Cowboy from the Future by Cassandra Gannon Read Free Book Online Page A

“Does
that mean I can stay with you?”  She asked eagerly.
    Cade
blinked under the force of her grin.
    “Cade?” 
She prompted, when he just stared at her.
    “What?” 
He gave his head a sharp shake.  “Shit.  No .”  He got to his feet.  “This
is a bad idea.  You will cause disruption.  I hate disruption.”
    “I’m
very un disruptive.  I won’t disrupt anything.”
    “You
will.”  Cade studied her for a long moment.  “You don’t belong here with me.  Many
people in the polis will be… unhappy if you remain under my roof.”
    “I
don’t care.  I’m not even part of this creepy town.”
    “It
doesn’t matter.  Your reputation will suffer.”
    “Like
a give a rat’s ass about my popularity with the cast of Gunsmoke .”  Was
he looking for an excuse to ditch her?  Without Cade, she was screwed.  He was
the one person standing between her and certain death.  Addy was absolutely
certain of that.  “I want to stay here. ”
    He
looked hunted.  “I can find you a more respectable place to…”
    “Please,
Cade.”  She whispered.
    He
groaned at the entreaty.  “ Fuck .”  His head tiled back to look at the
ceiling, no doubt praying to the presidents for guidance.
    “Please?” 
Addy tried again, sensing his capitulation.  “I’m stuck in this dump until
spring and everybody else in town scares me worse than you.”
    That
seemed to confound him.  “Why?”
    “Because,
you’ve been looking out for me while I had my breakdown.  I’ve been locked in
this room for days and not one person has bothered me, except to bring me
stuff.  I know that was your doing.”  She arched a brow when he didn’t deny. 
“You might want me gone, but you’re not dangerous.  Not to me.  Hell, that one Stinky-Pete-looking
guy tried to feel me up, right there in the bar, and you protected me.”
    “Manston.” 
Cade nodded in disgust.  “Stay away from him.”
    “I
plan to.  I plan to stick right here with you . ”
    “But,
you should be afraid of me.  I don’t understand why you’re not.”
    She
tilted her head.  “Are you going to hurt me, Cade?”
    He
gazed at her for a long moment.  “No.”  It was a vow.  “If I wanted that, lady,
I could’ve done it days ago.”
    “Would
other men in this town hurt me?”
    “Some
of them.”  He admitted quietly.
    “Well,
there you go, genius!  So, unless you drag me out the door, I’m staying with
the guy who speaks English and isn’t planning a sexual assault.”
    “It’s
not that simple.  Don’t you realize what I am? ”
    Crap,
he was probably an alien.  The future always had aliens.
    Her
mind could only accept so much at one time, though.  Being stranded in the
future and potentially raped by miners was way more pressing than Cade’s
extraterrestrial backstory.  Addy didn’t care where he’d come from, just so he
continued keeping her safe.
    She
looked into his eyes and trusted him.  Through the veneer of asshole-ness and
long-suffering sighs, she saw someone who was fundamentally… good.  Honorable. 
If she could stay with Cade, she would survive this.  He would help her.  She
knew it.
    “Brian
will give you a huge reward.”  Addy blurted out, sweetening the deal.  “Like, a
pirate’s chest full of gold.”  She hesitated.  “Do you guys still value gold,
here?”
    That
got his attention.  “Of course, we value gold!  Shadow-of-the-Gods isn’t some Outlander
camp.”
    Whatever
the hell that meant.  She sure wasn’t going to ask, since it would probably set
him off again.  “Super, so let me stay until spring and my midlevel boss will shower you in riches.  I’m sure of it.”
    His
gaze narrowed, not entirely buying that wild claim.  “Brian is rich?”
    “Oh,
yeah.  Total Donald Trump time.  He’s got a whole safe full of diamonds.”  She
nodded like all of that was true.  “And he adores me.  I was his Secret
Santa last year and I got him a Starbucks gift card.  He