Mischief and Mistletoe - Sagebrush Cowboys #6 - E-Book

Hayden
I swore I’d never come back to Texas.

But after burning out in LA and losing everything I built. From my startup to the man who broke my heart… I needed a reset. Sagebrush offered a quiet place to land, a fresh start, and a job that doesn’t care about fancy degrees or my ex’s Instagram following.

Sagebrush is nothing like the world I left behind. It’s slower, quieter, and lonelier than I expected. Everyone here seems to have a partner, a purpose… something I’m still trying to find.

Then Diego Cortez rides into my life like sin on horseback.

He’s younger, cocky in all the right ways, and makes my pulse race with one damn smirk. He calls me Hollywood, makes it sound like a dare. And when he catches me under the mistletoe at the Christmas bonfire, he doesn’t give me a chance to walk away.

Now I’m tangled up in something I swore I was done with.

Diego
I’ve worked on enough ranches to know when I’m not wanted—and when someone’s pretending not to look.

Hayden Wolfe? Oh, he’s looking.

He’s all pressed shirts, quiet glances, and those icy blue eyes that track me like he’s trying not to want me. Too bad I’ve never been good at keeping my distance.

But Hayden’s been hurt, and I’ve been the guy who leaves more than I’ve ever stayed. Still… this time feels different. This ranch, this town, him.

And when I kiss him under the mistletoe, I know I’m in deeper than I planned.

Mischief and Mistletoe is a flirty, emotional, small-town Christmas romance full of longing glances, snow-dusted slow burns, and one stubborn cowboy who just might convince a lonely city boy that love is worth the risk.

Perfect for fans of age gap, holiday heat, opposites attract, and cowboys who kiss like they mean it.

This Christmas in Sagebrush, one kiss is all it takes.

Excerpt from Chapter Five: Hayden

Before I could think of a suitably cutting response, Mabel cleared her throat. “Well, I should go check on Frank. That man can’t be trusted near the dessert table without supervision.” She patted my arm. “You boys enjoy the festival now.”
And then she was gone, leaving me alone with Diego and the sudden, uncomfortable awareness of how good he looked in the twinkling Christmas lights. He’d traded his usual work clothes for dark jeans and a deep green button-down that made his tanned skin glow. His cream-colored cowboy hat was still firmly in place, casting shadows across his eyes that somehow made them more intense when they caught the light.
“So,” he said, leaning against the nearby fence post. “Dolly finally managed to drag you out of hiding, huh?”
“I wasn’t hiding,” I insisted, though we both knew it was a lie. “I’ve been busy.”
“Busy brooding?” He grinned, reaching out and flicked the collar of my rumpled shirt. “You definitely haven’t been spending all your time ironing your shirts.”
“Actually, I’ve been busy avoiding cowboys like you,” I shot back, taking another sip of hot chocolate to hide my face. “Especially ones who think they’re God’s gift to earth.”
Diego laughed, and the sound did something weird to my insides that I blamed entirely on Mabel’s hot chocolate. “Avoiding me? And here I thought you were making special trips out to the ranch just to see me.”
“In your dreams,” I scoffed, though I felt heat creep up my neck. “Dolly sends me there for supplies.”
“And you’re just the obedient nephew, running errands without complaint?” His eyes danced with amusement. “Somehow I don’t buy that, Freckles.”
“Stop calling me that,” I muttered, but there wasn’t much heat behind it. The Christmas lights caught in his dark hair, making it look like he had stars caught in it. It was stupidly poetic, and I hated that I noticed.
“You know,” Diego said, his voice dropping lower, “you’re the first person I’ve met who looks at a Christmas festival like it’s a root canal.”
“Maybe I just don’t like forced holiday cheer.”
“Or maybe you don’t like anything,” he countered, but his tone was gentle, almost teasing. “Except complaining.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he stopped me with a finger against my lips. For half a second, I thought about biting him, but then I saw the little plastic plant he was holding in his left hand.
“Mistletoe,” he said, a cocky grin filling his face. “You know what that means.”
“You’re an idiot,” I said flatly.
“It’s tradition, Freckles,” Diego said, waggling his eyebrows as he dangled the dollar store mistletoe above us.
I felt my face flush with heat. “Put that away,” I hissed, looking around nervously. “People are watching.”
“That’s kind of the point of mistletoe,” he replied with that infuriating grin. His eyes sparkled with mischief in the Christmas lights, making him look unfairly handsome. “Come on, just a little holiday kiss. For tradition’s sake.”
“I don’t care about your stupid traditions,” I muttered, even as I noticed several people nearby had spotted us and were nudging each other, pointing in our direction.
Great. Just what I needed. To be the center of attention in this town of gossips.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” someone started chanting, and to my horror, others joined in.
Diego leaned closer, his voice low enough that only I could hear. “Just a quick peck on the cheek and they’ll leave us alone. Promise.”
I glared at him, but the crowd was getting louder, and Aunt Dolly was watching from across the square with a look that said I better not embarrass her. I rolled my eyes dramatically.
“Fine. One kiss. On the cheek.”
Diego’s smile widened, and he bent down slightly, offering his stubbled cheek. I leaned in reluctantly, planning to give him the briefest, most impersonal peck humanly possible. But at the last second, he turned his head, and my lips landed squarely on his.
The crowd erupted in cheers and whistles. I pulled back immediately, my face burning with embarrassment and something else I refused to acknowledge.
“You tricked me,” I accused, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand even though a part of me—a very small, clearly deranged part—had actually enjoyed the feel of his warm lips against mine.
“Did I?” Diego’s eyes sparkled with mischief, and he still had that cocky fucking grin on his face that I was quickly growing to hate. “Or did you just secretly want an excuse to kiss me?”
The words had barely left his lips before the flat of my hand collided with his cheek, the resounding slap silencing the crowd that had been gathering around us. But Diego barely moved. In fact, he was still grinning as those warm brown eyes of his watched my fury.
“In your fucking dreams, cowboy,” I snapped.
Then, before that handsome face made me doubt once more, I turned on my heel and stormed out of the square.