Not Really the Outdoor Type by Paige Tyler Page A

together with Keith made her want to laugh. She hadn’t known it at the time, but she’d been with him for all the wrong reasons. After being with Jason, she now knew what she’d had with Keith had been a pale imitation of the real thing.
    Keith frowned. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”
    “I heard you.” She folded her arms and leveled her gaze at him. “I’m just wondering which home you’re referring to. Not yours I’m guessing, since you pretty much tossed me out of it five minutes after I moved in.”
    He ran his hand through his perfectly styled hair with a sigh. “Look, I made a mistake, Kendall. Things were just moving too fast between us, and I got freaked out.”
    Kendall blinked. “Too fast? You were the one who wanted us to move in together, remember?”
    “I know. And I was a jerk to ask you to move out. But I want you to come back. I want us to try again.” He took a step toward her. “Even my therapist thinks it’s a good idea.”
    “Well, maybe I should move in with your therapist then.” She shook her head. “On second thought, I don’t think so. I’m happy where I am.” She turned back to the shelf she’d been straightening. “You’ve wasted your time coming all the way up here, Keith, because I’ve decided to stay in Copper Canyon.”
    Keith didn’t say anything for so long she almost thought he’d left. She should have known better.
    He grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. “You can’t be serious. There’s no way you could want to live in this Podunk town.”
    The customers on the other side of the shelf glanced their way, and Kendall felt herself flush with embarrassment. She’d called Copper Canyon a Podunk town on more than one occasion, but hearing him say it made her furious.
    She jerked her arm away. “I grew up in this Podunk town in case you forgot.”
    He looked taken aback for a moment, as if unable to believe she could possibly be from a small town like Copper Canyon. “You may have grown up here, Kendall, but you sure as hell don’t belong here. You belong back in LA. With me.”
    “I already told you, I’m not going back.”
    Keith’s eyes narrowed. Guess she’d pissed him off. Too bad.
    “Is there a problem, honey?”
    Kendall half turned as she felt Jason’s arm go around her waist. Keith’s mouth tightened into a harsh line as he took in Jason’s plaid shirt and blue jeans.
    “I get it now,” he said coldly. “He’s the reason you want to stay in this one-horse town, isn’t it? You’ve been slumming with this wilderness-channel reject.”
    Jason’s arm tightened around her before he dropped in and took a step toward Keith. Oh, crap.
    “Excuse me?” Jason said.
    All around them, people were staring, watching as the two men squared off. Kendall quickly put a hand on Jason’s arm. Not that she didn’t want to punch Keith herself, but she didn’t want Jason getting into trouble.
    “Keith and I used to go out together back in LA,” she explained. “He came to save me from what he thinks is a fate worse than death—living in Copper Canyon.”
    Jason lifted a brow.
    “Come off it, Kendall,” Keith snapped. “You don’t fit in here with these…” he waved his arm around, “hicks any more than I do. What are you going to do, work in this crappy store for the rest of your life?” He exhaled sharply. “Look, you made your point. You came here because you wanted to get back at me. I get it. But moving back here permanently is carrying things too far, even for a drama queen like you.”
    Who the hell was he calling a drama queen? What had she ever seen in this jackass? “I’m not going back to LA, Keith. I told you that. Now, stop making a fool of yourself and go.”
    Keith’s gaze went from her to Jason, then back to her. “Just come back to LA with me so we can talk about this.”
    Beside her, Kendall felt Jason stiffen. “We’ve already talked about it, Keith. I’m staying here, and that’s the end of