Free This Kiss (Made In Montana Book 12) by Debbi Rawlins

didn’t remember him having such an intense stare. It made her jumpy. She spotted the room key and scooped it up as she passed him.
    He caught her arm. “You forgot this,” he said, trying to give her the money.
    “My treat.” She pulled away. His touch had given her goose bumps she didn’t want him to see. “A condemned man always gets a last meal.”
    Ethan’s slow smile wasn’t altogether pleasant. “I was going to be a gentleman and sleep on the floor. Not anymore. We’re sharing the bed.”
    “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said with a toss of her hair, and then fled the room before she hyperventilated.

6
    F UZZY WITH SLEEP , Ethan opened his eyes to slits, just enough to see if the room was dark or if morning was trying to sneak in. He wasn’t a big believer in alarm clocks and only used them if he had to.
    Still black as night. Good.
    Yawning, he changed positions and tried to get comfortable. The mattress wasn’t bad, but not great, either. He lifted his lids again, trying to remember where he was...
    Not Sioux City. That was last month.
    Ah, Blackfoot Falls.
    That’s right...the Safe Haven Rodeo.
    The shock of seeing the steel handcuffs dangling from the bedpost jerked him awake. Memories of a dark-haired beauty teased him. Not just any beauty, but the girl he remembered from Wattsville High.
    He looked over his shoulder at Sophie. Her long brown hair was everywhere, and so was the rest of her. One arm was thrown out clear to his pillow while she slept partially on her side, her body slightly curled away from him. Her left leg was straight, but her right leg bent at the knee, bringing her foot up near his ass.
    How could someone her size take up most of the bed?
    No wonder he felt cramped and achy. He needed more room to stretch out.
    He rolled over to give her a gentle nudge but stopped. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but he couldn’t see much with her other arm plopped over her face. Her chin was visible, and so were those damn pouty lips that had distracted him as a teenager and were doing a number on him now.
    Ethan had a feeling she underestimated how sexy she was. More so now that she was in her twenties and had filled out. He smiled at the oversize U of Wyoming T-shirt and men’s plaid pajama pants that couldn’t hide her curvy body. Sophie had insisted on sleeping on top of the covers while he stayed cozy under the sheet and blanket. As if that would’ve stopped them from doing anything if the mood had struck.
    Hell, the mood had struck plenty. At least for him. He just refused to do anything about it.
    Sophie was the sort of trouble he needed to avoid. Not because she wanted to drag him back to Wyoming, although the phony accusation bullshit was something he had to straighten out. Sophie herself was the problem. That nice toned body and gorgeous face would turn any man’s head, so, yeah, the packaging didn’t hurt, but half the women following the tour fit that description.
    But he couldn’t think of a single one who had Sophie’s keen curious brown eyes. The kind a man could stare into and know he was in for a real interesting ride. Hell, he knew he’d get thrown before it was all over, maybe even stomped on. But for as long as he managed to stay in the saddle, he sure wouldn’t be bored.
    He liked that she wore her hair longer now, past her shoulders and kind of messy. What he liked most was that she didn’t seem to give a shit how it looked. Which had been pretty bad when she pulled the wig off. Any other woman he knew, including his grandmother, would’ve fixed it until it was just so. But not Sophie, and when she tossed back all that long hair, it was with impatience. She sure wasn’t flirting.
    Another thing that struck him as sexy was the way she walked. Slow and easy. And with that almost-smile teasing her lips. That was why he’d noticed her in the bar. He hadn’t recognized her then. But it was the same understated sexiness that had gotten her