Page 40 of So Bad It Must Be Good

Chapter Ten

Kayla moved slowly back into her apartment. She didn’t have any earthly idea what had just happened. Liam had been . . .

Well, first he’d been super-hot. No one had ever kissed her the minute her door was opened as if they had been starved for her all day.

Then, he’d lied to Dinah. Easily. As though people shouldn’t know they were . . . doing whatever it was they were doing. Kayla stepped back into her apartment trying to fix a smile on to her face, and failing miserably.

“What on God’s green earth is Liam Patrick doing in your apartment?” Dinah demanded, all but pouncing on her. “I want every detail. Especially if they’re dirty.”

Kayla’s cheeks heated and she was probably bright red at this point, which meant lying was pointless. She’d never been any good at lying to Dinah. It was half of why she’d had to separate herself from Dinah in the grand claiming of her life.

“I don’t buy the sink thing for a second, so you might as well spill,” Dinah said, crossing her arms over her chest and grinning.

“Um.” Kayla blew out a breath and marched into the kitchen. “I need wine for this conversation.”

“Ooh. Exciting.” Dinah followed her into the little postage stamp of a kitchen. “You . . . haven’t done much around your place.”

“No.” Kayla grabbed one of the bottles of wine Dinah had set on the counter next to her corkscrew. She went to work opening the bottle without bothering to elaborate.

“Is there a safe topic here?” Dinah asked softly.

Kayla closed her eyes and sighed. Maybe there wasn’t. Maybe nothing was safe or easy, and maybe she had to deal with it.

“I haven’t done anything with this place because I hate it.”

“Kay—”

She didn’t want Dinah’s sympathy, or whatever offer of help she was likely to give, so Kayla bulldozed on. “And I don’t know exactly what’s going on with Liam.” She poured herself a very generous glass of wine before handing the bottle and an empty glass to Dinah. Maybe an hour ago she would have had a more certain answer, but the last ten minutes with Liam had made everything . . . confusing.

“But it’s dirty, right? That was a dirty vibe.”

Kayla laughed. No matter how confused she felt about it, Dinah had a way of zeroing in on the easy thing. Always giving Kayla the simple way out. Was that what she wanted to be? The fragile girl who needed a way out?

“I like him a lot,” Kayla said, her tone maybe too serious. Maybe everything was too serious, but Liam wasn’t exactly a joke. She didn’t know what he was, but he wasn’t that.

“Okay,” Dinah said carefully.

“And there has been some dirty stuff.”

Dinah let out a little whoop and crossed over and took Kayla by the shoulders. “Liam Patrick. Liam Patrick.”

“Why do you keep saying his full name?” Kayla returned, laughing even harder as Dinah clapped her hands on Kayla’s cheeks.

“I don’t know. It’s just Liam Patrick. We know him. He’s our handyman. And, oh God, I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again without wondering just how handy.”

Kayla laughed even as she blushed all over again, and it was nice to laugh with Dinah, her cousin, her best friend. It was nice to be a little silly. But... “He’s Gallagher’s handyman, not ours.”

Dinah’s hands slipped off Kayla’s face and she took a step back. “Right. Old habits.” She smiled thinly.

Which wasn’t what Kayla wanted either. She wanted to be brave, but she didn’t want to lose . . . She wanted them to be friends, not Gallaghers. “He’s very, very good with his hands,” Kayla managed deadpan. “And his mouth.”

Dinah all but choked on the gulp of wine she’d taken, but once she was done sputtering, she grinned. Dinah grabbed Kayla’s free hand and led her out to the living room. They both settled in with their glasses of wine, a pan of brownies already on the table. Kayla had put two spoons next to the pan as was their old tradition.

“You have to tell me,” Dinah said, leaning toward Kayla with a very serious expression on her face. “What size . . . tool are we talking about here?”

“Dinah!”

“If I don’t know, every time I see him I’ll wonder, and that’s just not good for business.”

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