Page 64 of Return of the Bad Girl (Rock Canyon, Idaho 4)

“What the hell is her problem?” Val asked, rubbing her chest where Ellie had bumped her.

“She’s a Willis; we’ve never been very good at taking advice.”

GABE HAD BEEN stewing for hours at the apartment, waiting for Caroline to get home. Despite all the warning signs that getting involved with her would lead to disaster, he hadn’t been able to stop once they’d started, and sure enough, it had ended with him pissing her off.

That hadn’t been his intention, of course. He’d been nervous as hell, as hard as it was to believe, and when he got nervous, he said stupid shit. He just hadn’t wanted her to read too much into his reaction to their sexcapade—which had been fucking mind-blowing. He’d been reduced to a sixteen-year-old kid, shocked as hell that the hottest girl he knew wanted to “do it,” and he’d embarrassed himself. For a minute there, when their gazes had met as he slid into her, he’d thought there was a connection. Something more than sex, more than just lust. As if their souls had recognized one another.

Something was wrong with him, that was for damn sure. Flowery thoughts and obsessing over a woman just wasn’t his style.

Still, he’d wanted to give her time to calm down, so hopefully they could have a reasonable conversation. He hadn’t been prepared to walk into a disaster zone.

The formula bottles for the kittens had been left on the counter without even being rinsed out. Clothes were littered across the bathroom floor, and her towel was thrown across the back of the couch.

So, she was in a hurry. You aren’t exactly Mr. Clean when you’re rushed.

Heading over to the fridge, he’d opened it and reached in, wanting to sit down with a cold beer while he tried to find something to watch.

Only there was no beer.

There had been one can last night when he’d gone to bed, and he hadn’t been home at all today. Which meant Caroline had come in here and taken his last beer, just to be spiteful.

Maybe she planned to pick up more on her way home.

It was almost nine, though, so he wasn’t holding his breath.

A knock at the door interrupted his dark thoughts. Who the hell would come calling at nine o’clock on a Sunday? He pulled open the door and found a pale blond guy standing on the porch. The guy seemed surprised to see him.

“I’m looking for Caroline.”

“She’s not here,” Gabe said gruffly, eyeing the blue suit the guy was sporting. It looked expensive, but then again, the last suit he’d worn had been a rental, so what did he know?

“Will you just let her know that Kyle came by?”

There was something about the guy Gabe didn’t like, and it wasn’t just that he looked slicker than snot.

“Sure, Skip, when she gets home, that’s the first thing I’ll do.”

Ole Kyle didn’t like that. “It’s important.”

“I’m sure it is, but I gotta ask, if you need to see her so bad, why don’t you just give her a call?”

That made Kyle angry, if the deep red of his skin was any indication. “I lost her number.”

“Well, that sounds like a personal problem, Kyle,” Gabe said and started to shut the door.

“Kyle?” Caroline’s voice sounded from the bottom of the stairs.

Gabe opened the door again as Kyle turned toward her.

“Caroline. I was hoping we could talk.”

Caroline paled for a half second before Kyle started down the stairs, and every muscle in Gabe’s body tensed.

This is the guy.

Gabe came out the door with a vengeance and grabbed Kyle by the back of the jacket. There was no way he was letting the fucker take one more step toward Caroline.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Kyle shouted as he tried to shake Gabe’s grip. Gabe let Kyle’s jacket go long enough to allow Kyle to turn around and face him. “I’ll sue—”