Page 39 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

“No need to be an ass about it, Sadie,” he said.

“I wasn’t trying to be an ass,” I said back, but as Colton smiled, I grew unnerved. “What?”

He raised his hand for a high-five. “Congrats. You just used one of your vocabulary words in a sentence.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“You did. And you didn’t even blush once.”

I gave him a high-five, felt the tingles run up my arm again as my palm connected with his, and quickly pulled back my hand.

“Let’s keep going,” I said. “The next word starts with a sound you make when things are too loud.”

“Shhh,” he said, holding a hand out to me and looking around, “shit, Sadie, keep it down, would you? We’re in the library.”

I couldn’t remember ever having smiled so much in Colton’s presence.

When we were through, I’d said all 10 words and used them all in sentences—even the big one, the one that starts with ‘f’ and sounds like hockey puck. I didn’t know if I’d ever actually be able to say that one again. Out of all of them, that word was just…so bad. But Colton assured me although some people loved to drop the f-bomb whenever possible, even he didn’t say it very much.

“I reserve that one for special occasions.” Colton shrugged, his lip piercing glinting as it caught the light. “The f-bomb makes more of an impact if you only use it when you really mean it.”

To drive home our “lesson,” though, he had me read a passage from the book he’d brought with him.

“It shouldn’t be a problem since you read stuff like this to those old people. But I’m warning you, Sadie,” Colton said as he handed me the book. “As far as dirty talk goes, the Warden is the best I’ve ever read. If you can read this out loud, then there’s no question you can mark it off the list.”

I read the pages he’d indicated out loud, and though I hated to admit it, Colton was absolutely right. The books I’d read at Shady Grove were tame in comparison to the sexy, intense paranormal/urban fantasy romance in front of me.

By the time I was finished even Colton was pink in the cheeks.

“Are you blushing?” I asked. I almost never got to tease him about anything, so I couldn’t pass up this chance.

“Yeah right,” he said as he got up and turned to put the book in his bookbag. “That’s your problem, not mine.”

“I don’t know.” I followed him, raising a finger to his cheek but not touching it. “Your face is warm, and you look kind of pink through here.”

Colton caught my hand and held it a moment, meeting my eyes, before letting go.

“You want to cross it off or should I?” he asked after a beat.

Looking down, I noticed he’d brought out his copy of the list. My list.

“I’ll do it,” I said, taking a pen and drawing a line through#4 Talk Dirty. My heart lifted as I made that one small stroke. It felt like a giant leap for good girls everywhere. I was smiling again, couldn’t help it.

“Did that feel good?” Colton asked.

“Damn good,” I said.

Shrugging on his backpack, Colton shook his head and then, in a completely surprising move, he reached out and placed a hand on my cheek. I couldn’t be certain, but I thought his eyes had dipped to my lips for a moment. For some unknown reason, this caused my breaths to shorten, my heart beating faster.

“You should watch that dirty mouth of yours, Sadie,” he said…then leaned closer.

I couldn’t look away even if I’d wanted to.

He put his lips right next to my ear and in a hushed voice said, “Who’s the one blushing now?”

When he removed his hand and stepped back, I swayed forward. The movement was totally unintentional. I wanted to slap myself for it as I noticed Colton’s grin. He walked right by me and didn’t say another word. After he’d gone, I sank back into my favorite chair and let out a curse. It was one of the new words I’d learned today which seemed to fit my mood perfectly.

Yeah, what he’d said was true. I was blushing. That was nothing new. The new part was it was Colton who was making me blush.

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