Page 8 of Things Good Girls Don't Do (Rock Canyon, Idaho 1)

She tried to remember what number two was. Then it clicked. Two. Get a tattoo.

She brought down another towel from the cupboard and started drying his face and hair, avoiding his gaze. “I was just playing around when I wrote that list. Things I would never do, you know.”

He blinked both of his eyes open and grinned. “Right.”

How dare he not believe her? Biting her tongue and counting to ten, she finished cleaning him up and said calmly, “Okay, why don’t you follow me, and we’ll get your cut started.”

She walked in front of him to her chair, aware of everyone watching them curiously, and motioned for him to sit down.

“So that list you wrote was just for fun? Stuff you would never, ever do?” he said as he slid into her chair.

“Yeah, that’s right. Just me being a lightweight,” she said, pulling out her clippers and comb.

“Huh. That’s too bad.” She couldn’t stop her head from jerking up and locking eyes with him in the mirror. “A couple of those items I’d be happy to help you out with.”

CHASE CHUCKLED AS she flipped on the clippers, her cheeks bright pink. She worked on him in silence and he decided to bide his time until she finished. Teasing Katie was starting to become one of his favorite activities. She’d been angry with him; even when she’d tried to hide it, he could tell, but there was something else there too. A little spark of interest maybe? Something that made him certain good girl Katie wanted to try her hand at being very, very bad.

His eyes followed the swell of her breasts as her chest came close to his face. They were a great size and shape, just big enough to fill his hands, and those lips were soft, pouty, and had a promise of bliss. He wondered if she’d slap him if he just happened to kiss her right now, in front of everyone in the salon.

Chase didn’t have a shy bone in his body and he especially didn’t mind going after what he wanted. The only other woman in town to tempt him for more than a quick release was Ryan Ashton, but he’d lost that battle. Ryan had been a good girl too, a bit on the shy side, but he had been interested in her because they’d had similar interests. By the time he had met her, though, she was already spoken for.

Despite his efforts to stay away, good girls had always been a huge draw for him, ever since he hit puberty. But those types of girls hadn’t wanted anything to do with trailer-trash Chase. If they had looked at him at all, it was because they had a score to settle with Daddy and he fit the bill of “big mistake.” Those girls may have been good, but they didn’t have a nice bone in their bodies, whereas Katie had this way about her. She genuinely seemed to care about the people in her life, even the ones he thought really didn’t deserve anyone’s consideration. It was like she was constantly trying to dig deep inside everyone else and find the good in them, something he would never dream of doing. He barely knew her, but he found her to be an enigma, a puzzle he wanted to solve.

She turned off the clippers and cleaned him up, styling his hair into short spikes. He watched her in the mirror, her champagne-blond hair in a sassy knot on top of her head.

When she finished, she smiled too brightly and said, “All done. You can just pay Kitty up front.”

Chase pulled out his wallet and slipped her a ten, with his card underneath. “The offer still stands. Come by tonight and I’ll help you out,” he said, his voice lowered, “with anything you might want.”

Those full lips tightened and he saw her hand was shaking as she took his money and card. Tossing them into the top drawer of her station and snapping it closed, she said softly, “Thank you. I’ll see you back in a few weeks.”

“Or sooner,” he said confidently.

Her blue-eyed gaze was no longer friendly as he turned away, grinning his way up to perky Kitty. He was going to get to the real Katie Connors sooner or later. He had a feeling she was going to be a lot of fun.

Once she pulled that giant stick out of her ass.

KATIE FINISHED HER last appointment and headed to the grocery store to do some shopping. She drove past The Local Bean and Chloe’s Book Nook, and looked to the left at Chase’s place, Jagged Rock Tattoo Parlor. She was still fuming about him coming into her salon and playing with her, even if he had apologized. Telling her he could help her out with anything on her list. Of all the conceited, high-handed, jerky things to say. He obviously hadn’t been too sorry, since he made that outrageous proposition. And after she had just started to think he wasn’t that bad of a guy.

Who did he think he was, Iron Man? That he could just ooze charm and she would fawn all over him because he was handsome, successful, and single?

Like she would ever really do anything on that list, and for him to suggest it made her feel cheap. Like he had no respect for her, or maybe it was just women in general. Was he one of those guys who thought all women were easy prey, just waiting for some big, handsome guy to move in with a few suggestive ideas and they would just drop their panties and say, “Come on, big boy . . .”?

Without really thinking about what she was doing, she pulled around the corner and parked. She slammed her door and marched into the parlor just as he was coming out of the back with a sterile tray. His pleased, lazy smile only added fuel to the fire.

“Hey,” she said, “I don’t appreciate you coming

into my salon and baiting me with things you really know nothing about.”

Setting his tray down slowly, he said, “Actually, I know quite a bit about tattoos, and let’s see . . .” He pulled something from his pocket and unfolded it slowly. Recognizing the bar napkin, Katie lunged forward and tried to grab at it, but he held it out of reach, reading, “Sex shops, stealing—although I don’t recommend that—drinking, skinny-dipping, flirting, and oh yeah . . . one-night stands.” He brought his arm down and she snatched the list from him. Before she could move away, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, running his thumb over her skin slowly.

Attempting to pull away from him, she cursed the tingles his warm hand caused. Glaring, she tried to sound firm. “Let go of me. I’m tired of your games. I don’t know why you think it’s funny to play with someone’s emotions, but I’ve never done anything to you and I find it humiliating that you would make fun of me over something I did when I was having a bad day. It makes you a bully, and I want you to leave me alone.”

Chase didn’t release her, just reached out with his other hand and started to pull her toward him. Her heart pounded as all that mouthwatering muscle drew closer to her and he slipped his arm around her waist. She might think Chase was lower than pond scum, but her hormones sure didn’t agree.

Katie stopped struggling and tilted her face up just as he said, “I can’t do that.”

Letting her wrist go, she froze as he trailed his hand up her arm slowly, making every single cell in her body scream to get closer, but a lifetime of good breeding and manners kept reciting, Good girls don’t . . . good girls don’t . . .

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