Hold on Tight (Cowboys & Angels Book 1) Read online

  Hold On Tight

  Cowboys and Angels #1

  Anjelica Grace

  Copyright © 2019 Anjelica Grace

  All Rights Reserved

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any

  part of this work without permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual

  property.

  This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the

  expressed written permission of the author except for brief quotations used in a book review.

  This story is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s

  imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual

  persons, living or dead, events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  The use of actors, artists, movies, TV shows, and song titles/lyrics throughout this book are done so for

  Storytelling purposes and should in no way be seen as advertisement. Trademark names are used in an

  editorial fashion with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.

  This short story is intended for adults only. Contains sexual content and language that may offend some.

  Suggested reading audience is 18 years or older

  Editor: Karen Hrdlicka – Barren Acres Editing

  Cover Design: Passion Creations by Mary Ruth

  Cover Image – ShutterStock

  Table of Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Epilogue

  Other

  Acknowledgements

  Stalk

  About

  This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever had a dream of accomplishing more. If I can do it, so can you.

  To my parents: Mom, Dad, and Brian, if it weren’t for the support, encouragement, and love you have always given me, I never would’ve followed through and made my own dreams come true. You three have made all of this, and everything I do in life, possible, and there will never be enough words to share my gratitude and love for you.

  And to my best friends: Sami and Em, I’d be a lost person in this world if it weren’t for you two. And I most definitely wouldn’t be where I am now. Thank you for accepting and loving crazy me, for me. And for supporting me, and my dreams, even when I’ve felt like giving up on them.

  ''Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.'' - Napoleon Hill

  Chase

  The ground comes hard and fast as my body meets it with a bone-rattling thud. A cloud of dust flies up, and the vibration of the steps from our 1,700-pound bull, Thunder, shakes around me. Some of our ranch hands jump in front of me, ushering Thunder away, while I pick myself up and dust myself off, removing my hat and swiping away the streak of sweat lining my forehead.

  I’ve been home for twenty-four hours, I’m leaving again in twelve, and I need to keep busting ass so I’m ready to ride this weekend. Thunder is our best bull here on the ranch, which makes him my best to practice on so I finish on top in Arizona.

  “You good, Boss?” Kip, one of my hands, asks. He’s a good kid. He’s taken on a lot of responsibilities here since we hired him. He helps Allie keep everything running smoothly with the ranch while I’m on the road.

  “I’m good. Thanks.” He gives me a short nod and walks back toward the fence, jawing with a couple of the other guys, each of them laughing and joking around, until my Pipsqueak comes out, climbing her way onto the fence. Her presence effectively ends the guys’ joking around, but each man on the fence and beside it says hello and starts to talk to her instead.

  “What are you doing out here, Ava?” I ask, and approach the fence, using the first rail to press up to her height since she’s sitting on it, and kiss her cheek.

  “Can I ride with you today?” Her wide, chocolate brown eyes, that remind me so much of her mother’s, light up when the words come out.

  “I don’t know if I’ll have time today, I have to get a few more practice rides in, then do my chores, and go over work stuff before I leave again tomorrow.”

  “Oh,” she says, her eyes dropping down to her belly, “okay. Maybe next time you come home.”

  I look around to each of the men who work for us, then back to my little girl. “Maybe…” I pause, trying to find a solution so I don’t disappoint my little girl, “Maybe you can help me with some of my chores in the barn later, so I have a little more time to ride with you today?”

  She looks up with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen and nods her head rapidly. I hook an arm around her small body, making sure she doesn’t fall from the rail, and smile back. “So that’s a yes, then?”

  “Yes!” she shouts.

  “I need to finish a couple more practice rides first. Are you going to stay out here or go back in with your mom and sister?”

  “Can I stay?”

  I take in a deep breath and nod once. “But you need to be off the fence while I’m riding. Stay a few feet back, right? I can’t risk you getting hurt.”

  “’Kay, I’ll get down. I promise.”

  She is still the most precocious child I have ever met. It only gets more obvious with each year she adds to her life. She’s seen what can happen in here when a rider falls or a bull or bronc get out of hand, she understands the dangers, and refuses to break the rules we’ve set forth for her and her baby sister.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her,” Kip says, swinging the gate open.

  “I appreciate that. She’s the most precious cargo there is.”

  “Yes, sir. She’ll be safe while you focus on riding.”

  I know she will. I know I can count on him, and every other man out here, to keep my girls safe while I’m riding, here and abroad.

  I kiss Ava’s rosy cheek and drop back down to the ground. “Bring out Loki, next. I don’t want to overdo it with Thunder.”

  A few of the guys jog out of the practice pen and go to get Loki ready, while Kip and a few other hands lead Thunder through the chutes and back to the holding pen.

  “Loki is my favorite,” Ava chirps out.

  “Is that so?”

  “It is. He’s silly and so fast.” She looks to make sure the chute gate is shut then hops off the fence and walks over to me, her little boots kicking up dust with each step. “Nobody can ride him.”

  I squat down to her level, tugging on one of the braids hanging over her shoulder, and grin. “I can ride him, Pip. You’ll see.”

  She throws her arms around my neck and gives me a big hug, whispering, “Duh. You’re the best.”

  Wrapping her tight, I hug her back. “Thank you.”

  Two and a half years ago, when I failed to defend my title, Allie swore she and the girls would support me—no matter what—until I got the titl
e back. And they have. Ava most of all. She’s taken such an interest in riding—our horses, not our bulls—and helping out around the ranch. She watches video with me. She knows all our bulls, and all the best bulls on the circuit. She’s become my little coach and cheerleader. Her mom and sister have supported me, too. But they’ve also been more vocal about me being gone lately.

  “Welcome.”

  She pulls back and looks up when Loki thunders his way into the chute, riled up and wild already. He’s thrashing against the chute, snorting and grunting. He’s one of our younger bulls, and big. He isn’t quite the size Thunder is, though. But Ava had it right when she said he’s fast. And he is silly, at least in the eyes of a nine-year-old. He will buck and turn on a dime. He’s wild. He’s good.

  He’s dangerous. I know she was also right when she said nobody has ridden him, yet. Many of the guys have tried, and they’ve sent me video of their attempts. Rather, other guys have sent me video of their pals getting their asses thrown off.

  “See, he’s silly.” Ava gives me one last quick hug then walks out behind the fence, as she’s supposed to do when a bull is near, and climbs up onto a stack of hay bales so she can watch over the seven-foot fence around the pen.

  Before I get ready to climb into the chute and mount Loki, I glance toward the house, spotting Allie on the porch looking at Ava.

  “You stay right there, Pipsqueak,” I call over to her, loud enough that Allie knows I’m watching over Ava, even while I train, “don’t run off, okay?”

  “I won’t!”

  Allie must’ve heard that, too, because when I look back to the house again, she’s disappeared and the screen door is swinging shut.

  I let out a steady breath, putting thoughts of Allie, the girls, and the house behind me and focus on Loki, on getting positioned over him, on the ride at hand.

  Training should always be taken as seriously as competition, otherwise mistakes will be made.

  Allie

  I’m glad he’s spending time with one of our girls while he’s home, but we have another who looks like she’s about to cry from where she’s slumped down onto the couch.

  “What’s wrong, Aubrey Jane?” I ask, walking over to sit beside her.

  “I want to be with Daddy.” She crosses her arms over her chest and her bottom lip pouts out as tears well in her eyes. “And Ava won’t play with me.”

  “Why won’t Ava play with you?” I guide her hair behind her ear.

  “She wants to watch Daddy. And ride her horse.” Her bottom lip sticks out farther and she kicks her legs forward, letting them land back against the couch with tiny thuds.

  “You don’t want to watch, too?”

  Aubrey shakes her head and whispers, “They scare me.”

  Where one of our daughters is fearless, just like her father, the other is more cautious and knows exactly what she is, and isn’t, comfortable with.

  “They are pretty big, and scary, but Daddy can handle them; he’s really good at riding bulls. And he would never, ever let one touch you or Ava.”

  She looks up at me with her big blue eyes, made even bluer from the tears forming. She’s not a big fan of our livestock, thanks to a little accident she saw last year. Chase was gone, and one of our guys got bucked pretty hard and got hurt. It wasn’t terrible. Chase takes that kind of abuse riding professionally very regularly, but to a five-year-old, it was terrifying. Ever since then, she’s been afraid of them. The bulls, the broncs, everything that isn’t one of our family horses.

  “Promise?” Her voice is so small, timid.

  “I promise. Your daddy will protect you forever. So will I.” I wipe the tears from her eyes, and kiss her forehead. “What do you say I go out and watch him with you and Ava? Then maybe we can all go for a ride on our horses together?”

  Aubrey gives it thought, and nods her head up and down slowly, then hops off the couch to go put her boots on and grab her doll. Once she’s ready, we go out together, crossing the distance between the pen Chase is practicing in and our front door.

  When we reach Ava seated up on the bales, I help Aubrey climb up beside her. I’m about to go take my spot on the fence, where I’ve always stood to watch him, when Aubrey reaches out for my arm and shakes her head.

  “Okay, I’ll sit with you two.”

  I climb up beside our girls, pulling Aubrey into my lap, watching Chase try to mount Loki.

  “Has he ridden him yet, Ava?”

  She shakes her head no and giggles. “Loki’s being so silly, he won’t let Daddy get on him.”

  Of course he won’t. This is probably the one bull we have I shouldn’t have brought Aubrey out to watch. Loki is the one our guy was riding when he got hurt, and that’s not lost on Aubrey. She looks up at me, clutching her doll tight.

  “Daddy is going to be okay,” I say, as smoothly and reassuringly as I can.

  Chase curses from the chutes and then looks our way—to see if Ava heard, I’m sure—and finds us here, too.

  A wide grin fills his face and he hops down after saying something to Kip and the guys, ambling over to us.

  “If it isn’t my three girls,” he says easily, bracing his arms on the bales of hay we’re perched on. “What are you two doing out here?”

  “Aubrey wanted to see you, but she was afraid to come alone, ya know because of—” I drop off, nodding my head toward Loki.

  “Ah,” he reaches for her boot-covered toe and gives a little squeeze. “Does Loki scare you, Monkey?”

  Aubrey nods her head, but stays quiet otherwise.

  “He’s not going to hurt you, I promise. I will never let anything hurt you, or Ava.” Chase glances up at me briefly before looking back to Aubrey in my lap. “You, Ava, and Mommy will always be safe. And Loki is just having fun. He’s silly. Right, Pip?”

  Ava nods and answers with another giggle, “Right, Daddy!”

  “You better get back over there, Cowboy,” I say to my husband, smirking. “Your bull looks like he’s starting to settle, and you’re going to miss your window if you’re gabbing with us girls.”

  “You’re right, Darlin’.” He winks at me then holds his hands out for a high five from the girls, and then from me. When our hands connect, he slips his fingers between mine, giving it a little squeeze, just like we’ve done since we were younger when I’d go with him to every rodeo. I give his hand a squeeze back, too, smiling at him.

  That one move, the simple connection of our fingers, says so much. It’s our silent I love you. My silent be careful. And it’s his I made it, I’m okay gesture when he gets off the bulls, too.

  Chase slowly lets go of our grip and looks at me a second longer, communicating once more that he felt it too. He felt the familiarity, the ease, the connection that at times feels lost with him gone so often. Then he turns to walk back to the chute.

  His jeans are worn and dirty, and his chaps cover his legs, but his ass—that tight, jean-clad ass—is on full display. He’s still the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. As he climbs up the rails, so he can prepare to mount Loki, his ass flexes and I have to do everything I can to keep my mouth shut, and my thoughts to myself. Our girls don’t need to hear them.

  When he reaches the top of the chute, before he lowers himself to Loki’s back, he glances at me…and laughs.

  He laughs. He did that just for me.

  There is no point in trying to hide my ogling, he knows I’m going to do it. He knows I’ve always done it. And he knows I always will.

  I let out a little chuckle of my own at being caught. This familiarity with each other’s routine, the lightness with which it comes back to us, is everything.

  Ava’s curious voice interrupts my thoughts, “Whatcha laughing at?”

  While Chase lowers himself completely and gets set, I look back at Ava and smile, answering, “Just your daddy and me. I love to watch him, too.”

  I hold on to Aubrey a little tighter when Chase is ready, feeling her little body go rigid in my arms as they release the ga
te and Loki crashes out like a bat out of hell.

  I glance quickly at Ava, smiling at how she’s up on her feet on the hay now, bouncing on her toes while Chase rides. She’s me, when I was a little girl. I turn my attention back to the spectacle in front of us, hearing Kip call out each passing second Chase stays up.

  Chase almost loses it around six seconds, and Aubrey gasps, but he catches himself and rights his positioning atop Loki, making his eight and staying up longer.

  He’s showing off.

  It’s not often all three of us watch him ride, and I know he wants to show us how good he is, and also show Aubrey he’s absolutely fine.

  After about twelve seconds, he loosens his grip, preparing to dismount then drops off. He moves out of the way, so Loki doesn’t charge, and waits the beast out until he’s guided back into the chutes so he can make his way back to the holding pen.

  Ava cheers loudly beside us and shouts, “You did it, Daddy! Yessss!” Before I can stop her, she hops off the hay and runs toward the pen, scampering up the fence to get closer to Chase. Aubrey follows suit, sliding out of my lap and down to the ground, and joins Ava. Aubrey very slowly climbs the fence, taking care with each step up, so she can greet Chase too.

  And me? I take the moment to watch them.

  Chase heads over to them both, with a proud grin in place, and steps onto the first plank.

  “You did it!” Ava excitedly says to him.

  “I did, didn’t I?” Chase taps Ava’s nose and then looks at Aubrey. “See, Monkey, it’s okay.”

  He inconspicuously moves his arms to the top of the fence, flanking each of our girls, making sure they don’t fall.

  This is the side of my husband I love the most. He’s a sexy bull rider always, but when he’s being a dad to both our girls, I couldn’t be more attracted to him or love him anymore if I tried. He’s just not around much for me to see this side of him anymore.

  This is the Chase I’ve been trying hard to have another baby with for two and a half years now.