Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell

by Codi Gary

  “It’s public record, babe.”

  Eric went into the kitchen while Gracie read the new Miss Know-It-All column aloud. “It seems that after years of will they/won’t they, everyone’s favorite barista and bartender have tied the knot. It’s rumored that the hurried nuptials have nothing to do with the couple adopting Gracie’s foster daughter and everything to do with their deep and abiding love. Cue the violins and hand out the barf bags, folks, ’cause I’m guessing the newly minted Mrs. Henderson has a bun in the oven. Only time will swell, though.”

  Gracie threw the paper down in disgust. “God, she is more annoying than you and has a terrible sense of humor! ‘Only time will swell,’” Gracie mimicked in a high, nasally voice. “She is going down.”

  Eric kissed her on top of her head. “While you’re plotting how to take out my replacement, I’m going to wake our daughter up.”

  Gracie’s mood lightened at the mention of Pip. As Eric came out holding a sleepy toddler, Gracie had an idea.

  Eric shook his head when he caught her gaze. “I hate when you get that look in your eye. What are you up to, woman?”

  Gracie got up and went to the coffeepot, keeping her back to her husband so he couldn’t see her evil grin.

  “You shall see.”

  * * *

  Two Years Later

  Eric stood in the crowd inside the community center, watching the stage as they brought up another woman to be auctioned off for charity. It was the night of the Sweetheart Dance and Charity Auction, and the place was packed full of men and women waiting to bid on their loves.

  His four-year-old daughter sat on his shoulders, hanging on to his hair, which his wife, Gracie, had begged him not to shave. Apparently, she liked something to grab onto when they were—

  Suddenly, he felt Pip lean forward, and he was looking into upside down blue eyes and a pert nose.

  “Daddy, when is Mommy coming out?”

  Eric smiled and pulled on one of Pip’s loose curls. “Any minute, Pipsqueak.”

  “You said that already!”

  Eric rolled his eyes and reached up to gently pinch her nose. “Have a little patience, or I’ll hand you off to your grandma.”

  “Which one?”

  Since Gracie’s parents had moved back to Rock Canyon, he could understand her question. Both sides spoiled Pip shamelessly, much to his and Gracie’s annoyance. At least Pip was sweet…most of the time.

  “The first one I see.”

  “Okay.”

  Eric chuckled, thinking his threat was pretty weak. He used to leave grown men quaking, yet his daughter had him wrapped around her tiny, perfectly painted finger.

  His dad was the auctioneer again, and as he escorted the current young lady down off the stage, he addressed the crowd with a wide smile. “The next bachelorette is my beautiful daughter-in-law, Gracie Henderson. Normally, this auction is for single ladies, but Gracie said she would make it worth everyone’s while if we let her participate. So, give it up for the sweetest barista in twenty miles.”

  Gracie walked out onto the stage, smiling and waving. Maybe walked wasn’t the right phrase; Eric would never tell her out loud, but at this point in her pregnancy, she was waddling a bit like a duck. Her pink dress with white hearts all over it protruded in front of her. Her blonde hair, cut just above her shoulders now, was held back from her face, and her skin glowed with health and happiness.

  Eric might be biased, but he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the room.

  Gracie took the mic from Buck and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Dad.”

  The crowd chuckled, and Gracie continued. “I’m offering the highest bidder a year’s worth of coffee!”

  “Shit,” Eric said as the crowd started murmuring.

  “Dad, you said a bad word. You have to put money in the jar.”

  Eric grunted. Gracie had made them a swear jar to keep down on their cussing after the first-time Pip had dropped her cereal on the floor and said, “Son of a bitch.” They’d had to explain about bad words, and now that Pip knew them all, she seemed to enjoy calling them out on it. Especially since when the jar was full, they took her to do something fun with the money.

  His dad took the mic back and grinned. “I’m gonna start by bidding fifty bucks.”

  The crowd exploded. A flurry of bids around him made Eric grit his teeth. He knew that they weren’t actually bidding on his pregnant wife but her amazing coffee. Still, it was too reminiscent of the first time he’d won Gracie four years ago.

  “Aren’t you going to bid on Mommy?” Pip asked.

  “Not yet.”

  When the bidding finally closed, Gracie and her year’s supply of coffee had gone for eight hundred and twenty-five dollars to Carl Andrews. Eric headed toward the stage with Pip, trying to beat Carl there.

  Once they were both in front of the stage, Eric pulled out his wallet. “Carl, I’ll give you a hundred for my wife.”

  Carl stroked his chin as if he was considering the offer. “Two hundred and she’s yours.”

  Gracie stood over them with her hands on her hips. “Standing right here, and I’m a little insulted. I’m worth at least three hundred.”

  “You’re worth a gazillion, Mommy!” Pip cried in solidarity.

  “Thank you, baby.”

  Eric held out two bills. “A hundred and fifty.”

  “Are you seriously low-balling? I’m carrying your child, Eric Henderson!”

  Eric looked up at her with impatience. “Which is why I’m trying to save money. Considering how much you spend on our daughter’s shoes, I can only imagine how much our son’s gear will cost.”

  Those around them laughed at the exchange, and Gracie conceded. “Fair enough.”

  Carl took the money. “Deal.”

  “You can grab your certificate at the auction stand, Carl,” Gracie said.

  “Thanks.”

  Eric came up onto the stage, and Buck reached for Pip.

  “Come to Papa, darling. You can help me auction off the rest of the lovelies.”

  Pip practically fell into his dad’s arms, and Eric wrapped his arm around Gracie’s waist.

  “Ready to dance all night with me?” he asked.

  She shot him a disgruntled look. “My feet are too swollen for any of my shoes. What do you think?”

  Eric swung her up into his arms and kissed her in front of everyone. The room erupted with loud catcalls and whoops.

  “Will you two get off the stage so we can get this thing going?” his dad growled into the mic.

  Eric carried Gracie off the stage and through the crowd. They’d already made arrangements for Pip to stay with his parents tonight, because he had plans with his wife.

  Really hot, sexy plans.

  * * *

  “Oh God, Eric, don’t stop!” Gracie’s eyes rolled back in her head as he hit the spot just right, digging his thumb into the bottom of her foot. She was lying back against the arm of the couch in her maternity nightgown and flannel robe, enjoying the loving ministrations of her husband.

  Eric chuckled low. “I missed hearing those words, you know?”

  Gracie leaned up to smack his shoulder, which was difficult due to her giant stomach. “Don’t ruin it by being a pervert.”

  “What part of loving sexy noises from my wife makes me a pervert?”

  “The part where I can hardly move around by myself, I’m so big.”

  Eric leaned over and kissed her roughly, his tongue gliding across her lower lip and causing a shiver to race down her spine.

  “There has never been a time that I haven’t wanted you, Gracie Lou.”

  Gracie’s heart squeezed with love. “Even when Pip had the stomach flu and puked all over me?”

  “Well, I wanted you to shower first, but yep, you were hot with the dark circles under your eyes and the hair sticking up everywhere—”

  “You are such an ass. If I could get up gracefully, I would storm out of here.”

  Eric massag
ed her heel, and she moaned loudly.

  “You’re full of shit. You like this too much to leave me.”

  “You’re right. That feels really, really good.”

  Gracie relaxed once more. When Gracie and Pip had moved in after the wedding, there’d been several changes to her style. Gracie had convinced Eric to let her keep her princess bed and they’d moved it into Pip’s room. It was the one room that Eric had let her go crazy girly with. For the rest of the house, she preferred more rustic décor, which Eric went along with.

  Fuzz was stretched out on the other couch, watching them curiously in the candlelight. Gracie had finally given up trying to keep the massive dog off the furniture. At nearly a hundred and fifty pounds, the vet thought he was probably a Newfoundland mix instead of a lab, but despite his ginormous size, the dog thought he was a lapdog. Most nights, their bed was taken over by both Pip and Fuzz. Pip usually slept between them, while Fuzz would lie across their feet.

  As if he knew she was watching, Fuzz’s tail flipped to the side and he let one rip. Gracie wrinkled her nose as Eric laughed. Fuzz couldn’t do any wrong in his eyes.

  Gracie had to admit that she loved the big, drooling fart factory.

  It was a good thing Eric had set candles around the room, or the smell might have bothered Gracie. On the coffee table were several yummy treats: chocolate-covered strawberries, her half-eaten burger from Jensen’s, and a pitcher of virgin Sex on the Beach.

  Her husband was really quite romantic.

  Suddenly, a cramp seized her abdomen, and she gasped. Fuzz sprang off the couch and was in her face, licking her while she tried to push him back.

  Eric told him to stay and hovered over her, concern etched across his face. “Gracie? What’s the matter?”

  The sensation of warm wetness soaked her between her legs and through her robe.

  “Eric…”

  “So, help me, if you are screwing with me again, woman, I am going to—”

  “I’m pretty sure my water just broke.”

  Eric’s eyes went wild, and he leaped from the couch. “How do you know?”

  “Gee, I don’t know…’cause I’m soaked through and my belly feels really tight?”

  Without another word, Eric ran out of the room and down the hallway, Fuzz barking frantically behind him.

  Gracie tried to swing into a sitting position, but she was going to need help. Eric came back moments later with the overnight bag she’d had packed for weeks, another nightgown, and her boots. Fuzz went back to her side, sniffing her and whimpering. She stroked the dog’s fur and kissed him on top of the head.

  “I’m okay, buddy.” She shrugged off her robe and added, “Blow out the candles, okay?”

  Eric handed her the new nightgown and went around the room, blowing loudly.

  “Are you panicking?” she asked.

  He stopped after the last one, grinning sheepishly. “A little.”

  “Just take a breath, babe. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  * * *

  “Oh my God, something is wrong!” Gracie hollered as another contraction ripped through her body. They’d made it to the hospital when her contractions were four minutes apart, and the doctor had assured her it wouldn’t be long.

  Ten hours later, she really wanted to know his definition of “not long.”

  Her mom was on the other side of the hospital bed, holding one hand while Eric held the other.

  “No, baby, this is just what labor without drugs feels like,” her mother said.

  “Like my vajayjay is about to explode?” Gracie shrieked.

  “Yes, just like that.”

  “Well, that’s some bullshit!”

  Her mother gave her a stern look. “Stop being a drama queen. You were offered an epidural, and you declined. Women do this every day without cursing. Besides, you’re scaring poor Eric.”

  Gracie looked up into her husband’s pale face and glared. “You better not pass out.”

  His dark eyes snapped to hers, and she saw the worry and fear and took a deep shaky breath. After the scare with Gemma and the twins, she could just imagine what he was thinking, and she squeezed his hand.

  “Sorry, it just hurts.”

  He shook his head and leaned over to kiss her sweaty forehead. “You curse me all you want, Gracie Lou. I can take it.”

  And that was why he’d been the one. Because he gave her exactly what she needed.

  “All right, Gracie, on the next contraction, you’re going to bear down, okay?” the doctor said, sitting between her sprawled legs.

  She nodded, and as the next pain exploded, she released a string of curses that left the nurses blushing.

  “You’re doing so good, babe,” Eric said encouragingly.

  “Almost there, Gracie,” the doctor said. “Another push.”

  Gracie squeezed her mother’s and husband’s hands and screamed. The pressure eased, and when she heard the wet cry of a baby, she realized it was over. Her son was here.

  “I did it,” she said tiredly.

  Eric rained kissed all over her face. “You did, God, Gracie you were amazing. I love you…”

  That was the last thing she heard before passing out.

  * * *

  Six hours later, Eric was still shaking. Although the doctor and nurses had assured him that Gracie had just passed out due to exhaustion, watching his wife lose consciousness had been the scariest damn moment of his life.

  She’d taken twenty years off his life and had the audacity to tell him to chill out.

  He sat in the chair next to her bed, watching her nurse their son. They’d been tossing out baby names for months but couldn’t seem to agree on one.

  “We have to have a name before we leave the hospital,” Eric said.

  Gracie looked up at him, her eyes heavy and her hair lying limply against her head. His chest tightened as he reached out and smoothed his hand over her cheek. She was his. They’d fought and struggled to overcome their baggage and fall in love, but now Eric realized all the hardship and fighting and misunderstandings had been worth it, because they were meant to be.

  “I was actually thinking Ian,” Gracie said tiredly.

  “Ian?”

  “What, it’s Irish and cute.”

  “Hmmm…” Eric ran his hand over his son’s bald head as he considered. “Okay.”

  Gracie’s face lit up. “Really?”

  “Yeah, it’s fine. My mom will love it,” Eric said.

  “Mine too.” Gracie grabbed his hand and squeezed. “So, we have a name.”

  “We have a name.”

  Gracie kissed his knuckles. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For always being what I need.”

  Eric cocked his head. “I am?”

  She nodded. “Whether it’s someone to take my frustration out on or my rock to lean on, you always step in and are willing to give me what I need to get me through. I don’t always deserve you, but I love you.”

  Eric sniffed and blinked back the sting of tears in his eyes as he stood. He leaned over and kissed her, whispering against her lips. “I like to think we deserve each other. After all, who else would put up with us? The surly bartender and the drama queen?”

  Gracie laughed. “Touché. I guess we are pretty perfect together.”

  “Imperfectly perfect,” he corrected.

  “Exactly.”

  Discover More by Codi Gary

  Rock Canyon, Idaho Series

  The Trouble With Sexy

  Things Good Girls Don’t Do

  Good Girls Don’t Date Rock Stars

  Return of the Bad Girl

  Bad Girls Don’t Marry Marines

  Bad For Me

  Good Girls Don’t Kiss and Tell

  The Trouble with Attraction: A Rock Canyon Short Story Collection

  The Loco, Texas Series

  Crazy For You

  Make Me Crazy

  I Want Crazy

  The Men in
Uniform Series

  I Need a Hero

  One Lucky Hero

  Hero of Mine

  Holding Out for a Hero

  Hot Winter Nights Series by Codi Gary and James Patterson

  A Bear Mountain Rescue Story

  About the Author

  An obsessive bookworm, Codi Gary likes to write sexy 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. To keep up with Codi, follow her newsletter at http://www.codigarysbooks.com/newsletter.html.

  Acknowledgments

  Huge thanks to my editor, Linda Ingmanson. You are amazing! To my agent, Sarah, Natanya, my formatter, and the rest of the team at NYLA for making this book so pretty! Thank you for backing me and working with me on this. To the amazing Victoria Colotta for always being there when I need her, and for the amazing cover for Good Girls Don’t Kiss and Tell! I love you, my friend! To my Betas, Catherine Crook, Miranda Arnold, and Victoria Colotta; thank you for assuring me of the lack of suckage. >My husband and kids for helping out and being so understanding when mommy is crazy. For my extended family for their support. For everyone who signed up to share and review Good Girls Don’t Kiss and Tell, I appreciate you so very much. To my bestie, Tina, who gives me encouragement and crap whenever I need it. I love you. And to my readers, who have followed the characters of this town and begged for closure, I hope I did right by you.