The Reluctant Bride (Montana Born Brides) by Katherine Garbera Page A

him.
    “ I know. My dad used to say I was too busy trying to do everything to enjoy where I was. He also had to bail me out more than once when I got cold feet after the fact.”
    “ Was he right?” he asked.
    “ Probably. I don’t really know.”
    “ Hello, Monty. Risa, you look good tonight,” Annie said, as she placed the laminated menus in front of them.
    “ Thanks,” Risa responded, blushing a little.
    “ I asked her to get dressed up tonight so we could recreate our first date,” Monty said.
    “ Aw, that’s sweet,” Annie said. “I’ll leave you two to look at the menus.”
    Risa leaned forward, staring him straight in the eyes. “Thank you.”
    “ For?”
    “ Still being my hero. You didn’t have to say that. I could have—”
    “ Turned redder than the leather seat cushion?” Monty asked. “Listen, Ri, it’s okay for you and me to see each other’s battle wounds, but the rest of the world doesn’t need to know.”
    She took his hand in hers and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. Her touch sent sparks tingling up his arm and his blood felt like it was flowing heavier in his veins. She made him feel alive and excited. Life with Risa was never just mundane stuff. Even dinner was something with sparkle.
    And he realized that was exactly what he needed.
    Going completely silent on her was the best thing he could have done, because it had forced them both to really take a hard look at where they were and if they wanted to still be together.
    “ Do you still want to be my fiancé?” she asked.
    “ Are you asking me to marry you?” he countered. With Risa he had to always be on his toes.
    “ I might be.”
    “ It doesn’t work that way,” he reminded her. “The one doing the asking has to be totally vulnerable and bare their heart and soul.”
    “ Wow, you don’t ask for much, do you?”
    “ It’s nothing less than I’ve already given you,” he said.
    “ Do I still have your heart and soul?” she asked.
    She ’d turned the tables on him again and he knew that he had a choice to make. He could either keep running, which would no doubt make her set off again, or he could take a stand and face whatever came next.
    And running had never suited him anyway, so he took a deep breath, slid out of the booth and went down on one knee.
    “You do. Risa Grant, will you marry me?”

    Risa looked down at Monty and remembered clearly the last time he ’d been on his knee in front of the fountains at the Bellagio. They’d come from a five-star restaurant and show. The evening had been romance and luxury personified, and she’d felt so filled with excitement that saying no hadn’t even entered her mind.
    But this time the reality of pledging her life to another person ’s filled her. She knew she couldn’t say yes and then hesitate again. And, to be honest, she didn’t want to back away. She wanted Monty. She’d missed him so much these last three weeks.
    “ Woman, I need an answer,” he said.
    She realized his friends and, frankly, everyone else in the diner were staring at them. She stood up and pulled him to his feet.
    “ Yes, I will marry you,” she said, looking up into his face. She saw the seriousness of his expression and, once again, he’d surprised her by taking a risk that she wouldn’t have.
    She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him. There wasn’t time for the passion that she wanted to share with him, but instead she just let their mouths brush and then stepped back. Monty reached into his pocket and took out the ring she’d given back to him. She slipped it on to her finger.
    “ Let’s keep it there this time,” he said.
    “ Yes.”
    “ Congratulations, man,” Lane Scott said, coming over to join them.
    Lane had thick blond hair and the same rock-steady look in his eyes that Monty had. He moved with ease and if she hadn’t known that he was a double amputee she wouldn’t have guessed it. He looked normal—gawd, she knew how that sounded, but he seemed like