Page 30 of Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell (Rock Canyon, Idaho 7)

Eric went over to his desk and pulled a copy of his manuscript out of the top drawer. “For the last year and a half, I’ve been working on a book.”

“Working on a book like…like you wrote a book?” She took the manuscript from him, and joked, “I didn’t know you could read, let alone write full sentences.”

“Ha-ha, such a funny girl.”

Eric waited for her to read the title, and when she flipped the page, her smile dropped from her face. Her forehead puckered, and she turned another. “What is this?”

“It’s my book.”

“Small Town Scandals? And why do you have Miss Know-It-All’s columns at the beginning…” She trailed off, her big green eyes swinging up to meet his. “You? You?”

“Me.”

* * *

Gracie’s heart beat like a war drum in her chest, and her skin pricked with adrenaline. Eric was Miss Know-It-All. He’d been writing about her, them, the whole town, for over a year, and…

He’d called her a man-eater, boy crazy, and insinuated that there was something wrong with her and that was why she couldn’t keep a man.

If Pip hadn’t been there, she’d have kneed him square in the balls.

Angrily, she went to the kitchen table to get her diaper bag.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Home, before I throttle you and traumatize Pip.”

“Hang on a second, I know you’re mad—”

“Mad?” She whirled on him, practically breathing fire as she hissed, “Why would I be mad? Because you poked fun and ridiculed me? Because you insinuated that I was a man-eating W-H-O-R-E?”

“I did not!”

“Maybe you didn’t come right out with it, but everyone could read between the lines, including me!” Her eyes welled up with tears against her will, and she dashed at her wet cheeks as they spilled over. “Was I really that awful? Do you really hate me so much that you wanted to humiliate me?”

Eric sighed and ran both hands over his shaved head. “If I’m being honest, there’ve been times when I’ve been thoroughly pissed at you, Gracie, but I only put you and me in the column because I had to include everyone. I had to make it so anyone could be a suspect, so that no one would realize that the town bartender everyone liked to spill their guts to was their very own gossip girl.”

“God, when I think of all the times I wanted to get five minutes alone with Miss Know-It-All just so I could give her a piece of my mind.” Gracie slapped the manuscript down on the table, and the sound made Pip jump. When the little girl stood up and toddled over to her, Gracie lifted her into her arms. “You know that once you publish this, even if you use a pen name, if anyone in town reads this, the truth is going to come out.”

“Actually, I plan on changing everything, including the title. No one ever has to know. Which is why I said we could help each other. You need a beard to get your parents off your back, and I need a cover for why I’m going to New York on New Year’s.”

Gracie kissed the top of Pip’s head, never taking her eyes off Eric. How in the hell could she never have guessed? The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind that Miss-Know-It-All could be a guy, let alone Eric.

“Why are you going to New York on New Year’s?” she asked.

“Because my publisher has invited me to their New Year’s party to meet the people I’ll be working with for the next year or more.”

She scoffed. “You don’t need me! No one’s going to question you going out of town for New Year’s.”

“A small-town guy like me, who’s never gone anywhere, suddenly gets the urge to take off to the big city?” Eric crossed his arms over his chest. “You tell me if my mom’s going to believe I’ve suddenly gotten the urge to wander.”

Gracie had started to calm down as he talked. “You might be right about that.”

“But, if my new girlfriend wants to take a spontaneous trip to New York, it isn’t so strange that I’d want to go with you.”

Gracie nodded, n

ot really agreeing with his logic, but then she couldn’t argue with it. It was the perfect cover.