Page 10 of Bad For Me (Rock Canyon, Idaho 5)

Pounding feet alerted him to someone coming down the trail, and Everett looked up to find the woman of his thoughts jogging toward him. He could tell it was her by the blonde curls swaying as she moved and, of course, the giant dog loping beside her. As she drew closer, he noticed the loose T-shirt and sweats she wore, making her nearly shapeless. Her face was

shiny with sweat, and her cheeks were flushed.

Just then her dog barked—actually, barked was too mild for the deep sonic boom that came out of the beast’s muzzle.

Everett waved. “Hey, there.”

“Hey,” Callie said as she and the dog came to a stop. She removed her ear buds before asking, “What are you doing?”

“Hiking. I thought I was the only one who used this trail.”

“No, I come down here often.”

“Me too. I was trying to get down to the river, but I need to clear out the path.” Everett took his pack off and began to reach in for an extra bottle of water. “Want a water?”

“Thanks, I’m covered.” She held up the bottle already in her hand before popping it open to drink.

Everett’s cock hardened without warning as he watched her place the mouth of the water bottle to her lips, the muscles of her throat working as she drank. Droplets of water rolled down her chin, and when she finished drinking, she held the bottle against her forehead and neck. Suddenly, he wanted to be the one trailing the bottle over her skin.

The erotic scene playing out in his head made his erection worse, and Everett shifted his pack in front of him. What the hell was wrong with him?

“So why did you want to go down to the river?” she asked.

“There’s this place I like to go and relax. It’s on a huge, flat rock overlooking the Snake River. It’s just been one of those days, you know?”

“I’m having one of those days too,” she said.

“I’m sorry. I hope my assault on your paper didn’t affect it.” He watched her lips twitch and hope flared inside him. That was pretty damn close to a smile.

“No, and thank you again for the replacement. Most people wouldn’t have bothered.”

“Maybe not, but it was my pleasure,” he said.

“What’s with the piece?” She waved her water bottle toward his thigh where his Glock was holstered.

“It’s just in case I run into a bear or cougar. I don’t need any more scars jacking up my pretty face.”

“I see. I’m actually a little surprised to see you again today. We’ve lived in the same place for five years and never crossed paths before.”

“Maybe it’s fate.”

She didn’t look amused; she looked downright suspicious. “I don’t believe in fate.”

“Well, I don’t have any other way to explain it. I’ve been using this trail since I was a kid, and aside from the good-weather months, I hardly bump into anyone out here.”

He hadn’t meant to come off as defensive, but he got the feeling she was accusing him of something, and he didn’t like it.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have implied anything. I usually run earlier, but I had somewhere to be today, and . . . well, I’m sorry.”

Everett let it go but couldn’t ignore the questions that Callie’s suspicion raised about her and her past.

“Well, we’re going to keep going,” Callie said, putting one of her ear buds back in.

“Be careful out here, especially at dusk.”

“That’s sweet, but I’ll be fine.”

Everett started to open his mouth to argue but changed his mind. “Have a nice day.”