Page 25 of Bad Boy in Her Bed

Seeing Birch in his home alongside his brother was fascinating to her.Although he retained some of that tension he wore like an armor in the outside world, he was less guarded, almost playful around Grey as they cleaned the grease off their hands and set the table.While Grey attempted to draw her onto his side of the appetizer argument, Birch held his own while he collected the textbooks lying around the living room, interjecting quick questions about research papers and assignments.

Those moments of quiet authority captivated her, seeing the natural shifts Birch made from being Grey’s brother to his parental figure.Their lighthearted banter was peppered with comments about chores and study schedules, the leftovers from their dinner condensed into plastic containers with strict instructions for Grey to remember to grab them before school in the morning.

Knowing Birch raised his younger brother impressed the hell out of her.Seeing how good of a job he did blew her away.

The Baker genetics were as strong in Grey as they were in Birch and River.The kid was tall, muscled, and chiseled.His face was almost a carbon copy of Birch’s, save for the dimple in his right cheek when he smiled.His hair was a lighter shade of brown, thick and long enough to border on wild.But for all the seriousness his face held when he ran down his upcoming assignments, his smile came easier than Birch’s, his expressions more open and unguarded.

Birch truly had done a fine job raising him.

And damn if she didn’t find that sexy as hell.

When the movie came to an end she reluctantly swung her legs off his lap.“I better head out.I want to get an early start tomorrow.”

He followed her out to the veranda, pulling the door closed tight behind him.“Thanks for coming by tonight,” he said quietly, taking her hand and walking her to her car.“I know this situation is all kinds of messed up.Is there a chance you could get in trouble for this?”

Slowing as they approached her car, she looked up at him.“Definitely not for talking to you.”

“What about for kissing me?”he asked, stepping closer to her and placing his hands on her hips.“Because I really want to kiss you again.But if there’s a chance you could lose your job—”

Reaching up, she ran her hand through his hair and trailed her thumb along the collar of his shirt.“Would you be okay with me being ninety-nine percent certain?”

His grip on her hip bones tightened for a moment before he let out a low groan and looked to the sky.“Have a good night, Jocelyn.I’m going inside to hate myself for a bit now.”

Chapter Twelve

Birch lifted histattoo gun from his client’s arm when Ryder slunk in the front door, eyes down and back hunched as he skulked over to the desk and sat.

Adjusting his grip on the machine, Birch returned to work and focused on the final detailed lines.

Once Jocelyn had driven away last night, he’d gone inside and stood strong against Grey’s ribbing.His younger brother’s teasing about Birch snagging a ‘hot-ass and smart girlfriend’ despite being a ‘scrawny, moody killjoy’ wasn’t the worst he’d endured over the years.It went on for a solid twenty minutes, a steady barrage of expressed disbelief that such an incredible woman had shown up looking for Birch, and wrapping up with an offer to gallantly step into his place if Birch decided she was too much woman for him to handle.

He let most of it roll off his back, interrupting only to correct Grey on one important point.

Jocelyn wasn’t his girlfriend.

“Okay, Rick, have a look,” he stated, rolling his chair back and holding a mirror to give the guy a good look at the ink reaching toward his bicep.“If you change your mind about adding a few red highlights we can do it in three weeks, but it’s a sweet piece with the shading alone.”

He nodded and flexed his arm a couple times, watching the movement of his new ink as he flexed his muscles.“Damn, Birch.It looks even better than the stencil did.Thanks.”

Ryder left his seat at the desk and feigned doing business at the filing cabinet while Birch ran his client through the care sheet and collected the payment.

Waiting until the door slid closed, he turned to Ryder.“What’s going on with Trevor?Anything I need to worry about?”

After a rather unsatisfying jerk-off session in the shower to clear Jocelyn from his mind for the night, he’d managed to get a few hours of fitful sleep before giving up on rest and spending his early morning hours focused on finding the best path forward when it came to Ryder.Once he was able to separate his anger from the situation, he realized he needed to play it cool, to pretend he knew nothing about the skimming his business partner had been doing until he had proof.

Or caught him red-handed.

Ryder leaned against the cabinet and crossed his arms.“I told you not to stress it.Trevor’s home and his lawyers are on it.”

“Yeah, well, the cops have our tax papers,” he stated.“And I don’t have a copy, so what the hell do I do about that?I can’t get a new accountant and give them nothing to file.”

“I’ll ask Trevor what you should do.”

Turning his attention to their schedule for the day, he checked off his first client and made a note for a callback in a week.“What do you think the cops are doing with the paperwork anyways?Your uncle didn’t even have a chance to look at it.”

“It’s the Epson PD.They probably lost it already.”Ryder looked over his shoulder and tapped an open evening session saved for walk-ins.“I can stay late all week if you’re good taking over the morning appointments.Maybe we should stop splitting them and just stick with you opening and me closing.Less confusing that way.”

He hesitated, holding his pen over the paper.

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