Free Dirty Secret: A Bad Boy Romance (Bluefield Bad Boys Book 3) by Tess Oliver Page A

don’t know what does.” She lifted her beer for a toast. “Here’s to pizza soul mates.”
    I clicked my bottle against hers. “Did your bodyguard make you wear the beanie and scarf to go out skateboarding?”
    She nearly choked on her bite of food. “Axel has no idea I left the house. He was sheltered in behind a wall of tacos so I snuck out. I calculate that I’ve got about an hour before the glass slipper comes off. Fortunately, I’ve got my prince right here to retrieve it.” With that she kicked off her shoes and pulled her feet up on the chair to sit cross legged like they taught us in kindergarten.
    “How is the sister vacation going? Are you having fun?”
    “I am now.” I pulled off a piece of pepperoni and ate it. “It didn’t take us long to fall right back into our sibling roles. Megan, bossy pants, Aubrey, her closest comrade, and me, the brother who seems to irritate the both of them just by taking a deep breath. Then there’s Megan’s new boyfriend, who just really put the whipped cream on top of the whole damn thing. I sort of knew this was a mistake. But I needed to get away for awhile. Needed to get away from the mine and from my friends and family.”
    She settled back with her beer. “You have more family back home?”
    “My parents, who I recently had to move back in with because the drunken fool I took on as a roommate set the kitchen on fire with a bag of marshmallows.”
    Her hand flew to her mouth to keep from spitting out her beer. She swallowed. “I’m sorry, but that sounded funny. I mean falling asleep with a cigarette or leaving the iron on is one thing, but a marshmallow fire catastrophe, that’s a new one. And what were you doing while he was starting a marshmallow fire? Setting up the graham crackers and chocolate?”
    I thought about that night and stared down at the half eaten slice of pizza. “Something like that,” I muttered.
    “ Oh , I see. Well, as long as no one got hurt. So, is it just your parents?”
    “No, there’s a twin sister, Andi, who has recently taken up with one of my best friends, Tommy.” I shook my head. “I tried to stop the whole thing, but it seems she’s happy.”
    “Did you try and stop it because you didn’t think he was right for her or because you didn’t want to lose your best friend?”
    I thought about the question. It was something I’d never really asked myself before. “I know that Tommy would do anything for her. I guess, mostly, I didn’t want to lose my friend. There were three of us, Tommy, Kellan and me, growing up. We all headed straight to the mine after high school. Kellan’s high school sweetheart came back to town last year.”
    “Ah ha, you lost both of them to women in a short span of time.”
    I picked up my beer and pointed it toward her. “You are very cute and very smart.”
    She laughed. “Are those two things supposed to be mutually exclusive? Cute or smart but not both?”
    “Obviously not. What about you? Where’s your family?”
    Lenix grew quiet and shrugged. “The band is my family. And believe me, they can be just as irritating as the real thing.” She unfolded her legs. “New topic. I’ve got to head back soon. What about a walk on the beach?”

Chapter 12
    Lenix
    I’d pulled the beanie back on and draped the scarf over my shoulders. There was no need for camouflage. The beach was dark and empty as we walked over the sand toward the water. Dawson was a good head taller than me as I glanced over at him.
    “You make me feel like a pixie when I’m walking next to you.”
    “I must seem small compared to that big guy who follows you around.”
    “Axel? True. When I’m next to Axel, I feel like the crumb of a cookie. Like he could just dampen his thumb and pick me up. But he is a good bodyguard.”
    “I’ll bet.” Dawson combed his dark hair for the third time, but he was losing the battle with the ocean breeze.
    “You need one of these convenient beanies. Really holds the hair in