Wrong for Me (Bad Boy Romance) by Megan West, Kristen Flowers Page A

did you know she had broken up with
Tyler?”

 
    “Goodness, the whole town knew!”

 
    That was all the confirmation he needed. He
knew his mom had some inkling he might end up spending time with Claire now
that they were both adults and single. His mother was sneaky, but he had to
hand it to her for her insight and technique. He finished up his breakfast and
immediately went upstairs to change into exercise clothing. He was going to go
for a run and then do some exercises out back. Even though he was on leave he
couldn’t let his workout regimen get too out of line or else he would feel it
once he was back on base. It occurred to him then he hadn’t talked to any of
his Army buddies since he took his leave. But, then again, he was only on his
fourth day of leave.
    Kurt changed and went out for his run, enjoying
the crisp country air hitting his face as he went along. As he thought about
Claire and what they had gotten up to at her house, he ran faster and faster.
By the end of it, he was soaked in sweat and out of breath. But that didn’t
stop him from doing his exercises in the backyard before hopping in the shower
and throwing on some jeans and a dark green t-shirt.

 
      He went
downstairs, taking two steps at a time, and plopped down on the couch beside
his mother. It was her day off so he decided he would spend all of it with her,
even if they just stayed in and watched movies. It wasn’t as if they ever got
that simple, little joy anymore. And that was exactly what they ended up doing.

 
    It wasn’t until 9pm when she started getting
ready to go to bed that Kurt went upstairs to his bedroom and sent Claire a
goodnight message. She instantly replied with a little kissing face. He
chuckled and tapped the screen of his phone before sending her another message
asking if she was free for lunch the next day. She told him she could work him
into her busy schedule. He could practically hear her laughing. Then he sent
messages to a couple of his Army buddies before sitting on the armchair in his
room to read a couple chapters of the book he had packed before bed.

 
    He ended up turning in rather early and rising
early to get in a good run and workout before getting ready to meet with Claire
for lunch.

 
    They met at old Jerry’s deli, which was still
named “The J- wich ”. That was something that made Kurt
laugh as he walked in through the front door to be stared at by a young man
behind the counter.

 
    “Welcome to The-J- wich ,
how may I help you?” He sounded pleasant enough, but also an awful lot like a
prerecording.

 
    Just then Claire stepped out from the door
behind the counter, which Kurt assumed led to an office. “He’s here to meet me.
Can you bring the order to the break room when you’re done prepping it, Pete?”

 
    The young man nodded and Kurt watched as Pete
looked at Claire turn around and walk off. He chuckled silently. It came as no
surprise to him at all that Pete would have a little crush on her. She was,
after all, a knockout and had a great personality. She was exactly the type of
“older woman,” the high school aged boys would fantasize about.

 
    Claire led Kurt to a break room that was
decently sized and quite clean and nice. She had, no doubt, had a hand in
fixing it up. The pops of color weren’t as bright and cheerful as they were in
her house, but they were bold and appropriate for the office atmosphere while
still bringing a special little something. He had been right to think she had a
knack for that sort of thing and was impressed she had even managed to
translate it into her work environment.

 
      “Do you
work here most days?” Kurt asked.

 
    “About two or three days a week actually,”
Claire responded as she reached up to pull out some cups from one of the cabinets.
She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of what appeared to be
sparkling grapefruit juice and poured some into each cup. She put the pitcher
back into the