Good Girls Don't Kiss and Tell Read online

  GOOD GIRLS DON’T KISS AND TELL

  Codi Gary

  Copyright

  This ebook is licensed to you for your personal enjoyment only.

  This ebook may not be sold, shared, or given away.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the writer’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Good Girls Don’t Kiss and Tell

  Copyright © 2017 by Codi Gary

  Ebook ISBN: 9781943772773

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  No part of this work may be used, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  NYLA Publishing

  350 7th Avenue, Suite 2003, NY 10001, New York.

  http://www.nyliterary.com

  Dedication

  To my Rockers, who have waited so long for this book. I love your guts.

  Chapter One

  “I’m sorry, but am I the only one who thinks co-ed anything is stupid? Ladies, why would we want to ruin things like bachelorette parties and baby showers by including men? My advice…keep it separate and enjoy the male strippers.” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.

  Gracie McAllister put the last little frosting owl on the cake and leaned back to examine her work. This was the second cake she’d made for her best friend Gemma Bowers’s baby shower, because the first had turned out funky.

  This one was pure perfection, though. Since Gemma wasn’t finding out the sex of her babies, yep, plural, the color scheme of the shower was brown, gray, and orange. Gracie had fought hard for a cake that would reveal the sex of the twins, but Gemma and Travis had been insistent. And it hadn’t turned out bad, with the gray background, brown tree, and falling orange, yellow, and red leaves on the sheet cake. With the owls hanging out on the branches, it was actually pretty damn adorable.

  Even if all she’d had to work with were poop colors.

  Gracie took a few quick pictures with her smart phone for evidence of its awesomeness. Then, carefully, she slid the cake lid over it and snapped it into place. Now she had to carry it out to her car, drive it out to Gemma and Travis’s place, and pray that nothing befell the cake on the way.

  No problem.

  She’d just set the cake into the back of her Honda CRV when her cell blasted “She Got It From Her Mama.” Just the sound of her mother’s ringtone caused a cold sweat to break out on her forehead despite the chill in the November air.

  She’d talked to her mother yesterday. Most weeks they spoke three times at most, and they’d reached that quota. Ever since her parents had retired to Florida, her mother had three reasons to call: to ask why Gracie hadn’t called her, to ask her how to do something that involved an electronic device, or the worst phone call of all…was she seeing anyone?

  Luckily, Gracie had been seeing Darrin Quinn for a little over two weeks. He was handsome, settled, and nice. A lawyer who worked for the DA’s office in Twin Falls. Her mother would be thrilled.

  Which was why Gracie hadn’t told her a thing. She didn’t want to jinx it.

  Of course, the fact that he’d bailed on her an hour ago for the baby shower wasn’t awesome, but she could understand. It was a little early in their relationship for a co-ed baby shower.

  She slid her thumb over the screen and answered cheerfully. “Mom. How are you?”

  “Gracie? Why do you sound like that?”

  “Like what?”

  “All high-pitched and out of breath.”

  Insulting her already? Shocker. “Because I was carrying Gemma’s baby shower cake, and it was heavy. Could be that I’m excited to hear from you, too.”

  “Hmm, okay…” There was definite doubt and suspicion in her mother’s voice, but she didn’t press her. “Did you remember the gift I sent Gemma?”

  Ah, the ‘check up on her’ phone call. She’d forgotten that one. “Yes, it is sitting right next to mine in the house. I was just heading in to grab it.”

  “Well, I won’t keep you then. I just wanted to make sure you give Gemma my best.”

  “I will.”

  “Oh, and your father and I have decided to come back to Rock Canyon for the holidays, so you won’t need to get a plane ticket this year.”

  Gracie stopped walking up the steps to her house—her tiny, tiny house—and her heart did the River Dance in her chest. “You are? When are you coming?”

  “The twelfth. We really miss our friends and the town, and figured we’d come back for a nice long visit. Do you think you can pick us up from the airport in Boise? It was less expensive than flying into Twin Falls.”

  But an hour-and-a-half drive two ways for me is okay?

  “Sure, Mom, of course I can get you guys. Where are you going to stay?”

  “Well, we just assumed we’d stay with you, sweetheart.”

  Gracie wanted to slam her head into something. The whole reason she flew down to freaking Florida for the holidays was to spend it with her parents, who had a three-bedroom house on the beach. Yet now they wanted to come up here and stay in her one-bedroom house, while she’d get stuck sleeping on the couch for two weeks?

  “Of course, if that’s a problem, I suppose we could find a hotel or something,” her mother said.

  Passive aggressiveness rears its ugly head.

  “Mom, it’s not a problem. I’ll just have to figure out the logistics. You know that I only have the one bedroom, and there’s no hide-a-bed in the couch.”

  “Sounds like something Santa should bring you for Christmas.” Her mother laughed at her own joke, but Gracie was picturing the ugly-ass couch her mother would choose for her.

  “No, that’s okay. Really. I’ll have everything set up before you get here.”

  “Wonderful. I’ll let your father know. Oh, and can you order some of that coffee we like from Brazil? Several bags, so we can take it home with us. We’ll pay you for it.”

  Gracie didn’t mind that her parents liked the coffee she served at her coffee shop and bakery, The Local Bean. She just wished sometimes that instead of asking her to order several bags at cost, she’d at least pay full price for one.

  It was about the only thing her mom liked about Gracie being a small business owner: the family discount. Her mother had wanted her to go to law school and marry someone with a steady job and income. When she’d gotten a business degree and started The Local Bean, her mom had complained about small businesses not lasting in a stressed economy.

  But her little shop had been thriving for nearly seven years, so her mother had stopped fussing about it…for the most part.

  “Sure, Mom, be happy to. Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Gracie clicked off the call and slid the phone into her pocket. She walked back into the house and picked up the two presents with a grunt of frustration.

  Two weeks. Her parents were going to come to town and stay with her. Sleep in her room, bitch about her small kitchen. The house she rented was perfect for her under most circumstances, but not now. Not for this.

  What in the hell was she going to do?

  * * *

  Eric Henderson had no idea how he’d ended up at a co-ed baby shower on a Saturday afternoon, but there he was, carrying two trays of his mother’s frog eyes while she bustled ahead of him with a delicately wrapped present in her arms. His little brother, Grant, and his dad had managed to bow out to work at the family owned business, Buck’s Shot Bar, and hi
s sister was rather happy living a thousand miles away in California.

  But since Eric’s friend was the father-to-be, he was shit out of luck.

  “Oh, Gemma, you look beautiful!” his mother cried.

  Gemma Bowers, his friend Travis’s wife, waddled over to his mother and gave her a hug. She was wearing a simple purple cotton dress that showed off her enormous stomach. She was six months pregnant with twins, and Eric thought she looked like she was ready to pop now.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Henderson. I’m so glad you could come.” Gemma smiled past his mother at him. “Hey, Eric. Travis is in the garage.”

  Eric took the escape she offered and carried the food into the kitchen, setting the trays on the counter before he went out the back. He headed down the walkway and found Travis, Mike Stevens, Gabe Moriarty, Gregg Phillips, and Chase Trepasso standing in the open garage, drinking beer.

  “So this is where all the men are hiding?” Eric called.

  Travis grinned at him, his blue eyes twinkling. “Hell yes. I don’t know what I was thinking agreeing to a co-ed baby shower. Men were not meant to stand around wearing paper diapers with fake poo in them.”

  Eric noticed the little white diapers pinned to all the men’s shirts and exploded with laughter. “Why in the fuck are you wearing those?”

  Every single one of them grimaced and muttered a chorus of women’s names, and Eric understood. He was the only single guy there, besides Mike, but considering Mike was friends with Gemma too, it made sense he’d pin the thing on.

  Eric took a beer from the cooler in the back of Travis’s truck and popped the top. “Thank God I don’t have a girlfriend to answer to.”

  “I think the hot sex we get to have makes up for it,” Gabe said.

  Chase shot him a disgruntled look. “Speak for yourself. My wife’s body pillow is getting more action than me.”

  All the men chuckled, since Chase’s wife, Katie, was due the month before Gemma in January.

  Eric held his beer up, toasting. “I get all the sex I want without the baggage, thanks.”

  Greg shrugged. “Personally, I prefer the baggage to being single. Then again, my wife’s awesome.”

  “Don’t rub it in,” Mike groaned.

  Erick laughed. It was no secret Mike had been searching for Ms. Right, while Eric was just fine with being single. There wasn’t a single woman in this town that tempted him to settled down.

  A silver CRV pulled up the drive and past them, the driver waving at them. Eric recognized Gracie through the glass and took a long pull from his beer.

  Fine, maybe I can think of one.

  It was no secret that Gracie and he had been having a weird back-and-forth thing for almost two years now, ever since he’d been the winning bidder at the Sweethearts Valentine’s Day Charity Auction. He’d hauled her off the stage so they could have a little talk, and it had just made things worse. Eight months ago, they’d called a truce on their little feud, and Eric had thought maybe they were headed in a new direction. One where they might actually be friends.

  But after he’d almost confessed how he really felt about her at the Halloween Ball two weeks ago and she’d walked away with some dork she’d met online, he was done. He wasn’t hanging onto some misguided hope that Gracie McAllister was going to wake up and realize she wanted him.

  For good this time.

  “Guess Gracie’s new boyfriend bailed,” Mike said.

  Eric raised an eyebrow. “Who? That lawyer?”

  “How do you know about the lawyer?” Mike asked.

  “I met him at the Halloween Ball.”

  Mike ran a hand through his brown hair, ruffling the short strands. “Yeah, I guess she invited him, and he said he would come. Must have gotten cold feet.”

  “Or he’s bringing his own car in case he needs to escape,” Travis said.

  Gabe tossed his beer can into the trash. “Now, who would want to escape all this fun?”

  Eric was contemplating a speedy exit himself when he heard his mother yelling his name.

  The guys started heckling him about his mommy calling him, and Eric flipped them the bird as he walked up the driveway to the house. He came up behind Gracie while she was headfirst in the back of her CRV, wearing a lacy white dress, tights, and cowboy boots. Her blonde hair traveled past her shoulders now, covering up the collar of her jean jacket and he had to admit that he liked it better than the shorter do she usually sported.

  “Need some help?” he asked.

  She jumped a mile in the air with a scream and dropped the brightly wrapped package in her hands.

  “Geez, do you have to sneak up on people? Do you understand that if I was holding Gemma and Travis’s cake, you would have been the reason it was smashed to bits?”

  Eric held up his hands in surrender. “I was just offering to carry stuff in for you. No need to bite my head off.”

  Gracie’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of red, and he hated that he noticed how it brought out the green of her eyes.

  “I’m sorry. It’s been a rough day. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

  Eric was surprised by her apology. Most of the time, she would snap back at him, something snarky that would set his teeth on edge. He wondered if she was coming down with something.

  “It’s fine, we all have them. Do you want some help or what?”

  Gracie tucked a stray curl behind her ear, revealing the smooth line of her throat.

  Christ, get it together, Henderson.

  “Sure, can you grab the presents while I get the cake?”

  He reached past her to pick up the packages, and their shoulders bumped. He was close enough to smell the fruity scent of her hair and notice the shine in the blonde strands, almost as though she sprayed it with glitter.

  “Are you having fun?” she asked abruptly.

  Eric couldn’t stop his laugh. “At a baby shower? Sure, I’m having a blast.”

  “Oh come on, it hasn’t even started, so it can’t be that bad.”

  He shot her a challenging look. “All my friends are wearing diapers that may or may not have fake poo in them on their shirts.”

  Gracie juggled the plastic cake container into her arms, shaking her head. “It’s a game. Two of the diapers have a brown circle in them, and if you have one of them, you get a prize. How is winning ever a bad thing?”

  Eric closed the hatch for her. “This kind of thing is just not meant for men. You ladies would have more fun sitting around giggling, and oohing and awing over baby clothes without us.”

  “Oh my God, how sexist are you? We don’t all do that.”

  They walked into the house to find Gemma showing the ladies who were already there some of the things she’d bought for the baby. When she held up a matching set of white shoes, the whole room erupted with cooing sounds.

  Eric turned to face her with a grin. “You were saying?”

  Chapter Two

  “Apparently, Gemma and Travis Bowers’s baby shower was the place to be on Saturday. Amid the adorable owl decorations, there was drama…drama…and oh, yes…MORE DRAMA!” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.

  Gracie sat on the couch with a pad of paper and a pen, writing down all the baby gifts and the giver’s name for thank-you notes. It was a little embarrassing that Eric had been spot-on about all the excitement over the teeny-tiny baby items. Normally, Gracie would have been doing the same thing, except she was very much aware of Eric leaning against the wall off to her side. She’d caught him smirking at her a few times, and she was determined to show him that not all women were simpering simpletons when it came to baby items.

  Also, she was trying not to look at him anyway. Just a few weeks ago, she’d almost convinced herself that she might have feelings for the bearded oaf. And after their history too.

  It was no secret that the two of them had been fighting since Eric kicked her out of Buck’s at eighteen for using a fake ID. She’d had the biggest crush on him and wanted the chance to get close
to him. He thought she was only flirting with him to stay for Travis’s gig. Either way, the two of them had been fighting ever since.

  And kissing. There’d definitely been some hot and heavy moments over the last few years, and when they’d finally called a truce, things had been good. Really good.

  Then at the Halloween Ball, they’d been talking and he’d been acting so sweet. And for a split second, she’d thought, maybe.

  But he’d gone home with Kirsten Winters that night and she’d met Darrin. So, she’d pushed the maybe back down and it had just seemed easier to keep him at arm’s length.

  Still, she had to admit to herself, even if she never said it out loud, that she liked the beard. With his shaved head and snapping dark eyes, he reminded her of a sexy mountain man, all muscly and waiting to carry her off to his cabin in the woods, where he would hold her captive and do all kinds of naughty things to her body…

  She was so distracted by her fantasy, she let her guard down.

  And then, Gemma lifted two identical onesies, soft white with autumn leaves and adorable gray owls with big eyes.

  “Awww!” Gracie clapped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late. She’d been foiled by adorableness.

  When she glanced over at Eric, he was chuckling. She stuck her tongue out at him.

  “Thank you, Katie,” Gemma said, giving Katie Trepasso a soft smile.

  Gracie saw that the other woman was rubbing her own swollen abdomen. “You’re welcome.”

  Gracie wrote down the gift, ignoring the voice in her head that reminded her that all her friends were either married or in serious, committed relationships. She was the last single girl in her circle of friends, and now that several of them were having kids, she was starting to get this sense of urgency. She’d be thirty-two next year, and although she knew that was young, society was constantly bombarding her with statistics and facts to make her aware that her biological clock was ticking like her grandmother’s cuckoo clock.