What to Do With a Bad Boy

by Marie Harte

  “I said seriously.” Rena gave her the look.

  “Maybe because I want someone worthy of my time.”

  “Mike is.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. He sure the hell didn’t have any problem bagging last weekend.”

  “I knew it.” Rena pointed at her. “You were hurt by him not coming over.”

  “No, I wasn’t.”

  “Liar.”

  “You know, this whole conversation is ruining my appetite. I will date, screw, or enjoy anyone I feel like. Because yes, I am lovable. And cute, and sexy, and smart, and—”

  “You accuse me of being the one with the huge ego?”

  “—in shape, fast, clever, intelligent—”

  “Clever is the same as smart.”

  “Amazingly organized. A good cook. Multitalented—”

  “Ack! Enough. I give. You win. Now shut up about your awesomeness and just be straight with me about Mike. Be honest, sweetie. I swear I won’t tell anyone, and you’ll feel better admitting the plain facts. Do you like him or not?”

  Del knew she couldn’t avoid the truth forever. Lord, it felt like ripping her fingernails out one by one to confess that, “Yes, I like him.”

  “Does he scare you?”

  Deep breath, then let it out. “Yes.”

  “Do you think he likes you right back?”

  A tough question. “In bed, yes. The rest, I’m not sure.”

  “Fair enough. Now the final question, and you don’t have to tell me, just think about it. If he does like you right back but, being a man, makes bad choices and hurts your feelings, your ego, and your pride before he remembers how wonderful you are, will you fight through all that to make him yours?”

  The question remained with Del all through dinner, that night, and into the next day. She continued to dwell on it even when she arrived at Colin’s school and signed in, under the suspicious stares from the secretaries in the main office. After showing them her driver’s license and wondering if she’d need to offer a DNA sample to walk through the halls, they let her go through the school to the back. She passed a lot of happy kids playing and lining up in the hallways to go places. As usual, they all stared at her, though she’d done her best to appear presentable.

  Today she wore a pair of jeans, unscuffed boots, a long-sleeve tee, and had her hair in a regular ponytail. More PTA, less grunge. She reached the back lot, where a travel bus waited. Nice. Back when she’d been in school, they’d carpooled to get anywhere.

  She saw Colin waiting in a cluster of small children. Man, they were tiny. He saw her and waved wildly.

  “Del. Del. Over here!”

  Seemed like half the crowd turned to stare at her. Fortunately, the teacher standing near Colin didn’t pat her down the way the office chicks had clearly wanted to.

  The woman smiled. “Thank goodness. Colin’s been going on and on about you, and I was afraid if you didn’t get here in time for our bus ride, he’d have a meltdown. He’s been so excited for you to come with us. I’m Marci Sheffer, by the way.”

  Del shook the woman’s hand. “Del Webster.”

  “Mike told us you’d be here. Thanks so much for offering to come. We didn’t get as many volunteers today as I’d hoped.” Marci waved to the two men and one woman standing with their kids. “Not too many moms fond of reptiles.”

  Colin’s hand wormed into hers, and he gripped her tight.

  Pleasure filled her, especially when she glanced down to see him smiling at her with such joy.

  She winked at him and said to his teacher, “Well, I had a pet snake as a kid, so reptiles don’t really bother me.”

  “Good.” Marci seemed relieved. She gathered everyone together, explained the rules, and before Del knew it, they’d boarded the bus for the Reptile Pit.

  Colin sat next to her on the bus. “I’m so glad you came, Del.”

  “Me too. I’m playing hooky from work.” She put a finger to her lips. “Don’t tell. My dad has to work for me today.”

  “Ha.” Colin held up his hand. “Pinky promise it’ll stay a secret.”

  They hooked pinky fingers, and then he started asking questions. “Did you really have a pet snake?”

  “Yep. Her name was Salmissra, after a character in a book I once read. Then I found out she was a he and named her Roger.”

  “Oh. Neat. Did she try to eat you?”

  “Nah. He was a corn snake, about four feet long and really pretty. He was orange and just the nicest snake you’d ever meet.”

  Across the aisle, a little boy with red hair leaned toward them. He looked familiar. Oh right, Brian. Colin’s best friend. “What did he eat?”

  “Little kids,” she teased. “Totally kidding. He ate feeder mice. You can buy them already frozen at a pet store. Hey, snake’s gotta eat.”

  “Oh wow.” Colin continued to pepper her with questions. She enjoyed his inquisitive mind, the quick way he processed her answers. Their time at the Reptile Pit went smoothly, and the attitude she’d expected to have to deal with from the other parents didn’t happen.

  Instead, she talked with the adults, enjoying them as much as the kids. When it came to holding the snakes, Colin volunteered to be first. Except he grabbed her to go with him.

  Rob, Mr. Reptile, gently explained the proper way to hold the python.

  “Del will go first,” Colin so helpfully offered.

  “Sure thing.” She said to Colin in a lower voice, “I’ll get you later for this.”

  He snickered.

  “Alice is a ten-year-old royal python, also known as a ball python. She’s somewhat large for her species at seven feet in length. She weighs close to nine pounds,” Rob was saying. “She’s very gentle though, and has a slow metabolism. So I feed her once every two weeks, mostly rats or mice.”

  Behind him the class oohed and ahhed as Del accepted the cool coils around her arm without flinching. She wondered if she could get J.T. to give her a new tat on her shoulder, something with coils winding up and onto her back. Then she wondered what Mike would think of the idea, if he’d trace the pattern with his tongue the way he had her other tattoos not so long ago.

  Her entire body tensed, remembering their intimacy, and she deliberately relaxed and winked at Colin, putting his annoyingly sexy dad out of her mind. “Your turn.”

  After they progressed to other reptiles and a few amphibians, Marci crossed to her. They’d talked a good bit, and seeing that Marci wasn’t a stuck-up educator like the many teachers Del had once had, she’d warmed to the woman quite a bit.

  “You’re a pro at this, aren’t you?” Marci asked.

  “Come again?”

  “You’re so good with Colin. He was adamant with quite a few of the other students that you wouldn’t freak out over anything you came into contact with here on the field trip. He also brags about you whenever the other kids talk about their moms.”

  Del started. “Oh?”

  “Mike’s a great dad. His brothers are wonderful too. We’ve met the entire clan over the course of the year.” Marci grinned. “If I wasn’t married…”

  Del chuckled. “The McCauleys can be a little overwhelming.” Especially Beth.

  “Yes. And though Beth comes in to help out, Colin is different with you. Don’t get me wrong, I mean, I’m not saying Beth isn’t a terrific influence…”

  “I get you.” She did. Del had spent her childhood with only her dad and brother for company. Liam Webster had been there for her through everything. Gruff and rough around the edges, yet he had a heart of gold and could be counted on when it mattered. Still, Del had always felt as if she missed out by not having a mother in her life.

  “I’m probably putting my foot in my mouth, but I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am to meet you. Colin’s such a wonderful boy, and it’s great to know he’s got even more solid female influence in his life now.”

  Mike hadn’t offered any of his past girlfriends the opportunity to hang out with Colin at school? That, or n
one of them had wanted to. Quit overthinking this. It’s just a stupid field trip.

  So she kept telling herself.

  The rest of the day passed without incident. Even the nasty PBJ lunch she’d gotten for accompanying the class tasted better than she’d thought. Plus, chocolate milk? Cha-ching. When she arrived back at the school in time for Colin to have one final recess before reading time, she hunkered down to see him eye-to-eye and accepted his tight little hug.

  “Bye, Del. See you tonight.” He grinned, and that missing front tooth just killed her.

  “Man, you are too cute. Are you sure you don’t have any girlfriends?”

  She saw an adorable blond behind him pointing at herself and mouthing “Me.” But when Colin turned around to see who Del was looking at, the girl shrieked and raced to the playground.

  “Yuck. Girls are gross. Not you,” Colin said as he turned to pat her shoulder.

  She rose from her crouch and watched him dart away to play with his friends. As she turned to walk back to her car, she bumped into one of the dads. “Sorry.”

  “My fault.” The guy wasn’t bad-looking. Tall with dark hair, but without that charisma the McCauleys seemed to have in spades. “I’m Mitch, Crystal’s dad.” He pointed to the blond girl with a crush on Colin.

  She grinned. “Right. We met earlier. I’m Del. Colin’s friend.”

  “I know all about Colin McCauley.” Mitch held the door for her as they walked inside and down the hallway toward the front of the school. “Crystal lives with me every other week when she’s not with her mom. And I swear, my girl thinks the sun rises and sets on that boy. He’s a nice kid. Didn’t realize he had a mom, though. Crystal only ever mentioned his dad.”

  “Oh, I’m not his mom. Just a friend of the family since his dad couldn’t make it today.”

  “Yeah?” Mitch sounded interested. “Too bad. So…are you and his dad dating?”

  She had to admit, it boosted her ego to know the guy—a decent-looking suburban dude—liked the look of her. “Nah, just friends.”

  “Great. I mean, well, that came out wrong.”

  She laughed with him as they walked to the parking lot. “Nice meeting you, Mitch.”

  “You too. Maybe we could go out sometime? Grab coffee or a drink?” Before she could respond, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “That’s my number. If you’d like to meet up or something, give me a call. But no pressure. I promise not to have Crystal hound Colin for your number.”

  She smiled and waved good-bye. After she got into her car, she looked down at the business card. Mitch was an attorney. She chuckled to herself, wondering what a guy like him would think of her past misdeeds. Nothing more serious than shoplifting and possession of a joint during her junior year of high school. But it could have gone much, much worse if her father hadn’t stepped into her ass.

  Her dad and his psycho kid versus great guy Mike and his sweet boy.

  With that in mind, she used the next few hours to relax and think good and hard about where this thing with Mike might be going. The all-American stand-up dad and the tattooed mechanic who felt more at home at Ray’s than an elementary school. What kind of future would they—could they—have? More importantly, why did she keep wondering about the R-word with a man still in love with his dead wife?

  Chapter 14

  Mike refused to feel nervous. He was simply thanking Del—with pizza—for making his life bearable with the boy. Colin hadn’t stopped talking about newts, pythons, or Del since Mike had picked him up from his grandma’s half an hour ago. What surprised him, though, was the fact that his mother hadn’t seemed disapproving or made any comments about Del’s presence at the field trip, or that Del had been invited to dinner.

  “So Grandma said nothing when you told her Del was coming over?”

  “Nope.” Colin bounced on the couch. “When’s the pizza coming, Dad? I’m hungry. I held a snake today.”

  “So you told me. Fifteen times.”

  “I held a snake today. Sixteen.” Colin snickered then jumped from the couch and ran to his room to get his snake-like alien action figures. He returned, making shooting and hissing noises as they toppled over one another under his nimble fingers.

  Mike continued to spruce up the house, not that it needed too much help. He’d done a major cleaning last night. Now he only had to clean himself. Man, talk about ripe.

  “Keep an eye out for Del while I take a quick shower.”

  “Okay.” Colin turned on the television and the dreaded Cartoon Network appeared. “And, Dad?”

  “Yeah?” Mike ripped off his shirt and toed off his boots. The things were coming apart at the seams, but they were his favorite. He hated to part with them.

  “Wear something nice.”

  “What?”

  “Die, newt scum.” Colin slammed one minion into another, and Mike left him to play, needing the time to clean up.

  He finished showering and heard the doorbell ring. Damn. He still had to go next door and grab their dessert—an amazing chocolate cake Abby had promised him. After toweling himself and his hair dry, he slapped some cologne on his chest, going for understated. He looked for a pair of clean underwear and found nothing. Figured. So he put on his clean, non-ripped jeans, found an equally clean henley, his last hanging in the closet, and without looking, knew he didn’t have a clean pair of socks left either, so he left his room in bare feet. When he entered the living room, he noted Del and Colin kneeling by the couch discussing Colin’s alien figurines.

  The sight of one blond head next to a smaller, darker head made him smile. Especially because they looked up at him at the same time and grinned in sync.

  “Well, the snake lady arrives.”

  “Yeah, you owe me.”

  “Do I?”

  He loved her sneer. God, she got him hard. Not good without an extra barrier of underwear to mask his arousal. He walked to the kitchen, his back to her, and thought about his mother and father and Grace. Yep. That killed the mood.

  He rummaged in the fridge. “Beer, water, or lemonade? Oh, and apparently I have some leftover wine. Must be Cam’s.” He pulled out the corked bottle.

  “You really have to ask?”

  He grinned and put the wine back, then withdrew a beer. He handed it to her, and their fingers brushed. As always, the tingle that started from their contact made its way through his body.

  She had to feel the same, because her eyes narrowed and she whipped her hand back.

  “Chicken,” he taunted and turned to grab himself a beer as well. He opened it and drank a good bit before turning to find her in his space.

  She poked his chest good and hard.

  “Ow.”

  “You’re calling me chicken? You’re the one who bailed on Sunday because you’re afraid of your mom.”

  “I am not.” So close, he could see the slender band of steel gray around her light gray irises. She had the longest eyelashes, so thick and dark over that creamy skin. She wore no makeup that he could see, and her fresh face only made her that much more appealing.

  “Yeah, you are.” She turned her head to the side and drank a sip, then turned back to him and smiled. A mean grin that turned him inside-out. “So scared you hid behind Grace’s skirt instead of dealing with how crazy you are about me.”

  He opened his mouth and closed it with a snap. “What the hell are you talking about?” Wow. That hit too close to the mark for comfort.

  “Yep. You’re hot for me, but you’re feeling all that guilt because you’d rather wallow in the loss of your wife. No offense, because I get that you loved her, but dude, it’s been six years.”

  He leaned close to her, nose to nose. “Repeat. That.”

  She stepped back but not any farther away, as if not worried about his growing temper. “Sure thing. You’re afraid you like me more than you should. I’ve been thinking about it, and I realized something today.” She glanced over her shoulder and, not seeing Colin, continued, �
�You’re a good guy. Really good. You love your mom, your dad, your annoying brothers, and your kid. You loved your wife. So losing her messed you up. You can’t move on, because a good man doesn’t stop loving his people. Except now you’re wanting more, having sex that isn’t just a one-time deal.”

  “Of course I want more than a one-time bang. I’m not a fucking dog,” he growled, conscious to keep his voice low so Colin wouldn’t overhear.

  “No, you’re a man who found someone way cool that he likes—me. But you’re not supposed to ever do more than fuck. I understand,” she said gently, and to his surprise, he thought she did. “So I’m not going to put pressure on you or demand anything. We’re friends, Mike. Nothing more.”

  “Please. Even I don’t believe that. Friends don’t go down on each other.”

  She snorted. “So okay, yeah, we screwed and it was good.”

  “Try great.”

  She shrugged. Nothing like killing a man’s ego with some sexy shoulders. “Whatever. Point is, it’s done. So why not remain friends and quit with all the feeling bullshit?”

  “Someone’s got an ego, and it ain’t me.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re telling me I’m in love with you, but I’m still mourning my wife and can’t get over the guilt.”

  “Don’t know that I said love, but I’ll work with it.”

  “Bull. I think you like me, and you’re planting this misplaced anxiety at my door. But really it’s you who doesn’t know how to feel.” Getting into the spirit of the argument, he ignored the ringing doorbell and crooked a brow. “Who was it that got her feelings hurt when I missed a casual dinner Sunday? So much she wouldn’t take my calls until her father bullied her into it?”

  “That’s crap.”

  “Ha. I think you’re way into me. You know I’m an honest guy, and you’ve probably had your share of losers, because if your friends make Ray’s their home away from home, I’m guessing they’re not running for president any time soon.”

  “If that isn’t stereotyping, I don’t know—”

  Loving the way she got his blood pumping, he continued, “I have a great job, a nice family, and I made a cute kid.”