Page 50 of Bad Girls Don't Marry Marines (Rock Canyon, Idaho 3)

“Okay, folks, let’s start this round off with a little Q and A. If you have the feeling your partner’s telling a falsie, call them on it. Good luck,” Ned said, walking around the room with his tablet and a smirk.

“Why don’t you go first?” Justin shifted, waiting.

Val hesitated before asking, “Have you ever committed a crime?”

Justin laughed. “That’s the first thing that came to your mind?”

“Are you avoiding the question?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Not at all. Despite the occasional trespassing as a teenager and helping Carl Andrew’s hot-wire his daddy’s truck for a joyride when we were fifteen, no.”

“All right. Your turn.” She waved her hand in front of her.

A thousand questions went through his mind. Friendly, lighthearted questions. But that wasn’t what came out of his mouth when Ned said he could ask anything. Would it be better to ask her when they were alone? Probably. But it was a lot harder for her to walk away and avoid his questions in front of all these people, and with all the mixed signals she’d been sending, he had to know.

“What are you really doing here?”

She seemed startled by the question. “I told you, I’m doing a favor for my dad.”

“Yeah, but why? If you really aren’t interested in anyone, why drive for hours to attend a matchmaking festival?”

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut with a glare. “Because he’s my dad.”

“Is that why you never called? After your dad sent you off to that girls’ school,” he asked, going for broke. “You had my number. Were you just doing your dad a favor then too?”

“I . . . I didn’t know you wanted me to.”

“Bullshit. I made it pretty clear how I felt about you calling, or even writing a letter.” He hadn’t realized he was still peeved that she hadn’t cared enough to do either, but a small part of him must have held onto the bitterness.

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first. Finally, her dark eyebrows slashed down and she went on the defensive. “You never called or wrote me either.”

“Your dad made it pretty clear the morning after that I wasn’t welcome and you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“You came to see me?”

“Of course I did,” he said, remembering the humiliation and rage he’d felt when Edward Willis had told him coldly that his daughter could do better than the son of a drunk. If Jared hadn’t been in the truck and come to his rescue, Justin might have done more than the single punch to the jaw he’d given Mayor Willis. After that, he’d avoided the man, but a small part of him had hoped he’d been wrong about Valerie. “I hadn’t ever felt that way about a girl before. It was instant and intense.”

Valerie snorted. “Are you trying to say you fell in love at first sight?”

“No, I’m saying that this thing between us, this attraction, it never went away.” Justin took a step closer. “The only thing that’s kept us from seeing if what we have is real is your father and distance. And right now, neither of those things are an issue.”

“But there’s more than that now. I’ve been married, and I’m not sure I ever want to go there with anyone again,” Val said, taking a step away from him.

“Did you love him? Do you still love your ex-husband?”

“No!” Her answer was loud and immediate. Justin almost smiled, except that the conversation had become too serious by half.

“Then why wouldn’t you want to find someone who makes you happy?”

“Who says I’m not happy? And how come you’re such a romantic?” she snapped.

“My mom. Up until the night she died, she used to drill into me that love with the right person could be magic. My two best friends are the living embodiment of unconditional love. Why wouldn’t I want that?”

“And what makes you think that would happen for you and me?”

He watched Val’s face, searching it for some chink in her armor. “I don’t know if it will, but I have a feeling it might be fun to find out.”

He caught the flash of tears in her eyes as Ned called an end to the Q and A, but before Justin could stop her, Val rushed out of the room, barely stopping to pick up her coat and gloves.

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