Cowboy Under Siege (WEST Protection Book 13), page 1
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Cowboy Under Siege
WEST Protection
Book 13
Copyright Em Petrova 2023
Ebook Edition
Electronic book publication 2023
Cover Art by Bookin’ It Designs
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West Protection
HIGH-STAKES COWBOY Prequel Noah’s Story
RESCUED BY THE COWBOY Ross’s Story
GUARDED BY THE COWBOY Boone’s Story
COWBOY CONSPIRACY THEORY Mathias’s Story
COWBOY IN THE CROSSHAIRS Silas’s Story
PROTECTED BY THE COWBOY Josiah’s Story
BRAVO TANGO COWBOY Corrine and Panic’s Story
BREAKING IN THE COWBOY Casey’s Story
SHIELDED BY THE COWBOY McCoy’s Story
CLOSE RANGE COWBOY Landon’s Story
ZERO DARK COWBOY Judd’s Story
TOP SECRET COWBOY Jace’s Story
COWBOY UNDER SIEGE Jaren’s Story
Everyone wants her for her money. But what he wants comes with a bigger price—her heart.
Jaren Abel, new bodyguard on the WEST Protection team, will try anything once. Which is how he ends up on the back of a bull, hoping to snag the attention of a stunning rodeo trick rider. Jaren doesn’t do relationships, so one night is all he’s willing to commit to. But when trouble stalks the sassy beauty, his challenge is keeping the clueless wannabe country girl out of trouble in his small town.
Trinny Taylor’s goal right now is to fly under the radar. Since she inherited old family money, too many people want a piece of her. Now she’s really finding out who her friends are. She’s also shocked that the first person she’s trusted in a long time is a complete stranger. Jaren’s all the things she’d never pick in a man—he’s big, tattooed and rough around the edges. But between the sheets, his tenderness makes her think something more might be brewing between them.
Jaren doesn’t know what’s harder—saving Trinny from herself or from the lunatic trying to kill her. After a close call, there’s no denying that she needs all the protection she can get…or that their chemistry is off the charts. While danger escalates, Trinny and Jaren’s emotions do too. But when this is all over, will she find herself in the safety of his arms for good?
Spicy insta-attraction that promises more in this steamy action and adventure romance when a fish out of water lady and a tatted-up bad boy find romance in a small town. 1-CLICK your copy of COWBOY UNDER SIEGE now and BINGE the entire WEST Protection series!
COWBOY
Under Siege
by
Em Petrova
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter One
Jaren Abel nudged the brim of his cowboy hat up and squinted at the dirt spraying off the horses’ hooves.
“Too bad you didn’t throw your hat in the ring to compete tonight.” His buddy, Casey, gave him a nudge from where he leaned on the rail at Jaren’s side.
To the cheers of the rodeo crowd, the competitor tossed his lasso and landed it square over the horns of the steer he was wrestling.
“Not really my thing. I go for bigger rushes of adrenaline.” In the past, that was speed and souped-up engines. But since moving to Montana, Jaren’s craving was slowly shifting to other pursuits.
Casey grunted. “You did better than most breaking those green horses with me a couple weeks ago.”
Jaren clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks, but I’ll leave the bareback riding to you.”
The scream of the buzzer ripped through the air, cutting off the final competitor in the steer wrestling event.
The crowd cheered and then silenced in anticipation of the winning times on the scoreboard. When the last competitor took the win with a time a fraction of a second better than the others, the arena erupted.
Jaren scanned the stands packed with fans who’d come to cheer on the traveling rodeo and a few of their own hometown competitors tonight. “Man, I never realized just how many people live in Stone Pass.”
Casey pushed off the rail. “The town itself isn’t that big, but people come from all over Montana for this rodeo. My event’s up next. I gotta go.”
“Tear ’em up.” Jaren held out a fist, and Casey bumped it with his own.
Casey wandered over to the group of bareback riders about to take the arena. Jaren hadn’t been friends with Casey Clayton for more than a few months, but he trusted Casey the same way he trusted his brothers—with his life. They were both on the WEST Protection team and had partnered up several times. Their boss seemed to see how well they worked together and paired them often for security details.
He could say their friendship stemmed from both being the newbies on the team. Casey was a former worker on the ranch where the security office was located and Jaren joined the team about six months earlier. While they were alike in the way they attacked problems, he and Casey couldn’t be more different in their origins.
If someone told him a year ago that he’d be standing here in dusty cowboy boots, worn jeans, a plaid shirt and a white Stetson instead of crawling around on the floor of a shop making tweaks to his Harley-Davidson Breakout, Jaren would have laughed in their face.
Jaren was known for being the moody brother. That was enough to count him out of any situation with screaming fans. He much preferred the open road and his bike. Or, ever since the hell he and his brothers had been through a short time ago, a solitary barstool.
But here he was at an actual rodeo…and he was loving it. The roar of the crowd swept him up with the same excitement everyone else in Stone Pass, Montana felt tonight. The smell of dirt kicked up by hooves combined with french fries appealed to Jaren’s other senses.
As did the stunning brunette who’d hooked his attention the minute she blasted across the arena on the back of a white horse.
It wasn’t only the sight of her in tight jeans and a fitted plaid top that roped him in. The way she held herself in that saddle attracted him just as much as the flutter of her warm brown hair in the breeze created by her speed on that horse.
And the way she carried the American flag with so much pride brought everyone to their feet.
She leaned against the rail with the rodeo contestants, and even if he hadn’t seen her on the back of that horse, it was clear to Jaren that she belonged to the big rodeo family that traveled from town to town.
He tried more than once to catch her eye, but she hadn’t sent him so much as a glance. Still, he couldn’t stop watching her every chance he got.
Besides the thick cascade of deep brown hair that made a man burn to dig his fingers into the mass—and a pair of full but perky breasts to cup—she played mother hen to all the competitors.
Every man, woman—hell, even horse—that finished their event, she was there to greet them with a word of praise, a high-five of victory, or an empathetic touch on the shoulder for their loss.
She was also scanning the audience over and over again. And fidgeting too. Two red flags to a guy like him who could read body language like other people read the back of a cereal box.
The woman was nervous about something.
She drifted toward the bareback riders, a tiny bounce in her step when she walked that he just knew made all the right parts of her jiggle. His gaze seared into her luscious ass.
Gut clenching, he watched her for a moment before realizing Casey was going to get a chance to talk to her before he did.
Jaren pushed away from the rail and sauntered over to the other riders. Before he could make his presence known to her, another guy caught her attention.
She’d been staring hard toward a group seated down front. When the guy waved a hand at her, she jerked as though startled back to reality.
Yeah, something was definitely off with that woman. Jaren was always a betting man, and he’d lay down any amount on his gut instinct about her being right on.
She drifted away with the rider to check out one of the horses that just came out of the ring.
When she patted the mare’s flank, Jaren let out a low whistle. Damn, he wished he had four legs and a mane just to feel her soft touch too.
Casey appeared at his side. “You haven’t stopped looking at her all night. When are you gonna make your move, Abel?”
He reluctantly tore his gaze from the beauty and fixed it on the arena. Two rodeo clowns were performing a country line dance, the crowd on their feet, stomping with them.
He grunted at Casey’s comment. “Who said I’m interested? A man can window-shop.”
Casey’s crooked grin was more than a little cynical. “We’ve been friends a few months now. I’ve never seen you stare at any of the women down at the bar like that.”
“That’s because women find me. I don’t need to go to them.”
“Ahh. You think that beautiful woman will come running over here to ride you the way she did that horse when she carried the flag in the opening ceremony?” Casey nudged his white Stetson up with a knuckle.
Jaren couldn’t resist sending another sidelong look at the woman. His mind replayed her ride around that arena. Her appearance appealed to him on every level, but the way she handled herself riveted him more.
Jaren was trained to read body language, and she’d surpassed what he’d call “tense” and worked her way to “keyed up.”
I have a remedy for that, sweet thing.
He twisted his stare from her and focused on his friend. “Why don’t you stop worrying over my sex life and focus on the fact that you’re about to try to stay on the back of one o’ those.” He jabbed a finger at the broncos corralled off to the side, waiting for their riders in the upcoming event.
Casey hooked a thumb in the waist of his chaps. “I don’t remember saying anything about sex.”
A laugh grated past Jaren’s lips. Several women turned their heads to look at him, but the brunette still wasn’t paying him any mind. In fact, she leaned against a gate, arms folded on the top of it. The move caused her body to arch in ways that had all the blood in his head rushing south.
When the announcement came for the bronc riders to line up in the center of the arena, she bounced on the toes of her boots and hollered with the rest of the crowd.
Casey clapped him on the back. “Watch how it’s done, Abel. Assuming you can take your eyes off her long enough to watch the event.” He swaggered out to the screams of the crowd.
Most of the WEST Protection team occupied a front row. Seeing Casey, they leaped to their feet and cheered.
Casey’s beautiful wife, Emersyn, was the loudest of the group. “Let’s go, Caseyyyy!”
Jaren spent a minute enjoying their enthusiasm before he directed his attention to the packed dirt floor where the bronco riders lined up, a mix of jeans, boots, hats, chaps and grit.
Most of the competitors traveled with the rodeo, but besides Casey, Jaren recognized a few guys from town. As their names were called, each one stood tall and proud.
When a certain tall, broad-shouldered cowboy was announced, the brunette climbed onto the bottom rung of the gate and cheered for him the loudest.
Even that display didn’t stop Jaren from staring at her for most of the event. He didn’t realize how close he’d drifted toward her until the man she rooted for so enthusiastically blasted out of the chute on his bronco.
“Go, Zach!” she screamed with the crowd.
Zach wasn’t doing so good. It wasn’t uncommon to get a bad draw on his horse, and he was definitely struggling. The crowd echoed the highs and lows of his ride, and within seconds he was bucked off.
He pitched facedown in the dirt but scrabbled to his feet and dug in to escape the bucking animal.
As he jogged out of the arena, the crowd reacted with a few disappointed noises and more than a few female catcalls.
The brunette waited for the rider to approach. Jaren couldn’t help but notice some of the tension had left her spine, leaving her looking more carefree, like she did when galloping around the arena with that flag.
He wasn’t the jealous type, never getting invested enough in a woman to feel it, but he held his breath when the rider stepped up to her. To his surprise, she held up a palm to him, and he slapped it in a high-five.
“Next time that buckle is yours, Zach.”
Jaren gave a little jolt at the sound of her voice. It didn’t possess the country twang he expected. In fact, it was more cultured. Refined.
So she was nervous. Not from around here. And what? Hiding out? Running from something? Maybe a bad ex. Every pretty girl had one of them in her life.
“Luck of the draw,” Zach drawled out in return. With a smile, he skirted past her to hang with some guys.
So they weren’t a couple. And if Jaren’s interpretation of body language said anything, probably not even lovers.
Which left the door wide open for him.
“Caseyyy Clayton!” The announcer’s voice boomed through the arena, and he focused on his buddy seated on the back of his bronc. The rope was twisted around his hand, locking it down hard just the way Casey showed Jaren when he practiced.
He was beginning to regret his choice not to compete. Hell, he couldn’t do worse than that last rider, and mounting a bucking horse in front of a whole arena full of people didn’t compare to some of the crap he pulled. Of the five Abel brothers, he was responsible for the most white hairs on his momma’s head.
He let out a loud whoop as Casey hit the eight-second mark. When the buzzer sounded, he jumped off and ran several paces away from the horse that was still bucking for the crowd.
Sticking his fingers in his mouth, Jaren let out a shrill whistle to cheer for his friend.
It also caught the brunette’s attention.
Her gaze swept over his face. He threw her a smile and thumbed the brim of his white Stetson that set him apart as WEST Protection in this town. Though she wouldn’t know that since she wasn’t from these parts.
Her stare lingered on his smile for a long beat, leaving him absolutely no doubt that he could blow her mind in bed. He caught her eyes again.
Quickly, she wrenched her stare free of his. But the small smile teasing the edges of her full lips hit him like a bolt of lightning.
So did an idea.
He strode straight up to the guy running the show. “Where do I sign up?”
The roughened old-timer peered at him, one eye squinted as if trying to make out if he was drunk or just plain stupid. “Awful late, son. There’s only one event to go.”
“I know. Sign me up.”
“You ever ridden a bull before?”
“Yup.” He was lying, but how hard could it be? He’d seated every bronc Casey threw his way. A bull couldn’t be that different.
“You sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?”
Jaren gave a single hard nod. “That last bronc rider was as dumb as a rock and he held on.”
Even if Casey would never know about his insult, Jaren would buy him a shot of whiskey later to make it up to him.
The old-timer grunted. “The smart ones don’t get on bulls, son. But I’ll let you in. Idiots are my bread and butter, and you look like you can get the crowd on their feet.”
Jaren snorted at the backhanded remark.
He led Jaren to a table and had him sign a few release forms that Jaren didn’t bother to read. He scrawled his name at the bottom, paid his entry fee, and received a number placard to stick on his shirt.
When he swaggered back to the gate again, the brunette’s stare hit his chest. With a shake of her head, she laughed.
He smiled in return. At least he’d earned a laugh, and that sweet sound rippled through him. She probably didn’t have a clue that he was maybe doing the stupidest thing in his life to earn another look from her.
He moved to the cluster of bull riders and got in on some dull conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that several guys on the WEST Protection team were on their feet and jabbing fingers toward him.
Judd, his oldest brother, sent him a glare that he felt all the way across the arena.
Jaren only lifted his chin in acknowledgement and went back to shooting the breeze with the other bull riders.
“Don’t let your nerves show. The bulls sense it,” one guy told him.
“I’m never nervous, but thanks,” Jaren responded.
A couple guys exchanged looks they thought he missed but said no more to him.
When his turn came up, he could see what drove guys to compete in this event. The crowd absolutely erupted, leaping to their feet, boots stomping wooden bleachers and screams ripping through the air. An adrenaline high blasted through his system.
