Bad Girls Don't (36 page)

“A person who drives you crazy,” Angel muttered, feeling another hot flash coming on. Turning to confront Tyler, she jabbed his chest with her finger. “No, I don’t want to get married, period! But I do want and expect that when I tell a man he’s my soul mate, he reciprocates and tells me the same!”

“You already know you’re my soul mate,” Tyler said.

“Too little, too late, mister!” Angel scooped up Toni and snapped her into her car seat.

“She’s mad at you,” Toni told Tyler.

“Yes, she is. And I deserve it.” Tyler spun Angel around before dropping to his knee in the gravel-covered drive. He winced at the stones digging into his jeans.

“What are you doing? I told you I don’t want to get married! Honestly!” Angel tried to tug him to his feet but he refused to budge.

“I’m proposing that we
not
get married, but that we remain soul mates for the rest of our lives. What do you say?”

Angel blinked away tears as she pulled Tyler up and into her arms. “I say that’s the kind of nontraditional proposal I’ve been waiting a lifetime for! And the answer is yes!”

 

 

Nathan knew he needed help. He just wasn’t sure where to get it. His buddy Cole was certainly no expert in the relationship department.

He considered consulting with Luke and Tyler, who appeared to have had some success in dealing with the Wright women.

Luke seemed to be a happy camper. He and Julia were engaged and they had a baby on the way. Tyler and Angel also seemed well suited to each other. Even Owen and Violet had danced to Owen’s Benny Goodman records, or so the funeral director had confessed to him not two seconds ago.

“In case you were wondering why I had that certain pep in my step,” Owen said.

“No, I wasn’t wondering.” Nathan’s thoughts were instead consumed with Skye and how deeply he’d hurt her the night before with his bumbling attempt to make things right.

When he’d returned from the accident scene, he’d been an emotional mess. Sure, he’d been to other crash sites since Annie’s death, but none as bad as that one yesterday. There had been three fatalities.

So he’d gone to Skye and had sex with her to heal himself. Taken advantage of her. Tossed her up against the wall as if she weren’t worthy of tender foreplay.

That’s why he’d said what he had. He couldn’t get the look on her face out of his mind. And then she’d accused him of always comparing her to Annie, saying that that was a race she could never win. And that he only saw Skye as a wicked Eve tempting him to do bad.

Didn’t she see that
he
was the one who’d tempted
her
? Who’d mistreated her?

He had to make it up to her. Because the minute she’d walked out on him, he’d known in his head what he’d suspected deep in his heart for some time now. That he loved her.

Now he just needed to convince Skye of that fact. But how?

Chapter Nineteen

After
the farmer’s market, Skye drove her friends back to Rock Creek in her trusty, rusty Toyota. The trunk of the car was filled with a bushel basket holding a variety of apples, and bags of veggies.

“Hey, isn’t this the road where Nathan stopped you and gave you that ticket?” Sue Ellen asked.

“He didn’t actually give me a ticket, just a hard time.” Which he’d been giving her ever since.

“A hard time? As in wall-banging-sex hard time? Ow!” Sue Ellen turned to glare at Lulu in the backseat. “Why did you hit me
this
time?”

“Even I know that what you asked Skye was totally inappropriate.”

“In that case, you better fasten your seat belts, girls,” Sue Ellen noted. “We may be in for a bumpy ride.”

“Why are you quoting old movies?” Skye demanded.

Sue Ellen pointed to the rearview mirror. “See anything interesting in there?”

Flashing red lights. Again. Skye was not amused. “Shit!”

Lulu swiveled to look out the back window. “Were you speeding?”

“I don’t know.” Skye pulled over and came to a stop.

“Maybe it’s Deputy Sheriff Timmy Johnson,” Lulu said.

But it wasn’t. It was Studly Do-Right Nathan.

“Ladies.”

Skye angrily shoved open the door, almost smashing it into his crotch. “What do you think you’re doing?” She jumped out of the car. “Why did you stop us?”

“Because you’re disturbing the peace. My peace of mind, body, and soul.”

Skye rolled her eyes. “That’s the lamest thing I ever heard!”

Not exactly the reaction Nathan had been hoping for.

He looked to Sue Ellen and Lulu, who’d gotten out of the car on the other side, for guidance.

“It is pretty lame,” Lulu agreed.

“I thought it was kinda romantic,” Sue Ellen said.

“That’s what I was aiming for.” Nathan put his hands on Skye’s shoulders, but she pushed him away.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Skye was furious. “You are not getting off that easily.”

Sue Ellen spoke next. “Skye wouldn’t tell us what you did to her after you had wall-banging sex in her office,” Sue Ellen said, “but it must have been something bad, because she cried at the farmer’s market. Ow!” Sue Ellen gave Lulu her own version of the Sicilian death stare. “
Stop hitting me!
”

“How did you know where to find me?” Skye demanded.

“I called Sue Ellen.”

Skye belatedly recalled a muffled cell phone conversation Sue Ellen had had as they were leaving the market.

She turned to her friend. “You conspired with him?”

“Just listen to what he has to say.” Sue Ellen jumped into the driver’s seat of the Toyota, which was still running. “Get in!” she ordered Lulu, who quickly complied.

And they took off, leaving Skye standing there with Nathan. She wasn’t wearing a belly-dancing costume this time, just jeans and a hand-knit blue sweater from Peru.

Nathan appeared to be at a loss for words. No surprise there.

Skye started walking away. It was only a mile or two into town. She could make it on her own.

“Wait.”

Something about the tone of his voice made her pause for a moment. Then she started walking again.

“
Please
wait.”

“For what?” She pivoted to confront him. “Wait for what? For you to come to your senses? For you to climb out of that coffin you put yourself into when your wife died?”

“You don’t pull your punches, do you.”

“You’re only now noticing that?”

“I notice everything about you.”

“Because you’re a lawman, and that’s what lawmen do—notice details and put them in their reports.”

“No, not because I’m a lawman. Because I’m a man in love with you.”

“Yeah, right.” She wasn’t buying that for one second.

“Why don’t you believe me?”

“Because not twenty-four hours ago you told me that having sex with me was a mistake, that it shouldn’t have happened.”

“It shouldn’t have happened the way it did, with me taking advantage of you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There was a terrible pileup on the interstate last night,” Nathan said. “Multiple cars and a jackknifed semi. Three fatalities.”

“And that reminded you of your wife’s accident?”

“It reminded me that life is short. You have plans. You have a life. You don’t expect it all to change in the blink of an eye. But it can and it does. I was still messed up when I came to you last night.”

“So you had sex with me to forget your wife.”

“No. You don’t get it. I had sex with you to prove I was still alive.”

“Well, gee, glad I could help you with that,” Skye said with biting sarcasm, before turning on her heel and marching away.

“I should have been making love to you to prove that I love you.”

She turned to face him again. “You say you love me, but you can’t even talk to me about your past.”

“I’m never going to be the kind of guy who spills his guts.”

“And I’m never going to be the kind of woman who is obedient and conservative. So if that’s what you want—”

“It’s not. I want you.”

“Then you have to stop slamming the door on me. You have to start sharing at least some of your thoughts and feelings. Not spilling your guts—I get that. But at least a little sharing.”

“Okay.” He swallowed hard. “Annie was pregnant when she died in that crash. If she’d lived, our child would have been about Toni’s age now.”

Skye’s caught her breath. “So that’s why I kept sensing pain in you whenever you saw my daughter.”

“Until that last time, when Toni cracked me up. It’s like I was finally able to let the past go.”

Skye nodded. She’d seen that in his expression. He’d opened up like never before, letting her see the man behind the barriers. But not for long.

“Give me another chance,” he pleaded huskily.

He was letting her in again, allowing her to see the essence of himself, the man he was. “I think I can manage that. But you won’t be able to manage me. I’m not manageable.”

He moved closer to her and gently ran his fingers down her cheek. “Are you persuadable?”

“Possibly.”

“Then can I persuade you to come back to my place to continue this conversation is a more private setting?”

“Aren’t you working?”

“I’m off-duty today.”

“So your pulling me over . . . ?”

“Was not an official act and no doubt broke at least a dozen regulations.”

“I don’t plan on filing any complaints. So you want us to go to your place? Just for conversation?”

“If that’s all you want.”

“We’ll see.” Skye wasn’t about to promise anything yet. But she figured the fact that he was willing to take her to his home was a big step. A few minutes later, they walked into Nathan’s apartment. Skye gulped. “You live
here
?”

“Yeah.” Nathan dropped his keys onto the empty kitchen counter and secured his weapon before turning to look at her. “Can I get you something to drink?”

She looked over his shoulder into the empty fridge. “You’ve got beer and pickles.”

“Yeah. I’m not home much. I work a lot.”

“Uh-huh. I don’t need anything to drink at the moment, thanks.”

“Me either.” He closed the fridge and ushered her toward the living room and his pair of leather recliners. When she was seated, he said, “I don’t welsh on bets. I still owe you ten truths about myself. So here goes. I’m a White Sox fan. I’m no good at decorating. I like Heineken beer and Angelo’s half-sausage, half-pepperoni pizza with everything on it. I’ve used my job as an excuse to avoid having a life. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

When he paused, she said, “That’s six.” She got out of her recliner and went to him, settling on his lap and curving her hand along his square jaw. “You owe me four more.”

He gently tugged her closer so that her head rested on his shoulder. “I counted five, so I owe you five more.”

“I was counting your statement about not welshing on bets as one of your truths. So you’ve got four to go.”

Nathan stared down at this unpredictable, outspoken, rebellious woman and realized how lucky he was to have found her. His road to discovering he loved her had been a bumpy one. He’d made mistakes. But he’d also made progress. He’d reached out to her. And he’d finally moved on from his old life. Several days ago, he’d removed the boxes of household goods left over from his marriage and donated them to a Gulf Coast charity that Sister Mary had recommended.

And now he had Skye here. After his blunder last night, he hadn’t known if this moment would come. But he hadn’t been about to stand still and let any more time go by without having her by his side. So he’d taken immediate action. And here she was, cuddled against him.

Not that he thought he was on easy street. He knew he had to work hard to regain her trust. “Okay, four more truths. I’m constantly amazed by you. I love the way you dance and have no idea how you are able to move your hips the way you do. I will never forget the way you danced down Barwell Street the night you won the lottery. And I know how deeply I hurt you last night by saying what I did, but don’t know how to make it up to you.”

“You’re making a damn good start,” she noted unsteadily.

Nathan tipped her face up to his and kissed her. As always, it was hot and passionate. But now, tenderness also played a huge part. He gently wooed her with his lips, and when she finally parted her own, he didn’t immediately entangle her tongue with his but instead built up to that point with little nibbles and seductive licks.

“We’re not rushing things this time,” he murmured against her mouth.

“Mmmm.” She unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off his broad shoulders.

“We are not rushing things,” he vowed, even as he lifted her sweater over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra.

They left a trail of clothing on the way to his bedroom.

His bed was big. And soon it was very rumpled, as they rolled around on it with reckless abandon.

Kneeling before her, Nathan drew her forward, draping her legs over his shoulders and licking his way up her inner thigh, licking his way to paradise. Her heels dug into his shoulders as he launched her clear to the Milky Way.

“Where did you learn to do that?” she gasped when finally able to form words once again.

There was a hint of wicked humor in his brown eyes that she hadn’t seen before. “I heard this rumor about you, me, and something to do with the Kama Sutra. So I did some investigating.”

“I want to do some investigating too,” she murmured, changing positions so that he was prone and she was perched atop his thighs, frankly admiring his very aroused male anatomy. “Do you have a name for this fella here?” She ran her thumb over the tip. “Mr. Happy? Mr. Big? The Private Investigator?”

“You choose.”

“Mr. Big seems to suit just fine. Look, he likes that.” She caressed him more intimately now. “How about you? Do you like that?” She looked Nathan in the eye.