Read Online 9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan by Sandy Sullivan - Free Book Online Page B

believe him. Maybe she needed to talk to him, but how? He didn’t want to
take this past a physical relationship. Neither did she, right? A man in her
life would complicate things. School,
life, work. She didn’t have time for a man on a regular ba sis.
    “Well sleep is out of the question. Maybe I should take a
nice, hot shower and do some house cleaning. That always gets my mind on other
things.”
    School would be starting soon and she needed to focus on
that, but for now, she needed to get out of this funky frame of mind so she could start living again. The counselor she saw
regularly helped her tremendously and that’s why she decided to go into this
particular line of work herself. Hopefully someday she would be able to help
someone just like her.
    She flipped the sheet off before
she walked to her dresser to retrieve some clothes. A shower would be a good
place to start her day. Maybe taking a nap later so she wouldn’t be so damned
tired tonight during her shift wouldn’t be such a bad idea. “We’ll see how things go.”
    For the next several hours, she cleaned to the tune of
country music blaring in her earbuds . She liked different
sounds so her music consisted of a wide variety, but today she wanted country
and old rock.
    Noon rolled around and her stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten.
    The doorbell rang, earning a frown from her as she passed
the hallway mirror, headed for the door. Who could that
be?
    She opened the door to find a young man smiling sheepishly
on her doorstep holding a beautiful bouquet of m ixed
flowers. “Miss Matthews? Peyton Matthews?”
    “Yes.”
    “These are for you. Sign here, please.” He handed her a
clipboard for her signature.
    “Where did these come from?” she asked as she held it back
out for him to take.
    After he handed her the vase, he sai d, “There’s a card attached.”
    The flowers were gorgeous. A huge mixed bouquet with
daisies, roses, lilies and flowers she didn’t even recognize, spread out in a
great arrangement big enough to fill her doorway. “Wow. These are gorgeous. I
wonder who they are from.” Her hands shook, rattling
the flowers in the vase as she moved to set them on the table. She hoped
Charles hadn’t found her. After she’d run from him a few years ago, she’d done
her best to cover her tracks, but there was only so much one woman could do to protect herself.
    Peyton now carried a concealed weapon just for that
purpose.
    Wetness coated her palms as she rubbed them down the thighs
of the sweatpants she’d thrown on when she went to clean. Perspiration popped
out on her forehead. She di dn’t want to open the
card.
    She inhaled sharply. This is
ridiculous. There’s no reason to be scared. You’ve done your best to hide
yourself. He would have a hard time finding you in Bandera, Texas.
    Capturing her bottom lip between her teeth, she bit down s harply to bring herself back into focus. The pain helped.
She snatched the card from its plastic holder, folded the edge back and yanked
it out.
    The words blurred a little as she read the sweet card from
the man she didn’t want to have feelings about, but realized
he was getting under her skin a little too quickly.           
     
    Thanks for last night. You’re a sexy, gorgeous woman and I
can’t wait to love on you again.
    Love Jason
     
    “How sweet.” The swooping in her
belly calmed as she read the note again. Jason. She tapped the card against her
lips. First the phone call . Then the flowers. What more should she
expect from the man?
    A smile played on her lips for the rest of the day as she
finished cleaning her house, washing her laundry and
getting ready for work. She needed to get some food. Her shift started soon.
She had to be on top of her game tonight. Saturday’s were pretty rowdy at the
bar most weekends. Lots of cowboys and cowgirls got a lit tle out of control. Even though it wasn’t part of her job
to bounce, being a woman, she still needed to know when to