MONTANA HOMECOMING (Montana Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that in the movies everyone drinks bourbon
neat and makes it look as easy as sipping coffee?" she asked.
    Scott took it from her, fingers closing over hers for a
second before she pulled away. "You drink enough of it, you get used to
it."
    They sat in silence while he took a sip, then another,
before nudging the bottle back in her direction.
    "I never wanted to leave Montana," Scott said,
drawing one knee up closer to his body, the other extended out in her
direction. "But then I've never been one to go back on my word, so there
was no chance I was ever coming back with my tail between my legs. My dad gave
me an ultimatum and I walked out the door. I was never going to give him the
satisfaction of seeing me return. "
    "You don't need to explain," she said, finding
the next sip wasn't quite as painful as the first. "We all know what your
father was like. Maybe I'd have done the same if I'd been in your shoes."
    "I've had fun since I left, especially once I figured
out what I was good at, but it's like I've been fighting a pull back home no
matter how well I did or where I went."
    "It's hard to explain, isn't it?" she asked.
    Scott nodded. "I'm guessing you had a similar
feeling?"
    Amanda stood up and instead of passing the bottle to Scott
she slumped down beside him, thigh grazing his. The wooden door was cool
against her back, sent shivers up and down her arms. She should have grabbed a
sweater, but she hadn't exactly been thinking about the weather when they'd
snuck out. Besides, the alcohol should start to warm her up soon.
    "I won a scholarship to an art school in New York, and
my portfolio I developed there became my first collection for an
exhibition," she told him, shutting her eyes as she let her head fall
back. When she opened them, she found the bottle sitting between their legs,
waiting for her. Amanda took a bigger sip this time, starting to like the
burning sensation in her throat. "I achieved everything I ever wanted to,
but the whole time I felt like I was missing out, or
that I'd turned my back on what really counted, because I've always loved my
family and missed them like crazy."
    Scott's shoulder was suddenly firm against hers, the heat
from his body slowly starting to warm her. He moved his thigh, too, so it was
touching hers from her hip down to their knees. There was no space for the
bottle between them now.
    "And now we're both back here," he said, voice
low.
    They sat still. Amanda's body was starting to feel hot, the
bourbon setting her blood on fire, head starting to pound a little.
    "Were you serious before, about Blake warning you off
me?"
    He laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
    "Yeah. In fact, he as good as reminded me of that warning in the
car on the way over here tonight, not to mention at dinner in front of
everyone."
    Amanda’s anger flared. She was twenty-seven years old, not
a child in need of protection. Her brother was never going to hear the end of
this.
    "Did you ever actually like me?" she asked,
turning so she was looking at him instead of staring straight ahead.
"Would you have kissed me again if he hadn't told you to back off?"
    Scott flashed her his too-sexy
dimple again, palm closing over her shoulder now that she'd turned slightly.
    "Honestly?"
    She stared into his eyes, knowing the alcohol had made her
feel way more brazen than she'd usually be but not caring. Because she'd always
been the good girl, never done anything that wasn't right, and maybe that's
where she'd gone wrong. There was something about the way he was staring at
her, like he was fighting something, thinking about something, that made it
impossible to look away.
    "I don't know if I would have, Mandy, because I wasn't
good enough for you back then and I never wanted to hurt you. You were the one
person in my life that I wanted to be myself around and I seemed to hurt
everyone I was close to," he said, voice like it was being dragged across
gravel. " But I'd kiss you now ."
    She swallowed at his