Bite the Bullet by Desiree Holt Read Free Book Online

bad one.”
    “Oh, good. Absolutely. And Reece is going to try and talk Clint into coming out, too.”
    Montana’s hand tightened on the phone, and her stomach knotted. A social evening with Clint Chavez?
    Ohmigod. That’s like deliberately stepping into a dynamite blast.
    “Oh, Katie, I don’t know if—”
    “Like I said, it’s just a casual evening among friends,”
    Katie persisted. “You know, Clint and Reece have known each other for years. As a matter of fact, Clint was the one who hired me to manage Rawhide last year, something that ended up getting Reece and me back together after a very long time. We feel we owe him something. And he doesn’t ever take time to just kick back.”
    “Why not?” She was curious now. Eager despite herself to know more about the man she seemed to have some kind of powerful connection to. “Is he a workaholic?”
    “I don’t know. I get the feeling it’s something in his past he won’t talk about.”
    “Well, nevertheless, I appreciate the invitation but—”
    “This isn’t a fix-up,” Katie assured her. “Clint lives such a solitary life and so do you. I just thought it would be nice for both of you to have some human contact for a night that didn’t have to do with business.” She dropped her voice. “Or pleasure by appointment.”
    Montana sighed. “I’m just not much good at that anymore.
    The socializing thing, I mean.”
    “Then you should fit right in,” Katie told her. “Liz is obsessed with her horses, and everyone else is wrapped up in their own things. You can all figure out how to make nice together.” She chuckled. “I’m not taking no for an answer.
    I’m even capable of having Reece hogtie and deliver you in the back of a pickup.” She paused. “Come on, Montana. Let yourself have some no strings fun for a night.”
    Should she? If she said no, Katie would be insulted. If she said yes, she just knew she’d be putting herself in the path of an unstoppable avalanche.
    Maybe this was the time…
    “I’ll think about it, okay?”
    “No thinking allowed,” Katie laughed.
    “How about if I let you know on Sunday?”
    How about if I figure out if I can spend all that time in Clint Chavez’s company without making an idiot of myself?
    “How about if I have Alex and Liz stop by and pick you up?
    It’s right on their way. And Liz has really been wanting to meet you.”
    “I can drive myself, you know,” Montana protested.
    Katie laughed again, a low, musical sound. “Yeah, but that still gives you a chance to chicken out. Come on, Montana, it’s just an informal meal with some friends. Old and new. I’m hanging up now and calling Liz. See you Sunday.”
    “Katie—”
    But Katie Halliday had hung up.
    Montana stared at the phone in frustration. She supposed she could call back and just say she couldn’t make it. Or she’d drive herself. Or anything. But Katie Halliday was a force of nature and did whatever she set her mind to. It was easier just to go along with her. Anyway, Montana had heard really good things about Liz Wright, things indicating that, like Katie, Liz was someone Montana would like to be friends with.
    And maybe there was safety in arriving in numbers. A buffer where Clint Chavez was concerned. Because deep down she knew this burning need for him wasn’t about to go away easily. She just hoped when it exploded, she didn’t get burned.
    Clint lay in his bed caught up in a maelstrom of erotic images and surging lust. If he had any sense, he would have told Katie he was busy on Sunday. Except that Katie had unerring radar where he was concerned and would have known he was lying. But dinner with Montana Steele? He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that other people would be around.
    Alex and Liz were no strangers. Alex had been a member of Rawhide almost since it opened, and when Liz had arrived in town, for the two of them, it was a blazing inferno from then on. Both the Hallidays and the Wrights were very