Page 33 of Return of the Bad Girl (Rock Canyon, Idaho 4)

Bad decisions, like moving in with a guy you hardly know?

Caroline was still trying to wrap her head around that decision. Okay, yeah, things had been uncomfortable at Val’s, and she hadn’t been sleeping well, but she could have toughed it out. She’d slept in her car for months at a time; she could have handled a lumpy couch. But in a moment of weakness and frustration, she had said yes to living with a man she didn’t know. Who was even now chatting up a woman, probably to bring her back to the apartment they shared. Just the thought that she might have traded her sister’s sex noises for Gabe’s made her want to hit someone.

“Well, Ellie, ain’t you just as pretty as a picture,” Wayne Coulter said as he sidled up to her.

“Fuck off, Wayne,” Ellie said, checking her phone again.

“Now, that’s not very nice,” his brother, Walt, said, his gaze traveling slowly over Caroline.

Caroline remembered the Coulter brothers, although they were even older than she was and had continued to hang out at high school parties after they graduated. Even at her worst, she’d avoided them like the plague, trusting the instincts that told her they were bad news.

“Finally,” Ellie said, putting the phone to her ear and heading toward the door.

Was she going to take the call and leave, or would she be back? Caroline wasn’t sure, but having the Coulter brothers’ full attention was enough to tell her it was time to go, either way.

“Gentlemen,” Caroline said, starting to walk past them, only to be stopped by Wayne’s hand wrapped around her bicep.

“What’s your hurry?”

Caroline tried to shake off his arm, but he didn’t let go. “You have about two seconds to get your hands off me before I scream for Eric.”

Wayne dropped her arm. “Now, come on, I was just trying to be friendly.”

“Maybe you should try not being an asshole. I hear that works sometimes.”

Wayne’s face flushed. “You bitches think the sun rises and sets on your ass. Acting like a man oughta lick the mud from your boots before he even speaks to ya.”

“Not every man. Just you.”

“You’re gonna regret talking to me like that. You just wait.”

“Wayne, are you bothering this lady?” a friendly voice said at her elbow. “ ’Cause if I remember correctly, Eric told you if he caught you bothering any more of his patrons, you were going to have to find another place to drink.” Caroline turned to look up at her would-be savior, unable to place him.

“Fuck you, Stevens,” Wayne said before turning away from them and heading toward the door, with Walt close behind.

Caroline shook her head. “I can’t understand how women aren’t falli

ng all over themselves to get with them.”

“Maybe because they have taste?” the man said, his brown eyes shining as he grinned down at her. “Not sure if you remember me, but I’m Mike Stevens. We had English junior year with Mrs. Selk.”

Caroline remembered a skinny kid with Coke-bottle glasses and long hair who’d sat behind her named Mike, but this guy looked nothing like him. He was clean-cut, from the almost shaved head to the collared shirt and khakis.

“Mike. Right. You look good,” she said.

“You too.”

And he did look good. Taller than her with lean muscle and a nice smile. No tattoos or piercings in sight.

“So, what do you do for a living?” she asked.

“I own a computer repair shop on Oak Avenue.”

Self-employed and tech-savvy. A nice, stable guy.

“What about you?” he asked.

“I’m starting a consulting business. I’ve spent the last eleven years managing and flipping bars, but I wanted to come home. Instead of trying to buy and flip another bar here, I figured I could travel for work but still be home to spend time with my sisters.”