Cowboy Command Read Online Free PDF Page A

she’d done her best.  She’d had a good job. 
    Scratch that .  My boss is a criminal.
    She ’d had friends and family.
    Her sister had been a little cold, but she did have a few good friends.  They would probably be sad when they learned she was dead.  Her neighbor would probably be sad, too.  She picked up the mail for her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Sanborn, every day.  Mrs. Sanborn was eighty-five and her children never visited her.  She couldn’t get around well so Katie, no, Presley, tried to help out when she could.  She needed to start thinking of herself as Presley, not Katie.
    The plane landed with a few bumps and then smoothly taxied down a deserted landing strip.  Presley peered out the window and saw nothing but darkness.  Not one building, or other planes to break up the blackness outside. 
    The door to the aircraft opened and a bone-chilling blast of cold blew into the cabin.
    “ Holy shit, that’s cold!  It’s fucking October!”  She grabbed the jacket they’d purchased for her, but it wasn’t much protection from the biting wind. 
    Evan chuckled.  “October is winter in Montana.  That’s why we bought you warm clothes.  As warm as we could find in Florida, anyway.  I warned Seth you’d need a few things.  Hopefully he brought you a real winter coat.”
    As they descended the stairs, Evan led her toward an oversized truck with big tires.  Presley dragg ed her feet.  As crappy as the last twenty-four hours had been, at least she’d been in Tampa, her hometown.  Now she was in a strange place with a strange man who was supposed to protect her.
    Evan guided her towards the man standing by the truck.  She didn ’t know much about cars and trucks, but it looked powerful, its tires massive.  The wind easily penetrated her thin jacket so by the time they reached him, Presley was blue from the cold, her teeth chattering.
    Evan grinned and shook the man ’s hand.  “Good to see you, Seth.  Thanks for doing this.  This young woman is Presley.  Presley, this is Sheriff Seth Reilly.  He’s going to take over from here, okay?”
    He phrased it as a question but it wasn ’t really a question.  He wasn’t asking permission.  Evan was going to get back on the plane and it was going to turn around and head back to Florida, or maybe someplace else.  He was dumping her here. Evan was the only familiar person in her life now and she didn’t want to see him go. 
    He patted her shoulder.  “We’ll be checking on you.”  Evan leaned forward to look into her eyes.  “You’re going to be okay, Presley.  I promise.”
    She nodded mutely.  She didn ’t know what to say.  If she spoke, she’d beg him not to leave her here, but she knew she couldn’t do that.
    The Sheriff held up a long coat he ’d had draped over his arm.  “It looks like you need this.”
    “ Thank you,” she croaked, reaching gratefully for its warmth.  “I’m freezing.”
    She didn ’t even bother to take off the thin jacket she was wearing.  She simply pulled the long wool coat over it buttoning it up with relief.  She shoved her hands in the pockets and found leather gloves, which she quickly pulled on her cold fingers.
    Evan nodded in approval.  “Glad you didn’t forget.  Presley’s from a southern state.”
    The sheriff ’s eyes appraised her head to toe, not giving away his thoughts, before turning back to Evan.  “I’ll take it from here.  Next time you come, stay for awhile and I’ll buy the first round.”
    Evan slapped him on the back.  “I’ll hold you to that.”  He turned to Presley and handed her the carry-on.  “Take care.  Do what Seth says and you’ll be safe.”
    She didn ’t even have time to answer before he was hurrying back to the plane, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he left. 
    She was alone in the middle of Montana with a man she didn ’t know.  And it was freezing. 
    “ I’ll get your bags.”  He strode toward the large suitcase the