Page 6 of Falling for the Bad Boy

Oliver caught up to me. He leaned over, his palms on his thighs, his breath coming in huffs. “Sorry. Noticed it. But you’d gone.”

“Now what?” I pointed to where my scarf nestled in the treetop. “How am I going to get it down from there?” I’d done many things in my twenty-five years but never mastered the art of climbing a tree.

“One crisis at a time, eh?” Oliver stood, stretching to his full height. He’d seemed smaller behind the bar, not quite as large and intimidating.

I took a step back, suddenly aware that I was alone with the man on an isolated stretch of downtown sidewalk. Did he feel the same way as his boss about me taking over the building? Maybe I should have gotten on the bus and let the scarf go.

“Back in a flash.” He grabbed onto the tree and hoisted himself onto the lowest limb.

“What are you doing?” I looked up, already losing sight of him among the branches.

He poked his head out, at least thirty feet above the ground. My stomach churned seeing him so high up in the tree. Heights weren’t my thing. Give me a thirty-mile hike and I’d tackle that in one day. But put me a few feet above the ground and I was toast.

The scarf disappeared and a few moments later Oliver dropped to the sidewalk next to me.

“Here you go.” He handed me the scarf.

I clenched it in both hands. How could I have been so careless to forget it at the bar? “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” He tilted his head toward the direction of the bar. “Shall we?”

“Shall we what?”

“If I understood you correctly, you just missed your bus.”

I nodded. “That’s right.”

“Well, the least I can do is give you a ride. Let’s go.”

CHAPTER 3

Oliver

"You don't have to give me a ride, you know," Trinity said as she kept pace next to me.

"Of course I do." I glanced over. "This isn't the kind of place you want to be walking around alone."

She let out a laugh. "It's not even nine. I think I'll be okay."

She'd be smart to be worried. Even though I loved the bustle of the city, it still made me a little nervous to be surrounded by so many buildings, so many places for someone to hide. "Are you from around here?"

"Kind of."

"What does that mean?" In my experience, you either were or weren't. I’d been born and raised in the same spot, on the same farm that my father’s family had lived on for generations. Instead of tall brick buildings pressing down on me, I’d lived among wide open pastures. When I glanced toward the sky, I could see from one horizon to the other, not the tangles of power lines and streetlights that currently rose above me.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're nosy?" She squinted at me.

"Don't you think 'curious' is a better word?"

"If you say so." Trinity shrugged. "I grew up in Branford, a few towns over."

I shot her a smile. "That wasn't so painful now, was it?"

She met my grin with a dramatic roll of the eyes, reminding me again of my little sister. "My turn. Where are you from? Australia?"

Putting my hand to my heart, I mocked being offended. "Ouch, that hurts."

"Your accent. I don't recognize it."