Page 37 of A Mustang River Christmas

“Oh. I—” A rush of joy flooded him. A little bit of fear, of course, because a new baby was a lot, especially at his age, but it was also a chance to expand all the love in his life. And that was only ever a good thing.

“Well, it’s a damn good thing that I was ready to ask you this question.” He took the ring out of his pocket and held the box open toward her. “Will you marry me?”

She put her hands over her face. “You were really going to ask me to marry you?”

“Of course I was. It’s Christmas. And Christmas is the most important time of year for us.”

“I guess it is,” she said.

“Are you actually going to answer my question?”

“Of course I’m going to marry you,” she said. “Now I’m all knocked up.”

“That’s not the only reason you’re marrying me, is it?”

“No,” she said. “It’s because I’m madly and wildly in love with you.”

Pike pulled her into his arms and kissed her, right there in front of their gingerbread house. He had been to a rock bottom lower than most people could ever imagine. But right now he felt like he was standing on the tallest point of the Painted Ridge, looking down at the view below. Life had never been sweeter.

This was going to be the best Christmas ever.

Until the next one.

And the next.

And the next.

On to forever.

* * *

If you’re looking for a full length Christmas read - check out Christmas Valley. And if you want to start a new series, step into the world of the Bull Riders with Dallas.

Excerpt from Christmas Valley

Redemption is for men who care. I lost all that a long time ago.

Butch Hancock’s Diary, June 15th , 1867

Cassidy Wilder had known exactly what she wanted since she was nine years old. To have in this order: a home of her own, a place in the town of Rustler Mountain, and to marry Dalton Wade.

She now had a small home on her brother’s ranch—not quite what she was after, but something adjacent. Her brother Austin had turned the tide of public opinion on the reputation of their outlaw family over the last couple of years—which again, wasn’t her doing but had given her a sense of belonging she’d been missing.

So really all that was left was marrying Dalton.

The issue was that she might die a vestal virgin waiting for him to ever kiss her.

Dalton was her brother Flynn’s best friend, and she knew he was being respectful by not making a move on her. He was being a good friend, a good . . . well, whatever he was to her. Because he was a good guy, and he probably had that weird, wrongheaded idea that sex would corrupt her.

Well, she wouldn’t say no to some corruption, but it was becoming clearer and clearer to her that she was going to have to make the first move.

And what better time than now? This season.

The season.

Fa-la-la-la fuck me please, cowboy.

That little internal thought made her shiver, just slightly. Whether because she was pondering the meaning of the word, or because she was afraid she’d be struck by a falling Christmas tree for being so irreverent around a holy season, she wasn’t sure.