Chapter Four
K ATIE 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.
K ATIE 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?”
K ATIE CALLED S TEPH 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.”
“B ECCA, 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.”
C HASE 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.
K ATIE, 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.
Katie smiled nervously as his eyes moved slowly over her, and when they finally met hers, they were so hot she nearly stumbled. He met her at the edge of the bar and said, “I thought you were pissed at me.”
“Why did you think that?”
He pulled out his phone and held it up. “You never texted back.”
She shrugged. “I got busy.”
His eyebrow hiked up along with his smile. “You too busy for a drink?”
“You buying?”
“Yeah.”
She laughed. “Good, ’cause I just spent all of my extra income on clothes.”
Leaning over and putting his mouth so close she could feel his warm breath on her neck, he whispered, “So what was in the little black bag?”
He watched me leave. “Are you stalking me?”
“Not stalking, just interested,” he said, still close enough for her to see the black flecks in his gray eyes while he played with one of her curls.
The way he was admiring her made her feel powerful and brazen, and it was going to her head in a big way.
“Hmmm. In taking care of me, you mean? Maybe taking me home and using this very impressive body to get me all hot and bothered?” she said, surprising herself as she trailed her finger over his chest suggestively.
He froze, staring at her like she was wearing an donkey head, and she tried not to blush or look away.
“You can’t be drunk already,” he said.
Laughing, she said, “Nope, just trying out the no-filter thing.”
“How are you liking it?” he said with a rich chuckle.
“Definitely saves time from thinking about what not to say.”
He leaned against the bar. “You don’t have to get rid of your filter. It’s what makes people like you. I just think you should stop letting the assholes treat you like dirt.”
The comment hit too close to home and Katie, wanting to change the subject, tossed her hair and said, “So what do you think of my dress?”
“I like it. But do you?”
His question gave her pause and as he ordered them a round of drinks, she thought about the sudden changes she’d made. She’d sat down and written that list at a low, self-loathing moment. The streaks were fun, the tattoo stung, and the clothes were cute, but would she regret them later? She had no idea. She didn’t want to think about the future; she just wanted to live in the moment. She wanted to feel good for the first time in months, not just try to get through the day.
“Yeah. I think I do.”
C HASE LIKED UNFILTERED Katie. She was funny; she got loud and lost that bit of prim and proper attitude. And right now she was looking at him like a kid waiting to unwrap her shiny new bike.
He just hoped she really wanted to take him for a ride, because every minute he spent with her, the more he liked her. She was the type of girl a guy could just hang with, relax, and not have to put on a big show. She wasn’t like any other girl he’d ever been around.
The Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two” came on the jukebox and Katie gushed, “Oh my God, I love this song.” She grabbed his hand and pulled on it. “Come on, dance with me.”
Chase looked out on the empty floor and shook his head. “I think you’ve had too much to drink.”
“I’ve had one beer.” She tugged his hand harder.
“There’s nobody dancing!” he said, wondering if he should bring up the no-holding-hands-in-public rule.
When she batted her eyelashes and pouted her full lips, though, he dropped his guard long enough to laugh and she jerked him off his stool with an evil grin. He gave up reasoning with her and let her lead him out onto the dance floor.
He had always associated her with being bashful, but he was quickly figuring out that just because she was a reserved girl didn’t mean she was shy. She finished maneuvering him smack into the middle of the room, slid her arms up over his shoulders, and moved against him. His hands settled on the small of her back, minding her tattoo, and he had to admit she did feel really good pressed against his front.
She was singing the lyrics softly and he joked, “Kind of a morbid song, isn’t it?”
Something passed through those blue eyes when she looked up, and a strange feeling ran through him. Protectiveness. He knew she’d been hurt, and he wanted to take away that pain.
What the hell is the matter with you? She’s just a girl you might have some fun with. Nothing else.
“Maybe, but at least the girl got to have her wedding,” Katie said.
He didn’t like the sadness in her voice either. Trying to get himself out of his head and distract her, he reached up and tapped her nose. “Why are you getting sad on me? Do you need me to kiss you again? ’Cause we both know you like that.”
“Now, that would be breaking the rules. No kissing in public.” Her smile chased away the sad look.
Chase leaned real close so only she could hear him over the music. “I think we can make an exception this once.”
“Do you really want to?” she asked, her tone seductive as a siren’s call. “’Cause even if we bend the rules this once, people might get the wrong impression.”
Suddenly he didn’t care what the people of Rock Canyon would think or say. “Let ’em talk.”
Dipping his head down to kiss her, he loved the feel of her fingers tickling the back of his neck as she kissed him back. He wanted to get the hell out of there, take off that sweet little dress, and get his hands on ...
“Hey, Katie, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to get home.”
He pulled back to give Becca the eye, but she just returned his look with a knowing smile. Becca had come into the parlor a few days after she’d first moved to town, and he’d given her a tattoo of two red cherries still on the stem low on her right boob. When she’d caught him eyeing her with interest, she’d told him he wasn’t her type. He’d asked her what her type was, she’d said, “Probably the same as yours.”
He’d laughed and liked her immediately, but right now she was cock-blocking him hard, and that smirk said she knew it.
“Oh sure. Sorry, we rode together.” Katie turned to Chase and looked so disappointed that he wanted to find Becca another ride, just so she would stay.
He slid his hands off her waist and said, “It’s okay. We can pick this up another time.”
She gave him a brilliant smile as she followed Becca out the door, and Chase jumped when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder.
“So, Katie Connors, huh?”
Chase grinned at the bigger man standing next to him. “Where have you been all night?”
Eric Henderson was Grant’s brother and ran the day-to-day operations of the bar for his dad, Buck. Chase and Eric had become pretty good friends, despite the way Gracie McAllister, the object of Eric’s interest, tended to flirt with Chase outrageously. Especially when Eric was in the vicinity.
“Had stuff to do.” Eric turned his dark, I-want-to-intimidate-you stare on Chase and said, “Katie is the kind of girl you marry and have kids with.”
Chase didn’t argue. He knew what kind of girl Katie was. It didn’t stop him from wanting her, and it definitely didn’t change the fact that she wanted him too.
“Yeah, but even girls like Katie need to sow some oats before they settle down with their Prince Charming, right?” he said.
Eric’s frown would have sent a weaker man scurrying for safety, but Chase knew Eric. He liked people to be scared of him. It was his way of controlling his world, but under all that snap and snarl, Eric was a marshmallow. At least with certain people.
But Chase must not have been on the marshmallow list tonight, because Eric just nudged him and growled, “Just make sure you don’t hurt that girl or the people of this town might make you disappear.”
Chase looked around, caught several unfriendly looks, and tried to resist the urge to gulp. Visions of torture and crazy men with guns were not on his list of fantasies. Nor was being the cause of any pain in Katie’s soft, blue eyes.
“Trust me, hurting Katie is the last thing I’d want to do,” he said.