Her Cowboy's Caress (Taken by Cowboys: Part 1) A Billionaire Western Romance by A.L. Loire Page A

overpriced.
    If only she could get away from the city,
she thought as she scrolled. She’d been up late watching Westerns
on TV again, which is why she was nodding off at work again today.
She just couldn’t help it. Whenever she got home after a long day
at work to her cozy little one-bedroom on the Upper East Side, all
she wanted to do was curl up with Scampers, her cat, pour herself a
glass of pinot grigio and escape to a place where cowboys rode
bucking broncos and saved damsels in distress—if only on the
twenty-inch screen of her hand-me-down TV.
    Save me, she thought.
    It was hard to believe how excited she’d
been about the PR job when she’d first started a year and a half
before. An acquaintance from college had helped her get it after
she’d spent three months fruitlessly searching for work and staying
on her best friend Dani’s couch. “You have to work your
connections,” Dani told her each morning before leaving for her own
job as an editorial assistant at a major publishing house, as Jess
sat at her kitchen table trawling online job listings and pounding
out cover letters. Finally she’d swallowed her pride and called
every single person she knew in the city to ask if anyone knew of
an opening she’d be qualified for, with her double major in
sociology and English (which, she soon realized, just made her look
doubly useless). When Sarah got her an interview at the PR firm,
she’d been dazzled by the glamour of it—parties! Celebrities!
Fashion shows!—a glamour that had quickly dissolved into
twelve-hour days and the biting snark of her co-workers. But that
was New York City, she realized. You were overworked and underpaid,
and you were expected to be grateful for it.
    Of course, she was the one who had chosen
this path, as her mother never failed to remind her when she
complained about work. The job wasn’t the only reason she’d stayed
in the city, though. There was also him . A dark cloud of
gloom and dread passed over her.
    She shook it off. No time to let him creep into her head—she had things to do. She glanced at the clock.
Usually Lauren’s cigarette turned into two or three, and then she’d
probably get yet another coffee on her way in. Nicotine and
caffeine seemed to be that woman’s only sustenance. One day Jess
would like to hide her pack of Marlboros, just to watch her freak
out. She smirked at the thought.
    Okay, now she had to kick it into gear.
Christophe was a new fashion line designed by the young protégé of
a big-name designer that would be celebrating its launch the
following weekend. It was going to be a huge bash—one that, as
usual, Jess wouldn’t be invited to. Not that she cared, anyway.
After attending a few events here and there, she’d realized that
the parties were nothing more than extensions of the workday, with
Lauren berating her for every little thing she wasn’t doing
right.
    She needed to follow up with the flower
people, confirm the caterer, make sure all the gift bag items were
in place, and finalize their order with Moët & Chandon, a
Christophe sponsor that would be giving out free champagne. She
picked up the phone receiver and set to work. If there was one
thing Jess knew how to do, it was hustle.
    She was just hanging up with the Moët
representative when Lauren walked in. “Everything’s set,” Jess
said, smiling sweetly. “Flowers, caterer, champagne, and gift
bags.”
    She could tell Lauren was surprised, though
she tried not to show it. “At the eleventh hour, as usual,” she
said, striding past Jess’s desk.
    “I wouldn’t exactly call the week before the eleventh hour ,” Jess muttered, but not so loud that Lauren
could hear her. She sighed. It just wasn’t worth it.
    “By the way, girls, we got some samples from
Christophe,” Lauren trilled from her desk, addressing the room full
of women busily typing away and making phone calls. A buzz of
excitement rose from the desks, punctuated by a few high-pitched
squeals. Free