Free Her Christmas Cowboy by Adele Downs Page B

wiped the moisture off his brow and
chest and tossed the shirt aside. Hard work and the Texas sun could
make a man sweat even in December.
    Trey didn’t mind manual labor. He’d waited a
long time as his rodeo injury healed to finish building his house.
The porch was the crown that he would lay upon his home with his
own two hands. He stepped back to check his work and admire his
progress. Another two rails and a coat of stain and the place would
be ready for Christmas.
    He swept out an arm toward the coal-black
stallion grazing nearby. “Whadaya think? Look good?”
    Big Blue kept his head down and chomped
another batch of clover.
    Trey inhaled, lifted another board, and set
it into place. Noontime sunshine glinted over the thoroughbred’s
back, painting sapphire pools that never failed to take his breath.
“Okay, be like that. See if you get sugar when my nieces ride you
Christmas Day.”
    He looked sideways at Big Blue and had to
laugh when the horse looked up and snorted. “Thought so. Can’t
deprive a horse of his sugar, especially on a holiday.”
    He pressed the nail gun against the board and
squeezed the trigger twice. Boom, boom .
The nails slammed into place. His grey and black barn cat, Shady
Lady, screeched at the sound and skittered past his feet. She
circled and bumped his shins.
    “Whoa, there, kitty! You’re gonna get hurt up
here.” He lifted the chubby tabby and carried her down the steps
and back to the barn for safekeeping. The cat mewled softly in his
arms but didn’t resist.
    Shady Lady would have to stay off the porch
for another couple of days until the work was done. If he finished
staining the wood within twenty-four hours, the porch would dry in
time for his family’s holiday arrival. He’d invited his parents and
grandmother, his brother and his children, a couple of guys from
Breezy Meadows Ranch, and Daisy’s sister, Rose, to Christmas
dinner. Rose was an Afghanistan war widow who had invited Daisy to
move in with her when she joined the Houston Mounted Patrol. Trey
would always be grateful for that.
    Daisy. His Christmas
guest of honor. Every time he thought about her, his insides did a
crazy leap and his heartbeat kicked up a notch. Even rodeo couldn’t
match the excitement he felt when she came near.
    The beautiful cop had changed his life. He’d
fractured his back in what would become the last rodeo of his life,
and his future had looked uncertain. Then he taught her to ride,
and Daisy made him feel more like a man than he ever had before.
Her faith in him, and her acceptance, had hastened his recovery. It
wasn’t long after he’d fallen for her that he returned to full duty
as a ranch hand and was able to finish building his house.
    The six acres he’d bought at the edge of
Breezy Meadows Ranch with the money he’d earned, saved, and
inherited from his grandfather had been divided into sections: One
for his four bedroom, two-story house. Another for a barn with four
stalls, and the rest for grazing. In time, he’d add a garden with
flower and vegetable beds and build a chicken coop. He’d always
known he’d raise a family here with plenty of room for his children
to play. It was just a matter of finding the right wife—and of
being the right husband for her.
    Daisy. A forest
green Jeep Wrangler approached, kicking up dust along the dirt road
leading to his property. Trey put down his nail gun, pulled off his
work gloves, and moved to the steps to greet the woman he’d know
anywhere, even from a hundred yards.
    She pulled into the lane leading to his house
and parked next to his pickup. Trey watched her long legs step from
the vehicle and eyed the curve of her hips, the cinch of her waist,
and the press of her breasts against the blue fabric of her
uniform. His gaze lingered on the exposed flesh above the top
button of her blouse and then rested on her lovely, freckled face.
How many times had he kissed that determined chin? That luscious
full mouth? That adorable