The Bad Boy's Forever Girl

by Jessie Gussman

  Justice was spot on about that. Their mom would definitely be stressing. “That’s great. As soon as we can have a coordinating day off, let’s get that done. If we wait too long, it’ll be miserable in the heat of the summer.”

  They stopped, and Justice leaned down, grabbing an ankle and then the other one, stretching. “We’re almost past that point, since it’s June now. Have you heard anything from Mariam? Is she still going to help?”

  Libby’s leg ached, and she appreciated the break. “I don’t know what she’s doing any more than you do. When we get a date together, we can text her. I doubt she’ll help.”

  Justice straightened. “I know you think that I didn’t notice that you changed the subject, I just want to let you know that I allowed you to do so.” She put her hand behind her head and pulled on her elbow, stretching first one arm then the other. “I think you’re a fool to walk into that garage. Just admit after what happened between you guys, you’re never gonna be friends. I know that bothers you because you like everyone, and you don’t understand why sometimes people don’t get along.” Justice lifted her brows and lowered her head. “You know you’re a little naïve.”

  Liberty looked away. Justice wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t true. She did like for everyone to get along. She was born a peacemaker. She was also content to allow Justice to think that was the only reason she was tempted to go to work for the Richmond Rebels. Justice would flip a hundred times if she knew what Liberty thought of Blade.

  Casey was ready to move on, and Liberty kept her eyes on her dog. “You’re right.”

  “Okay.” Justice laughed. “If you’re good, I’m gonna take off.”

  “Go ahead.” Liberty started walking again with Casey as Justice started jogging. Justice would pass her twice before they both went back to their house.

  Liberty didn’t really know what it was like to jog.

  When she was younger, doctors had hoped braces, and surgery, and therapy would help her have a more “normal” life. Those things had helped, Liberty was sure. But if “normal” meant being able to take a jog in the morning, she would never be normal.

  She’d never have a normal figure either, since the way her leg was misshapen affected her hips and waist. If anyone ever fell for her, it wouldn’t be because of her figure.

  At one time, she’d thought maybe Blade didn’t care.

  Shoving those thoughts out of her head, she watched her dog and tried to think about what she would be doing that day. That was better than allowing yesterday’s pain of rejection to cloud her thinking today.

  BLADE WALKED OUT OF the jail behind his brother Thad. He hadn’t felt this stupid in a long time.

  “I know you’ll reimburse me for the bail money.” Thad jiggled the key in his hand as he bounced down the cement steps and turned left on the sidewalk.

  The sun was already well into the sky, the day half over. The sheriff and his deputy hadn’t been in any big hurry to run the paperwork through.

  That was probably part of his punishment. Or maybe it was just people who had the power to be jerks couldn’t resist the impulse. Both the sheriff and his deputy were local boys, but they were younger than him, and Blade didn’t know them very well. Maybe knew their families. Good families.

  Blade figured he deserved whatever treatment he got. He’d been stupid last night.

  He got in the passenger side of Thad’s truck, fully expecting a lecture. It was one of the joys of being the youngest. All three of his older brothers often felt the need, and usually gave in to the impulse, to lecture him on his immaturities.

  He hadn’t felt they were immaturities, except he wasn’t sure what else it was. He’d spent the night in the slammer because of his own stupidity.

  At least Thad waited until they got out of town and were on the highway going toward the Richmond Rebels’ garage.

  “Bram is flipping. You know how Bram is.”

  At least that statement didn’t seem like it needed an answer, and Blade had always figured a good offense beat a good defense any day.

  “If you hadn’t told him, he wouldn’t be pitching a fit about it.” His words covered the shame he felt. Embarrassing his brothers, just as they were trying to get the contract with that trucking company in Richmond. This was just the kind of PR nightmare that they didn’t need.

  “I didn’t tell him. He saw it on the front page of the local newspaper this morning before he went into the hospital.”

  “The front page? Already? They must’ve held production on the paper to get that story in.”

  “They did. It was two hours late this morning. Just so they could feature your ugly mug on the cover.”

  Blade gritted his teeth against the wave of regret that made his chest feel cold and his stomach tight. “I’m sorry. I really am. I was angry. I did something stupid.”

  Compared to what had already happened to him, one night in jail versus three years in prison, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Or at least it wouldn’t be, except they were trying to get that contract. It definitely didn’t show their garage in a very good light if their top welder was sitting in the slammer.

  “Well, Bram has some plans for you,” Thad said as he slowed and took the right for the garage.

  Was that a smirk on his face? Blade narrowed his eyes suspiciously. It was a happy smile. But he could totally see his brothers plotting some kind of revenge. It wouldn’t shock him at all.

  Of course, he’d be beating himself up if they didn’t get that contract because of him. He’d been so cocky yesterday when he stomped out of the garage saying he would never work there with “that Hopkins girl.” Would he be able to stay if they didn’t get the contract that everybody was depending on?

  Bram’s hybrid was sitting at the garage, which was a big deal in itself, since he’d worked a twelve-hour shift in the ER, going in at midnight. Blade didn’t know his exact schedule, but he was probably going in at midnight again tonight, and he was sacrificing sleep by being here now.

  It wasn’t exactly a shock that Foster’s truck was here. It normally was. He did all the bodywork for the shop, on the opposite side from where Blade was set up to do the heavy-duty welding. Thad did some of both, but he also had a motorcycle specialty, and he did all the oil changes, plus he was the best at customer service.

  Blade set his jaw, getting out of his truck and slamming the door. It was hard not to be resentful. It seemed like he was the one that was always dragging everybody down. Of course, the whole thing with the Hopkins girl hadn’t been his fault, and he hadn’t done anything wrong.

  This time, it was a little different, since he deserved everything he was getting. Just wished it would happen to somebody else for once.

  It was worse than he thought, because when he stepped in the garage, his brothers weren’t even working. Bram leaned against the counter where Ms. Reva usually stood, and that in itself was a little disconcerting. There hadn’t been many times Blade walked in the garage and Ms. Reva wasn’t there.

  Bram’s arms were crossed over his chest, and there were deep shadows under his eyes as well as a day’s worth of beard. Bram wasn’t exactly known as an easygoing, happy-go-lucky kinda guy, and after he’d worked all night, he wasn’t exactly the first person Blade wanted to talk to.

  But he wasn’t scared of his big brother. Bram might be bossy and feel like he was in charge most the time, and he was the only one of them that went to college.

  Of course, Bram didn’t just go to college. He had become a doctor. It was his overachiever tendencies which were really annoying.

  Thad, only slightly less intimidating but no less angry looking, stood against the wall with his arms crossed too.

  Thad, who had been Blade’s partner in crime when they were growing up, was the least of his worries. It was odd that they’d allowed him to go pick Blade up. Maybe the other two were talking strategy. He wouldn’t put it past Bram, who had to have everything planned.

  “Took you guys long enough.”
Bram’s voice sounded rough and matched the shadows under his eyes. But his shoulders didn’t droop, and his back was straight. If he’d been wearing a white coat, he lost it, but he still had dress pants and dress shoes on. Bram could turn a wrench just as well as the other brothers; he just never looked like he could.

  “Those guys get paid whether we left there or not,” Thad said. “They weren’t in any hurry. What else do they have to do today?”

  “I’m tired, I don’t have time to mess around. This is the way it’s going to be, Blade.” Bram typically didn’t have a problem mincing words, and when he was tired, he got worse.

  Blade bristled a little at the bossy, commanding tone, but he knew he deserved it. And he was willing to do whatever it was that they wanted him to, whatever it took to erase this and make the shop look better, so the Richmond Rebels got that contract.

  He shoved his irritation aside.

  “You’re going to plead guilty to whatever they charge you with, and you’re going to make it go away as fast as you can. Whatever fines, whatever time, whatever they want. You do it. Peter will be your lawyer. I’ve already talked to him. In fact, maybe you have too.”

  Blade nodded. Peter, Bram’s friend from high school, had called before Thad even showed up. Blade was in good hands.

  Expensive hands. But his brothers would expect him to be willing to pay, and he was, if that was what it took for the shop to sustain as little PR damage as possible.

  “And,” Thad added, the little smirk that hovered at the edges of his mouth matching the smirk that Blade thought he had seen on Thad’s mouth before they got out of the pickup. “You’re gonna go find that Hopkins girl that was in here yesterday, and you’re going to beg her, on your knees if necessary, to work for us.”

  Bram shifted a little, but his arms stayed crossed and his eyes didn’t waver. “And you’ll be as friendly as she wants to be, if you know what I mean.”

  Blade would have been arguing already, except his throat closed, and he couldn’t get any words out. His head held a bottled-up throbbing, and he had the urge to spin on his heel and stomp right back out. But that’s what had gotten him into this problem to begin with. He needed to handle this in a little bit of a more mature manner.

  It wasn’t his strong suit. Not when it came to the Hopkins family.

  “You risked everything. I’ve been on the phone already today with the GM of the trucking company. He’s concerned. That newspaper pic didn’t help.

  “But he’s still willing to meet with us. We have a reputation for excellence, but he doesn’t want to be associated with anyone who is going to bring bad PR to the dealership. He is also concerned about how the customers will view us. The women, especially, on their team don’t want to be worried about working with someone whose mug shot was on the front page of the paper.” Foster had somehow joined his brothers, so that felt like it was three against one.

  Blade already felt guilty. They didn’t have to try to make him feel worse. But he was angry that they would pick the one thing he didn’t want to do. That they knew he wouldn’t do. To have anything to do with that Hopkins family. They were asking too much.

  But, as he stood there facing his brothers, he knew he’d already let them down. Even if the prison sentence wasn’t his fault. Even if he hadn’t done anything wrong. It didn’t matter. He was the one who’d gone to jail. He was the one who’d spent the time in prison. And now this.

  Life wasn’t fair. He’d already figured that out. Wasn’t a shock.

  Could he swallow his pride, his animosity, and everything that had been simmering inside of him, boiling, bubbling, and rotting? All the hate, bitterness, and resentment.

  “We’re not asking you to marry her. And we’re not asking you to marry her family. You don’t even have to talk to her family. But you have to talk to her.” Bram’s back teeth ground together. “You have to be nice to her. We want the town to see you being nice to her. We want the town to see you together. Her reputation is as white as snow. And yours...isn’t.”

  Thad pushed off from the wall and took one step forward, putting his hand on the counter. “She wanted this job. I’ve no idea why.” He snorted. “Regardless. When she was here yesterday, I thought it was one of those beautiful things, those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. It could’ve been coincidence that we’re working on getting this contract and the judge’s daughter and church secretary comes in, almost begging us to work here.”

  Foster picked up where Thad left off. “We would have hired her yesterday if it hadn’t been for you. Now, you can make sure that she’s working here. Monday, preferably.”

  At that, Bram pushed off the counter. “I assume you guys must have something to do here today. And I’m tired. I think this is settled.” His brown eyes landed heavily on Blade, staring. “Am I right?”

  Blade’s throat worked, despite the fact that he had nothing to swallow. He wanted to fight with his brother, he wanted to argue. But when everything went down, his brothers were just about the only people in the town that stood by him. Yeah, there were a few that said nothing could be proven. But his brothers had proclaimed his innocence. He couldn’t screw things up without doing everything in his power to fix them.

  He was still angry and definitely still felt a lot of hate and bitterness toward the Hopkins family. But there’d always been something about Libby, and it really wouldn’t be a hardship to go talk to her. It would require a little pride-swallowing after the way he’d acted yesterday, but she was the only decent member of the Hopkins family, and he could probably put up with her.

  If he could push the anger aside.

  “I’ll go see her today. Right now.”

  “She’s working at the church until two. I checked with Bernice,” Thad said, referring to their aunt who owned a coffee shop in town and knew all the local gossip.

  “Fine.” Blade pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. 1:30. He was suddenly in a big rush to go. He didn’t know where Libby would go after she was done at the church, but he didn’t want to risk having to go to her house. He might be able to put up with Libby, but he would never be able to put up with her father and her sister.

  “I’ll go right now.” He paused for just a moment, in case any of his brothers had anything else to say. Maybe waiting for him to admit that he’d done wrong and deserved to take the rap for it. But no one said anything, so he turned and walked out the door.

  Chapter 4

  Libby finished typing the bulletin and hit save. Checking it against the sheet that sat beside her computer, she made sure all the numbers were correct and looked it over again for any spelling errors.

  If there was a spelling error, someone was going to point it out. She never sought attention, and that was definitely the kind she didn’t want. She’d made a number of embarrassing mistakes over the years, and every week, she tried hard not to repeat them.

  It was just a little after two, and technically she was done at two, but she never quit until the bulletin was finished, printed, and folded and ready for tomorrow.

  There had been some last-minute changes which was why she was running late. Actually, this wasn’t really last minute. There had been more than a few times when she’d been called back in to completely redo it. Hopefully, today would not be one of those days, although she didn’t have a lot of big plans. Taking Casey for a walk, cooking supper, looking online to see if there were any job openings since yesterday.

  She didn’t know if Pamela would need her at the flower shop next week or not. A little shot of fear tightened her throat and caused her heart to skip a beat. She couldn’t afford to be out of work. With the church secretary job combined with the flower shop, she could pay all her bills, but she wasn’t ahead, and if she lost either of them, she wouldn’t be able to make next month’s rent.

  The idea of having to move back in with her parents caused her hand to want to grab for her phone and start looking for jobs this second. Begging if necessary. She resisted t
he urge and pulled the bulletins that were ready out of the printer, starting to fold them.

  A rap on the door startled her, but she hadn’t gotten her mouth open to say come in before the door opened.

  Blade Truax stood in the doorway. He filled it, seeming to darken the room.

  Her hand wanted to go to her throat, but both of them were full of bulletins, and she just stood, staring.

  If someone had asked her who the most unlikely person to ever darken her doorway would be, Blade’s name might have come to her lips.

  He didn’t look happy. His brown eyes, which she remembered as light brown, maybe the color of a pine floor on a sunny day, seemed dark and intense. He stood with his hands hanging at his sides and his mouth closed flat. A couple days’ worth of stubble on his chin, and if his hair were long enough to be combed, she’d guess it would be a little messy. New jeans, work boots, T-shirt...he made them all look good.

  She tried not to be distracted, because there had to be something really wrong for him to be standing in her doorway.

  She remembered what he’d said yesterday, and she kinda had the feeling she might be in for more. There was no other way out of her office, but she had the strongest urge to turn around and look anyway, planning her escape route.

  But she braced herself, glad she was facing him head-on. She only looked a little twisted when she did that. Because of her leg.

  From the waist up, she looked good, normal, some people even said Hollywood star material. Her sister seemed to be able to sell her good looks. But her sister didn’t have a limp and a twisted leg.

  Libby knew she’d feel more secure if she was behind the desk, but she wasn’t, so she threw her shoulders back and lifted her brow. He was the one who came to her; he was the one who could speak first.

  His throat worked several times. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was nervous.

  It was good that he let the silence stretch, because she probably couldn’t have spoken right away anyway. Her mouth was dry, and her nerve endings hummed. He was a man she would never get tired of looking at.