Her Cowboy Billionaire Beast Read online

  Her Cowboy Billionaire Beast

  Christmas at Whiskey Mountain Lodge, A Hammond Brothers Novel, Book 4

  Liz Isaacson

  Contents

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  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Sneak Peek! Her Cowboy Billionaire Bad Boy Chapter One

  Sneak Peek! Her Cowboy Billionaire Bad Boy Chapter Two

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  Chapter One

  Cy Hammond stayed close to his parents and grandmother while people seemed to be moving in every direction. The lodge was a massive building, with plenty of high-end finishes, and it fit in this mountain landscape perfectly.

  The Whittakers knew how to put on a good holiday party, that was for sure. Simply keeping track of everyone that would be at the lodge for the Christmas Eve tree lighting and ensuring they’d have a stocking with gifts was a huge feat.

  He knew exactly who’d taken care of it, because Cy was low-profile enough here to blend into the background, with the racing thoughts that kept him looking from person to person, watching them.

  Observant, he liked to think about himself.

  Patsy Foxhill was the one who directed everything here at the lodge. She talked to several other women, as well as Beau Whittaker, and the whole system ran without a hitch. If she didn’t do that, everything would fall apart.

  Cy knew, because he had a guy at his motorcycle shop who did the same thing. Wade knew every little thing that happened at Rev for Vets, but he wasn’t the public face of the operation. In that situation, Cy was the high-profile one, and he always knew everyone was watching him.

  Beau had just announced that Cy’s shop would be open by spring, and it would be. The building was coming along great, especially now that the walls and roof were done. For a couple of weeks there, he’d thought the weather would prevent him from getting the shop back up and running before next Christmas.

  He’d called Wade last week, just to make sure he couldn’t relocate. He’d offered him the job the moment he’d spoken to Patsy and gotten confirmation on an asking price for the twenty acres of apple orchard he now owned.

  Wade had said no, for the third time, which meant that Cy had no manager for his shop. He knew who he wanted, and the blonde came into the living room, those pretty blue eyes obviously searching for someone.

  “Graham,” she said, spotting him. “We need you in the kitchen.”

  The tall cowboy went with her, and Cy wondered if she felt any spark for him at all. His skin and muscles still vibrated with the electricity from her touch, and it had happened months ago. He had her number, but he’d only communicated with her about professional things, and once the contract was signed, there was nothing else for them to talk about.

  Cy had rented an old house on the north side of town, and he was planning to build himself a house on some of the twenty acres he now owned. The shop took up four in the back corner of the lot, and Cy had actually considered adding a third floor to the building design and simply living above everything.

  In the end, he didn’t want his whole life wrapped up in one place, and he’d hired an architect to start designing him a house that would be lavish and comfortable, but wouldn’t require the removal of too many apple trees.

  Cy didn’t even really like apples—he couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten one—but the orchard meant a great deal to Patsy. And for some reason he could not name, he wanted her to be happy with the decisions he made with her orchard.

  Your orchard, he reminded himself as a dinging sound filled the air. He glanced toward the front door, but no one else seemed to be looking that way. “All right,” Patsy said over the intercom system in the lodge. “We’re gathering in the dining room. Dinner will be served in two minutes.”

  Cy’s heartbeat filled the back of his throat at the sound of Patsy’s voice. It carried a sense of authority he liked, as well as the kindness that spoke of her femininity. She didn’t hide behind her hair, and she accented it with big earrings and the perfect amount of makeup. Tonight, she’d been wearing a skin-tight pair of black jeans with a bright yellow sweater with a white star in the middle of it.

  People started moving into the kitchen, and Cy reached for Grams. “Stay with me, Grams,” he said. “I’ll get you a good seat.” He turned toward the doorway, and his eyes finally met Patsy’s. They’d been dancing around one another all afternoon and evening, and now he stood face-to-face with her.

  “Hello, Cy,” she said easily, giving nothing away.

  “Hey, Patsy.” He gave her what he hoped was a bright smile. It felt good on his face, and her mouth curved upward too, so maybe it had worked. “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas.” She looked at Grams. “I have a spot for you, Opal.” She reached for her, and Cy passed his ninety-eight-year-old grandmother to Patsy’s care.

  He felt like he couldn’t breathe, and he stepped through the doorway and let his parents go in front of him too. He lost sight of Patsy behind the width of his father’s shoulders, and he ducked down a side hall that had a door at the end of it.

  He didn’t go all the way outside, because without a coat, doing so would be a death wish. He cracked the door and took a slow, deep drag of the fresh air, the temperature difference between inside and outside probably a hundred degrees.

  “What am I going to do about a supervisor?” he asked. “You led me here, Lord. I need help.” He’d managed to get McCall to agree to come to Coral Canyon in March, as well as two other mechanics. Winslow and Dom from his custom design team had agreed to come, and his secretary, Marissa.

  He’d employed a lot more people, but in the past six months, they’d all gotten different jobs. McCall and Winslow had too, but they’d been willing to quit when Cy had called with his job offer, which included a moving package.

  “A lot more help,” he added to his verbal dialog with the Lord. He reached over and flipped the rubber band on his wrist, the thwap comforting him. Outside, the wind blew, rattling the ajar door.

  He quickly reached for the knob to make sure it didn’t get stolen off its hinges. Lightning flashed, and only two seconds later, thunder grumbled through the sky. Loud thunder.

  Cy pulled the door closed and locked it, peering through the glass as hail started to pummel the ground. He flipped the rubber band again. Then again.

  “Why do you do that?”

  He flinched and turned toward the very woman who’d been in his head in some form since she’d almost run over him in that giant Hummer of her brother’s. Cy looked at Patsy, wishin
g he could be as verbal with her as he was with the Lord.

  His thoughts moved in and out of his head so fast, he couldn’t grasp onto them. He’d just prayed for a solution to his supervisor problem, and Patsy had appeared.

  Without giving it too much thought, he asked, “Would you come run my motorcycle shop?”

  Patsy blinked at him, the surprise laid out in her eyes. He saw doubt as it moved quickly across her expression, and then her rejection. “I have a job,” she said.

  “Yeah, but you’re bored in it.” He walked away from her, foolishness streaming through him. He didn’t know her. He shouldn’t have said that.

  “Hey,” she said, her voice angry behind him.

  He stopped near the corner and turned around to face her again. “Sorry,” he said, holding up one hand. “I’m sorry.”

  Patsy once again looked like he’d thrown cold water in her face. She marched toward him, her face broadcasting anger. She paused a couple of feet from him. “How did you know I’m bored in the job?” she asked. “Not that I’m bored in the job. This place is a zoo most of the time.”

  “They need two people to do what you do by yourself,” he said. “Anyone can see it. Why haven’t you told…whoever your boss is?”

  “Graham,” she supplied. “And I don’t know.”

  “Have Wes do it. I think he’s still consulting with them.”

  Patsy sighed as she looked past him. “He is.” She shook her head and reached up to brush her short bangs off her forehead. They weren’t long enough to tuck or stay back with her other hair, and they just fell back into place. “I’m not going to ask him to say anything.”

  “I shouldn’t have said anything either,” Cy said. “Moment of desperation.” He’d had a lot of them lately, and he really needed to school his mouth during those moments.

  She dropped her eyes, and she looked soft and beautiful in that moment. She was organized and knowledgeable, and to an untrained eye, she came across as cold. Cy had thought that the first time he’d met her too.

  “Apology accepted,” she murmured.

  The next thing he knew, her fingers touched his, and he sucked in a breath involuntarily. She heard it, and she lifted her eyes to his. That electricity that pulsed through the sky and then called down thunder now coursed between the two of them.

  As she looked down again, her fingertip ran along the thick rubber band on his wrist. “It helps you focus, right?”

  “Yes,” he said, his voice much lower than normal. He told himself in a very stern mental voice not to clear his throat. Don’t do it, he thought, easily switching it to a prayer. Please don’t let me clear my throat.

  He backed up a step when she met his eyes again. His back bumped into the wall behind him, and he stilled.

  “My brother used to wear one,” she said, finally dropping his hand.

  Cy’s fingers immediately started rubbing the area of his wrist around the rubber band where she’d been touching. He shifted to the left a little, his shoulder blade running into a box there.

  A rousing round of laughter erupted from around the corner, but Cy didn’t even look in that direction. He didn’t care what was happening in the dining room. He only wanted this moment to continue.

  “Would you like to go out with me?” he asked, and he was so deep inside the moment, he heard the words echoing outside his head. It took a moment for him to realize they actually had echoed through the house.

  He glanced up at the ceiling as if it held the answer to his confusion. “What’s…?” He heard that piping through the speaker system too, and horror filled him.

  Colton appeared around the corner, taking in Cy and Patsy standing there, facing off. He knocked on the wall a couple of times as pure glee filled his expression. “You might, uh, wanna turn that off before she answers.” His grin was the size of Texas, and he disappeared as quickly as he’d appeared.

  Cy pressed his eyes closed and stepped to the other side of the hall. When he turned and opened his eyes, he saw the box on the wall and the speaker embedded into the wall above it, where Patsy had spoken the announcement for dinner.

  Chapter Two

  Patsy Foxhill traded places with Cy Hammond, her pulse pounding dangerously loud in her ears. She hadn’t heard the dinging that always preceded an announcement through the public address system at the lodge. The laughter in the dining room had covered it.

  They’d all heard him ask her to go out with him, though, and Patsy honestly had no idea how to answer him. The truth was, she’d very much like to go out with Cy Hammond. He’d worn a regular pair of slacks to the lodge tonight, and with the bright blue dress shirt and paisley bow tie, he was downright handsome.

  He ducked his head, his black cowboy hat cutting off their connection. Across the hall, she heard the distinct sound of his rubber band slapping against his skin.

  Without obsessing any longer about his question, she twisted back to the wall, leaned forward, and said, “Yes.”

  The word filled the lodge, and she had enough time to turn and face him before a roar in the dining room filled the air.

  Cy’s head jerked up, and Patsy reached to brush at her bangs again. She really needed to stop doing that, because it accomplished nothing, and it revealed her nerves.

  “Patsy?”

  Patsy spun toward the child’s voice to find Ronnie and Averie standing there. “Yes?” She took a couple of steps toward them. “I’m coming. Did you guys save me any of those meatballs?” She put her arms around each of them and didn’t dare glance over her shoulder to see what Cy was doing.

  In the kitchen, she found trays and pans of food, a lot of it taken already. Averie asked for another roll, and Patsy got it for the seven-year-old. Ronnie wanted pie, but Patsy could tell it wasn’t time yet. “You’ll have to ask Celia,” she said. “Or your mother.”

  “No pie,” Laney said from the other side of the counter. “We’re still eating, bud. Come sit down.”

  With the extra table in the dining area, there was hardly room to move around. Patsy kept her eyes down as she put mashed potatoes and meatballs and gravy on her plate. Celia had made her fancy lemon-garlic peas, and Patsy noticed there were plenty of those left.

  She felt a lot of eyes on her, and trepidation accompanied her as she picked up a red plastic cup of punch and finally allowed herself to look up.

  Sure enough, everyone in the dining room was looking at her. Heat filled her face, and she didn’t know what to say.

  “There’s a seat over here,” Elise said. “I saved for you.” She glanced out into the hallway and back to Patsy.

  Patsy went that way, and thankfully, one of the triplets chose that moment to spill their juice, which caused a commotion and offered the ice-breaker everyone needed to move back to their own conversations and lives.

  Patsy put her plate down, as well as her drink, and took the seat beside Sophia on one side and Todd Christopherson on the other. She glanced at him, hoping he didn’t care about her love life.

  He flashed a grin at her and then turned back to his twins. “Did you hear, Patsy?”

  “Hear what?” she asked.

  “Vi and I are expecting another baby.”

  “You are?” Patsy looked past him to Vi. “That’s so great. Congratulations.” Happiness filled her, and she pushed against the thread of jealousy as it threatened to stitch her lungs too tight.

  “Thanks,” Vi said, reaching for a napkin and using it to wipe Mary’s face. “Hey, let me clean you up. Stop it.” She got the job done, and Patsy went back to her dinner.

  Sophia leaned toward her. “Did you really just say you’d go out with Cy Hammond?”

  Patsy nodded as she cut a meatball in half and scooped up a bite of meat, potatoes, and gravy. Celia’s onion brown gravy was the stuff dreams were made of, and Patsy realized how hungry she was. She couldn’t remember if she’d eaten lunch, and she knew she’d only had a protein shake for breakfast.

  There was always so much to do at the
lodge for this evening, and Patsy worked a lot during the holidays when others didn’t. As soon as dinner ended, she’d slip out the front door and head down the canyon to her father’s house. She’d invited him up to the lodge over and over, but he’d never wanted to come.

  Betty was making dinner tonight at the house where they’d grown up, and Patsy had promised to be there in time for dessert. She loved spending time with her nieces, and Joe had started coming back to the land of the living after his divorce had been finalized just after Halloween. He’d bring his son and daughter tonight, and his ex-wife would have them tomorrow.

  “How did this happen?” Sophia asked, her voice still a hiss in Patsy’s ear. “What happens if you fall in love with him? You realize these Hammonds are taking over this lodge, right?”

  “They are?” Patsy asked. “None of them live here.” She turned toward Sophia and searched her best friend’s and roommate’s eyes. Sophia possessed a bit of a salty streak, and her chocolate-brown eyes held plenty of it right now.

  “They’ve taken three of our friends,” Sophia said as if Patsy didn’t know.

  “He bought half of my dad’s orchard,” Patsy said. She hadn’t told anyone that, even Sophia. The two of them shared a cabin in the corner of the back yard, and they’d grown close in the last three years since they’d been working here at Whiskey Mountain Lodge. “So I met him a few months ago.”