Chapter 10
The closer they got to the hotel, the more nervous Kelly became. Grumpy didn’t need to see her to know this. It was evident in the way she was driving just under the speed limit, how she fidgeted in her seat, and tapped her nails on the steering wheel.
After the museum, Grumpy slept for a while.
He felt bad, leaving Kelly to navigate on her own.
Maybe if he’d driven the scooter she’d insisted on renting for them, he wouldn’t have been so exhausted.
Damn his pride. Kelly claimed she didn’t mind, rotating between listening to her audiobook and music.
Still, guilt weighed heavily on him after sleeping nearly three and a half hours.
Grumpy was hurting. It was an antsy sort of hurt, both from walking the museum and from sitting in the cage for so long afterwards.
As beautiful as the scenery was in Tennessee, they had no other stops planned following the museum.
The original plan was to stop next around Little Rock, but that was just too far after the long stop in Bowling Green.
Grumpy was grateful for that decision, even though he knew it was going to take some effort on his part to start moving again once they stopped.
Grumpy wasn’t good at people. He tended to stick to himself and watch the drama unfold from the sidelines.
But he couldn’t do that with Kelly. He didn’t want to do that with Kelly.
He understood her nervousness. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t have some of his own.
Sex didn’t scare him or intimidate him. Normally, he was confident in what he liked and his ability to give his partner pleasure.
But his body had a tendency not to cooperate at the most inopportune times.
In many ways, he was more nervous than when he’d lost his virginity.
Maybe Kelly was wondering the same things.
Maybe she was fearing hurting him. Grumpy didn’t know if it was better to let her be with her thoughts or to try to talk to her about them.
Talking wasn’t exactly something he was particularly good at, though even he was willing to admit that he’d been more vocal with Kelly than he was with anyone else in his life.
He liked that Kelly was the unconscious exception to his rule.
But when Kelly missed the exit for their hotel, Grumpy knew he had to say something. “Nothing has to happen tonight.”
Kelly jumped, and the cage jerked slightly. Grumpy heard Jackson’s bike rev behind them, though he wasn’t sure why. What was the prospect’s plan if the SUV did start to swerve erratically?
“I didn’t realize you were awake,” Kelly exclaimed.
Grumpy frowned, the action making the skin grafts on his face pull tight. “We talked after I woke up.” He hadn’t meant to frighten her.
“That was almost forty-five minutes ago. I assumed you went back to sleep.” Kelly took a deep breath, and her voice was calmer when she spoke next. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how you stand the silence, and I got caught up in my head. Sorry.”
Grumpy didn’t like or understand why she was apologizing. His back seized uncomfortably when he tried to sit up more. “Don’t apologize. Do you want to talk through what’s going on in your head?”
Her laugh was dry. “What isn’t? Getting us checked into the hotel, then the debate about the king versus the queen beds again, then if I should shave again before we have sex, then worried it’s been so long for me that cobwebs have grown in unseemly places, then where to touch you or if I’m just supposed to be still and you move me like a sex mannequin…
” She shook her head. “Trust me, if there’s a thought to be had about tonight, it’s currently in rattling around in my brain. ”
Grumpy wished he could see her, could hold her and reassure her beyond just reaching his hand across the console. As comfortable as the SUV was compared to her Yugo, the wide divide was definitely a downer.
“Good to know, but I have to wonder if you’re aware the hotel is back that way by two exits.”
Kelly jumped again, glancing down at the GPS. Grumpy had learned that she preferred to leave the sound off on the GPS so it didn’t disturb her music or audiobook. It was now silently yelling at her to turn around.
Cursing under her breath, Kelly took the next exit. The GPS recommended they return to the highway going northbound instead of taking sideroads to their hotel. As she brought the cage to a stop at a red light, she leaned forward to place her head on the steering wheel.
“Not exactly radiating sexiness, am I?” she mumbled.
The light turned green, but Grumpy didn’t say anything. From what he could see in the mirror, Jackson’s bike was the only other vehicle around.
“You’re the hottest woman I’ve ever seen.”
Kelly let out a long groan. “You’re just saying that.”
He wasn’t, but he could understand why she would think that.
With his scars, grafts, and current medical needs, Grumpy had his moments of doubt too about how she could find him attractive.
Though it hurt to do so, Grumpy adjusted himself so he was fully facing her.
“Do you remember when the walk-in broke at the diner?”
Kelly lifted her head off the steering wheel a little to look at him. “What?”
“I think it was about two years after I moved to Mount Grove. Maybe three.” He tried to remember who was prospecting for the club around that time.
“It’ll be eight years in March. What’s your point?” She sounded tired, confused, but also annoyed. The sun had already set and the streetlamp cast her in shadows.
“You were so flustered that day. Hell, everyone was. Trying to save food while also serving food. Then there was a commotion in the kitchen. If I remember correctly, one of the servers had knocked over a tub of flour.”
“It’s what made the Grovetons close that day,” she added softly.
Grumpy hadn’t known that, but he supposed that made sense. “You came out white as a ghost, completely covered in flour.”
Kelly’s eyes narrowed on him. She was still leaning forward onto the steering wheel. “Why are you telling me this, Grumpy? I already feel like I’m walking on eggshells, and now you’re taking a trip down memory lane to one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.”
“I think that’s when I started falling in love with you.”
Kelly stared at him like he’d just admitted he had magical powers and his best friend was a unicorn named Pete. “What?”
“You were so flustered, completely covered in flour, trying to help the other staff instead of yourself… And I remember thinking to myself that I’d never seen a more beautiful sight. I’d noticed you before, certainly, but I wouldn’t call it love. Not until that day, at least.”
The light turned green again. Thankfully, no other vehicles approached except for a couple who made right turns.
“You’re right that I’m biased,” he continued. “Pretty sure you could wear a brown paper bag and I’d still think you the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Well, besides Maddie, but she’s my daughter and that’s a very different type of beauty.”
Kelly’s chuckle was light, almost airy. She sat up more.
“I’ve learned a lot about you today, Grumpy.
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I think the biggest thing that I’ve realized, or at least acknowledged today, is that you’re a very simple person.
I don’t mean ‘simple’ like mentally challenged, but that you’re direct, straightforward.
You like what you like and fuck anyone else.
It’s refreshing. You don’t change for anyone, not even me. ”
A cage pulled up behind Jackson, but the light had already turned back to red.
Grumpy cocked his head. “I don’t want to change for you. Even if I could, I wouldn’t.”
“I know.” Her lips twitched, not quite a smile.
“I wouldn’t want you to, either. I want you to grow with me, not change who you are.
” This time, when the light turned green, Kelly sat upright and made the turn.
Jackson and the other vehicle followed. “And I don’t even know how you did it, but somehow you made me feel better about tonight. ”
“I’m glad,” he said honestly, “but I stand by what I said earlier. We don’t have to do anything tonight.”
“I know.” She merged back onto the highway. “But I still want to. I just need to get out of my head about it.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m more than happy to perform a cobweb inspection,” Grumpy said, completely serious.
* * *
Kelly felt like there was a spotlight on her as they got into the elevator.
Maybe it was her upbringing or her small-town lifestyle, but she didn’t like the idea that others knew, or guessed, that she was about to have sex.
She wasn’t a prude, nor did she judge others for their choices.
Kelly just preferred privacy for that part of her life.
Then again, other than Tessa, how would anyone know?
How was tonight’s hotel check-in any different than the previous night’s?
Kelly even took the double queen room again to ensure there wasn’t any speculation.
Ugh, she was so over thinking this. She was thirty-eight years old.
What did it matter if anyone else knew? What difference would it make?
It didn’t; it wouldn’t. And yet she felt like one of those noble couples who used to have an audience on their wedding night to ensure consummation.
It was stupid. She was being stupid.
Grumpy slipped an arm around her waist as the elevator rose to their floor, and the noise in her head, the anxiety swirling around inside her, faded away. Kelly closed her eyes and took a deep breath in.
The elevator doors opened with a ding. Jackson headed out first with the luggage cart. Kelly and Grumpy stepped off the elevator together, but Grumpy paused before they followed Jackson down the hall.