Page 36 of Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell (Rock Canyon, Idaho 7)

Eric sighed, the movement lifting her face up with the motion of his hard chest. She didn’t want to think about the few times she’d seen him shirtless and sexy as hell. That wasn’t what this arrangement was supposed to be about. She was already crossing the line tonight asking him to stay. Thinking about him in a smutty context was a big, fat no-no.

“At first, I think, it was just for fun. I would go home and write a biting paragraph or two about something I’d seen or heard. Then I bumped into Jim one day, and he said that the newspaper was having some trouble. I asked him if he’d ever considered taking on some racier columns, and he asked what I had in mind. That night, I sent him a column I wrote about Walt and Wayne falling ass over tea kettle and knocking themselves out. He said he’d laughed so hard, he almost choked. He agreed we’d try it out once and see how the town reacted.”

“And everyone went nuts for it,” Gracie said.

“Yeah, they did. It kept getting bigger and bigger. I helped Jim get the paper online, but they couldn’t get to the column without the secret password found in the print paper.”

“That was actually pretty genius, you know.”

She sensed his movement and heard the smile in his voice. “Did you just pay me a compliment?”

“Actually, it may have been a mini stroke. I think I threw up a bit.”

“Ah, that makes more sense.”

“Please, continue.”

“After that, I set up an email account and tip line and was shocked by how many pictures and tidbits came in. I started picking and choosing…”

“And you chose incidents between us a lot.”

Eric didn’t respond right away, and she wondered if he felt guilty for trashing her. “I actually got requests for gossip about us.”

Gracie’s head shot up. “Say what?”

“Yeah. People were actually rooting for us. They thought we were star-crossed lovers or some shit like that. We always sold more papers if word got around we were in it.”

“The folks in this town need to get a life. Star-crossed lovers. Blegh.”

She saw his grin flash in the dark. “For a woman bent on matchmaking everyone else, you really seem to lack a romantic side.”

It was true that she’d had a hand in more than a few of her friend’s love lives, but she didn’t get insanely invested. “I just think it’s ridiculous that someone would get so caught up in other people’s relationships. Are they really so bored that they have to be all up in everyone else’s business?”

Eric laughed. “Oh, come on. You can’t tell me that when the column wasn’t about us, you didn’t gobble it up like pie on Thanksgiving?”

“Pshaw, please. I mind my own—”

“Gemma and Travis. Ryan and Gregg. Callie and Everett—”

“Okay, okay, point taken.” She grunted as she laid her head back down and admitted grudgingly, “I may have enjoyed your column every once in a while.”

“Ah-ha! I knew it!”

She poked him in his ribs. “Doesn’t mean I forgive you for insinuating I sleep around.”

“I did not! I only said that you date a lot of guys.”

“Which people think means sleep with.”

“I can’t control what people think. And name one guy in this town, ages twenty-eight to thirty-five, that you haven’t been out with at least once.”

“That’s easy. I can name lots. Travis, Chase, Gabe—”

“Fine, but it’s no secret that you usually have a date every weekend and no guy sticks around too long.”

The conversation was slowly bringing her temper to the surface. “Women are allowed to date, and even have sex before marriage.”

“I’m just saying, instead of dating these pretty boy idiots, maybe you should just stay single until you find someone you really like.”