Page 12 of Bad Girls Don't Marry Marines (Rock Canyon, Idaho 3)

She followed behind him and couldn’t help but admire the way his jeans hugged his ass as he walked. It was highly inappropriate for the situation, but at least it told her one thing: she might not want to date, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate a fine-looking man.

She reached around him to open the bedroom door and ended up pressed against his back as he turned to carry Ellie inside. The motion caused her nipples to tighten. It had been a while since she’d been pressed against a man like that, and the heat of his body struck a chord in her. Cole and she had stopped sleeping together months before he’d asked for a divorce and she’d been relying on a battery-operated buddy she’d bought at Sweet Tart’s Boutique for her recent orgasms. But being this close to Justin made her accept the fact that a vibrator couldn’t replace how good a flesh-and-blood man would feel.

Heat suffused her whole body and she was grateful his back was to her. Trying to shake the surprising turn-on a mere brush of his body had caused, she flipped on the light. Maybe it was because she’d been thinking about him earlier, but having him in her house was making her imagine crazy things. Like the tiny flicker of jealousy she’d had as she watched him gently holding her sister, she remembered how it had felt to be in his arms that night at the high school.

When Justin laid Ellie down on her bed, Val shook herself out of her daze and rushed forward to take off her sister’s boots. When she went to remove her sister’s pants, she looked up at Justin standing at the end of the bed.

“Do you mind stepping out for a minute while I get her settled?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you,” she blurted out, and when he stopped to face her, she added, “not a lot of guys would have brought her home without . . .”

“I think you’re wrong. Most guys would have done the same,” Justin said.

She almost argued, told him she knew guys like him were few and far between, but she held her peace. A rush of relief washed over her when Justin disappeared out of the room without another word, but Val realized too late that she had a problem. Ellie’s jeans were painted on so snug that they wouldn’t come off easily. Grunting and groaning, she’d barely gotten them off her hips when she began sweating in the cool room.

“You okay in there?” Justin called from the hallway.

Grunting again as she pulled, she stopped and panted, “Sure, never better.”

“You sure? Sounds like you’re wrestling a bear.”

Val choked on a laugh. “I just didn’t realize how freaking tight these jeans were.”

“I can help if you want; I’ll hold her up while you get the jeans off.”

Val hesitated. Her first instinct was to tell him no, that she didn’t need a virtual stranger catching glimpses of her sister’s body. Not that Ellie left much to the imagination, but still, she wasn’t exactly able to say, “Sure, strip me.”

On the other hand, the jeans were really tight.

“No peeking,” Val warned, although she was grateful for his help.

He came around the corner and said, “Believe me, I’m not interested in your sister.”

Her first instinct was to defend Ellie and her behavior, but she caught the look he was giving her and closed her mouth, fighting a smile. The man was flirting with her in the worst possible situation and she thought it was charming.

Maybe bumping into him yesterday had triggered all of these old feelings, but suddenly, she was having a hard time remembering why she wasn’t interested in men. Especially the one currently holding her sister by the arms, his gaze respectfully averted. Most guys wouldn’t have been that noble. Compared to the Justin she’d met ten years ago, who’d pulled her in for a kiss without even knowing her name, this Justin was very different. Back then, he had been a nice guy, but impulsive. It seemed that maturity and life had changed him.

Which is why you should shoo him out the door as soon as possible.

She ignored the voice. Manners trumped self-preservation, and right now, she owed Justin big-time for looking out for Ellie.

They worked together until Ellie was in bed on her side, a pillow behind her to keep her from rolling onto her back, and a bucket next to the bed in case she puked. Val shook her head, frustrated by Ellie’s carelessness, before walking out of the spare bedroom to find Justin squatted down, making friends with Gus.

“You sound like a pig, dude.”

“Are you making fun of my dog?”

He looked a little sheepish, and she laughed, walking around them to the kitchen, where the milk was foaming up out of the pan. Turning off the burner, she went to the cupboard, aware of his presence in the doorway as she brought down two mugs.

“Do you want some cocoa?”

“Yeah, sure. It’s colder than a well digger’s ass in January.”

Val chuckled as she poured the milk and looked over at him holding the top of the door frame as she grabbed the chocolate syrup. His puffy jacket and T-shirt rode up, exposing a patch of skin above his jeans and she swallowed hard. That little flash of skin made her hands itch to slide their way underneath and caress the flat muscles.

The room was suddenly stifling and she was tempted to take off the wool sweater she’d thrown on before bed but remembered that all she had on under it was a thin white tank top that left little to the imagination. The last thing she wanted was to make him think she wanted to jump his bones, because she didn’t.

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