Read Online Crack the Whip by Desiree Holt - Free Book Online Page B

“As a matter of fact, I was. Do you have time for a cup of coffee? Maybe things will be a little easier between us this time.”
    Smooth, Halliday. Real smooth.
    But he looked in her eyes again and what he saw encouraged him. That was interest, right?
    “Coffee would be nice. Just let me check on a few things first, and I’ll meet you in the lounge.”
    By the time she joined him at the table, he’d rehearsed what he wanted to say at least ten times and forgotten everything. He rose when she approached, sitting when she did and pouring coffee for her. Silence descended while they stared at each other.
    Get moving, asshole.
    “I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot the other night,” he said, watching her reaction. “I want to apologize for my attitude.”
    Her eyes widened. “Apologize? Reece Halliday apologizing?” A smile played at the corner of her lips.
    “Okay, okay.” His voice was gruff. “So maybe I could have been a little less…” He searched for a word. “Arrogant?” Yes.
    It was a smile. “Conceited? Egotistical?”
    The smile widened. Maybe this wouldn’t be quite as impossible as he thought. God, he hoped not.
    He nodded solemnly. “All that. So should I get on my knees?”
    Now she actually laughed, and it seemed to break the tension between them. “I think this is the wrong place to ask me that. Let’s just talk and see how it goes.”
    “Fair enough.” He swallowed his sigh of relief. He wanted to tell her he knew she’d been at the spyhole, but the words just wouldn’t come. “Clint tells me you’re doing a great job,”
    he said at last, a lame opening gambit.
    She smiled. “Thank you. He makes it very easy for me.
    And the club is set up to exclude troublemakers.”
    Reece nodded. “Before we opened Rawhide we designed the process for memberships and guest passes to eliminate the very possibility.”
    “It’s a nice club, Reece.” She sipped her coffee. “I enjoy working here.”
    Silence hovered between them.
    “How have you…”
    “Have you…”
    They both spoke at once, grinned half-embarrassed.
    “You first,” he told her.
    “I just wanted to ask how you’ve been all these years,”
    she said. “You look well.”
    I’ve been missing you like crazy and not even realizing it.
    He studied her for a long moment. “And you look more gorgeous than ever.”
    He was rewarded by the blush that crept up her cheeks.
    Then her lips curved into a tiny smile and her teeth caught at her lower lip in a gesture all too familiar. Despite the fact he’d ejaculated copious amounts less than fifteen minutes earlier, his cock hardened at once and strained against his fly.
    “Thank you.” She picked up her cup again.
    Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
    “Katie,” he said. “I’d like it if we could get past this awkwardness. I know it’s there. So do you. When we…broke up…there were a lot of bad feelings between us.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to object. “All on me. I freely admit it. But I’d like to correct that.” Would she tell him now that she’d been watching him? No, that wasn’t her style.
    Or was it? God, he was so fucking confused.
    She set her cup down carefully in the saucer and looked directly at him. “Exactly how do you plan to go about it?”
    Until that moment he hadn’t been sure but an idea popped into his brain. Now he just had to sell her on it.
    “Rawhide is closed on Sundays. How about coming out to the ranch? I’ll get Josefina to pack us a basket. We can take a ride, have a little picnic.”
    Katie slid her delicate finger around the rim of the cup.
    And around again. Not looking at him. “Oh, Reece. So much time has passed and I’m…”
    “You’re what, Katydid?”
    He watched her blush again at his use of the nickname.
    “I just don’t think we can recapture what we had.”
    His gut tightened. He didn’t want what they’d had. He wanted what she’d seen him do with India when she watched tonight. He