Page 35 of Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell (Rock Canyon, Idaho 7)

He stared up at the white, lacy canopy and felt her turn and inch closer to him. Without asking permission, he reached out an arm and pulled her against his side, running his hand over her back. She clicked off the light on her bedside table and snuggled close to him. He could still feel silent tears wetting his T-shirt, but other than her quiet sniffles, it was silent.

“Can you talk to me?” Her voice sounded sad and garbled.

“What do you want me to talk about?”

She took a deep breath, her breasts pushing against his side, and he gritted his teeth as his erection grew.

“Anything. Everything. I don’t care, as long as I’m distracted.”

What he needed to think about was boring sports stats or something disgusting to draw attention away from how soft her body was against him. But the need to cheer her up outweighed his own discomfort.

“All right. Remember when you and Gemma snuck into Buck’s to see Travis’s gig?”

He felt her lift her head up, but didn’t dare look at her. Even in the dark, he knew every curve to her face, and he did not need the aggravation.

“Yeah, when we were eighteen, and you kicked us out about ten minutes after they finished? That the gig you’re talking about?”

He smiled in the dark at her snarky tone. “That’s the one. When you ordered that beer with your fake ID, it was actually a nonalcoholic beer.”

Several seconds ticked by before she choked out a laugh. ?

??God, that’s awesome. I guess I can’t blame making out with Joey Turner later that night as bad judgment brought on by alcohol.”

Well, if that didn’t dim his excitement just a hair… “Joey Turner is a pussy.”

“Yeah, I know. I had to make the first move and—”

“I don’t want to hear about any of the guys you’ve hooked up with, okay?”

“Why? It’s not like you really cared. You thought I was an annoying kid.”

He scoffed. “That’s bullshit. You knew what you did to me, coming by and flirting with me. You were too damn sexy for your own good. I had a hard time keeping my hands off your barely legal body.”

Gracie had started tracing hearts on his chest. “Really? You thought I was sexy?”

“Still do. Infantile pajamas and all.”

She hit him in the stomach and countered, “They are warm and comfortable.”

He grunted and grabbed her hand, holding it to his chest. “They are pink with monkeys on them.”

“I like monkeys.”

“So do two-year-olds.”

She stiffened, and he wished he could call it back. He was sure any second she was going to kick him out and then…

“Tell me about being Miss Know-It-All.”

Chapter Twelve

“Why is it people always ask questions they know they won’t like the answer to? It’s as though they forget the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for.” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.

Gracie didn’t know why she’d brought that up, especially when she’d asked him to stay to make her feel better. Asking about his life as her nemesis…well, her other nemesis if she was counting Eric himself, seemed counterproductive to what she wanted.

“If it’s just going to piss you off…”

Gracie laid her head on his chest as if to prove how chill she was with his alter ego. “No, it won’t. I really want to understand why you decided to take on the guise of a woman in order to report about the goings-on of our idyllic little town.”