Page 28 of Things Good Girls Don't Do (Rock Canyon, Idaho 1)

That gave him pause. “Why the hell not?”

Katie ran her hand over his cheek. “Because a one-night stand is supposed to be a stranger that you have sex with and never see again.”

“I see the problem. So maybe we could modify your list. Instead of one-night stand, we’ll have a torrid affair,” he said.

She laughed. “I can’t believe you know the word torrid.”

“What do you think, I’m just a dumb tattoo artist who dabbles in comics?” he said, his pride pricked by her comment. “I went to college and I graduated with a three point eight GPA.”

Why people always assumed he was stupid just because he liked doing tattoos he didn’t know, but Katie looked like he had told her he was an alien. It was pretty insulting even though he was used to it, but coming from Katie it stung more. She didn’t seem like the type to be so judgmental.

She blinked at him. “Where did you go?”

“Berkeley, on scholarship,” he said, trying to keep the testiness out of his tone.

“That’s amazing! What did you major in?” she asked.

“Amazing? Like you’re amazed that I was smart enough to get a scholarship?” he said.

“No! I just meant it’s really hard to get a scholarship. You are really special, Chase.”

His irritation dimmed a bit and he said, “I majored in art and minored in English. I had already written and sold my first comic before I graduated, and I’ve been doing tattoos since I was eighteen, so I just stuck with what I knew. Saved my money, bought run-down parlors, turned them around, and sold them for a profit.”

She ran her hand down his arm and asked, “What else?”

“What do you mean?’

She stared at him so intensely it made him squirm, then asked, “What other little secrets don’t you want everyone to know?”

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“You let all of these people believe you’re just a tattoo artist, but you’re so much more than that,” she said.

He couldn’t look away from her. “What am I?’

“You’re smart, and creative, and—”

He cut her off. “All of those things should be obvious. I run my own successful business and I can draw. I own one of the nicest houses in the area and I keep my nose clean. The only people who don’t know me are the people who don’t want to.”

Realizing how much he’d revealed in that one sentence, he started to draw away from her, but Katie tightened her arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. The look in her eyes was kind and understanding, a look that told him without words that she wasn’t in the latter category.

“I didn’t see through you, Chase. I saw you. I saw you at Buck’s the night you were handing out your business cards, and again at the Valentine’s Day auction, when you bid on Ryan Ashton, and I remember thinking how lucky she was. There have been a hundred different instances since you moved here when I have seen you and wondered about you.”

“Right,” he said, even though her words made him want to smile.

“It’s true. I’ve been a total mess for half a year, Chase, but I wasn’t dead. I noticed you. But a guy like you? Guys like you aren’t interested in girls like me,” she said.

He looked at her in disbelief, then scowled. “What does that mean, guys like me?”

She gave him a teasing grin. “You know, cool guys. Tough guys. Rebels. You all think I’m a goody-goody.”

His tension eased as he laughed. “You are a goody-goody.”

Giving him a dark look, she said, “And guys like you don’t like that. You like girls who can drink whiskey straight and who wear fishnets and . . .”

“Well, I’m not going to find many girls like that here, except maybe Becca, and I’m not really her type.” Wrapping his arms back around her, he said, “Guess you’ll have to do me now that you’re so bad.”

He caught her giggle in his mouth and leaned her back on the counter. Her legs and arms were still around him and he rubbed against her as he delved into her mouth.

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