by Gary, Codi
She realized her jeans were still unbuttoned when he moved his other hand down her body and slipped one finger down along the opening, leaving blazes of heat where his skin touched hers. Struggling to keep her eyes open, she lost the battle when he laid his palm against her lower stomach and started to slip down, a breathy moan escaping her at the sensation.
“Believe me, once you get that kind of power between your legs, you’ll crave it.”
Holy cow, what am I doing? She was leaning against the side of her car, letting a man stick his hands down her pants and basically just saying take me now.
This wasn’t what she’d signed on for. Casual fling, yes. Destroying her reputation? No. Before she lost her resolve, she reached down and grabbed his wrist.
Chase pulled back, his breathing coming a little faster and his eyes looking dark in the fading light. She tried to soften the rebuke. “Like I said, you have a high opinion of yourself and your skills.”
He shrugged. “Never had any complaints before.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” she shot back, feeling a little more in control of her body, although the heat of his leg between hers was still distracting.
Chase’s eyes widened and he shook his head with a grin. “There might be hope for you yet, Firecracker.” He kissed her hard once more, then stepped back with a little salute. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As he sauntered back to his chopper, she stayed propped up by her 4Runner until he climbed on and tossed her that same smug grin before taking off.
Arrogant, obnoxious, egotistical, high-handed . . .
She ran her fingers over her swollen lips and smiled. He might be a hundred different negative adjectives, but if his kisses were any indication, his skill probably wasn’t exaggerated.
At least she hoped not. Because she was starting to really look forward to finding out if Chase Trepasso could walk the walk.
Chapter Four
* * *
KATIE WAS TIRED, her tattoo hurt, and she had a raging headache, which hadn’t gotten any better after having Mrs. Andrews’s high-pitched, nasal whine ringing in her ears.
“Hey, pretty, want a coffee?” Steph called as she walked across the grass.
They had decided to have the Rock Canyon Independence Day Extravaganza at Liberty Park. The large, grassy field held the town pool and a playground already, so all they needed to do was add a bunch of booths and a few bouncey houses to make it the perfect place.
Steph’s long, dark hair swayed around her hips and her green eyes were sparkling as she handed Katie the cup. “You look like you could use this.”
Katie could have kissed her when she took a drink of the sweet, blended caramel mocha. “Have I told you today that I love and adore you?”
“No, but I’ll forgive you for the lapse,” she said.
Katie checked to see where Mrs. Andrews was and whispered, “I swear, I was three seconds away from strangling the old bat before you showed up.”
Steph scoffed. “Yeah right, you? You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Chase’s description of her came back in a flash. Playing with her clipboard, she asked, “Do you think I’m Jell-O? That I don’t have opinions?”
Steph looked at her in surprise, but there was a bit of guilt there too. “No. I just meant that you spare people’s feelings. You’re kind.”
“I’m a pushover.” Katie took a sip of her coffee to help fill the empty place her stomach’s sinking had caused. Even her best friend thought she was a marshmallow.
“No you aren’t! You give people your opinions. You just do it in a nice way.”
Katie shook her head and decided that this was it, this was the day she was going to unclog her filter. The next person to even look at her cross-eyed was going to be in for the sharp edge of her tongue. She could still hear her mother telling her to be nice, to respect her elders, but another voice had joined in. A very male, very sexy voice. She didn’t know why Chase’s opinion of her kittenish ways bothered her, but they did. She didn’t like that Chase, someone she hardly knew, had observed people treating her like she would just take whatever crap was dished out. If he had noticed it, then he was right about the rest of the town. They knew how to get around her.
She saw Mrs. Andrews heading back toward her with a bee in her bonnet, and Katie stiffened her spine.
Bring it on, you opinionated, gossiping old hag. I’m ready for you today.
“Katie, you have to do something! That . . . that woman wants to buy a booth! We can’t have her with all of those . . . things out for all and sundry to see!”
Katie looked past Mrs. Andrews to Becca Easter, standing about fifty feet away, watching them blandly. Becca had moved to Rock Canyon a month ago and bought the building next to Hank’s Bar. She’d opened a women’s clothing store called Sweet Tart’s Boutique, featuring intimate apparel and a black-curtained area in the far back. Some of the older people were having a wall-eyed fit about it, but Kate admired Becca for her screw-you attitude.
“Mrs. Andrews, Becca would never have anything in her booth that couldn’t be viewed by all.” Katie smiled at Becca, who watched them with dark eyes and a riot of black and red curls. Katie’s mother would have called her look strange, but Katie envied her brazenness. “Becca’s money is as good as anyone’s. Please apologize and put her next to the Jagged Rock booth.”
Mrs. Andrews drew herself up and snapped, “I will not be a part of this! It’s shameful what kind of derelicts we’re allowing to pollute our town.”
And with that, Katie unleashed the fury. “That’s enough! If you don’t want to help out, then leave. You’re being rude and insufferable and I’m done with it!”
Katie almost slapped her hand over her mouth as she took in Mrs. Andrews’s outrage, Steph’s drop-jawed expression, and Becca’s wide smile. It was the smile that gave her courage to walk past the other women to where Becca stood several feet away. “I’m sorry about the misunderstanding. We’ll put your booth between Chloe’s Book Nook and Jagged Rock Tattoo Parlor.”
Becca handed her the check. “Thanks. You know, you’re a lot cooler than I thought you would be.”
“Well thanks. I think,” Katie said, smiling.
Holding out a small white card, Becca said, “Come by my shop. It’s not all dildos and thongs. I’ve got this belt and a pair of jeans that would look awesome on you. You’ve got a great ass. It deserves to be shown off.”
Katie blinked at her and Becca winked, leaving Katie standing there, bewildered, with a two-hundred-dollar check in her hand.
KATIE HEADED BACK to the salon, feeling freer than she ever had. Even after apologizing to Mrs. Andrews for her outburst, she had been proud of herself for finally telling the cranky woman how she felt, and that she needed to stop being rude to people just because she didn’t approve of their lifestyle. If they paid, they got a booth. Mrs. Andrews continued to grumble, but that was the worst of it.
Steph had given her a big hug and told her how awesome it was to watch someone tell “Battle-ax Andrews where to stuff it”—out of Mrs. Andrews’s earshot, of course. Katie had to admit it had felt pretty incredible to speak her mind for once.
She walked in the door of the salon and Kitty looked up from the Rock Canyon Press, frowning. “Didn’t you get my message?”
Katie reached into her purse and searched around for her cell. “No, why?”
“Your three o’clock canceled,” she said.
“I didn’t get it. What are you reading the paper for? I thought you only liked reading celebrity gossip magazines,” Katie said, dropping her purse on the counter to continue the search. Chase was right; she really did have too much stuff inside.
Kitty flipped the paper over. “It’s a new gossip column called Small-Town Scandals. The author calls herself Miss Know It All and she is pretty dead on. It’s way better than celebrity gossip because these people, I actually know.” Pointing to a picture, she said, “Did you know that Kirsten Winters went
home from Buck’s last night with Doug Dooly? I mean, I know she’s a little dim, but she could do way better than that dork.”
Katie looked at the paper and shook her head. “Just what this town needs, more gossip. Only this time it is in print, so it’s got to be gospel.”
She finally found her phone in the small pocket, next to a white napkin. Pulling out the crinkled paper, she read through her list for the first time since Chase had stolen it at the bar. Curiously, she saw that there was another task added to the end, and it wasn’t in her handwriting.
Eleven. Call Chase.
Katie tried to fight a smile, but it couldn’t be stopped; the guy was a charmer. So, he had added his own little item and just waited for her to demand it back? The whole thing was actually kind of . . . sweet.
An idea popped into her head. “Kitty, when’s my next appointment?”
Kitty looked up from the paper distractedly. “Actually, Michelle was supposed to be a cut and highlight, so you had blocked out three hours for her.”
“Hey, Holly!” Katie called as she came around the desk.
The short, round stylist with a cute A-line cut called, “Yeah?”
“After you finish Charlie’s cut, wanna do something crazy?” Katie asked with a grin.
Holly gave her an are-you-serious look and said, “Girl, you know I’m always down for crazy! What did you have in mind?”
KATIE CALLED STEPH from her cell phone as she walked down the street. The call went to her voice mail and after the beep, she giggled. “Dude, call me! You are never going to believe what I did.”
She hung up and caught a glimpse of herself in a shop window, her champagne-blond hair streaked with bright purple strands. Holly had twisted some of the hair away from her face and curled it down her back in tight ringlets. Katie hadn’t felt this good in a while and, with a flip of her new hair, she walked down the street with attitude.
Digging into her purse for her keys, she got a hold of that list again. Maybe she would go by Chase’s shop, see what he thought. Turning around and heading in the other direction, she felt bold. Punching in Chase’s number, she texted, What are you doing?
She walked past Becca’s store and heard her phone chirp, but before she could read his reply, a voice said from right behind her, “Hey! You were just going to walk by and not come in?”
Dropping her phone with a cry of surprise, Katie bent over to pick it up quickly, checking it for cracks. She turned to glare at a grinning Becca, standing in the doorway of her shop. “Hasn’t anyone told you it’s not nice to jump out at people?”
“Hey, if it gets you into my store, then my job is done,” Becca said.
Katie hesitated. “I really need to get going.”
Becca rolled her eyes. “Relax. You may be hot, but you are way too type-A for me. I’m digging those streaks, though.” She stepped back and held the door farther open. “Come on.”
“I didn’t think you were hitting on me,” Katie grumbled, walking by the other woman. Once inside, she looked around at the rows of clothes. “Oh man!” She picked up a black, flowy halter top with red cherries on it. “This is so cute.”
“Hell yeah, it is, and it would look awesome on you with . . .” Becca walked around to another rack and held up a pair of jeans. “Size seven?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
Becca pshawed. “I went to design school. You’ve got too much ass for a five.”
Katie’s hands drifted down to her butt and asked, “So, why aren’t you off in New York, living large?”
“I went after graduation,” Becca said as she grabbed some other things off the rack. “And I did well for a while. I didn’t want to be famous or even rich, though. I just wanted people to love my clothes and bask in my awesomeness. But all the suits wanted me to make changes to my designs and charge so much that only certain people could have afforded them and it just got too political. So I packed up my designs, put my finger on a map, and here I am.”
Katie looked at the label of the halter and was amazed. “You designed this top?”
Becca beamed. “I designed everything except the lingerie and shoes, but I only order from small designers. No big labels.”
“You have some super-cute stuff.” Katie eyeballed a pair of jeweled wedges as she passed the shoe wall. “Why did you want me in here?”
“Because if I can get a girl like you in my shop buying clothes, then other people are going to check me out,” Becca said, opening up one of the dressing rooms.
Katie scoffed. “People don’t care what I think.”
“You’re the queen bee without having to be a mean girl. People talk about you like you walk on water. I’ve only been here a month and I know that.”
“Really? ’Cause I’ve been told I let people walk all over me.” Thinking of Chase, Katie pulled out her phone and let out a rather large gasp.
His text read: I’m watching this hot girl with purple hair walk into a sex shop. I told you I would take care of you. ;-)
Becca hung up the clothes in the changing room and said, “Well, either someone sent you Smurf porn or it just got really hot in here.”
Katie’s cheeks flushed darker. “Neither, just . . . men are stupid.”
Becca closed the door on her and said, “Preaching to the choir, baby. Preaching to the freaking choir.”
“BECCA, I LOVE it, but I can’t afford all of this!”
Katie had been in Sweet Tart’s Boutique for over two hours and the counter was covered with shoes, pants, skirts, shirts, dresses, tops, and Becca had even tossed some bras and panties into the mix. Everything was to-die-for adorable, but now, Katie was staring at the $553.49 total in horror.
Becca waved her off. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you forty percent off, if you wear everything around town for the next month and tell everyone where you got it. I’ll even throw in this.” She handed Katie a little black paper bag with hot pink tissue and winked. “Just wait until you get home to open it.”
Katie stared at the black bag with a mixture of curiosity and fear. “I don’t know.”
“You just spent two hours telling me how you were sick of people treating you like a doormat. Think of this as your coming-out party. A party to celebrate the new, take-no-crap Katie.” Becca did a little dance behind the register.
Katie shook her head and held up a lavender off-the-shoulder top that ended above her belly button. “Or they’re going to think I’ve lost my mind. Maybe this is too much.”
Taking her hand, Becca said, “Katie, the people who mock you or make you feel bad never respected you in the first place. At least this way you’ll know who they are and get on with telling them to go eff themselves.”
Katie’s eyes widened and she burst out laughing, imagining telling Mrs. Andrews to eff herself. She eyed her bounty, especially the leather belt with the rhinestone buckle that read ROCK, and pulled out her purse.
“Do you take Discover?”
Becca ran her credit card and said, “You know, I haven’t really made many friends here. Maybe we could grab a drink after I close up?”
Katie stared at her mountain of clothing and grinned. “Why the hell not? I should probably change though, right? If I’m going to be a walking advertisement, no better time than the present.”
CHASE HAD DONE a couple of tattoos and lost track of whether Katie had come out of Sweet Tart’s Boutique. She hadn’t texted him back yet and he figured she was sore at him for teasing her. Katie didn’t seem to take innuendos or a little dirty flirting well, and she probably hadn’t appreciated his text. Maybe he’d stop by her place on his way home and try to get her to let him in. Make it up to her.
Apparently he was one of those guys who loved a challenge.
Chase tried to push Katie from his mind and work, but then he glanced up and saw her coming out of the shop, loaded down with bags, including a little black one. Becca followed behind, locked up the shop, and two women walked up the street laughing. Katie was
dressed in a strapless black dress that hugged her curves and gave a great view of those mouthwatering legs.
Well, well. Look at Firecracker all grown up.
KATIE, WHO KNEW she was pretty in a sweet, wholesome way, was prepared for shock, dismay, and even disappointment when she walked into Buck’s Shot Bar with Becca. There had been a few shocked looks, mainly from the table of older men who had known her mother. Mr. Hall had actually asked her if she’d lost a bet, in his backward attempt to be funny.
Before she could react to his insensitive comment, she was surrounded by several women she’d known forever, all talking at once.
“I love your hair, Katie! Who did it?” Gabby Hazelton said.
“Those shoes are soooo cute!” Kimmi Hazelton said.
“Holly did the streaks, and the shoes I bought at the Sweet Tart’s Boutique. Becca has the cutest clothes! I got the dress there too. You guys should check it out,” Katie said, giving Becca a wink. After the introductions were made, the Hazelton sisters bombarded Becca excitedly with questions about her shop and Katie slipped away to see about grabbing a drink.
Kirsten Winters’s got Katie’s attention when she said, “You look fantastic! I bet you wish Jimmy was here to show him he made a mistake.”
Her smile dimmed a bit, until she caught movement at the door. Chase walked in, and little tingles of excitement spread through her body. “Actually, I’m so over Jimmy.”
Sliding off the stool and adjusting the pencil skirt of the dress, she walked toward Chase. She had never worn anything so tight or so revealing, and the strapless bra underneath gave her an abundance of cleavage. She had to keep reminding herself not to put her hands over her chest to cover herself.
