Page 5 of Deck the Halls with Cowboys
My brows snappedtogether, and a second later, I was on top of her, pinning her hands on either side of her head. “What the hell are you talkin’ about, darlin’?”
She chewed the inside of her cheek, holding my eyes. “I just—do you think we should’ve told them sooner? Not waited until the holiday—”
“It’s our gift,” I cut her off. “Plain and simple. If anyone is upset at the news, I’ll shoot them.”
Her lips thinned. “Mase,” she scolded. “I’m being serious.”
“So am I.” I sighed through my nose, looking away for a moment. “This is our life, our decision. No one else gets to dictate that.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” she countered, wiggling her arms, trying to get out of my hold.
“What are you sayin’ then, Harm? Because I don’t like that hint of shame in your voice,” I told her, biting down on my jaw. “We have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“We’ve kept it a secret.”
I stiffened.
“From Jigs. From Den and Val. We’ve known for weeks and we’ve—”
“Again, baby, this is our fuckin’ life.”
“And they are our family.”
Damn. She had me there.
I gave her a soft kiss, resting my forehead against hers. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, yeah?”
Her fingers found my hair then. “Okay, Mase.” There was another beat of blissful silence before she asked, “Don’t you need to get to the barn?”
I twisted my neck, seeing the sun peeking over Langston Mountain now. “Shit. He’s going to kill me,” I hissed as I rushed out of our warm bed. As I shoved on my jeans, I found Harmony curled up in the middle of the bed, the light blue sheets wrapped around her.
“Denver isn’t going to kill you for being late,” she assured, giving me a smile.
“Not Denver,” I corrected as I puton a thick flannel. “Mags.”
My wife pressed her lips together before giving me a small nod of acceptance. “Yeah, I can’t help you there.”
“You could show a little compassion for your husband,” I quipped, moving to my boots.
She laughed then, the sound greater than any Christmas gift I’d ever gotten. “It’s Mags, Mason,” she said as if that cleared everything up. “He’s the scariest person on this ranch.”
My jaw jumped as I put my hat on. “You fuck your woman good, and she still ends up choosing the broody cowboy over you,” I muttered, shaking my head. “Typical.”
Her laughter grew. “Every cowboy on this ranch is broody.”
“Pump your woman full, make her legs shake while she’s screaming your name, and she still thinks Mags is the scariest cowboy,” I continued, fixing a button on my shirt. “Is it because he is silent all the time? Is that what makes him so scary? I can be scary.”
She shook her head, her shoulders still shaking. “Shut up and come kiss me before you go.”
Smirking, I crossed the bedroom and placed my lips on hers. We both got lost in the kiss, and when I managed to pull away a few minutes later, she was breathless, her cheeks red once more.
“Denver will be okay,” I assured, feeling the need to again. “Val wants this Christmas to be special, and we’re going to make that happen.”
She ruffled her curls before falling back onto the mountain of pillows. “Did you get the ham out of the freezer? I didn’t see it.”
“Yeah. Both of them.”
Her head tilted to the side, her red brows coming together slowly. “Both of them? Why on earth would we need two?”
