Page 38 of Bad For Me (Rock Canyon, Idaho 5)

“I understand having demons, Callie. I think if you let me inside your walls, we could help each other.”

Everett didn’t wait for her but dropped his hand and kept climbing. If she wanted to let her fears control her, he wouldn’t push. He could feel something pulsing between them, something warm and incredible, but if she didn’t want to let him in enough to find out what it meant, that was on her.

The sound of feet and paws behind him let him know Callie and Ratchet were moving too, but it took a few seconds to realize the sounds were getting closer, not farther away. Smiling to himself, he continued on through the trees, hope flaring to life in his chest with every step.

When the grove of trees opened up, he stopped. “We made it.”

He sensed her beside him and turned to watch her face light up as her amber eyes swept over the view. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

THE VIEW WAS spectacular, just like he’d said it would be. Green and gold squares showed where farm fields met, and there were patches of trees scattered about. To Callie’s right, the Sawtooth Mountains rose up like slate-gray arrowheads, clouds drifting across their peaks. The sky was robin’s-egg blue with puffs of white clouds drifting past, and to the s

outh, she could see the dark gray of distant thunderheads making shadows across the land below.

“You were right,” she said, with awe making her voice soft. “This was worth the climb.”

Everett sat down and patted the spot beside him. “Have a seat. Take it in.”

Despite everything she had said to him, he still wanted her around. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” he asked, staring out.

“Everything. Snapping at you, accusing you of stalking me, pushing you away—”

“Before you get too carried away, I think we’ve both apologized enough, don’t you?” Everett took his hat off. “Besides, I get accused of stalking women at least three times a day, so it’s really no big deal.”

“Shut up,” she said, laughing as she sat down next to him. The minute she did, Ratchet tried to crawl onto her lap. “No, you are too big to be a lap dog.” Finally giving up the fight, she let him lay his front legs and chin across her.

“He’s a good-looking dog,” Everett said, holding out his hand. Ratchet lifted his nose to sniff the digits, and then lay back down again.

“Thanks,” Callie said, rubbing her dog’s soft ears. “He thinks he’s a cat, though.”

“How’s that?”

“He rubs his head on me like he’s scenting me,” Callie said. Her lips twitched as she warmed to the subject. She loved talking about Ratchet’s antics. “Especially when my hair is wet. If you think my hair is scary now, you should see it after he tackles me and gets it all tangled.”

“I like your hair.” Everett reached out to finger a curl that had escaped from her ponytail.

Callie’s heart stuttered as their gazes clashed. “It’s a mess. I can’t even straighten it.”

“So, don’t.” He tucked the curl behind her ear, his fingers lingering there, and whispered, “Curls are sexier anyway.”

The pit of her stomach flipped over at his warm tone and words. “I’m not trying to be sexy.”

“You don’t have to try,” he said, leaning toward her. “You just are.”

Callie closed her eyes as Everett’s lips brushed hers, softly searching, and she sighed. “Everett . . . ”

“Mmmm?”

She forgot her protest as his tongue snaked out and ran along her bottom lip, making her shiver. Callie felt Ratchet move before Everett had a chance to deepen the kiss, and she opened her eyes to find him standing with his head between them, nose-to-nose with Everett.

“If I tell your dog I don’t want a kiss, is he going to take the rest of my face off?”

“Ratchet, it’s okay.” She patted the dog’s side and finally pulled him back by his collar. He moved reluctantly until she was able to cup his face in her hands and smush his cheeks.

“Are you jealous, or did you think he was hurting me?”