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He was the last thing she expected—and everything she needed
From the moment he finds himself staring down the barrel of her gun, Rancher Cade McClain knows Piper Lowry isn’t just another stranded tourist. Armed and desperate, she’s prepared to do whatever it takes to carry out her mission. A mission she claims only he can help her with. Knowing it would be impossible to walk away from this tempting, determined woman, Cade offers her a place to hide from the gunmen on her trail. Despite his broad shoulders and intimidating gaze, it isn’t long before the straight-shooting cowboy realizes he can’t guarantee Piper’s safety. Even if his heart is beginning to tell him he has no choice but to try....
He knew he had no choice but to help her.
“Come on,” Cade said roughly. “Let’s get out of here.”
Piper frowned. “Where are we going? Back to my car?”
“No. My ranch isn’t far from here. It’ll be safer there. We can figure out what to do next.”
“‘We?’” she echoed faintly. “Why would you want to help me?”
It was a good question, one he would have asked if he was in her shoes, one he was still asking himself.
A smart man would get away from this woman and her mess as fast as humanly possible. But it seemed he wasn’t that smart.
So, he gave the only answer he could. “Because somebody needs to.”
Her Cowboy Defender
Kerry Connor
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A lifelong mystery reader, Kerry Connor first discovered romance suspense by reading Harlequin Intrigue books and is thrilled to be writing for the line. Kerry lives and writes in New York.
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CAST OF CHARACTERS
Piper Lowry—On a desperate mission to save her sister, she finds an unexpected defender in the form of a long, tall cowboy.
Cade McClain—The rancher’s honor demands that he offer his help, even if it means risking everything for a stranger.
Esteban Castillo—A man who wants information…and vengeance.
Matt Alvarez—Cade’s right-hand man warns him not to get involved—for more than one reason.
Pamela Lowry—Piper’s twin sister is in a coma.
Tara Lowry—Piper’s younger sister is a pawn in a dangerous game.
Jay Larson—He’s on Piper’s trail, but what are his true motives?
To Jodi, who introduced me to New Mexico,
for being the kind of friend who’s there when I need her, even when she’s on the other side of the world.
Contents
Chapter One
This can’t be happening.
Piper stared in disbelief at the black smoke billowing from the engine of the rental car. She’d barely managed to pull over to the side of the road before the giant plume erupted from beneath the hood, along with a crackling she suspected might be outright fire. Any hope the car would keep running long enough to make it to her destination evaporated into the air much faster than the smoke.
She shot a glance at the clock on the dashboard. The digits glared back, relentless, unforgiving.
Thirty-four minutes. She had thirty-four minutes to be at the rendezvous point. If she wasn’t—
No.
She cut off the thought before it could form. She couldn’t afford to think about that, couldn’t think about anything but what she was going to do now, how she was going to make the deadline.
But when she tried to come up with a solution to this latest hurdle, her mind remained stubbornly blank except for the words that had been running through her head nonstop for the past two days.
This can’t be happening.
The words raced together in a constant loop, picking up speed along with her pulse, her heart pounding so fast and so hard in her chest she found it tougher and tougher to breathe.
It couldn’t end like this. She couldn’t come this close only to fail.
This can’t be happening.
Beneath the shock clouding her brain, some preservation instinct forced her limbs into motion, recognizing the fact that