Page 3 of Chloe's Christmas Cowboy: A Festive Second Chance Romance

He sighed. “Don’t be childish, Chloé. You know your uncle wouldn’t have wanted me to let you walk home on your own in these conditions. Besides, I want to talk to you.” His voice was authoritative and deep, and Chloé felt a glow inside her. She stopped for a second and then shook her head. She wasn’t about to give in, no matter how gorgeous he was.

“Well I don’t want to talk to you. And don’t you ever try to use my uncle against me. He’s only just been buried for Christ’s sake. How dare you?” Her voice raised a few octaves as she became even more upset and annoyed at his audacity and she reached out and thumped the door of his pick-up. Even through her gloves she could feel the ice and stony metal and she did her best not to wince at the pain which engulfed her hand.

Angrily, she stormed past the vehicle and carried on up the track. She heard the truck come up behind her once again and she darted over to the side to keep out of its way. Her foot slid from under her and she suddenly found herself hurtling to the ground with a dull thud. She lay for a few seconds, gathering her thoughts. Her ankle hurt and her face was cold against the snow. She was slightly winded but soon recovered her breath and tried to sit up. Every bone inside her ached and she was grateful for the strong arms which enveloped her pain-ridden body. That was, until she remembered exactly whose strong arms they were.

“Get off me.” She thumped at the taught chest of the handsome man who was carrying her as if she weighed nothing at all, over to his truck.

“Why? So you can go and kill yourself?” His voice was deep but she sensed a little mirth in his manner, which irked her.

“What I do is my business. It’s nothing to do with you.” Chloé hollered at him, but couldn’t help feeling a little relieved at his warmth and strength. The weather really was getting worse and she knew it wasn’t safe trying to walk up the mountain track on her own. All the same, she had to remember what he did and keep her resolve not to be swayed by him. She pushed him as she jumped down from his arms, careful to only put her weight on one foot.

Another truck pulled up behind Tyler’s as they stood arguing.

“Is he bothering you, Miss?”

Chloé shot around and saw another familiar face as her uncle’s neighbor swaggered over to them.

“Chloé? I didn’t recognize you. Are you all right, sweetheart?” Bill Simmons went straight up to her, concern etched in his face. He held her arm, obviously noticing the awkward way she was standing.

“Hi Bill. Yeah. I just twisted my ankle, I think. I fell over on some ice.” Chloé was surprised at his reaction. Bill Simmons had never had much to do with her or her uncle. He had inherited the ranch next to theirs a few years ago when his dad retired. To give him his due, Bill had really turned the place around and was now reaping the benefits. Chloé had always been a little suspicious that his methods weren’t always that honorable, though.

“Come on, I’ll take you home,” Bill announced, suddenly swooping her up into his arms. He was a thin, wiry man and, despite his commanding character, didn’t instill a lot of confidence in Chloé as she was hoisted into the cold air.

“I was about to do just that,” Tyler drawled.

“Well it looked to me like the lady wasn’t that keen on the idea. Besides, it’s not exactly out of my way, and my truck looks a lot cozier than yours.” Bill sneered as he took Chloé over to his top-of-the-range vehicle.

“He wasn’t really bothering me,” Chloé protested, secretly disappointed at not going home with Tyler, after all.

Bill was already placing her on the plush front seat of his warm truck. “Well you didn’t look all that happy to me,” he said, before closing the door.

Chloé felt the warmth permeate her frozen body and couldn’t help a little sigh which escaped her lips as she sat back into the soft nubuck leather. Bill had left the engine running so the truck hadn’t lost any heat by stopping. He looked quite elegant sat behind the wheel and maneuvered the truck effortlessly around Tyler’s vehicle before zooming off up the track. In his new, posh car he seemed to have a total disregard for the weather conditions, and they glided up the road as snow fell silently all around them.

Chloé saw Tyler watching them as they drove around him and his truck. He looked annoyed. She felt sad. It had felt lovely being held in his strong arms, although she would never admit that to anyone.

CHAPTER TWO

“How long are you home for?” Bill asked casually as they neared Mile End. He ran a hand through his fine, blond hair.

“I’m not sure. I’ve taken a couple of weeks off to sort everything out, but they’ve said I can extend it if I need to.” She felt a jolt of misery as she thought about her job.

“Sounds like you’ve got a good boss there. You don’t want to take advantage. My advice would be to get everything out of the way as quickly as possible and then head back to the city. It’ll be a feather in your cap if you go back early.” Bill sounded knowledgeable, as usual, but also a little condescending.

“Hmm. I’ll have to see how it goes tomorrow. Hopefully, the will reading’ll be all cut and dried.” She sighed.

“I’ll run you down there if you like? You won’t be up to driving with that ankle. What time’s your appointment? I can be here whenever you need me.”

Bill seemed quite determined and Chloé felt a twinge of disappointment. She had been planning to drive herself down, and hopefully get to see Tyler again. She silently admonished herself – I don’t want anything to do with him, remember?

“Come on, let’s get you inside, sweetheart.” Bill parked the truck and rushed around to her side to help her out.

“I can manage,” she told him as he reached in and grabbed her by the waist.

“I doubt that, sweetheart. It’s mighty slippery out here and you won’t be able to balance properly on one foot. Here, let me help.”

He lifted her out of the cab of his truck and carried her to the door. She had hoped that he would stop there but was sorely disappointed. Bill carried her through into the sitting room, placed her down on a chair and then lit the fire for her. The house was cold and she was reluctant to remove her coat.

“I’ll get some coffee on, warm us up a bit,” Bill announced, and took himself through into her kitchen. “I’ll fetch some ice for that ankle, too.” He called as he went.

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