Page 78 of Bad Girls Don't Marry Marines (Rock Canyon, Idaho 3)

You’re stressing an awful lot over a man who you’ve been seeing for only a few days.

She just didn’t want the happy feelings to end.

The walk home took half an hour, and as they rounded her street corner, Val could no longer feel her face, her knees, or the toes of her feet in her boots. She hadn’t dressed for walking three miles in a skirt.

When they arrived, Val saw her father’s car parked in front of her house and wanted to throw something. As they came up alongside it, he rolled down his window.

“I have important guests coming to dinner tonight and you will be there, young lady.”

“Actually, I won’t because I made plans,” Val said, heading up the porch steps.

“I have the new assistant DA coming, for Christ’s sake!”

“And I’m sure Ellie will charm the pants right off him, but I will be at the Silvertons’ farm, having dinner.”

Before her father could say more, she opened the door to her house and slammed it behind Ellie.

“Thanks a lot for throwing me to the wolves,” Ellie grumbled.

“Oh, come on. Dinner with young, successful men? What’s wrong with that?”

“Whatever,” Ellie said, pushing past her toward her room.

Val hit the answering machine, listening to the only message, from Caroline, who asked her to call. Must be important if she’s calling three times in one week.

Picking up the phone, she dialed Caroline’s cell as she walked into her bedroom to find something to wear for dinner. She wanted to look nice without being snooty, and that meant jeans with a blouse.

“It’s about time you called me,” Caroline said.

“Hey, sorry. Things have been kind of crazy.”

“Too crazy to call your big sister back?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Tell me about it.”

Val told her about Justin, and their father’s reaction. Caroline was sympathetic. “Yeah, I had the biggest crush on this one guy, but Dad would have done worse to me.”

“Who was it?” Val asked, curious.

“Not important. What is important is that I’ve found my bartenders and I have a potential buyer, so I might be out of here sooner than I thought. Do you think you can look around for a place for me to rent? I don’t need much; even a studio apartment would work.”

“I’m happy to, but I have to say, I can’t wait to tell Dad.”

“Actually, don’t. I’d rather surprise him.”

Chapter Nineteen

* * *

WHEN JUSTIN CAME to pick her up later, Val caught him on the porch. “I’m sorry.”

“About what?” he asked, giving her a quick kiss.

“For what my dad said at church. You aren’t a part of a rebellion,” she said, taking his hand. “The sex is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not just . . . I just like being with you too.”

He leaned down and gave her another kiss, this one longer, with extra toe-curling tingles. When he pulled away, he whispered, “Don’t worry about it, although announcing to the whole town how great I am at orgasms probably wasn’t the best idea. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing with women begging me to demonstrate, and I keep telling them the woman I’m dating is little but tough.”

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