She couldn’t tell her parents about him.

It was dark, and her little brother would be in bed, considering she’d had the closing shift and it was now after nine. The light was on in the house, and she was sure she could see her dad sitting on the sofa through the window. She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to slip into the house unheard and upstairs to her bedroom at the end of the hall, the larger bedroom that used to be her big sister, Katy’s—her half sister, who was now living with her husband, Steven, and their two-year-old little boy, her nephew, Fletcher, in Salem. Maybe she should call her sister. They had been close at one time before her sister’s world fell apart when she almost lost her husband after he was senselessly beaten and left for dead, leaving him in a coma for months. Even now, she realized Katy’s world centered around getting Steven back to his whole self and raising their son. They hadn’t talked in like forever. Maybe it was time.

She stepped over the third step, the one that squeaked, and the second board on the porch, which also squeaked. She pulled open the screen, hoping it wouldn’t give her away, and turned the handle of the door before it was yanked open and she nearly stumbled in.

“What are you doing sneaking in?” Her dad was standing there, his hand on her arm. She’d almost landed on the floor, and he was holding her up. He had reading glasses on the top of his head, nestled in his mixed dark and gray hair. His brown plaid shirt was untucked from his jeans, and he wasn’t amused.

“Didn’t want to wake Jack.” She was quick and wanted to pat herself on the back at how fast her brain had kicked into gear so she could come up with something before she could be caught, keeping everyone from knowing what she was thinking. It wasn’t lying; it was being quick on her feet and able to think under pressure. It was a skill she didn’t take for granted.

She could hear the TV on in the living room and slipped off her coat as her dad closed the door and turned the deadbolt, locking up for the night. It was something she hadn’t paid much attention to, but her father was a man who did those little things for his family. Lock the doors, check on them, make sure everyone was in for the night. Why she was noticing now, she couldn’t say for sure.

She hung up her coat in the closet and then dumped her purse on the hall table with her car keys as she wandered into the living room, seeing her mom on the loveseat, her feet tucked to her side.

“Hi, Becky, how was work tonight?”

Same old. “Great, Mom.” It sucked, really, and was a dead-end job. She could hear Tom Campbell in her head and feel his eyes, his image, and his intensity, which had haunted her all night.

“I saved you some dinner. Did you eat?”

Of course she hadn’t, considering she was shocked over the indecent proposal the ER doc had made to her. Scratch that. It hadn’t been a proposal. He’d proposed nothing but rather demanded, right to the point, so much that it was almost shocking, as she’d allowed herself to think about lying in his bed, naked under him while he did…what, to her? She couldn’t believe it was something she was considering. “I’m fine, Mom. Besides, I’m tired, probably going to have a bath and turn in.”

“Not so fast.” Her dad rested his hands on her shoulders and moved her around to the sofa. “Sit down and talk with us. We kind of haven’t heard anything from you since you saw your uncle. You went right to work, and we haven’t had a chance to talk with you and see how it went, what you’re thinking, and if he steered you in a direction you’re comfortable with.”

Was her dad kidding? Her mom was watching her with this easy smile as if she expected Neil had somehow provided some divine insight into her future and helped guide her to a place where she suddenly knew exactly what she wanted to do. “It went fine, Mom, Dad…” She added with a lot of attitude as if driving home her point.

She could tell her dad knew something from the way his amber eyes lit up as he joined her mom on the loveseat, his arm resting around her shoulder. She snuggled in closer. Brad loved his wife, and their love was the way a relationship was supposed to be. There was nothing dark and twisty there, so what was wrong with her? What had created this piece of her that was turned on and intrigued by how Tom had spoken to her, the desire he had stirred in her with just words?

And indecent demands.

“Neil suggested a business course at the local college until I decide what I want. He’s right. He sent an email to pull some strings, which I’m sure is helpful, but considering it’s…”

“You’re in,” her dad said, interrupting her.

She knew her mouth was still open, maybe from shock, surprise. Nothing she’d expected. “In where, school?” She glanced from her mom to her dad, and they were both smiling as if this was everything.

“Tomorrow morning you get to go down to Grays Harbor campus, meet the dean, fill out papers, and after I pay the fee and they fit you into some of the courses, you’re in and started. Likely, they’ll have you in at the end of this week, beginning of next. You’ll have some catching up, but I’m sure you’re up to it,” her dad added. Her mom was positively glowing as if Becky had decided all of this. At least her mom was off her back about her future.

“Well, I didn’t expect that, but great!” she said—and what would Tom think? She wondered whether her face had flushed, and she wanted to erase him from her mind, but she couldn’t get him out of it, considering he was expecting dinner with her tomorrow night. How was that even possible, and what would her parents say? She needed to say something, anything. “I guess I should phone Uncle Neil and thank him.”

Her dad raised his brows, and she knew he was teasing her. She knew she’d been cornered into this. Her father read her better than anyone, except he had no idea what was going through her mind and what she was considering—because if he had any idea of what Tom had suggested, wanted, she knew her father would likely kill him.