Page 29 of Good at Being Bad (Rock Canyon, Idaho 8)

Ellie shrugged. “I know I’m pretty. I’ve been told that since I was a kid, but pretty is just skin and bone structure. I’m more than that.”

“Yeah, everybody is more than how they look,” Mike said.

“But someone’s attractiveness is the first thing you notice. It’s easy to get caught up in looks, and surfaces, and never dig any deeper into what makes someone tick. Some of the ugliest people in the world are beautiful or handsome or whatever term you want to use. Appearances can be deceiving.”

“So, you’re telling me you’d go for an ugly, fat guy with a good personality?” Mike asked.

“No, probably not.”

Mike was surprised she hadn’t said yes. Women always went on about how sense of humor and personality were the most important traits, but Mike knew from sixteen years’ experience that wasn’t true.

“What? I’m being honest. Unless I got to know him, and he was amazing, my first initial reaction is going to be to look right past him. I know that isn’t right or fair, but it’s the truth. There has to be some spark of attraction before I will approach a guy.”

It bothered Mike that he probably wouldn’t have ranked as someone Ellie would be interested in if he hadn’t changed after high school.

Not that it mattered; this was just a lark, an experiment. An arrangement.

“How does your boyfriend feel about you hanging out at my house, all by ourselves?”

“First of all, I don’t have a boyfriend. Even if I did, he would have no say in what I do in my spare time,” Ellie said.

It didn’t matter if he had been on one or three dates with a woman. If he was interested in her, he would not like her hanging out with other guys. People could call him possessive or jealous or even tell him it was a flaw, but faithfulness was important to him. His parents had been high school sweethearts and married for thirty-plus years, and his mother always told him trust was the key to a long and happy relationship.

“I thought I heard you were seeing Dale.” Mike could tell he was aggravating her, and smirked.

“I’m not, but again, I don’t need to report what I do to anyone. I am my own person.”

“Maybe not, but if a woman I was with planned on spending a lot of time alone with another man, I would want to know,” Mike said.

“Why? So you could show up and grab her by the hair, pull her back to your place, and beat your chest like a caveman? Newsflash, if someone is going to cheat on you, they are going to do it, whether or not you act crazy and make a scene. You should at least try to have some dignity.”

“That’s called being a chump. If you sit back and bury your head in the sand, that’s when you get the call that it’s over and the other guy is at her house later that night.”

“Okay, this is straight-up out of a country song drama and you need to pull back on the macho bullshit,” Ellie said. “And the discussion is moot. There is no boyfriend.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear you aren’t dating Dale.”

“Why?”

The words left his mouth before he even thought about how they sounded. “Because you can do better than a shit like him.”

Ellie’s stomach dropped out at his words and she caught her breath. It was the second time tonight she felt as if they were having a moment, but just as she was about to ask him about it, he flipped to the next page of the notebook.

“‘Make a list of the qualities you’re looking for in a woman and don’t stray from them,’” Mike read, his gaze catching hers. “What if you aren’t sure what you’re looking for?”

Part of her was relieved he’d gotten back on topic. She knew there was some serious sexual chemistry between them, but if they gave in and explored that, it wasn’t going to end well. She could tell just from his home and office he was too type A for her. He was straight vanilla, no toppings, and she was spumoni.

“Every man has core ideas and values he’s looking for, just like with women. For instance, I would never get serious with any man I didn’t know everything about. Complete honesty, all cards on the table, no surprises.”

“Come on,” Mike said. “You can’t know everything about someone.”

“If you spend enough time together and don’t keep things from the other, I think you can. You have a problem with total honesty?”

“No, but I think knowing everything about another person is a tall order,” Mike said.

“Well, it’s not an order you have to fulfill is it?” Ellie said.

“And this is supposed to be about me anyway, right?” Mike’s tone was cool, and curt.

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