Page 5 of So Bad It Must Be Good

Chapter Two

Kayla looked at herself in the mirror. Her nerves were out of control, but dates always made her nervous. She hadn’t been on one in a while either. She’d been focusing on herself. Focusing on changing her life. She didn’t think adding a man before she did that was very smart, but . . . Well, when the man was Aiden Patrick, she wasn’t sure she had much of a choice.

Who could say no to a childhood fantasy come to life? She hadn’t seen him in something like ten years and still he looked like a fantasy come to life, even without the teenage crush factoring in.

Tall, broad, a sort of effortless charm that oozed out of his smile. He was always at ease, and Kayla couldn’t help but admire the way Aiden did whatever he wanted to do regardless of anyone else.

Then there were the blue eyes . . .

Brown eyes. Brown.

She blew out a breath hard enough that it ruffled the hair falling around her cheeks.

Why she kept thinking about Liam’s blue eyes when she was trying to think about Aiden was admittedly slightly concerning. Except Liam was the last Patrick she’d seen. It was like a dream where you didn’t control what you saw. It was a mix of your subconscious and the things you’d thought of that day.

But Aiden had called her this afternoon and asked if she was free for drinks tonight, and she was and . . .

She smoothed down her dress again, feeling a little sick.

Quite honestly the conversation with Aiden had been weird. He did a lot of talking about his travels, the things he’d seen and the places he’d been, and she knew that was supposed to be interesting.

But she felt like she was attending a play, a performance. It hadn’t been particularly genuine.

Which was probably just because she was nervous. She was nervous talking to Aiden on the phone. She was nervous about talking to him tonight. So that was why it felt weird. It was her.

Everything was fine and she was going on a date with Aiden Patrick. Meeting him at some swanky bar and they were going to have drinks and a great time.

Still, she couldn’t bring herself to smile. In a moment like this, she missed talking to Dinah. Talking with her cousin and best friend had always been her predate ritual, one that had calmed her enough to have a few decent relationships in her twenties.

Dinah would have good advice. She’d know just what to wear and what to say.

But Kayla had come to something of an epiphany last year. She had relied far too much on her cousin and had let Dinah lead her around by the nose as a result. It wasn’t Dinah’s fault in the least, but in order to protect herself and try for this new life, Kayla’d had to break the tie and take a step back.

It had been admittedly easier due to the fact Dinah was so disgustingly in love. Due to the fact Dinah had disobeyed Grandmother, and somehow still had a job with Gallagher’s.

But no matter how many times Kayla told herself jealousy was a waste of an emotion, and she didn’t want Dinah’s life anyway, it ached a little bit. The loss, the things Dinah had. Which was why cutting all things Gallagher out of her life had been necessary. She needed to figure out who she was.

So why haven’t you yet?

“You are not thinking about this,” she told herself firmly in the mirror. “You are not depressing yourself. Not tonight. Tonight is a fresh start.”

She turned away from the mirror and looked at the little bear figurine she’d placed on her dresser. It was hard to believe Liam had made that with his own two hands. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him smile, except that polite smile when handing Grandmother the bill.

He was a serious guy, but he’d made this grinning bear. This child’s toy.

Why the hell was she thinking about Liam again? All Liam had ever done was make her feel crazy awkward and uncomfortable for a lot of years.

She was going on a date with Aiden Patrick, and that was her focus. She just had to get in her car, drive to the bar, and everything would be great. Fresh start. Dates and cute guys and finding herself. Maybe the past six months had been about healing and separating, and now she had to start building.

Yes, that was it. She had done her deconstruction project, and now she was going to reconstruct. To build the life she wanted. Not a Gallagher life, but a Kayla life.

Maybe if things went well with Aiden, she’d be able to figure out what she needed. Maybe getting out there and meeting new people was the actual answer, instead of spending six months working and navel gazing.

She smiled, emboldened, and grabbed her purse and keys.

It would be a good night. Come hell or high water.

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