“Whoa, cowboy,” she said. “How’d we get here?”

“I don’t regret it,” he said, looking right into her beautiful dark eyes.

“I have to,” she said, standing up. “I’m not going there, Holt. I can’t. If I help Robby this summer, you have to make me a promise that we’ll be platonic. Don’t flirt, don’t sweet-talk me, don’t come near me with those lips.”

He stood, too. “Well, it’s not going to be easy, but given how hectic my life is right now, I shouldn’t be trying to start something with anyone.” Especially not the one woman who could bring him to his knees. Sometimes he thought the real reason he’d left Amanda was because he knew she would have left him if she knew the truth about him, and he wouldn’t have been able to survive that pain.

“So we have a deal?” she asked.

“A tough deal, but a deal.”

“Shake on it. Cowboy’s code means you can’t break it.”

He smiled and shook, mostly just to feel her hand against his, but inside he was sweating. Because he was already dreaming of breaking that code.

* * *

THE MONTANA MAVERICKS: What Happened to Beatrix?