Page 4 of Bad Boy in Her Bed

She nodded, crossing her legs under the table and brushing her foot against his leg.“I drove in yesterday afternoon.Probably looking at eight to ten weeks to locate the business and get my hands on everything I need.”Stealing one of his fries without apology, she smiled.“The firm is paying for my suite over at The Hills Hotel, much to my parent’s utterly exaggerated heartbreak over my refusal to spend the next two months living ten feet down the hall from them.”

“You think they were hoping to put you on a curfew?”He grinned, slid his unfinished fries toward her, and pulled her uneaten rice closer.

She laughed and doused the fries in vinegar.“I don’t think; I know.It doesn’t matter how old I get, my parents still get squirrelly about me being out in the big, dark world after midnight, surrounded by ne’er-do-wells and hooligans.”

“They probably should’ve spent more time warning you about afternoon business lunches with tattoo artists you just met,” he suggested, once again very aware of the eyes darting over to them; the town’s gossip mill making its first creaking churn of its wheel.Sliding his finished plate aside, he ignored the steady buzzing of his phone in his pocket.“You might want to give them a heads up you were here with me before someone else does.”

She placed her napkin on her plate, tilted her head, and studied him while he resisted the urge to squirm under her scrutiny.Their server slid in with the bill and she snatched it away before he could make a move.Handing over her credit card, she put her elbows on the table and cupped her hands under her chin, her gunmetal eyes appraising him.“Tell me something, Birch Baker.Do you run?”

*

Jocelyn sat downon the sofa beside her dad and accepted the knitted blanket her mother passed her.“I’m so full I could cry,” she groaned, patting her stomach.“Why did you let me have seconds of the apple crisp?”

“Because you’re too thin,” her mom huffed, patting her leg.“It’s so good to have you home, sweetie.”

Her dad turned on the evening news, and her thoughts drifted back to Birch and his half-hearted promise to maybe meet up with her on the jogging trail that ran through the east side of town tomorrow morning.

“Mom?What do you know about Birch Baker?”

Her mother glanced over at her in confusion.“Why?Did you hear anything while you were out today?”

“No,” she replied slowly.“He actually helped me this afternoon and I took him for lunch as a thank you.He seemed nice.”

Her dad grunted but said nothing.

She could tell her mom was formulating her response, choosing her words carefully as she always did, even when indulging in the juiciest of rumors.“I don’t know much for certain, but some of the ladies at work have been to his tattoo shop and they said he’s polite.Rather quiet.I do know he spent a couple of years in prison a while back, though.It was all anyone could talk about after what happened with his older brother.You may want to be mindful about who you’re seen with, given your job.”

“Yeah,” she murmured, watching as the news anchors bantered back and forth.“He said I should tell you before someone else did.”

With a sigh, her mom began rocking her chair.“Well, it’s not a crime to have lunch with anyone.But those Baker boys do have a reputation around here, and for good reason.”

“The good reason being their waste-of-skin father,” her dad muttered, never turning his attention away from the TV.

“Matthew,” her mother admonished.“We don’t speak ill of the dead.”

“We sure as hell do when they’re Colton Baker.That man broke those boys, Janie.Left them to roam like feral animals—when he wasn’t beating on one of them.That hippie dippy mother of theirs wasn’t any better, leaving those kids for a boyfriend half her age when she had a baby still in diapers and to do what, chaserainbow fun?Who leaves her children for a twenty-year-old and the chance atrainbow fun?”Her dad glanced over at her.“I’ve heard decent things about Birch since he opened that shop, Jocelyn.Nothing too flattering about that Drayson guy he hooked up with to do it, but Birch has kept his head down since he got out.”He turned back to the television.“You’re a grown woman, so I won’t go telling you who you can and can’t talk to.Just know that every one of those Bakers is damaged goods.Damaged beyond repair, and they don’t need anyone else kicking them down.You’ll do well to remember that while you’re here.”

*

Birch squinted totry and read Ryder’s handwriting before giving up and adding the crumpled paper to the growing pile of invoices.“We need to move everything onto the computer,” he called over his shoulder to his partner.“Your chicken scratch is tearing my retinas.”

“Quit your bitching,” Ryder muttered, his focus on completing a sketch to add to his original works portfolio.“My last appointment should be here in a few minutes if you want to head out early.Just another piercing.I can lock up when I’m done.”

Glancing over at their jewelry case, he frowned.“Want me to put in a restocking order?You’ve had a lot come through this month.”

Ryder went quiet for a moment.“Yeah, it’s been busy.I’ll check the inventory tomorrow and let you know what we’re low on.”

With his head still stuck on the offer Jocelyn Carter made before she drove off, he exhaled and leaned back in his chair.“Sounds good.I’ll try to make it in before opening tomorrow to finish organizing this mess.I’m not feeling it tonight.”

“So who was this lunch with, anyways?”Ryder asked, running a hand over his shaved head while he examined his work.“You’ve been spaced out since you got back, and not in that post-sex way, so I know you didn’t take off to tap the new redhead over at The Corner.”

Clipping each stack together, he dropped them all into the drawer with a thud.“I’m going to ignore the fact you think you know how I look after getting laid.”He crossed the room to check out his partner’s latest lion art.“Don’t underprice that one.I’m guessing it would take at least six hours with the details on the mane.”

“Nice attempt to dodge the question.”Ryder grinned.“Who’d you meet up with?It wasn’t parole again, was it?”

Shaking his head, he checked his pockets for his keys, phone, and wallet on his way out the door.“Hell no.I’ve been done with that nightmare for months.Don’t forget the envelope beside the sink when you do the deposit run tonight.”

The door bounced closed behind him, silencing Ryder’s mutterings about him dodging the question again.

---