All she has to do is take a chance...
Title: Bad For Me
Series: Rock Canyon #5
Author: Codi Gary
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Avon Romance
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Callie Jacobsen isn't about to open her heart
to just anyone. Not so very long ago, trusting someone changed her life
forever—and not in a fun way. Now she's better off focusing on her career, her
friends, and her dog. So when former Marine Everett Silverton takes an interest
in her, Callie's more than a little wary. No matter how charming he is, men are
a bad idea. In fact, she's got the scars to prove it. But Everett isn't
convinced Callie should shut everyone out—especially not him. He may be a hero
to the people of Rock Canyon, but he's got his own demons, and he bets they're
not that different from Callie's. Still, he knows it's going to take more than
chemistry to get her to let her guard down. Everett will do whatever it takes
to show her she's safe with him. All she has to do is take a chance, take a
step … and take his hand.
“Looks like you could use a hand.”
“Son of a
bitch!” Surprised, Callie spun around
from her kneeling position so fast that she fell over, landing in the softening
muck with a splat. She’d been too busy cursing the shredded tire and the
pouring rain to hear Everett behind her until he spoke.
Callie shook her mud-covered hands and
was sure she heard a snort of laughter from Everett over the pouring rain and
Ratchet’s muffled barking inside the Jeep.
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that
sneaking up on someone is rude?” Callie glared up at Everett, who was holding
his hands down to her. Even though he wasn’t smiling, she’d have to be blind
not to catch the amused gleam in his eyes.
Jackass.
Ignoring his offer of assistance, she
climbed to her feet, but her bruised pride earned her even more mud as her
jeans were soaked through. She tried to wipe off the muck, but it just smeared.
“They have, which is why I didn’t
sneak; I walked. I saw you huddled over and figured I could help.”
“Thanks, but I’ve got this,” she said.
Thunder erupted over their heads, and
Callie felt like the sky was laughing at her too.
“You sure? You’re shivering like crazy,
and I can have this changed in under four minutes. I’ll have you know I hold
the Silverton family record for fastest tire change.” Lightning lit up the sky,
highlighting his cheeky grin. “And I’ve been told more than once that I’m good
with my hands.”
She didn’t want to smile at his gentle
teasing, but she was cold and miserable, and he was offering her a way out.
“I was just going to call triple A for
a tow—”
“It will be faster if I just change it;
believe me. Here.” Everett reached around her and opened the door to the Jeep.
“Hop in, and I’ll grab the spare from the back.”
Callie’s face burned with
embarrassment. “It’s not there.”
“What?”
“I meant to buy another one, but these
suckers aren’t cheap and I just . . . I never got around to it.” She leaned her
head against the door, laughing humorlessly. “Pretty stupid, huh?”
“Well, yeah, but there’s no use in me
lecturing you when you already know.”
Callie glanced at him sharply. “Thanks
a lot, Dad.”
“Come on; I’ll take you to Jose’s
Tires, and we’ll get you a new one.”
“I told you; I can’t afford it right
now—”
“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.”
“Um, no. I don’t like being in anyone’s
debt.” She squirmed under his thoughtful gaze and added, “Thank you, but I must
decline.”
“Well, I must insist. You can’t just sit here on the side of the road
until payday, and triple A will ding you for using one of your
get-out-of-trouble calls.” Another crack of thunder shook the sky. “Look, I get
it. You don’t know me from Adam, but I can get you over to Jose’s and get you a
line of emergency credit. That way, you won’t owe me anything, and I don’t have
to stand out in the rain. Sound fair?”
Her insides churned, and she cursed. If
she’d just gotten a new spare when she’d bought her last set, she wouldn’t be
sitting in the rain at the mercy of a large former marine.
Who
you can’t seem to get out of your head.
And now she was about to get into a car
with him and have to make small talk. What if he started flirting with ideas
that she was interested in him as anything more than an acquaintance?
Why?
Because you actually feel something for him, unlike every other guy since
Tristan? You gotta start to move on sometime.
But moving on meant putting her trust
in another man, and she wasn’t sure she could ever make that mistake again.
“Okay,” Everett said. “I really don’t
want to stand out in the rain while you debate whether or not I’m some dirt bag
trying to scam you, so how about I run up to Jose’s, get the tire, and come
back?”
He was giving her an out and still
offering to help her. If she was smart, she would take him up on the offer and
climb up into the safety of her Jeep, away from him and his warm brown eyes.
He’s
Fred’s son, and everyone says he’s honorable. It’s not like you’re
driving to Mexico. It’s right up the road. He didn’t even have to stop—most
people wouldn’t have.
“Wait,” she said when he started to
turn away. Grabbing Ratchet’s leash and her purse from inside her car, she
ignored the voices in her head. “We’re coming.”
An obsessive bookworm, Codi Gary likes to write sexy small-town
contemporary romances with humor, grand gestures, and blush-worthy moments.
When she's not writing, she can be found reading her favorite authors,
squealing over her must-watch shows, and playing with her children. She lives
in Idaho with her family.
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