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

matter at all. I hadn’t enjoyed spending time with anyone this much in a good long while.
    Reluctantly, I pulled on my clothes, making sure not to wake him. Walking out would be that much harder with him awake. I was sure if he opened his eyes or even stretched his naked body, I’d climb right back into bed with him. I put on my shoes and walked with light steps to the door. I turned to look back at the beautiful sleeping giant before stepping out into the early morning haze.
    Everyone back at the house would still be sleeping. When we weren’t working, Brick and Rex tended to sleep until noon. Graham usually took a combination of sleep aids and a shot of vodka to fight his chronic insomnia, which meant he’d be out until at least ten. And Axel slept like a big bear in hibernation until his phone alarm woke him. He never set it when we were on vacation. I figured sneaking back into the house would be a breeze as long as my escape hatch, the back patio door, was still unlocked.
    A weepy fog had drifted in over the beach, but the new sun was working hard to burn away the wet chill. I crossed my arms and hurried my pace. Early morning exercisers and dog walkers were streaming along the path. No one paid attention to the short red head scooting along in the fog.
    The house was quiet when I reached the mosaic of stepping stones leading to the back porch.
    My arms were curled around me and my head was down as I headed straight to the back door. I sighed in relief when the handle turned but then startled at the sound of a voice behind me.
    “Is that what they call a beach walk of shame?”
    I spun around. Duff had opened a folding beach chair and he was sitting in the corner of the porch drinking coffee. His long, skinny legs were stretched out in front of him. He lifted his cup to see if I wanted one. “I made it extra strong.”
    I shook my head and walked over to him. I sat down on the tile floor next to his chair to gaze out at the beach, or what could be seen of it through the milky haze.
    “You going to tell me where you’ve been?”
    “Nope, I’m not.”
    I could usually count on Duff to be a friend and not be pushy or bossy or judgmental, but there was no denying that he’d been just as disappointed as the others about the cancelled concerts. I wasn’t at the top of anybody’s best buddy list at the moment.
    Duff took a drink of coffee. He didn’t need to say anything to let me know he wasn’t happy about my answer.
    I wrapped my arms around my legs and held them close to me. “Can’t I just have some part of my life that has nothing to do with the rest of you?”
    “That’s not the way it works, Len. We’re all part of one big entity. A chair with four legs. If one leg is broken, then the chair won’t stand. That’s how bands work.”
    “I guess that explains why so many of them break up like bad marriages. No independence and a lot of telling each other how to behave. I was out with a friend pretending I wasn’t part of the chair for a few hours. It was no big deal.”
    A group of gulls came to rest on the sand in front of the house. They hunched down on the sand together shielding each other from the chilled air.
    “As much as I appreciate having you guys, I just need a little more independence. I need to be less of a celebrity and more of a normal person. I was thinking about this the other morning, after sitting through Graham’s ridiculous explanation for why I was having problems with stage fright. Something about me over-thinking stuff too much. But that’s not what it is.”
    Duff sat forward and rested his arms on his thighs. His empty coffee cup dangled from his fingers. “Yeah, what is it then?”
    “Graham took me from my horrid existence and sent me straight into this life, a life where I barely have time to take a breath, and a walk through the local mall is a big fucking ordeal. I never had a chance to just be Lenix Harlow, just normal, everyday Lennie. It all happened so damn