Page 42 of Grumpy

Kelly blinked, her head swiveling back and forth between the road and him. Though he was sitting up more, he was still mostly slouched against the door. She didn’t think he could have a good angle of her from there, but he must if he’d seen her blush. “What?” she stammered, playing stupid.

“Admitting that you remembered me talking to you about early motorcars embarrassed you. I don’t know why, but you don’t have to be. I’m flattered that what I said meant so much to you, especially back then.”

Kelly swallowed hard as she put the blinker on. “It’s silly. I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed, and it sounds so juvenile, but I was crushing on you so hard those first few years. I felt like a bumbling idiot every time you walked into the diner. I wanted you to like me so much, and when you didn’t, I just…” She shrugged. “I knew I had to get over you, move past you. But I never could.”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t. From the minute I saw you, I wanted you, Kells. But you have to understand the headspace I was in. Newly divorced, accused again of cheating on a woman I loved… I wasn’t good for anyone, especially you.”

Kelly nodded, keeping her eyes on the road. “I know that. Now. But back then, it was hard to not find fault with me, you know.”

“I’m sorry about that.” At the red light, Kelly picked up his tumbler of water and handed it over to him. His voice was getting raspier the longer they talked. “Thank you.” He took a few sips. “And in my defense, I never thought you’d go for a grumpy bastard like me.”

Kelly chuckled as she made a left turn. “The number of fantasies I had about you bending me over one of the diner tables…” She felt her face heat for an entirely different reason. “We all heard the rumors about the women who hung around the club and the parties you guys threw in the early days. I almost worked up the nerve to go to one, but never did.”

“I’m glad. Not something I’d ever want you to be subjected to.”

Kelly pulled into the parking lot. Thankfully it was late enough that most of the dinner crowd had left or was leaving. “I know I shouldn’t be asking you this, but I’m going to anyway. Were you with any of them? The club girls?”

“Don’t ask me that, Kells.”

She looked over at Grumpy as Jackson parked in a spot near them. Though it was dark out, she’d managed to park them under a street lamp. “Why not?”

“Because I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you anything you want to know. But what happened back then has no place in our relationship now. I certainly don’t want to know about your history or whatever the kids are calling it these days. Your bed count.”

“Body count,” she corrected softly.

He nodded, not fully looking at her. “I don’t give a damn, or I keep having to tell myself that so I don’t go off on a murderous rampage to kill any man who’s even thought about touching you, let alone actually doing so. Therefore, I suggest we just don’t talk about it. If it’s something important or pertains to something that affects our future, then we can discuss it. Otherwise, we keep our past partners in the past.”

Kelly could understand and respect that, and while it wasn’t his intent, Grumpy had answered her question. By not answering, he’d basically admitted to having slept with the club girls, the Honeys as they called them. “Deal. Now, let’s get inside. I really need to pee.”

* * *

It took a lot to piss Kelly off, but boy oh boy, was she seething. Why the fuck was everyone staring? What business was it of theirs what Grumpy looked like? The restaurant wasn’t even that crowded, but it seemed like everyone was pointing and staring.

One woman even gasped like Grumpy was the Swamp Monster come to claim her virginity.

Grumpy had requested a corner seat so his back and left side were to the wall. Kelly sat next to him while Jackson was seated across from them. He’d offered to take a table to himself, but Kelly had said that was ridiculous and invited him to join them.

Either Grumpy was blind—Kelly winced at her poor choice of words—or he was better at ignoring people than she was. Because Kelly was getting ready to stand up on the table and demand the others stop looking.

Even their waitress was hesitant to touch Grumpy’s glass to refill his water, as if his skin grafts were contagious!

Grumpy put his hand on her left thigh. “Stop. We’re just going to eat and go.”

“It’s not right,” Kelly seethed. “How can you stand them looking at you like this?”

“Baby, this is going to be the rest of my life. My scars and grafts might heal, but this is what I am going to look like until they put me in the ground.”

That did not lighten Kelly’s mood. “Don’t talk like that. I almost lost you once. Don’t make me think about your funeral or having to live without you.”

He squeezed her leg gently in apology. “People are curious and people stare. There’s a sick fascination with gore, and right now, I’m the scariest thing around. Just ignore them.”

Kelly was trying, but the urge to bitch slap them was more powerful. “How can you stand it?” she repeated, glaring right back at a man across the room.

“Because their opinions don’t matter. I don’t give a fuck what they think.”

He made it seem so simple.

“I can shoot them for you,” Jackson offered.