Cowboy Watch – Book Tour and Giveaway

Slowing near the treeline to get her bearings, Kellen focused on a spot where the bank jutted out over the water. Climbing out of the car, she scanned the shoreline. To her right, the slope flattened out and provided easy access to the water. The Tanawoc River maintained a good current, sending soggy leaves and debris speeding past in its flow. Grassy hills rolled back from the opposite riverbank, and she wondered if the Clandestine Mining Company still owned all that property.

A familiar aroma wafted up from the river, a combination of humus, plant material, microscopic plankton, and a touch of fish. Unable to stop the smile slowly stretching across her face, she untied her sneakers, rolled up her jeans, and slipped into the icy water. She immediately gasped and felt her smile deepen to a grin. Remaining in the soothing current for a long time, she absorbed her surroundings as trout darted in and around the submerged rocks to grab their plankton lunch.

A horse suddenly whickered behind her, followed by the telltale creak of a saddle. Too close for comfort. The back of her neck prickled. Ankle deep in the water, she couldn’t make a decent sprint for the car, and Kellen regretted her impulse to visit this deserted stretch of riverbank.

Easing around, she spied the towering silhouette of a powerfully built man astride a huge black stallion no more than ten yards away. The rider’s face lay shadowed beneath a wide-brimmed Stetson. The cowboy made an impressive and, at this moment, intimidating sight—a throwback from the frontier days of the Wild West.

The horse whickered again and sidestepped away from the edge of the embankment, forcing the cowboy to twist around to keep her in sight. She could feel his dark eyes scanning every inch of her. The intensity in his gaze raised goose bumps on her arms, and a tiny shiver edged up her spine. Trapped here along the edge of the river, she felt vulnerable yet strangely unafraid. Would he come any closer?

A horn blared up on the highway, and she jumped with a yelp. The big horse reared at the sound of her cry, and Kellen caught a brief glimpse of the cowboy’s dark eyes, eyes that could stare right through to a girl’s soul. She scrunched her own eyes shut and forced herself to breathe. When she opened them, the rider was gone.

Had she imagined him? Another mild shiver rifled up her spine. No, the fearsome rider was definitely real.

Scrambling up the embankment, she scanned the twisting riverside lane in both directions, but the cowboy had vanished. A wave of inexplicable disappointment caught her unawares, but she shook it off. She had no business sharing this deserted stretch of riverbank with a complete stranger. Better if she climbed back in her car and drove through Riverside. Eight blocks wouldn’t take long to see.