Bad News Cowboy by Maisey Yates

clue how to dig his way out of this. Sure, it sounded wrong when he said it like that. Maybe it was even bad to think it. But the bottom line was there were women who were fair game in his mind, and then there was Kate. And she was an entirely different category.
    â€œAll right, then. What kind of girl am I?”
    Jack tightened his hold on the steering wheel. “The type that could get taken advantage of by assholes.”
    â€œYou think I’m stupid?”
    â€œThat isn’t what I said. Stupid and inexperienced are two different things.”
    â€œYou think I’m wholesome.”
    Yes. It suited him just fine to think that Kate Garrett was as wholesome as whole grains. “Comparatively.”
    â€œCompared to what? The women you sleep with?”
    Heat lashed Jack’s face. “You’re determined to take this the wrong way.”
    â€œEnlighten me. What is the right way to take this? You’re sitting here telling me there’s a certain type of woman it’s acceptable to mess around with and a kind that isn’t acceptable to mess around with, and you’re putting me in the category that isn’t allowed to mess around.”
    â€œIt’s not just women,” he said.
    â€œOkay, then. What kind of guy are you, Jack Monaghan? Are you the kind of guy a girl marries? Or are you the kind we’re supposed to want to bang?”
    Hearing the provocative words on Kate’s lips made his stomach wrench up tight. “Kate...”
    â€œGo on. Tell me. It’s hardly fair, since you have such a comprehensive assessment of me. I deserve one of you. So tell me, Jack,” she said as he turned the truck into the narrow drive that would take them to the Garrett ranch and on to Kate’s house, “are you the sort of guy that a girl should dream of getting in a tux? Or are you the kind of guy that a girl should think about getting naked with?”
    He slammed on the brakes, without thinking, without meaning to. But he could not drive while she talked like that. “Dammit, Katie.”
    â€œFor such an experienced man, you’re acting very prudish.”
    â€œYou want to know what kind of guy I am, Kate?” He shouldn’t challenge her, and he knew it, but he couldn’t help it. Because she was pushing. And when Kate pushed, he had to push back. Now and always. “Let me lay it out for you. I’m not the guy you marry. I’m the guy you stay up all night with. I’m the guy who doesn’t call the next day. I’m the guy your mama would’ve warned you about if she had stayed around.”
    The last words barely made it out of his mouth before Kate grabbed ahold of his shirt and tugged him toward her. “Now you’re being a jerk on purpose,” she said, dark eyes glittering in the dim light, clashing fiercely with his.
    â€œYou wanted to know what kind of guy I was. I think that should answer your question.” He felt like a tool. He’d lost sight of what the end goal was in this weird game they were playing. All he knew was that she was pushing, and he was pushing back. All he knew was that his blood was burning, and his heart was pounding faster than it should have been.
    â€œYou did. You’re an ass. Question answered.”
    She raised her hand as if she was going to hit him, and he caught her wrist, holding her steady, their eyes still locked. She was breathing faster than he was, and suddenly, the anger riding over the heat burning in his blood fizzled out. The heat remained, his heart still thundering hard, steady. And he was still holding on to Kate’s wrist.
    The feeling that had surrounded them back at the bar had returned. Deeper. Stronger. And there was no pretending he didn’t know what it was. He could feel her pulse fluttering beneath his thumb, faster and faster the longer he held her.
    Fuck.
    He released his hold on her and put both his hands back on the steering wheel. “I