Read And Then You Dare (Crested Butte Cowboys Series Book 5) for Free Online Page A

part
of your regular repertoire.”
    Bullet put his arm around Bree’s shoulders. “You’re givin’ me
a bad name with the lady. Now tell her the truth. You ain’t never seen me
naked.”
    “He’s right. I haven’t actually seen him naked.” Bree looked
from Bullet to Tristan. “Wait. Have you?”
    ***
    Tristan took a sip of coffee, weighing her words. “Yes, a
couple times.” She added a shoulder shrug to suggest it wasn’t any big deal.
She set her coffee on the kitchen counter, and opened the refrigerator door,
hoping he didn’t notice how her hands shook.
    “Did I hear your sister say you were headed outside?” Tristan
turned back around and looked into the blue eyes focused directly on her brown
ones. He didn’t just stare, his eyes penetrated hers, as though he could read
her mind through them.
    “What’s the plan for today?” interrupted Liv.
    “I’m waiting to hear from my
father. Besides that, I’m compiling a list of competitors we’ve targeted in the
past, but didn’t have enough capital behind us to interest them.”
    “I can help with that,” suggested Lyric.
    “I was hoping you’d offer. Maybe you and I can put our heads together
and see if there’s anyone you can suggest that we haven’t taken a look at yet.”
    “I can add someone to your list,” said Bullet. Tristan had
almost forgotten he was there. That’s how she got when she started thinking
about business. It consumed her.
    “Who’s that?” nudged Lyric. “As if I don’t know.”
    “I’m a perfect fit,” he smiled directly at Tristan.
    “A perfect fit for what?” He wasn’t seriously suggesting Lost
Cowboy sponsor him, was he?
    “Come on. Look at me.” He waved his hands up and down his body.
“Just think how good your gear will look on me.”
    Tristan almost laughed out
loud. Yeah, he’d look great in it. All of it. But there was so much more they
took into consideration before they asked anyone to wear their brand. She
didn’t know much about Bullet, but from what she’d seen so far, he was exactly
the kind of cowboy they wouldn’t sponsor.
    Bull riders had a bad rap to begin with. Many on the rodeo
circuit thought they were arrogant assholes. And for the most part, they were
right. Their arrogance was part of what drove them. If they didn’t have their
heads one hundred and fifty percent into bull riding, if they weren’t the same
percentage confident in their ability to cover their bull, they didn’t have a
prayer. It was as much man against himself as it was man against beast. If a
rider had an inkling of doubt in the few minutes before he got on the back of a
bull, he might as well walk away before the chute opened.
    Bullet had a lot on his plate. His wife just died. He was
responsible for raising his child, who Tristan doubted was more than a year
old. What kind of man got on the back of a bull when they were a single parent?
One who didn’t embody the principles of Lost Cowboy, that’s the kind.
    Even setting that aside, there was so much more. What happened
last night told Tristan everything she needed to know to scratch Bullet off her
list, not that he was on it in the first place.
    “Players need not apply” should be stamped on her forehead.
Not just for her brand, but for her too. While he tempted her on a physical
level, Tristan knew she’d never actually succumb to him. Never.
    “How old are you?”
    “Twenty-four ma’am.”
    He tipped his hat when he said it, the one her daddy would
never have worn in the house.
    Too old on one level, too young on another. If he hadn’t made
his mark as a bull rider by now, chances were good he wouldn’t. Her guess was
he didn’t have enough time to get to practice pens. He’d never make any of the
cuts without practice. In the world of bull-riding, he was middle-age.
    And for her on a personal level? He was three years younger
than she was. And ten years less mature. He was a baby. A baby with a baby.
    When she poured the cream into her