Return of the Bad Girl (17 page)

“When your issues follow you home and assault you in the alley below our apartment, it becomes my business.”

She bent over and picked up the kittens’ box. “It’s going to be better for both of us if you stay out of it, okay? Besides, aren’t you the guy who said you’re not a hero?”

Chapter Fourteen

“What’s the point of living in a small town if you can’t get up in someone else’s business every once in a while?”

—Miss Know It All

G
ABE WALKED OUT
of Honey’s assisted-living facility, carrying the painting she had made for his new place in his hands. He’d grabbed a protective bike bag to transport it home, once Sharla had given him the heads up. Honey had been in a good spot today, almost like her old self, asking him about his motorcycle and what girls he was interested in.

It was a good day when she remembered nothing of the accident and still looked at him with hero worship in her eyes.

He usually called before heading up for a visit, but he had needed to get out of the house this weekend. Since he’d started asking questions of Caroline about the man who’d assaulted her last week, she had been avoiding him like the plague.

And he’d made it easy for her. Not because he didn’t want to see her, but because of the emotions her attack had stirred in him. He’d wanted to wrap her up and keep her close, to never let her out of his sight.

Too bad he hadn’t gotten a good look at the fucker. Whoever he was, Caroline was clearly scared of him. Holding her in his arms, he could still remember the way she’d trembled. Caroline was a strong woman, and to see her so vulnerable made him want to tear someone apart.

By the time he parked on the street two hours later, it was close to five thirty. He had planned to stop by Chase’s tattoo shop to go over the logo design for Moriarty’s Custom Bikes, but feeling grimy, he climbed off the bike and pulled out the painting. He would hang it and then get cleaned up.

Gabe walked through the alleyway and took the stairs two at a time. The draw of a hot shower was so exciting, he pushed open the door too quickly and hit the wall behind with the knob.

“Crap, what are you doing?” Caroline yelled as she came around the corner. “I do not want to pay a massive bill at the end of this lease because you come through the door like the Incredible Hulk.”

Gabe didn’t say a word; he simply stared at her as he set the painting down gently against the wall. She looked good all the time—she had been a knockout in that black dress at Buck’s—but tonight . . .

Tonight, she was like a damn siren in a pair of fuck-me heels.

Her long dark hair was swept back and to the side, her brown eyes surrounded by smudgy black eye shadow. Her lush lips looked wet, and it gave him all kinds of ideas of how they’d feel, kissing their way along his body and around a certain part of his anatomy that was suddenly standing at full attention. The dress she had on was royal purple with a light shimmer to it, the heart-shaped neckline creating a deep
V
of cleavage that made his hands eager to squeeze and test the weight of her breasts. And then there were her shapely legs, sliding down into leopard-print heels. Leave-them-on-while-you-screw-me heels.

He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and carry her back to his room, where he’d strip her out of everything
but
those shoes.

Suddenly, it occurred to him she wasn’t dressing for
his
benefit, and his jaw clenched. It was hard to deny the sudden urge to pound whoever she’d had in mind when she’d dolled herself up, and he knew it was unreasonable. He had no right to be jealous; she was a free agent who could go out with whomever.

He didn’t have to like it, though.

“Where the hell are you going, dressed like that?”

Well, if her pissed-off look meant anything,
that
had been the wrong thing to say. “I have a part in a Bond movie.”

“It’s forty degrees outside,” he said, trying to gentle his tone and be the voice of reason.

“So?” she said, eyeballing him like he’d lost his damn mind. “I’ve got a jacket.”

“Your tits are going to pop out of that dress if you bend over.”

“Gabe,” she said as she pulled her jacket off the back of the couch, “when you can manage to put your dishes in the dishwasher without leaving food on them, I might take your advice. No, wait, why would I ever take your advice on fashion? You’re idea of style is a T-shirt and jeans.”

He ignored her passive-aggressive criticism. Damn, he liked the way she said his name. He’d like it even better in another, more sultry tone, but he’d take what he could get.

Wait . . . When had he started wanting anything from Caroline?

She was heading right for him, probably so she could escape out the front door, but he was having none of that. Stepping into her path, Gabe asked again, “Well, you have to admit, your girls are popping up and saying howdy in the friendliest way I’ve seen yet.”

“Well, they aren’t saying howdy to you,” she said, moving to his right.

Grinning, he side-stepped with her. “Then who are they saying howdy to?”

Caroline let out an exasperated breath. “Are you trying to irritate me?”

“I didn’t know I had to try. I thought you just woke up, and the annoyance was there.”

“Oh, no, some mornings I wake up thinking,
I must’ve imagined it. He can’t be that bad.
And then I see you, and it all comes flooding back like a drunken night of idiocy.” When she tapped his chest with a long, glittery purple nail, he resisted the urge to grab it and nibble the tip. “Only it’s not
my
idiocy I’m remembering.”

When she tried to out maneuver him again, he caught her around the waist and said, “Speaking of idiots, who’s your hot date?”

“How do you know I’m going on a date?”

“ ’Cause a woman doesn’t dress like that unless she’s trolling for a man or going out with one,” Gabe said.

“You don’t know him,” she said, struggling against him.

“What kind of man asks a woman like you out and doesn’t even bother to come to the door?”

“He’s coming to the door. I just didn’t want the first thing he sees to be you,” she snapped.

“Why? I’ll be nice to him,” Gabe said.

“Would you let go? He’s going to be here any minute, and you’re wrinkling my dress!”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Caroline pushed him away. Gabe leaned back against the couch and waited as she opened the door.

“Hey, Mike,” she said to the guy on the porch.

“Wow, you look amazing,” the unknown guy said.

Gabe’s good humor fled. Heat curled in his stomach, easing out into his limbs until he wanted to punch someone, most of all the faceless guy in his doorway.

That churning in your gut feels a lot like jealousy.

Stepping up alongside Caroline, Gabe leaned his arm on the doorframe and gave the man on the porch his best “don’t fuck with me” glare. “Hey, Mike. I’m Gabe.”

The guy was average height with brown eyes and short dark hair, and instead of being intimidated, he stuck his hand out with a smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You have?” Gabe asked suspiciously, looking down at Caroline.

“Don’t look at me. I avoid talking about you.”

“Actually, Travis told me about you, that you make custom motorcycles. I was thinking I’d come by your shop and see what you can come up with for me.”

The guy was lethal; Gabe would give him that. He’d charmed and disarmed him in five seconds flat. Taking Mike’s still-outstretched hand, he said, “I’m by appointment only until I get all the equipment moved in, but you can usually get me on my cell.”

The two of them exchanged numbers, and as he slipped his phone back into his pocket, Gabe caught Caroline’s irritable expression.

“What?”

“Do you think my date and I can leave now?” she asked.

“Sure, take him. Get him out of here,” Gabe said, but as they started down the stairs, he saw Mike’s hand move to the small of her back.

Gabe knew what she felt like, right there at the curve of her back, and he didn’t want any other man’s hands on her, even if that man seemed like an okay guy. Then Gabe realized he was halfway down the stairs, ready to remove Mike’s arm from the socket if he didn’t stop touching her, and froze.

Caroline turned a few steps down and looked up at him. She must have heard his footsteps or felt the vibration. “Was there something else, Gabe?”

Damn, there was his name again, but this time it had been spoken softly. Their eyes met, and he wanted to close the distance and claim her.

“I just wanted to know if you need me to feed the vermin.”

The small smile she gave him unnerved him and made him feel like a kid, trying to please his teacher by asking for extra credit. “Only if they cry. I just fed them half an hour ago.”

“All right, then,” he said, searching for something else to say. As they started climbing down again, he called out, “Hey, Mike?”

“Yeah?” Mike said from the bottom, holding his hand out for Caroline. When she slipped hers into his, Gabe almost growled.

“Treat her with respect,” he said.

“Of course, I—”

“If you don’t, I’ll chain you to the back of my bike and drag you behind me until your own mother wouldn’t recognize you.”

Mike’s jaw dropped, and Caroline scowled. “I have a father,” she said. “I don’t need you—”

“Have a good time, princess,” he said, cutting off her rant.

She flipped him the bird behind Mike’s back before they walked out of sight, and he chuckled until he realized he was hanging out at home on a Saturday night. Alone. There was no way he could sit around the apartment all night, waiting for Caroline to come home.

After his shower, he’d hang up the painting and head out somewhere. Maybe he’d check out Twin Falls nightlife. But as he stepped back inside, he heard a distinct scratching noise coming from Caroline’s room. Inside, he found the little gray tabby, Googlie, hanging over the side of his box. Caroline had named him Googlie for his big, googly eyes, and Gabe had to admit that the name fit.

“What are you doing, buddy?”

The kitten meowed in response, and Gabe padded over to pick up the fluff ball. Peeking over the edge of the box, he saw that Possum, the little cream-colored kitten, was looking up at him, as if gauging the distance needed to jump.

“I guess your mom doesn’t know what she’s talking about, huh?” Scooping up the second kitten, he held them both against his chest, their little purrs vibrating his hands. Stroking their fur with his thumbs, he carried them into the bathroom with him, let the kittens down on the floor, and turned on the shower.

Googlie started to meow loudly, and he bent over to pick up the fuzz butt. “Listen, dude, I’m going to let you chill in here with me while I shower, and if you’re cool, I’ll let you watch some Dwayne Johnson with me. Sound good?”

Gabe felt the kittens purr and shook his head. He’d officially lost his mind if he was talking to a couple of cats.

“A
M
I
PUTTING
you to sleep over there?”

Caroline jerked as Mike’s words penetrated her wandering thoughts. “I’m so sorry. I think the wine might be getting to me. What were you saying?”

Mike chuckled. “It’s all right. I don’t really find motherboards all that interesting anyway.”

Was that really what he was talking about on a first date? Geez, no wonder you were thinking of something else.

Or someone, to be exact.

“So, tell me more about you. You’re the one who has moved around and worked in exciting places. You must have stories,” Mike said.

Stories? Oh yeah, she had stories, but not the first-date kind. She really didn’t think a guy like Mike wanted to hear about the first year she spent away from home, how she’d ended up stripping at some dive in Nevada just to get her car fixed. Or about the time she’d been arrested for stealing a waitress’s tip off the table because she had spent her last ten dollars on gas.

“Okay, well, I actually got started working in bars when I was nineteen. I’d been on my own for a little over a year, and I took a job working as a waitress in this little sports bar. The owner, who was a wonderful man, liked my spunk, and by the time I was twenty-one, I was head bartender. I kept advancing until he came to me one day and said, ‘Look, I want to retire, and I think you’ve got a gift for this business. I know you’ve got a little something saved up. Do you want to make a deal?’ ” Caroline took a sip from her wineglass and smiled, “And that’s how I got my first bar.”

The waitress came over to clear their plates, and Caroline heard the faint sound of “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” coming from her purse. She reached inside to grab it. When she glanced at the screen, it was a text from Val.

OMG, I have no idea why, but apparently, Dad is investigating Kyle.

Caroline’s heart started pounding as she remembered Kyle’s grip in her hair.
“You fix it . . .”

“Shit,” she said aloud, immediately covering her mouth when she realized Mike and their waitress had heard her. “I’m sorry.”

“Is everything okay?” Mike asked as his handsome face knit with concern.

He really is such a sweet guy. It’s too bad there’s just no spark.

“Yeah, my sister was just giving me an update on some family drama. No big deal.”

“Are you sure? If you need me to drop you somewhere . . .”

“No, I’m good. She’ll fill me in later.”

But Caroline’s fingers itched to call or at least text Val to find out what she knew. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified that her father was looking into Kyle’s past. Kyle could still retaliate. Things could go bad fast.

When Mike paid the check and offered to take her home so she could call her sister, she felt a little guilty that she was more excited than disappointed. But as nice as he was, his touch just didn’t heat her up like Gabe’s did.

Yes, she’d been avoiding Gabe for a week, trying to puzzle through the roller coaster of emotions she was riding. On one hand, she knew what Gabe had told her, that he was no good and she couldn’t count on him. Yet when she’d needed him, he’d been there.