Page 33 of Bad Girls Don't Marry Marines (Rock Canyon, Idaho 3)

JUSTIN SHRUGGED INTO his jacket, ready to enter into this hell of his own making. Had he really agreed to a whole weekend of awkward encounters with strange women for a girl who kept him guessing? One minute she was giving him that kiss-me-now look and the next she was pushing him away and running off.

He wasn’t sure what it was about Val, but he reverted back to an impulsive kid every time he got near her. He’d never been the type to jump a woman like he was sex-starved, but with Val, he couldn’t seem to control himself.

She wasn’t being exactly honest with herself or him, though. She’d kissed him back. If she didn’t want him, she would have kicked his ass.

Chuckling at the image of Val’s tiny fist knocking him out, he walked outside and locked his hotel room door. The first meet and greet started in fifteen minutes and he was hoping to bump into Val before hundreds of guys noticed her.

That’s a little stalkerish, don’t you think?

He heard the door next to his open and was surprised to find Val stepping out.

So that’s where that adjoining door leads.

This was just too perfect. For the next three days, he would be just one knock away from her.

If only he could be sure she’d open the door.

As if she felt his eyes on her, she looked his way. “You have got to be kidding me,” she said, putting her key in her pocket.

She was wearing gray knitted earmuffs and her long, straight hair pulled back from her face in a sassy ponytail. Around her neck was a soft wool scarf that hid the white skin of her neck from his view . . . and his lips. Her nose was already turning red from the cold and her jacket was too puffy for him to see the smooth lines of her body. And yet he still found her incredibly sexy.

Without another word, she started walking away from him.

“Wait,” he called.

She spun around and pushed aside her bangs, her expression irritable. “What?”

“Wanna walk over to the community center together?” he asked, watching her dark eyes narrow.

“Depends. Are you going to try to kiss me again?”

He wasn’t going to lie. “Probably.”

“Then no.”

“Hey,” he said, catching up to her as she started marching away again. “That kiss was not all one-sided. You kissed me back.”

“Doesn’t mean you can just run around town kissing people. Just because I laugh when someone tickles me doesn’t mean I like it.”

He jogged ahead of her, then walked backward so he could see her face. “Are you saying you want me to tickle you instead?”

She shook her head as she tried to pass him. “You think you’re so funny; that you’re still just as slick as you were at twenty.”

“Not at all. If anything, I’m reserved. Now, I usually get a girl’s name before I make out with her,” Justin teased as he caught up with her again. Val smothered a chuckle, and Justin liked the way she laughed, a husky sound that made him want to keep at it.

“Well, as long as you have restraint,” she said, pulling a map from her pocket. “Any idea where this place is?”

“Give it to me. I was a Boy Scout.” Justin took the map, ignoring her.

“Hey!”

He scanned it. “We can cut through the next alleyway and it’s on the corner.”

“Thanks, Garmin,” she said, taking back her map and putting it in her pocket. “Anyone ever told you you’re grabby?”

Oh, honey, you haven’t even seen grabby. “Only as the highest of compliments.”

“Yeah, sure.” As they rounded the corner, she stopped abruptly and said, “Look, I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but this thing with us, it stops now.”