Hot Winter Nights. Debbi Rawlins

than getting to see her, he wasn’t looking forward to this bullshit. He would have rather paid for her to stay somewhere nicer, but he knew she wouldn’t have accepted the offer.

      He still hadn’t made sense of her involvement with the film and why she’d invested her own money. She’d really confused him.

      Thinking he saw her walking with Erin near the corrals, he straightened. Yep, it was her. His heart kicked into high gear. He paused long enough for a final inspection of his good boots, then he got out of the truck.

      Lila spotted him right away. She waved, said something to Erin and the two of them veered toward him. He started walking to meet up with them, enjoying the snug fit of Lila’s jeans and the curve-hugging sweater that showed off a lot more than yesterday’s sweatshirt.

      A good four yards away, Lila stopped and gaped at him.

      “Something wrong?” he asked, and did a quick fly-check.

      “What happened?”

      Erin was shaking her head, not bothering to hide her amusement.

      Clint loosened his collar. Damn shirt was a little stiff. “What do you mean?”

      Lila advanced slowly. “You’re not supposed to look like this,” she said, eyeing his jeans, his boots before glancing up and sighing. “You shaved. Why would you do that?”

      Yes, Erin was her friend, but Clint looked to her for help, anyway.

      Erin smiled. “Yesterday you wore faded jeans, scuffed boots. I don’t remember the shirt—”

      “Yeah, I was working.” He swung a gaze at Lila. She was still frowning.

      “Anyway,” Erin continued. “That rugged, unshaven, hard-riding cowboy look you had going on? That’s what Jason wanted.”