Page 48 of Return of the Bad Girl (Rock Canyon, Idaho 4)

Standing up, she gave everyone an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I have to go, I had a lot of fun, but I’d better go feed them.”

“Do you need me to walk you home?” Mike asked with a flirtatious smile.

This is the type of guy you should be thinking about, not infuriating Neanderthals who don’t know how to treat a woman.

“That’s okay. I’m right up the street,” Caroline said. She patted Callie’s shoulder. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Callie said.

Grabbing her coat and purse, Caroline headed for the door. The cold wind hit her face as she walked outside, and she struggled to get her coat on as she made her way back toward her apartment. The streetlamps were lit up nicely, though, and despite the two drinks she’d had, she was nowhere near being drunk.

As she rounded the alley corner, she thought maybe she’d open that bottle of merlot in the cupboard and have a glass before bed. She just hoped luck was on her side and Gabe was asleep or out. She wasn’t quite ready to face him yet.

Suddenly, strong hands grabbed her from behind and slammed her into the brick building next to her. Her cheek hit the wall and pain exploded in her skull.

“What did you tell him, you stupid bitch?” A dark voice hissed in her ear, and hot breath dampened her skin. Through the painful haze, she realized it was Kyle. Fear ripped through her as he pressed his body into hers, flattening her between him and the hard, cold surface.

“What—”

“And don’t even think about fucking lying to me,” he growled low.

“Ky . . . Kyle . . . I—”

“Whatever you said to him, you’d better fix it. I’m not going to have the life I’ve built ruined by some slut who wants to clear her conscience,” Kyle said, gripping her hair in his fist until she cried out in pain.

“What the fuck is going on out there?” Gabe’s voice called from above. Caroline heard the heavy fall of his feet on the metal stairs and tried to cry out a warning, but her throat had closed and all that came out was a whimper.

“Remember what I said,” Kyle warned before he let her go. She heard the clip of running, the sound becoming fainter in the distance.

Tears seeped from the corner of her eyes, and she tried to breathe, to calm her quaking body, but she was scared. And angry, so angry. Her conscience? She hadn’t done anything wrong. Did he actually think she felt guilty about what he’d done to her?

Don’t you? You are constantly telling yourself that you should have known, should have seen through his charm? Isn’t that a guilty conscience?

Suddenly, hard hands grabbed her arms, and she turned, swinging, prepared for Kyle coming back, but Gabe caught her fists instead. “Shhh, it’s okay. You’re okay.”

Unable to hold herself up any longer, she collapsed against him, hating the weakness. She could take care of herself—had been doing so since she was a kid—but she couldn’t seem to fight this one fear: the fear of being Kyle’s victim again.

Without asking, Gabe gathered her up in his arms, holding her tightly against his chest as he strode toward the apartment. She tried to remember that he was a jerk, a man whom she shouldn’t trust at all, but his hard body and comforting arms helped her shaking subside. He made her feel safe, and if he hadn’t been upstairs, hadn’t been listening . . .

“Thank you,” she whispered against his shoulder as he climbed the stairs.

He didn’t respond, just adjusted her in his arms to open the front door. The living room light hit her eyes and stung for half a second. “Yowza, that’s bright.”

Still he said nothing. Gently, he deposited her on the couch, and before she could miss his warmth, he had dimmed the lights.

Stretching her mouth open, she winced when a lightning bolt of pain shot through her, and she touched the spot where her face had collided with the building. “Well, that’s gonna bruise.”

“Who was he?” Gabe asked, his voice almost too low to hear.

“He works for my father,” she said.

“Your father hired someone to rough you up?” he fairly shouted.

“No, no. This was something . . . else,” she said, unwilling to get more personal than that. Despite his timely intervention and rescue, he was still just her roommate. If she hadn’t even told her own sisters about what Kyle had done, there was no way she was going to share her feelings with a man she hardly knew.

Silence stretched in the small room, and she looked away from his intense, searching eyes to check on the kittens, sleeping peacefully in the box. “I’m surprised they’ve slept this long. I figured they’d be up and crying by now.”

“They were, which is why I was out here in the first place. The little bastards were pitching a fit, and I fed them so they’d shut up. Then I heard something outside and decided to see what in the hell was going on down there.” He reach

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