her other hand was now delving in and out of her soaking vagina, getting faster as her heart throbbed and her breath panted.

She upped the pace as her passion mounted, flailing her head from side to side on the soft pillow, her eyes screwed up tight. She could scarcely bear it, and suddenly swiped her thumb right over her clit, sending herself into a spiraling crescendo.

Screaming into the darkness, she sat up with a jolt, amazed at the power of her own hands – and imagination. She was gulping in air, her skin hot and clammy. Her mind spun with the realization that this man was having such an effect on her. This man who broke her heart. Who had no right being in her head, let alone her dreams.

When she finally recovered her breath, she went to the bathroom and stood under the shower. Tears mixed with the stream of water that ran over her, and she busied herself with the soap and sponge, trying to cleanse her mind at the same time as her body.

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