This Kiss (Made In Montana Book 12)
Read This Kiss (Made In Montana Book 12) Online
Authors: Debbi Rawlins
Tags: #Contemporary, #Romance, #Fiction, #Adult, #Sensual, #Western, #Cowboys, #Bull Rider, #Champion, #Charity Rodeo, #Buckle Bunny, #Handcuffs, #Bounty Hunter, #HS Crush, #Fugitive
Hang on!
It’s gonna be a wild ride...
Champion bull rider Ethan Styles knows he should avoid injury before the National Finals. But riding in Blackfoot Falls’ charity rodeo is worth the risk. Inviting a hot little buckle bunny to his room? Also worth it...until she handcuffs him to the bed and tells him she’s a bounty hunter!
Sophie Michaels had a huge thing for Ethan in high school. The chance to see him again—even if it’s to bring him in—is irresistible. Except it’s not quite that easy. Until the charity rodeo is over, Sophie is glued to Ethan’s side all day...and all night. She knows she should return her fugitive to justice, but once you have a cowboy in your bed, you never want to let him go.
You’ll never get enough of these cowboys!
Talented Harlequin Blaze author Debbi Rawlins makes all your cowboy dreams come true with her popular miniseries
Made in Montana.
The little town of Blackfoot Falls isn’t so sleepy anymore...
In fact, it seems everyone’s staying up late!
Get your hands on a hot cowboy with
#837
Anywhere with You
(March 2015)
#849
Come On Over
(June 2015)
#861
This Kiss
(September 2015)
And remember, the sexiest cowboys are Made in Montana!
Dear Reader,
I think I’m starting to have a thing for rodeo cowboys. In
This Kiss
you’ll meet Ethan Styles, a champion bull rider and the third rodeo hero I’ve written for the Made in Montana series.
During late spring and throughout the summer, there are a number of rodeos that take place close to my home. I like most of the events—not so much others, which I’ll refrain from naming though you’ll probably be able to guess from reading this book. But something occurred to me while doing some research, and by that I mean I begin “skimming” one of my rodeo books and forget to put it down. It seems my growing fondness for this true American sport has a lot to do with the cowboys, for whom rodeo is not just a sport or a job but a way of life. These men are a different breed. So much passion and dedication. What’s not to love?
The heroine, Sophie, is a bit younger than most of my heroines, but she is so perfect for Ethan, I couldn’t resist.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
All my best,
Debbi Rawlins
This Kiss
Debbi Rawlins
grew up in the
country and loved Western movies and books. Her first crush was on a
cowboy—okay, he was an actor in the role of a cowboy, but she was only eleven,
so it counts. It was in Houston, Texas, where she first started writing for
Harlequin, and now she has her own ranch...of sorts. Instead of horses, she has
four dogs, four cats, a trio of goats and free-range cattle on a few acres in
gorgeous rural Utah.
Books by Debbi Rawlins
HARLEQUIN BLAZE
Made in Montana
Barefoot Blue Jean Night
Own the Night
On a Snowy Christmas Night
You’re Still the One
No One Needs to Know
From This Moment On
To get the inside scoop on Harlequin Blaze
and its talented writers, be sure to check out
BlazeAuthors.com
.
All backlist available in ebook format.
Visit the Author Profile page at
Harlequin.com
for more titles.
1
“G
OTCHA
!” S
OPHIE
M
ICHAELS
grinned when she saw the motel’s address on the computer screen. After a quick sip of morning coffee, she sent the file to her partner, Lola, who was sitting in the next office.
The rush from
getting her man
lasted barely a minute. Sophie sank back in her chair and sighed. Lately, the thrill of success was fleeting and not all that sweet.
Locating the deadbeat dad was rewarding because, well...he had three kids to support. But if he was going to jump bail anyway, couldn’t he have done a better job of covering his tracks? For God’s sake, a fourth grader could’ve found him.
After four years the job was finally getting to her. Too much sitting at the computer. Too much of the same old thing every day. Skip traces, lame excuses, shaken or resigned parents putting up collateral for their wayward children or, almost as frequently, the roles being reversed. Here in Wattsville, Wyoming, nothing much exciting happened. Oh, they had bank robberies occasionally and liquor store holdups, but those types of criminals tended to be really stupid and that made her job boring.
Sophie sighed. Working in the bail bond business wouldn’t be forever. Mostly she’d signed on to help Lola get the company off the ground. Sophie looked on her cousin more like a sister. And Lola didn’t mind that Sophie was sticking around only until she’d figured out what to do with her life.
Rolling her chair away from her dinged-up metal desk, Sophie dropped her chin to her chest and stretched her neck to the side. Feeling the strain of muscles that had been worked too hard earlier at the gym, she tried not to whimper. At least not loud enough for Lola to hear.
The front door to the reception area squeaked open and she glanced at the clock. “Oh, come on,” she muttered. How could it be only eight-fifteen? It felt like noon.
They were expecting Mandy, the third member of their team, to return from Jackson Hole sometime this morning. But in case it was a potential client, Sophie got up. When she heard Hawk’s voice, she promptly sat back down. And wished her door was closed. Hawk was Lola’s sleazy boyfriend of three months. Sophie didn’t like him, but so far she’d kept her mouth shut.
Lola hadn’t had much luck with men in the past, but two people had never been less suited to each other. Hawk wasn’t very bright, was sometimes crude and was under the delusion that riding a Harley and wearing black leather made him a badass.
He was a poser, no doubt in Sophie’s mind. She knew something about desperately pretending to be someone you weren’t just to fit in. A tiny bit of sympathy for him stopped her from telling Lola that his real name was Floyd and he was a high school dropout.
Sophie smiled. The idiot didn’t get that she was really, really good with computers. And she knew a whole lot more about him than she’d let on.
Which she’d keep to herself. Unless Floyd kept pissing her off. She wasn’t the quiet, naive young girl she used to be in high school. Unlike Floyd aka Hawk, she had put a great deal of effort into transforming herself.
“Hey, Shorty,” Hawk said, lounging against her office door frame. “Missed you at the gym this morning.”
She hated the nickname, which he knew. Anyway, five-four wasn’t that short. She gave his tall, lanky body a once-over. “Like you’ve ever seen the inside of a gym.”
He laughed. “Gotta admit, you’re looking pretty buff,” he said, pushing back his straggly hair and eyeing her legs.
“Lola’s in her office.”
“I know. She’s busy.”
“So am I.” Resisting the urge to tug down the hem of her bike shorts, Sophie swiveled in her chair so that her legs were under the desk, her gaze on the monitor.
“You guys working on something big?”
She noticed that line 2 was lit. Lola was on the phone. “Why are you still here?”
“Chillax, Shorty. Just making conversation while I wait for the old lady.”
The front door opened again and Hawk glanced over his shoulder. His look of dread made Sophie smile. It had to be Mandy. She’d been working as a bounty hunter in Colorado before Lola hired her two years ago, and she could be intimidating at times. Plus, she didn’t like Hawk any more than Sophie did. Only, Mandy wasn’t as circumspect.
A whoop came from Lola’s office. “Okay, ladies, we’ve got a live one. Mandy, are you here?”
Sophie leaped out of her chair and barreled past Hawk, who had enough smarts to get out of her way. “Somebody jumped bail?”
“Oh yeah.” Lola walked out of her office waving a piece of paper. “You’ll never guess who.”
The waiting area was small, with two chairs, a ficus that was alive only because Lola remembered to water it and a rack of magazines, where Mandy stood, tall, beefed-up and calm as could be. She wasn’t the excitable type. “Ethan Styles,” she said, and dropped her duffel bag.
Lola shoved back her long red hair and sighed. “How did you know?”
“Ethan Styles,” Sophie murmured under her breath. She must’ve heard wrong. If his name was on the list of bonds they’d posted, she would’ve noticed. She knew him...sort of... “Who did you say?”
Lola’s concerned gaze found Sophie. “I’m pretty sure you remember Ethan.”
“The rodeo guy, right?” Hawk moved to the circle and sidled up to Lola when Sophie and Mandy gave him butt-out glares. “He’s that hotshot bull rider.”
Lola nodded and looked at Mandy. “You just get back from Jackson Hole?”
“An hour ago,” Mandy said with a curious glance at Sophie. “I turned Jergens over to Deputy Martin.”
Sophie couldn’t seem to slow down her brain. Too many memories of Ethan revolved like a slide show on speed. She hadn’t seen him up close since high school. She’d gone to a few rodeos just to see him, but only from the bleachers and it had been a while. Sometimes she watched him on TV, but not often. She wasn’t a kid anymore and there was only so much daydreaming a woman could do without feeling like a dope.
“You get any sleep yet?” Lola asked Mandy, who just smiled.
“I hate to send you out again, but I got a tip that Styles might be headed for northwest Montana. A town called Blackfoot Falls.”
“No shit. Pretty boy has an outstanding warrant?” Hawk laughed. “What did he get locked up for? Screwing somebody’s wife?”
The expression on Lola’s face hinted that Hawk might not be far off the mark.
It wouldn’t surprise Sophie if he was in trouble because of a woman. Half the girls in school had had the hots for him. Even now he left female fans across the country panting, but so what? Lola was mistaken if she thought Ethan’s reputation with the ladies bothered Sophie. He didn’t faze her. Not anymore.
“Why didn’t he pay his own bail? Between his winnings and endorsement deals, he has to have money,” Sophie said, mostly thinking out loud.
Lola shrugged. “He wouldn’t be the first pro athlete to blow his cash on stupid things,” she said. “We have the pink slip for his motor coach as collateral, so I had no problem with posting. I have to say, though, I’m surprised he skipped. He’s not due in court until Monday, but he wasn’t supposed to leave the state.”
“I’ll do it.” Sophie squared her shoulders when they all stared at her. “I’ll go after him.”
Lola shook her head. “Not a good idea, Soph.”
“You’ve never worked in the field.” Mandy’s quiet reminder somehow felt like a betrayal.
Even though Sophie had started kickboxing and tae kwon do back in college, it was Mandy who’d inspired her to go all out, work her body to its full potential. Sophie was in the best physical shape of her life and Mandy knew it. Anyway, Ethan might not come along willingly, but he wasn’t the type to get rough.
“I told you guys I wanted to be more involved.” She glared first at Lola, and then Mandy. “I know Ethan. I can bring him back with the least amount of fuss.”
Hawk snorted. “No way. You don’t know Styles.”
“Shut up,” Mandy said without looking at him. Her gaze stayed on Sophie. “You think you’re ready?”
“I know I am.” She glanced at Lola, who’d just given Hawk an impatient look. So maybe all wasn’t peachy keen with the lovebirds. Good. Her cousin deserved better.
Lola met her gaze. “No, not Ethan. You can have the next one.”
“I’m not asking for permission. I own half this company.” Flexing her tense shoulders, Sophie ignored the looks of surprise. She and Lola never argued. Not over business, or their personal lives. “Text me the details. I’ll go home, grab a few things and leave within the hour.”
“Come on, Soph.” Lola pinched the bridge of her nose. “Let’s talk privately. Please.”
“What she says makes sense.” Hawk cut Lola short, earning him a warning look, which he obviously didn’t like judging by his creepy scowl. “Why not let her go after him?”
“Excuse me—” Sophie stopped. Hawk was defending her? Okay, now, that was weird. She didn’t need his help, but hey, bonus points for trying. “This isn’t up for discussion,” she said. “All we’re doing is wasting time.”
“Knowing him might not be an advantage,” Mandy said. “Surprise is your best weapon. He sees you, he could run.”
“Ethan won’t remember me.” Sophie avoided Lola’s gaze. “Even if he does, he won’t associate me with Lola’s Bail Bonds.”
Lola followed Sophie into her office. “We need to talk, kiddo,” she said, closing the door behind her.
“You’re not changing my mind.” Sophie sifted through her cluttered drawer and found her wallet. Now, where were her keys?
She crouched to check under her desk and found them next to a protein bar she’d misplaced yesterday. Grabbing them both, she pushed to her feet.
“Will you at least hear me out?” Her cousin’s dark eyes weren’t just worried but annoyed.
“Go ahead.” Sophie unwrapped the bar and stuck half of it in her mouth, since she wouldn’t have time to eat anything else. She had to get on the road fast. No telling how much of a head start Ethan had... “When did he leave for Montana, do you know?”
“Are you going to listen to me at all?”
“Probably not.”
“Goddammit, Sophie.” Lola paused and lowered her voice. “We can’t afford for you to get all goo-goo-eyed over him. He’ll sweet-talk you into letting him go and we’ll be screwed.”
Sophie chewed a bit, then said, “Wow, your faith in me is really touching.”
“It’s not that. The money’s important, but I hate to think of you getting all twisted up over him again.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, I was never twisted up.”
“Yes, you were.” Lola smiled. “Don’t forget, I was there. Anyway, that was high school, so you were allowed.”
“Exactly. It was high school. I was fifteen. We had a fleeting encounter. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“He was your hero,” Lola said, her voice softening.
Sophie turned away to pick up her gym bag. “You’re only twenty-eight. I’m sure you still remember what it was like to be fifteen.”
At the beginning of her freshman year, Sophie and her mom had moved to Wyoming. Lola had been a junior and the only person Sophie knew in her new school. They hadn’t become friends quickly. Her cousin had had her own clique, and back then, Sophie had entered a nerdy phase, trying to balance her high IQ and an awkward social life.
That alone hadn’t made her the target of bullies. Having had the audacity to wear the
wrong
dress was the line she’d crossed. She found out later that the most popular girl in school had worn the same sundress the week before Sophie even started at Wattsville High. The whole thing was ridiculous, considering that Ashley had huge boobs and Sophie had little more than two mosquito bites. So of course Ashley had looked so much better in the spaghetti-strap dress.
God, Sophie still remembered what it had felt like to have those girls come after her with scissors. They’d cut her dress to ribbons before Ethan had stopped them and put his jacket over her shoulders.
Turned out Ashley was Ethan’s girlfriend. But he’d been furious when he stepped in and warned them off. After that, the girls still gave her evil looks, but they kept their distance.
Damn straight he’d been her hero.
“Are you still following his career?” Lola asked.
“No.” Sophie set the gym bag on her chair and shut down her laptop, refusing to look up. “I know you saw me at my worst, sneaking around, following him, trying to stay on his radar. Frankly it embarrasses me to even think about it.” All while he’d acted as if she hadn’t existed. That part she left out, and met Lola’s gaze. “Did you and Hawk have a fight?”
Lola’s brows went up. “Why?”
“I saw the look you gave him.”
“No, it’s just...” Lola waved dismissively. “I’d already told him he shouldn’t be hanging around here.”
Sophie tucked her tablet under her arm. “Look, the thing with Ethan happened a long time ago. I was a kid.” She smiled. “I can do this.”
Lola studied her for a moment. “Okay,” she said with a resigned sigh. “I just don’t understand why you’d want to.”
“I know,” Sophie said softly. She didn’t quite get it herself. It wasn’t as if she needed closure, but in a weird way, that was exactly how it felt. She stopped halfway to the door. “Don’t you think it’s odd he jumped bail? Ethan has a reputation for being a stand-up guy.”
“I don’t know what he’s thinking. He certainly doesn’t have a low profile.”
“Nope. The National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas starts in about a week. He’s going for his second championship title—” She saw the concern in Lola’s eyes. “I read something about it online the other day,” she murmured. “Try not to worry, okay? I’ve got this.”
She hoped.
* * *
T
HE
W
ATERING
H
OLE
was noisy, crowded with cowboys drinking beer and gorgeous accommodating women dressed to kill. Ethan Styles had frequented hundreds of bars just like this one in the nine years since he turned pro. He knew what it was like the night before a rodeo, especially in a small town like Blackfoot Falls. So why in the hell had he suggested meeting his friend Matt here?
Somehow Ethan had gotten the dumb idea that this rodeo would be different. No prize money was involved or qualifying points. The event was a fund-raiser for Safe Haven, a large animal sanctuary, so all the ticket and concession money went directly to them. But he should’ve known better. Rodeo fans were a loyal bunch, and having to travel to this remote Montana town obviously hadn’t bothered them.