I slap his shoulder and shove him away before his proximity causes a moisture problem I’m not prepared for. “There’s a first time for everything, I guess. Isn’t there?”
“Fine,” he concedes. “I’ll bite. Tell me more?”
I’ve spent my life keeping things close to the vest. Growing up and realizing you’re a lesbian, in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else’s business will do that to you. My parents weren’t any help, either. But that could be because even they didn’t know my biggest secret until I was an adult. Don’t even get me started on what happened when they found out. Let’s just say, things aren’t great between us.
I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something about this man–who is taking up way too much space in my personal bubble–that makes me feel safe and comfortable.
“Well, I wasn’t lying when I said you aren’t my type,” I chuckle awkwardly. “Aside from not having the right parts, I currently seem to have a penchant for fiery redheads… with vaginas and boobs, in case that part wasn’t clear.”
“Yeah, you’ve made that part pretty clear. If it makes you feel better, I also tend to prefer redheads… also with vaginas and boobs, so we seem to have that in common.”
It shouldn’t make me feel better, but it does… just a little, because unfortunately, I still feel like shit. “I owe you an apology, though, Hayes. My ex broke up with me and I uprooted my life, ran to Chicago to escape the humiliation and then crawled into bed with the first warm body I came across. You know… you? Of course you do. You were there. I guess I’m trying to say, I used you to find solace from my broken heart and that was shitty of me. Can you forgive me?”
His expression twists again and I’m suddenly nauseous at the thought of himnotaccepting my apology.
“Demi,” he pauses and my heart thuds against my chest in anticipation of what could be coming. “I’m the one that should be apologizing. Not you. I got some information last night that knocked me on my ass and since I’m clearly your elder, I should have had better self-control than I did. I’m sorry.”
Well… that is that last thing I expected to hear.
“How old are you exactly?” I ask, stuffing another bite of pancake into my mouth. These are better than any I’ve ever had.
“Eh… forty-three.” He squeezes his eyes shut, then peeking through one, like he’s waiting for me to be appalled, but I’m not. He doesn’t look his age, and even if he did, he’s in impeccable shape. He certainly knows his way around a woman’s body. If I were a better person, I’d reassure him of these things, but I can’t resist the urge to poke the bear.
“Well, then… we both used each other in some form or another, and we each had our reasons. Seems like we’re at a bit of a stalemate, aren’t we Grandpa?”
8
Hayes
Fucking grandpa? I’ll show her–
I should take her over my knee and show the little brat exactly howun-grandfatherly I can be. But I won’t. I’ll keep things polite and respectful. She’s clearly struggling to cope with this breakup she went through. There’s a part of me that wants to find the woman and make sure she understands what a fucking mistake she made by hurting this woman that clearly loved–loves–her.
Except it’s not my place to avenge her. She’s not mine and I’m certainly in no place to keep her, either. Not with mywifelingering out there, fucking with this land deal. I have to focus on the club and moving it forward, but I can’t do that until I can get Raegan here, so we can get this long awaited divorce over with. The sooner I sever the tie, the sooner we can both move on with our lives.
“Hayes.”
I turn to face Demi. She’s staring at me with a mixture of concern and confusion.
“It’s your turn. I told you my trauma. Now tell me yours.”
“Oh, Little Pixie. You don’t want to know. Trust me.” I pluck a slice of bacon off my plate and toss it into my mouth.
A sharp pain lances through my arm and I look down to see she’s just fucking pinched me.
“Did you really just do that?” I scoff, my eyes widened in surprise at her boldness.
She straightens her spine like she’s preparing for battle. “I told you something pretty private and vulnerable. The least you can do is share something too.”
“First of all, if you were mine, I’d punish you for that little bratty stunt you just pulled.” My shoulders roll back as I prepare to give her what she wants. “Second of all, I’ll give you the condensed version and that’s all you get.”
Blush creeps up the fair skin of her neck before she softens her posture and nods.
“Twenty years ago, I married an angel of a woman. We weren’t married long, but she was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Then one night, everything changed. We were fucking around and I tied her up. Ended up breaking her wrist. And then I lost her.”
She sucks in a hushed breath at my confession.
“I sent her divorce papers, but I found out last night she never signed them. Now she’s stalling the land purchase behind the club.”
