Cowboys & Angels

Cowboys & Angels
Vicki Lewis Thompson

There’s an angel watching over cowboy Trey Wheeler. After a nasty accident during a snowstorm last spring, a mystery woman saved Trey’s life …and disappeared. Since then, he’s been looking for his sexy saviour. Now the Last Chance Ranch crowd has taken over the Serenity Ski Resort for a Christmas wedding and Trey realizes there’s something familiar about the exquisite ski instructor…Elle Masterson has no halo – just the love of her footloose-and-fancy-free lifestyle. And when she finds out the sinfully hot cowboy she rescued is staying at the resort, she’s happy to indulge in a little holiday hanky-panky. Just as long as she can still take off for Argentina in the New Year.But after three days of heaven between the sheets, will this down-to-earth cowboy be able to let his guardian angel go?

Is there anything sexier than a hot cowboy? How about four of them!

New York Times bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson is back in the Blaze

lineup for 2013, and this year she’s offering her readers even more …

Sons of Chance

Chance isn’t just the last name of these rugged Wyoming cowboys—it’s their motto, too!

Saddle up with

I CROSS MY HEART (June)

WILD AT HEART (July)

THE HEART WON’T LIE (August)

And the first full-length Sons of Chance Christmas story

COWBOYS & ANGELS (December)

Take a chance … on a Chance!

Cowboys & Angels

Vicki Lewis Thompson

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

New York Times bestselling author VICKI LEWIS THOMPSON’s love affair with cowboys started with the Lone Ranger, continued through Maverick and took a turn south of the border with Zorro. She views cowboys as the Western version of knights in shining armor—rugged men who value honor, honesty and hard work. Fortunately for her, she lives in the Arizona desert, where broad-shouldered, lean-hipped cowboys abound. Blessed with such an abundance of inspiration, she only hopes that she can do them justice. Visit her website, www.vickilewisthompson.com.

With gratitude to Dana Hopkins for her steady hand on the editorial reins and her most excellent tweets.

Contents

Prologue (#u1e8fde0b-2c85-5786-9a07-895c72cf186e)

Chapter 1 (#uf2daefbb-7117-5f10-a7dd-003a16fafcd9)

Chapter 2 (#uae6555d5-e4bd-5efb-89ce-435bf3d2894f)

Chapter 3 (#u76c8e7a4-2a46-5c24-ab18-64cbf6574961)

Chapter 4 (#udfd6217c-7d28-5ec4-b6c7-7664cae810bc)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Prologue

December 24, 1989

Last Chance Ranch

A WHITE CHRISTMAS was all well and good, but somebody had to shovel the snow off the front porch, and Archie Chance had appointed himself caretaker of that chore. His wife, Nelsie, had tried to talk him out of it, but he was the logical guy for the job. Everyone else was busy wrapping presents and cooking food.

In the ninth decade of his life, Archie could still wield a mean shovel, whether he was mucking out a stall or clearing a path through the snow. He rather enjoyed both jobs.

After bundling up in a sheepskin jacket, earmuffs and his Stetson, Archie took a pair of gloves out of his coat pocket and opened the massive oak door. Yeah, it was cold out this morning, but he’d endured worse. Frigid winters were a fact of life in Jackson Hole.

The snow shovel was kept handy by the door all winter. Archie picked it up, scooped up a load of snow and was about to throw it over the porch railing when the ranch foreman, Emmett Sterling, called out to him. The tall cowboy made deep ruts in the snow as he plowed his way from the barn up to the house.

Archie emptied the shovel and leaned on it as he watched Emmett approach. “Nelsie called down to the barn, didn’t she?” The phone connection to the barn was a recent addition, and right now Archie didn’t care for it.

“She might’ve.”

Archie blew out a breath, which created a substantial cloud in the air. “Look, I’ll be fine out here. My back hasn’t bothered me in quite a while.”

“And Nelsie wants to keep it that way.” Snow crunched under the tall cowboy’s boots as he mounted the steps. “Especially seeing as how it’s Christmas tomorrow. She doesn’t want you putting your back out right before the big day. Can’t say I blame her.”