Page 31 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

Cora lifted her brows as Betty stopped to take a breath. “I think you better tell us Sadie before she combusts.”

So, I told them.

I told them all the details of my first kiss: how it happened at school in the library, how Colton had been the one to suggest it (at which point Betty and Cora exchanged a significant look), how I’d been nervous but that had quickly disappeared because of his expert guidance/kissing skills, how I hadn’t remembered the lip gloss…but it had been wonderful anyway.

“It was for the bet,” I added at the end. The two ladies were completely enthralled by the tale, hearts in their eyes and everything, but I didn’t want them to get the wrong impression. “I think Colton really wants to beat Kyle and vice versa. They take their bets seriously.”

Cora scoffed, and Betty did a not-so-discreet eyeroll as she took a sip of tea.

“Hey, no need for that,” I said. “It was only a kiss. Colton even said it meant nothing to him.”

“I’ll just bet he did,” Betty mumbled. “Sadie, most men aren’t as in touch with their feelings as we women are. A lot of times they have to be shown the light.”

“It’s fine. I don’t like him anyway.”

Betty frowned. “Really? Why not?”

“Apart from him insulting and teasing me every chance he can get,” I said, “Colton just isn’t my type. He’s arrogant and cocky, thinks every girl wants him. Just because he’s a good kisser doesn’t make him a good person. I mean, he’s so immature he still gets into fights at school.”

“Why?” Cora said.

I tilted my head at her question.

“Have you ever asked him why he gets into those fights?”

“No,” I said slowly, realizing I hadn’t even thought about it. The fights had been happening so long that, at some point, I’d just come to accept them. Kyle had asked about the fight today, but Colton hadn’t given a real answer. He’d just laughed it off like it was no big deal.

Cora shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe he has a good reason.”

I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one, but it was a moot point. Colton wasn’t here to ask, and even if he was, he probably wouldn’t answer. Time to change the subject.

“Enough about that,” I said, smiling and pulling out the romance book we’d started on Saturday. “It looks like it’s time for our story. Are you ladies ready to hear more about the dangerously handsome, Laird Blackwood?”

“I’d rather hear more about you and the very real Colton Bishop,” Betty sighed, “but I’ll settle for fictional romance if I must.”

I laughed and so did Cora. Betty could be such a drama queen. As the rest of the Shady Grove residents gathered around, I cleared my throat to start reading. This was truly one of the best parts of my day. I got to hang out with my girls, and no one expected anything from me. I didn’t have to know which college I was going to or what I was going to major in. I didn’t have to think about my list and all the things I’d always wanted to do but had never done. There was no confusion here at Shady Grove. All I had to do was read to them, and we could all escape reality for a little while.

I had no idea how long I’d been reading. It couldn’t have been that long because I’d only finished a chapter. Typically, we got to two before either my voice got tired or the residents left to watch their TV shows. We’d reached a particularly juicy scene, one of the many love scenes in the book, when I became aware of a new disturbance in the room. It was nothing I could put my finger on, but…something made me pause. Laird Blackwood had just offered to teach Lady Pippa how to seduce a man. There’d been a lot of back and forth flirtation, thinly veiled innuendos, and now he had her pressed up against the door of his study—but for some reason, I couldn’t concentrate.

Catching sight of movement at the back of the room, I looked up and—

Oh. My. Gosh.

He wasn’t supposed to be here yet! The clock on the back wall read 6:44 pm, not 7:00 pm, and I was mortified. Colton was early. How long had he been standing there? The look of amusement on his face, the brightness in those eyes, told me it had been a while. Even as my jaw dropped, I couldn’t look away.

“Well, don’t stop now,” Betty said, voice hushed. Apparently, no one else had noticed our new visitor. They were so into the story. “We’re finally at the good part.”

Colton sat at the back of the room, making himself right at home on a floral sofa, and then he lifted that brow, the pierced one. I couldn’t be sure, but the move was so perfect, so challenging, I wondered if he practiced it in a mirror.

“Yeah, come on, girl,” this from George Trask, a man who was nice enough but could be a pill if anything interrupted his daily schedule. “Jeopardy starts in few minutes, and I can’t miss my show.”

“You can’t leave us hanging like this,” Cora added.

She was right. They all were. Why should I care what Colton thought anyway? These people depended on me, and there was no way I was going to be intimidated. Lifting my chin to where Colton sat, in a cool tone, I said, “If you’d be willing to wait, we’re almost done here.”

“Oh, hello, Colton dear,” Betty called to him like he was a long-lost friend. “You’ll wait, won’t you? This is a very important scene.”

Colton held up his hands. “Hey, I’ve got no problem with that. I want to see what happens with Blackwood and his girl as much as anyone else.”

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