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Chapter One

The Mountain Pass Bar and Grill was hopping like frogs duringseason It was early summer and past ski season, but the little town of Clyde stilltowns Not to ht when all the residents of Clyde decided to let their hair down and imbibe a little Callie Colter slid another drink down the bar to a waiting customer then loaded up her waitress’s tray with a round of draft beers and sent her back into the crowd

Taking advantage of the ainst the counter and surveyed the mass of people packed into The Mountain Pass The live band pounded out a raucous country song that had the dance floor filled to capacity with people line dancing A skill Callie had never felt it necessary to learn Nor had she the ability She had the rhyth

And really, the whole line-dancing thing? She was still scarred froe Strait movie—courtesy of her brothers

Her mother swore Callie was the cosmopolitan one in the family Callie had been all over the world, but the reality was she was a homebody at heart and there was no better place than the sanctuary of her family—as oddball as it was

And so here she was, licking her wounds and brooding about assholewhen you considered she had three—yes three—fathers and three brothers, and none of the biased It didn’t mean the rest of the h

She reached down to wipe her hands on the towel hanging frolanced up to see the dru five She nodded and set about getting the band members a round of beer

“Hello, Callie ”

The husky voice whispered over her ears and sent chill bumps down her neck She froze, her hand still on the tap

It couldn’t be No way Max was here in her little town, in Dillon’s bar

She yanked her hand back and shen beer foalass Then she whipped her head up, sure she’d iined that voice

A pair of hunter green eyes fringed by a set of dark lashes that would ly back at her She stared, antly across the bar like he expected her to fall at his feet or squeal in delight to see him

It would be a cold day in hell before she’d do either

She narrowed her eyes, and he otten some hint of the welcome he was about to receive because he held a hand up as if to ward her off

“We need to talk, Callie ”

“Bullshit ”

His eyes widened in surprise She leaned forward and crooked her finger for hi her warily, he bent toward her and looked like he was about to speak again

She balled her fist and swung as hard as she could His head snapped back, and pain exploded in her fingers

He grabbed at his jaw and staggered back “Son of a bitch! Goddaive me a chance to explain ”

“You’ve got two seconds to get the hell out ofthe cops And did I mention that my brother’s the sheriff?”

Carl, her bouncer, thrust his huge body between Max and the bar, blocking Callie’s view “You heard the lady Beat it ”