Return of the Bad Girl (33 page)

“No. No more romantic dramas. All this life imitating a movie imitating life is bullshit. I watch movies to be entertained. Not sob into my sister’s throw pillows and wipe my snot all over them.”

“You know, it wasn’t too long ago you were begging me to stay,” Caroline said.

“That was when you were Fun Caroline. Now you’re Obnoxiously Sad Caroline.”

“Ellie and I dealt with you when you were sad.”

“I don’t get weepy. I get hungry. I eat. You blubber and moan . . .”

“All right, fine. I’ll go home.”

“And take those cats with you,” Val called over her shoulder as she walked away.

“You’re a brat!”

“Freeloader!”

“Anal retentive!”

Caroline flopped back on the couch, depressed. She hadn’t told Val she’d given up the apartment because she hadn’t wanted to listen to Val tear Gabe apart. Gabe had said he wanted to talk and see where things went, but he still hadn’t called. She couldn’t blame him, though. Gabe had every right not to forgive her, and she just had to accept that.

G
ABE FINISHED UP
another call and hung up the phone with a wide grin.

“How many orders is that?” Chase asked, his pencil poised above the sketch pad.

“That’s twenty-six since Tuesday.”

“And I’m sure your recent boom of success has nothing to do with that article the
Rock Canyon Press
printed about you.”

“Hey, who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?” Gabe said. The truth was, the orders had been a good distraction from thinking about Caroline. He kept meaning to call, but every time he did, he lost his nerve. Besides, everything he came up with to say just didn’t seem right.

I miss you? I’m sorry I was so quick to judge?

None of it seemed good enough. Especially when he’d been tossing and turning every night, catching himself burying his head in her pillow.

“Yeah, especially when another handful of customers were recommended to you by Caroline,” Chase said, setting his pencil down. “Have you even called her, man?”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“How about, ‘I forgive you. I’m sorry it took so long, but please believe I love you’?”

“I don’t know, man. What if I took too long?”

“Well, if you wait any longer, you’re going to miss your chance. I mean, what are you waiting for? You love her, she loves you, and you’re perfect for each other. Stubborn, opinionated—”

“I never said she was anything like me,” Gabe said.

But she was. She was his reason to smile in the morning, and he missed the soft touch of her hands on his skin. He could hear her laugh echoing through their empty apartment, and he wanted her to come home.

Home. Their home.

Maybe Chase was right. Their similarities were working against them.

“I read between the lines. Since you complained that you two fought all the time, I decided it was because you were so similar.”

Gabe had gone over every scenario for days, but each one left him with the door slammed in his face. Chase was right. She’d saved him, and instead of falling to his knees and telling her he loved her, he’d let her walk out the door.

He kept blaming karma and punishing himself for his mistakes, but this one was on his own stubbornness. And his own fear. If he opened up to her about his feelings, would she cut and run again?

“What if she doesn’t accept my apology?”

“Then you’ll know where you stand,” Chase said, standing up with a grin. “But if I were you, I’d find out sooner rather than later.”

C
AROLINE HAD BEEN
experimenting with the effects chocolate had on spoonfuls of peanut butter when someone knocked on the front door. Sticking the spoon in her mouth, she walked over and opened the door, expecting the UPS man, but instead, Gabe looked in at her nervously with a bouquet of roses in his hands.

“I know I should have called, but I was afraid you wouldn’t see me, and I needed to say this.”

She waited quietly, somewhere between shock and awe. Plus, the peanut butter was stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she was afraid to try to speak.

“I have tried to be a good guy for years, to prove to my sister, to my mother, even to Chase that I wasn’t just the dumb asshole who ruined everyone’s lives. I figured when we started hooking up that it was going to be short-lived fun, but I found myself wanting to prove that to you too. And it scared the hell out of me, especially when you left for New York and I wasn’t sure if you were coming back. I should have just accepted your apology and moved on, but I sabotage things because I have a hard time thinking anything good can happen to me.

“But you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Not just because of the way you make me feel—feelings that I’ve never felt before—but because you don’t judge. You’ve always accepted me, even when I was an asshole. You’re amazing, Caroline, and I’d like to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love everything about you, starting tomorrow.”

Pulling the spoon out of her mouth, she worked the peanut butter until she could swallow it. “What’s tomorrow?” she asked breathlessly.

“Our first date, hopefully,” he said with a nervous grin. “I’d ask you to come home now, but I want it to feel like the real thing. Like I come to your door and ask your sister’s permission. As if we hadn’t started things off ass-backward.”

Her heart swelled at the sweet, romantic gesture, and she teased, “I don’t know. My sisters can be major hard-asses. Not sure they’ll let me out the door.” Leaning closer, she added, “You look like one of those guys who could get a girl in trouble.”

“I used to be that guy,” he said, handing her the armful of roses he’d been holding. No sooner had she taken them than he was cupping her face in his hands. “But that was before I fell in love with you.”

Holy hell, what do you say to that?

Choking back a sob, she said, “That’s pretty convenient, considering I love you too.”

He dipped his head, and she met his kiss, dropping the roses to the floor of the entryway so she could wrap her arms around his shoulders.

Finally, he pulled back and whispered, “I’ll pick you up at noon?”

“Sure,” she whispered, “but first . . .”

“What?”

She jerked him inside and shut the door behind him.

“What are you doing?” he asked, a smile spreading across his face, lighting up those obsidian eyes.

“People in love have make-up sex, don’t they?”

“So I’ve heard,” he said.

She jumped him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, trusting him to catch her. He did, of course.

“Well, come on. Let’s get on with it.”

“Where am I going?” Gabe asked.

An evil plan formed in Caroline’s head. “Val’s room is on the left.”

“Won’t she be pissed?” Gabe said, pushing the door open.

“Too damn bad! Now she’ll know what it was like to listen to her loud monkey sex for two weeks,” Caroline said, giggling. “Payback is a bitch.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Love is about sharing yourself with someone else. Even the ugly, scary, bumpy parts.”

—Miss Know It All

T
HE NEXT DAY
, Caroline stood at the front window of Val’s house, waiting for Gabe. It was five minutes ’til noon, and although she’d tried not to be a window-clinger, she was too excited to care.

Suddenly, the back door opened, and Val came inside. Gus pushed past her to run to Caroline, which sent Googlie and Possum scurrying for cover. The dog skidded to a stop at her feet, huffing and puffing so hard she could feel his hot breath through her jeans.

Caroline glanced down at the dog, whose massive jaws were spread widely into an evil grin, just as he started to put his dirt-covered paw on her leg.

“Don’t even think about it, mutt,” Caroline growled, pointing her finger at him.

The dog actually paused and put his paw down, still grinning at her.

“I told him to do it,” Val said as she came into the kitchen. “It’s revenge for defiling my bedroom and locking me out of it.”

Caroline didn’t even bother to look ashamed. Gabe and she had been enjoying a little post-make-up-sex cuddle when her sister had come home to get changed. When she’d tried the door and found it locked, she’d pounded on the door. After a few minutes, Caroline had opened the door, dressed in a sheet and holding an overnight bag stuffed with some of Val’s clothes.

“Tell Justin I said hi,” Caroline said before closing the door again.

“You better wash those sheets!” Val had ordered, before slamming out of the house.

Caroline started humming as she tapped a finger on the counter, and Val came up alongside her, one of those meal shakes in her hand. “Seriously, why couldn’t you have gone to your own apartment to do the deed instead of locking me out of my own room?”

Just then, Caroline saw Gabe pull up on his bike, and she picked her jacket off the counter. As she shrugged into, she said, “Because revenge is a dish best served cold . . . or sweaty, in your case.”

“Aw, gross,” Val said, sticking her tongue out. “And what did I do besides give you a place to stay? I sheltered you, fed you, supplied you with plenty of nineties romantic dramas . . .”

“Made me sleep on your lumpy couch and listen to your barn-animal sex noises,” Caroline said, patting her sister’s shoulder. “Let this be something you can learn from.”

“And what lesson am I supposed to learn, Yoda?”

“That your couch sucks. Get a new one,” Caroline said, opening the door and stepping out.

Gabe, about to knock on the door, moved to let her step down next to him. Before Caroline could shut the door, Val caught it and stood there, glaring at Gabe.

“Hey, Val,” Gabe said.

Val glared at both of them, before telling him, “You’re dead to me.”

Gabe turned to Caroline, who just waved. “It’s fine.”

Val had the door almost shut when she said, “No, it’s not!”

The door closed with a click, and Caroline stepped into him, sliding her arms up and behind his neck. “I missed you,” she whispered as she tugged on him to come down. He chuckled but obliged her, his lips moving over hers in a lingering kiss that ended too soon for Caroline.

Gabe pulled away, his large hands squeezing her butt. “As much as I want to continue this, we have a lot of driving to do.”

Caroline released him with a pout. “Where are we—oh.”

Gabe unwound his arms and took her hand, bringing it to his mouth. “If you want to wait—”

“No,” Caroline said, holding his hand tight. “I want to meet her.”

The smile that lit Gabe’s face was worth the butterflies nervously fluttering inside Caroline’s belly. His eyes actually sparkled with joy, and she decided then and there, even if she had to walk though hot coals and pokers, that she’d do just about anything to see that smile again.

G
ABE AND
C
AROLINE
walked into Honey’s care facility two hours later. While Gabe signed them in, he never let go of her hand, afraid she’d bolt at any moment.

“Come on; she’s up here,” Gabe said, heading for the stairs.

“What if . . . ?”

He paused and looked back at her. She was nervous as hell, he could tell, but he wanted her to be good with this. “My sister is the sweetest person and even if she’s having a bad day”—he paused to give her a soft, reassuring kiss—“she’s going to love you.”

Caroline nodded, and he started walking again. When they stood outside Honey’s room, he knocked softly, taking his own deep breath. It was the first time he’d ever introduced a woman to his sister, and he wanted it to go well. Despite his brave front, he was probably worse off than Caroline.

Sharla answered the door and, seeing them, gave them a wide, toothy smile. “You must be Caroline,” Sharla said, holding her hand out. “I’m Sharla.”

“Yes, it’s so nice to meet you,” Caroline said, shaking her hand.

“Well, come in, you two,” Sharla said, stepping back to let them in. “I told Honey that Gabe was bringing a friend, and she’s been asking for you.”

Gabe gave Sharla a one-armed hug as he passed, and she whispered, “She’s very pretty.”

Yes, she is.

Caroline was gripping his hand for dear life as Sharla led them into the room.

Honey was sitting at her table, sketching on a thick drawing pad with chalk. As they approached the table, Sharla went around and touched Honey’s shoulder.

“Sweetheart, your brother’s here with his friend,” Sharla said.

Honey looked up, her whole face becoming animated. “Gabe!”

She came around the table at full speed and launched herself into his arms. Gabe let go of Caroline’s hand to catch his sister and hugged her hard.

“Hey, baby girl,” Gabe said, turning her around to face Caroline. “This is my friend Caroline. This is my sister, Honey.”

Caroline held her hand out to Honey and said, “I’m so happy to meet you. Gabe’s told me a lot about you. The painting you made him is beautiful.”

Gabe held his breath, waiting for his sister to react. Sometimes new people made her nervous. But when she pulled away from him now, he let her go. Honey took Caroline’s hand and said, “I want to show you my drawings.”

As the two women he loved walked over to the table, he watched as Honey pulled Caroline down next to her.

“Do you like to sketch?” Honey asked Caroline.

“I’m not very artistic, I’m afraid,” she said, looking at the picture on the page. “Not like you. This is amazing, Honey.”

Honey beamed before turning the page. “I want to sketch you.”

Caroline looked toward Gabe, who shrugged. His sister had once detained the pizza delivery guy so she could sketch him.

“Okay, sure,” Caroline said.

“Sit very still,” Honey said, reaching out to tilt Caroline’s head. “Don’t move.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Caroline said, and Gabe believed her.

C
AROLINE SAT ON
the bed next to Honey, stroking Honey’s hair while they watched
Homeward Bound
. It was so reminiscent of something she would have done with her own sisters as kids, she didn’t even feel weird about it. Honey’s childlike enthusiasm was addictive, especially when she’d convinced Gabe to go get them fries and vanilla milkshakes, which he’d done after a minute or two of mock grumbling.