Cowboy Command by Olivia Jaymes Page A

phone so I was heading back into the restaurant when the bomb went off.  It’s pure dumb luck I’m alive.”  She scrubbed at the tears that were trickling down her cheeks.  “They set my house on fire.  Burned it to the ground.  I wasn’t all that fond of the house since my liar of a stepfather left it to me, but it was paid off and it was mine.  It’s gone now.  Randall took everything.”
    Holy fuck, this guy really wanted her dead.  Seth pulled her close, her head lolling on his shoulder.  “Evan didn’t give me any details.  He only said he had a woman who was in danger and needed to be hidden.”  He wiped her tears away, her skin soft underneath his fingertips.  “And you’re not stupid.  Shit, you’re the best secretary I’ve ever had.”
    “ Administrative assistant.”  Presley’s voice was muffled against his damp shirt.
    “ Huh?”
    “ You don’t call anyone a secretary any more.  They’re administrative assistants.”
    He stroked her back, trying to get her to relax.  She was like a coiled spring in his arms.  “Honey, I’ll call you whatever you want as long as you don’t leave me to manage the office by myself.  Hell, you can even be the boss if you want.”  He felt her muscles start to soften under his hands.  “You say you have to testify.  Did you suspect what he was doing?”
    Presley straightened and moved off his lap.  He immediately felt the loss of her warmth and wanted to reach out and pull her back but it appeared she needed the distance to be able to talk about this.  “No, which makes me look stupid, I guess.  Looking back, we did socialize with many people from foreign countries with varying feelings about the United States.  I didn’t think he was doing business with them.  I thought it was more of a networking thing.”
    Seth didn ’t like the sound of the word ‘socialize’.  “You spent a lot of time with this guy?  You went to parties and things like that?”
    Her face dropped down and into her bent knees.  “I was dating Randall.  He was nice and undemanding.  I knew there was no danger of any love growing between us.”
    Seth didn ’t like the pang of jealousy he felt hearing about it.  He wasn’t a jealous man by nature but there was something about this tiny, ferocious woman who brought out instincts he never knew he had.  He wanted to protect her and keep her all to himself, which wasn’t like him at all.  In fact, when he was with Presley, he felt like a different man.  He could joke and relax and just be himself.  He rarely felt that way with other people.  He tipped her chin up so she was forced to look him in the eye.  “It’s no big deal.  I bet he was charming and probably spent a lot of money on you.”
    She started laughing and he scowled.  He hadn ’t said anything funny.  He was trying to be understanding, dammit. 
    “ Randall was far from charming.  I told you he was a big geek.  He was easy to be with, though, because he didn’t have any expectations about how people should act and talk.  As for spending money on me, I drew the line there.  I wasn’t with him for his money and I think he liked that.  We went to movies and ate at dives.  He liked to slum with me.  I only got dressed up fancy every now and then.  Mostly for business.”
    Now Seth was truly confused.  “If you go for a geek like that, what do you see in me?  I assume you’re attracted to me since you let me kiss you.”
    She was smiling at him now.  “Kind of.  You’re different.  Randall had no expectations and you have tons.  But you have two very important things Randall lacked.  Empathy and passion.  He didn’t have a speck of either.  You have both in spades.  You can feel for other people and the passion you have for your job, your family, your town, well, it really shows through.”  She shrugged.  “You look good in your uniform too.”
    That set him on his heels.  “He sounds strange.”
    “ He is