Return of the Bad Girl

by Codi Gary

  But that was before a vixen in a black dress had walked in and wrecked his night.

  Okay, so she hadn’t really done anything on purpose. She hadn’t even seen him before he’d stepped up and grabbed that drunk woman’s arm, but he had noticed her the minute she walked in. While every other woman around wore hip-hugger jeans and flashy tops, she looked classy as hell.

  And sexy. He couldn’t forget sexy.

  It seemed like no matter how many times he told himself he wanted nothing to do with Caroline, he sought her out.

  “I was actually going to stick around and grab another drink,” he said, realizing that Kirsten was standing there waiting for his answer.

  She shrugged. “Maybe another time.” Pulling a pen out of her purse, she scrawled her number down on a bar napkin and handed to him. “Call me.”

  Gabe put the number in his pocket as she got lost in the crowd. He was a little surprised she hadn’t tried harder to get him home. She’d seemed like the aggressive type.

  His gaze strayed again to Caroline as she talked to her sister. At least she wasn’t there alone. Both women were drinking brightly colored cocktails, and he wondered if he should offer to drive them home. She’d probably tell him to fuck off, but at least then his conscience would be clear. If he checked in on her and she didn’t take his help, it was on her.

  Gabe took a few steps toward them but paused when another man with sandy hair stopped to talk to Caroline.

  You should still go by and just offer to walk her out. It would be the gentlemanly thing to do.

  Then he caught the expression on Caroline’s face: pure joy and excitement as she reached up to hug the blond man. Obviously, the guy was someone she was happy to see.

  That was good. Someone she knew well and would look out for her. It took the responsibility off Gabe’s shoulders, and his momentary concern could be chalked up to just wanting to be a good roommate.

  And the fact that you’re attracted to her and don’t want anyone else to have her.

  That was crazy. He knew the score. No decent woman wanted an ex-con, especially one with as much baggage as Gabe. Even with Caroline’s past reputation, he knew quality when he saw it. Besides, he had Honey and his dream shop. There just wasn’t room for anything else.

  Pushing the opposite way through the crowd, he went in search of Kirsten, to see if her offer was still on the table.

  Chapter Ten

  “I’ve been told you reap what you sow . . . Ominous sounding, isn’t it?”

  —Miss Know It All

  “WILL YOU STOP checking your phone every five minutes?” Caroline snapped. Since she’d returned from talking to Eric, Ellie had looked at her phone at least a dozen times, even when she’d tried to introduce Ellie to Gregg Phillips and his wife, Ryan. Gregg and Caroline had been boyfriend and girlfriend in eighth grade, and he’d been her first kiss. They’d drifted apart during their freshman year of high school, but Gregg was a good guy. She was glad he was happy now.

  “What? I told you I have plans tonight, and I don’t want to miss his call,” Ellie said.

  Caroline itched to question her about this mystery man and why he couldn’t just come out and meet them, but it wasn’t her place. Ellie was a grown woman who could see whomever she wanted. Even if her sister’s secretive behavior was making Caroline’s dirt-bag radar go haywire. The only guys who liked secret relationships were already attached. Whether they were married or just dating another woman, it never boded well. Caroline had been the other woman before, mostly unknowingly, and the aftermath was always bad.

  “Ellie, it’s past nine. I think if he was going to call, he’d have done it by now,” Caroline said as gently as she could over the music. “Besides, if he calls you after midnight, he’s just looking for a little play, and you deserve better than that.”

  “Please don’t give me the spiel about how I need to ‘respect’ myself, and men will respect me for it. I get enough of that crap from Val and the biddies of the Morality Squad.”

  Caroline finished her drink and set it on the bar behind her. Putting her hands up as if surrendering, she said, “Hey now, I have no right throwing stones or advice at anyone. And I’m the last one to lecture you on moral code. I just wanted to caution you, as your older sister who has made plenty of mistakes involving men, that the good guys—the ones you want to marry and have kids with—don’t usually make booty calls.”

  “Who says I want to get married?” Ellie said flippantly. “I haven’t seen one instance where marriage did anyone any good in the long-term. I mean, every week it seems like Miss Know It All is writing about some other couple breaking up or having an affair. I’m just wondering, what is the damn point?”

  “Okay, hey, I don’t want to fight,” Caroline said.

  “I’m not fighting; I’m expressing a valid opinion,” Ellie said.

  Caroline understood now why Val constantly wanted to strangle Ellie. She just couldn’t take advice with grace. Couldn’t accept the fact that someone older and with more life experience might know what she was talking about. Val had been griping for weeks that Ellie continued to make the same mistakes over and over and never seemed to learn her lesson. But someday she’d learn the hard way what rash decisions and bad choices could get you: a whole lot of heartache.

  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.”

  “Yeah, I saw Ellie hanging around.”

  “Yeah, well, she sort of bailed without telling me. Hot date.”

  “If you want, you can join me and a few of my friends,” he said.

  Caroline wasn’t in the mood to socialize with a bunch of strangers, no matter how nice Mike seemed.

  “Thanks, but I think I’m going to just take off,” she said, holding out her business card to him. “But maybe another time? My cell is on there, if you want to get dinner some time.”

  Mike took the card and slipped it into his wallet. “I’ll give you a call, then.”

  “Oh, and thanks for helping me out with the Coulter brothers.”

  “No problem. Any time.”

  Caroline headed toward the exit and bumped into Ellie as she was coming back in. It didn’t take a genius to see Ellie had been crying.

  “Hey, you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Ellie said, wiping at her cheeks. “I was just coming in to tell you I’m taking off.”

  “Me, too,” Caroline said. “We can walk out together.”

  Ellie didn’t argue, but she was quiet the whole way out to her car.

  “Are you okay to drive?” Caroline asked.

  “Sure. I only had one drink,” Ellie said, slipping her key into the door. “Plus, it’s not like I have to go far.”

  Before she could think, Caroline said, “I just want to say that if this guy doesn’t treat you right, he doesn’t deserve you.”

  “That’s sweet,” Ellie said, the darkness shrouding half her face. “Cliché but sweet.”

  Caroline didn’t have a response to that as Ellie climbed into the car and started it up.

  Caroline had begun weaving back through the cars to where she had parked when she heard a drunken giggle.

  “Dance with me.”

  Nearby, a very drunk Kirsten was dancing up against a guy. With sparse lighting in the lot, it was hard to make out the guy’s features.

  “Give me your keys,” a deep voice said. A voice Caroline was very familiar with.

  Gabe.

  She heard a jingle. “You want them? You gotta find them.”

  Rolling her eyes, she passed them and continued on to where she’d parked. At least Kirsten wouldn’t be driving.

  Then, in the dim light, Caroline noticed something on her window. Pulling out her phone, she flipped on the flashlight app and saw that someone had written all over her car with what looked like shaving cream.

  Bitch. Whore. Leave.

  “Charming,” she muttered, wondering if she should call the Rock Canyon Police Department to report vandalism. Unlocking her car, she grabbed some napkins from the glove department and started wiping at her window.

  Caroline heard footsteps behind her but didn’t look.

  “Hey, isn’t that her?’

  “Yeah, I’m surprised she even had the nerve to come back to town. I heard her dad kicked her out because she refused to go to rehab for her coke addiction.”

  “Seriously?”

  Giving the windshield one more swipe, she turned around to catch two women she didn’t recognize passing her. “Actually, it was sex addiction. If you’re going to spread gossip, at least be accurate.” They hurried away, and she called, “Have a nice night.”

  Great. Miss Know It All will probably have that rumor by tomorrow.

  Caroline climbed into her car and flipped on the headlights. Her wipers and cleaning fluid helped a little, but she was going to have to take her car through a wash before the shaving cream sat too long. The smell of smoke and bar funk filled her car. With the place packed so full, it had been impossible not to get funkified.

  Ugh, she wanted a shower.

  As she pulled out of her parking spot, her headlights illuminated Gabe and Kirsten, locked in an embrace. For some reason, seeing them together, so close they could be making out, made her grip the steering wheel harder. She didn’t like Kirsten’s draping herself all over him like that, and why was he letting her, anyway?

  For someone who doesn’t care about him, you sure are getting pissy.

  Caroline suddenly realized she’d been sitting there too long with the glare of her headlights on them. And Gabe was looking right at her.

  Shit. Pulling forward, she drove past without looking at them. She hoped he couldn’t see who was driving, but he’d probably recognize the car. Damn it; she didn’t want him thinking that she was spying on him, because she wasn’t. She didn’t care who or what he did, as long as it wasn’t illegal and didn’t affect her.

  Which is why you were basically Fatal Attraction stalking him, right?

  Fuck, the voice in her head needed to shut the hell up. Okay, so she was attracted to him. So what? She was attracted to lots of jackasses, and not one of them had turned out okay. This was her chance to turn over a new leaf and not follow her same old patterns. No dirt bags, assholes, or criminals. Item number two put Gabe smack in the middle of the undesirable list.

  It took about fifteen minutes to go through the car wash at Mr. Nelson’s Chevron station. Once she was finished, she headed down Main Street to Oak Avenue, pulling down the alleyway slowly, just in case she hadn’t beat Gabe home. The spot was empty.

  After she parked, she climbed out of the car and took a deep breath as she tried not to run for the stairs. No matter how many times she told herself that Rock Canyon was a safe place, the fact was, her rapist worked with her father just a little way down the street. And she’d accidentally forgotten her Mace and Taser tonight. But she wasn’t worried about Kyle making trouble, especially since he had no reason to. She’d kept his secret.

  Still, the quiet of the alley was making her nervous. She glanced over her shoulder nervously before rushing into the apartment the minute her key turned the lock. The door slammed harder than she’d intended, her heart pounding against her breastbone as she twisted the dead bolt into place.

  She was jumpy as hell and had no idea why. Just nerves, she supposed, but she’d lived in way rougher places than this. Maybe it was because she still hadn’t shaken the run-in with Kyle, and tonight, Wayne Coulter’s cold blue eyes and tight grip on her arm had brought on a rush of unease. Not that the two men looked alike, but the expression in Wayne’s eyes had reminded her of Kyle’s: untouchable, able to get away with anything.

  And why not? He had. Aside from Shelby, who obviously hadn’t cared, she’d never told anyone what Kyle had done. She’d simply shoved that bag of bloody sheets under a loose floorboard in the back of her closet and kept quiet. It was her fault that he’d been allowed to move on and become successful.

  There had been so many chances for her to come clean, but every time she found an opening, Kyle’s words would creep back in. If she tried to press charges, would he hurt her sisters? Kyle was sick, but as long as she didn’t give him a reason, he would stay away from Ellie and
Val.

  But now with Kyle being nearby, Caroline’s old fears had returned. Though she wasn’t as worried with Justin staying at the house most nights, what about Ellie? Any time she left the house, she was vulnerable.

  It wasn’t the first time Caroline had worried about her sisters’ safety since Kyle’s threat.

  A few weeks after he raped her, Caroline still hadn’t been able to sleep without the nightmares. Every night, she’d dreamed of Kyle’s attacking her, only in her dreams, she felt and remembered everything. But one day, just as she was at her wit’s end and had been ready to tell her father, she’d shown up at her sisters’ school to walk them home . . . and they hadn’t been there. She’d been frantic, racing to the house to see if they were there, but they weren’t. She’d called Val’s phone, but there was no response. Just as she was about to call the police, Val and Ellie had come through the door with ice cream cones . . . and a smiling Kyle behind them.

  Caroline hadn’t been able to breathe. When she’d told Kyle he needed to leave because her dad wasn’t home, he’d just smirked at her.

  “I’ll see you around, then.”

  The minute Kyle was out of the house, she’d dead bolted the door and started yelling at Val and Ellie that they were not to go anywhere alone with Kyle. Despite their confusion, she’d dragged a promise out of them and went upstairs to her room. Once inside, she’d closed the door and slid to the floor against it, sobbing.

  Now, Caroline headed into her room, and when she went to open her dresser drawer, she realized her hands were shaking at the memory.

  Get a grip. Kyle has no interest in you anymore, and you—and your family—are perfectly safe.

  Gathering up her night clothes, she went down to the bathroom to shower. She was just getting ready to turn on the water when she heard the front door open. Hearing Kirsten’s high-pitched giggle, followed by Gabe’s low voice, helped Caroline relax. She felt better having him there, which was mind-boggling, because she had left her sister’s to get away from all of the noise.

  Letting the heat rush over her body, she scrubbed herself until the water ran lukewarm. After drying off and pulling on her pjs, she stepped out of the bathroom and saw Kirsten dancing unsteadily in the dining room.