Welcoming the Bad Boy: A Hero's Welcome Novel (11 page)

“Perfect. Continue doing whatever it is that suddenly has your fingers flying across your keyboard.”

Val smiled. “You got it.” They said their goodbyes and Val got out of the car, grabbing her wide-brimmed straw hat to block the sun from her face. She headed toward the end of the pier, where an aged bench was calling her name. Someone else was seated on the bench this time, though, she realized as she drew closer. Someone with broad shoulders and dark, buzzed hair. He was wearing mirrored aviator glasses, but she remembered well what his eyes looked like, especially when they were heated and focused on her.

Griffin.

She considered turning back and leaving before he could see her. Then she noticed that he was reading something. A book. And not just any book: it was a Sophie Evans romance.

“What are you doing?”

Griffin turned toward the female’s voice and smiled. “Reading.”

“You’re reading a romance novel?” She stepped closer. Half of her face was hidden behind large black sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat, but if he wasn’t mistaken, she looked horrified.

“I realized last night that if I want to keep kissing you, which I decided that I do, I need to learn the rules.”

“Why that book?” she asked.

“It’s the one your book club is reading, right?” He studied her. Why did she seem upset right now? “My mother is reading it with you guys, so I thought this was the best choice. Maybe I can have an actual conversation with her about something she remembers.”

Val nodded slowly, seeming to process this.

“Is there a reason you don’t want me to read this book?” he asked.

“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “I’m just surprised. You don’t find many men reading romance novels. Especially in public.”

Griffin leaned back into the bench, draping his arm along the back. If Val was going to sit, his arm would already be out. He wasn’t sure yet what the romance rules were for getting his arm around a woman, but this seemed like a freebie move. “Want to sit?”

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” she asked instead of sitting.

“I’m taking a break to think.”

“To think?” she repeated, smiling softly.

“Why the smile?”

“That’s why I came here.” She sat down beside him finally, but didn’t lean back. Instead, she sighed and stared out at the water.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Work.”

“I thought you had the summer off.”

She turned and looked at him, then shook her head. “I do. No, not that work. I do a lot of work at the church for my father. And I volunteer at the nursing home, of course.”

“Right.”

“Speaking of which, I just came from having lunch with your mom.”

“Yeah? How’d it go?”

Val adjusted the hat on her head to shield her face from the beating sun. “She ate three quarters of a ham and cheese sandwich and then a piece of banana bread.” She smiled proudly. “Homemade, I might add.”

“I could kiss you right now.” He said it on purpose, enjoying the way her cheeks darkened. “For helping my mother like that. You’re a saint.”

“Hardly.”

Griffin tapped the book on his lap. “If you enjoy reading this stuff, you definitely have a sinful side, too.” Her cheeks bloomed even brighter. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m liking this romance book.”

Her mouth fell open, those pouty lips of hers rounding in surprise. “Really?”

“It’s good. Adventure. Romance. Sex.” His voice dropped and he leaned in as he said the last word. He wasn’t sure why he liked teasing her so much, but he was enjoying the hell out of it right now. “I’m shocked that the women at Seaside Harbor are into this.”

Val was staring at him. She rolled her lips into one another, pressing them together. “I can’t believe you’re actually reading that.” Her voice sounded thick with emotion.

“Hey. Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No. I’m just…” She shook her head. “My father has always hated that I read romance. He hated that I used to watch soap operas, too. It sounds silly, but it means a lot to me that you’re reading that book and actually liking it.”

He used the hand resting behind her head to run an absent finger through her dark hair. In the sunlight it carried a subtle red tone to it that he liked. “Not so silly.”

“Happily-ever-afters are my fantasy, I guess.” She wiped a finger under her eye. “But don’t tell anyone. That’s a secret.”

“They don’t have to be a fantasy. Your friend Kat seems to be living out hers. Her sister, Julie, and Lawson, too.”

“Kat had to go through tragedy first. Her fiancé died before they could get married.”

Griffin nodded. “I remember hearing about that.”

“And Julie had an abusive ex before she met Lawson.” She looked at him. “Me, I haven’t had any horrible relationships. Just a bunch of boring ones. Makes me wonder if I have to go through some horrible experience if I ever want to get to my happily-ever-after. In which case, no thanks.”

“Now you’re sounding silly,” Griffin said, still toying with her hair. She didn’t pull away.

“Do you have a tragic love story?” she asked, glancing over.

He laughed. “I’ve had a few dud relationships, too. I’m not looking for a great love story, though.”

“No?” She tilted her head.

Facing the water, he took a deep breath in. “Nah.”

“Why not?”

The waves thrashed about under the pier’s pilings as he contemplated his answer. Once upon a time, maybe he’d imagined himself finding true love. If so, it was so long ago that he couldn’t remember anymore. “I left the woman who meant the most to me—my mother. I found out she lied about me being her birth son and I turned my back and walked out on her. I don’t think I get to have another woman in my life depending on me.”

Val removed her sunglasses and used her index finger to turn his chin toward her. “Everyone deserves love, regardless of your mistakes. You came back. You’re here for her now.”

“It’s too late, though, isn’t it?” His jaw clenched. He wasn’t sure why he was spilling his soul to the woman beside him. He preferred it when he only wanted to kiss her. He’d started reading the romance novel just so he could figure out how to keep on kissing her. Now, here he was laying his feelings down for her to see, opening himself up to a lot more than kissing. “I choose to have relationships with my dogs. They don’t lie to me and I would never turn my back on them.” He thought of Jaws. He wasn’t going to turn his back on Jaws no matter what happened.

Ready to change the subject, he sucked in a breath. “Let’s talk about these romance rules you mentioned the other night. So, if I’m reading this book right, I need to invite you on a date, which you’ll resist initially. Then you’ll give in when you see how charming I am.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Val laughed, her head falling back against his outstretched arm. “You have to make me an offer I can’t resist. That’s how it works.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure I can do that. I’m not from Seaside. I don’t know all the irresistible attractions.”

“Try me,” she said, the tone of her voice challenging him.

And he was always up for a challenge. “Okay.” He tapped the book in his hand. “The first date in this book involves an afternoon picnic and then a ferry ride. This author could’ve set the book here in Seaside with all the similiarities. Care to re-create this book’s first date?”

Val’s mouth dropped open.

He was impressing his own self right now, taking a page from a book that was written to make women swoon. Why hadn’t he discovered this secret “in” to women’s minds when he was a teenage boy?

“You want to re-create the first date in that book?” she asked, smiling softly.

“Is that a yes?”

Val nodded. “You just made me an offer I can’t resist,” she said. “Yes.”

After leaving the pier, Griffin returned to finish his shift at work. It was an uneventful afternoon, which he was thankful for. Jaws couldn’t afford any more marks against him. And Griffin couldn’t afford to lose his partner right now. He’d lost too much already.

Parking, he got out and released Jaws from the backseat crate. A walk would clear both their heads.

“Stay.” He slipped Jaws a treat even though Jaws was past needing constant reinforcement. Jaws’s eyes seemed to smile as he stared at him. He was a good dog. A good partner, too. He just needed a little extra TLC to make sure he followed commands and didn’t act with excessive aggression anymore.

Griffin led the way, pleased to see that Jaws remained by his side without a leash, looking up intermittently to make sure he was pleasing his master. When Griffin had first gotten Trooper, there’d been some rough patches, too. They’d worked past them.

Griffin stopped walking and waited to see what Jaws would do. Jaws stopped, too. With a nod, Griffin started to reach into his pocket for another treat, but static sounded through his radio and a call was dispatched.

Disorderly conduct.

Griffin gave the command and Jaws hurried beside him back to his vehicle. He opened the back door and Jaws hopped in, settling into the cage without protest. Griffin guessed the same adrenaline that pumped through his veins when he got a call zipped through Jaws, as well.

They raced to the scene and Griffin pulled his SUV behind another K-9 marked vehicle. He got out, his heart thumping with excitement. “What do we have?” he asked another Marine walking toward him. Jaws was in the vehicle. No need to let him out until Griffin knew what the story was.

“Indecent exposure,” the other officer said.

Griffin’s heart jumped just a little. He never wished for trouble, but if there was going to be trouble, couldn’t it be the fun kind? “Male or female?” he asked.

Because female nakedness was usually fun. Especially if it involved Val Hunt. Indecent exposure with her would be his fantasy come to life.

“Male,” the other officer said.

Griffin nodded. “Right.” Of course.

“It’s under control,” the other officer informed him.

“Great.” Griffin ran a hand over the top of his head. At least that was good news. He hung around for a few more minutes, then returned to his vehicle and started driving, unable to get the fantasy of a naked Val out of his mind now. Indecent exposure with her would mean he’d have to use his handcuffs. Knowing her, she’d resist being arrested and he’d have to manhandle her just a little to get her into his backseat. And on the way to the station, being the firecracker she was, she’d give him an earful. He might even have to pull over once or twice and get back there with her. Which would mean kissing her senseless. Which would lead to pulling her on top of him.

Griffin shook his head.
Damn it.
That fantasy was enough to make him lose sleep for weeks.

He redirected his attention to his job for the next few hours, then returned Jaws to his crate. “Good job today, buddy,” he said, patting Jaws’s head. “See you tomorrow.”

Griffin walked back to the parking lot and traded his K-9 vehicle for his motorcycle. He pulled on his helmet, then took to the back roads that led off the military base and into Seaside. He had a few errands to run before heading home to Trooper.

The next afternoon, Val finished up her hour with the ladies in her book club at Seaside Harbor and hugged several of them as they left. Helen remained parked in her wheelchair.

“Did you enjoy the novel today?” Val asked.

Helen looked up. She had the book of memories that Val had created for her in her lap. It was open to Val’s page, with a picture of Val standing in front of the nursing home waving. Val had even used glitter glue to draw hearts around the picture’s border, to cue Helen in that she liked Val. They were friends. “Yes. It’s a very good book,” Helen said. “I didn’t read very many love stories when I was younger.”

Val’s brow lowered. She took a seat beside the older woman, angling her body toward hers. From Val’s years of volunteering here, she knew that Alzheimer’s patients could have moments of clarity. Since Helen had become a resident here she hadn’t known her to remember anything from her past until now. “You didn’t?”

“No. I think I read…” Helen hummed, ironing her hand over the soft cotton fabric of her pants. “What’s the word for books that are real?”

“Nonfiction?” Val supplied.

Helen looked at her. “Yes. I believe I read more of that.”

“Do you like fiction like what we’re reading here?” Val asked.

“I think so. It’s very romantic, isn’t it? I was in love once.”

Val reached for her hand. It was still smooth, unlike the hands of most of the other inhabitants at Seaside Harbor.

“Have you ever been in love?” Helen asked.

Val shook her head. “Not yet.” And part of her didn’t think she’d ever be in love. Which was fine. She fell in love every time one of her characters fell in love in one of her books. That was enough for her. And lately, the two characters she was writing, suspiciously similar to herself and Griffin, were falling fast and hard for one another. “I do have a date tomorrow night, though,” she told Helen.

“Oh.”

Val could see that the brief moment of clarity was fading. She wondered if Helen even remembered what they were talking about now. She turned the book in Helen’s lap to Griffin’s picture, her chest fluttering at just the sight of him. No, she’d never been in love, but she was in solid “like” with Griffin. “I have a date with this guy. Do you remember him?” she asked.

Helen looked down at the picture. It was one that Val had taken at her apartment the other night. “He looks nice.”

“He is. Very nice…I have to go, Helen. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Tomorrow for lunch,” Helen said, surprising Val.

Val nodded. “You got it.”

She walked out to her car and drove home. After letting Sweet Cheeks out to run around and use the bathroom, she sat down to write. A few minutes later her phone buzzed at her side. She looked down and smiled at the text from her best friend. It was a picture of a pregnant Kat and her husband, Micah, standing with Ben at Disney World. They looked
really
happy. And in love. Theirs was a happily-ever-after that rivaled any romance novel’s. Val thought about Helen’s question of whether she’d ever been in love. She hadn’t, but maybe one day she wanted to be.

Griffin came to mind. He wasn’t the type of man you fell in love with. He was the type of man you acted out all your wildest fantasies with. A necessary man for a romance writer to have. She had a lot of fantasies she’d yet to act out. Maybe this summer was the perfect time to do just that. As Nikki had suggested, she could have her summer fling and finish writing her book. Then, when the summer was over, she’d return to work at Seaside Elementary, and end things with Griffin because he wasn’t really the forever kind of guy. Her father would never approve of him, and it really pissed her off that she cared so much. Her father never cared about her opinion on anything.

She finished up writing the chapter she was on in her new Sophie Evans book, then worked a little on social media stuff. Lately she’d been dreaming up an online interview she could do for her readers. She’d seen a few other authors do YouTube videos, answering personal questions about themselves. Val liked that idea. She liked the thought of forming friendships with the people who read and enjoyed her books. Logging in to her website, she decided to go for it. She posted a quick invitation to her followers, asking them to send her any and all questions they had. About her books or herself.