Page 6 of Daddy's Little Librarian
“Grams,” he warned, in his most authoritative tone, but she still shoved him into the nearest bathroom.
“Give us a moment, dear,” the old woman told Scotti, just before shutting the door, sealing them into the bathroom together. Before he could say a word, she rounded on him like the grumpy, old, Coke-bottle-glasses-wearing honey badger, who used to make him cookies after school. “You be nice to this girl, young man. You be nice to her or so help me—” She didn’t finish her threat, but she did stab at him with her finger, letting him know without a doubt how serious she was.
“Oh, for fu—”
“No swearing!” She smacked his arm.
He glowered; she bloomed into an unbelievably innocent smile and swung the bathroom door open again.
“Oh, dear!” she called, and swept back out again. “Your turn. He can’t wait to talk to you.”
“Oh for—” Rubbing his face, Kurt censored himself a half second before the shell-shocked blonde was pushed into the men’s room with him.
“I’ll be the lookout,” Sadie mock whispered and yanked the door firmly shut. No doubt, she’d have her back shoved up against it, making sure the two of them were good and alone for who knew how long, and for who knew what for.
“Welcome to hell,” he said dryly. “What are you in for?”
“In for?” The little blonde stood frozen when she’d been shoved, her brown eyes huge, her fingers tapping worriedly. “I don’t know, but I have a funny feeling we’re being set up.”
She looked confused, apologetic and not at all like she was in on whatever manipulation his wily grandmother was conjuring.
Kurt softened slightly. “We are.” He started to fold his arms, but stopped when he felt the telltale pinch of a stinger still embedded in his side and catching against his shirt. He started to lift his shirt, then stopped when he realized she was watching. Her cheeks were flushed, but her eyes were wide. Unlike that minute attraction when she’d first fallen into his arms, right now she honestly seemed upset. “You might want to…” He motioned for her to turn around.
“I don’t think she’ll let me leave,” the librarian whispered after glancing at the door.
He almost laughed. She definitely wasn’t in on the manipulation. “No, she won’t. Don’t let the frail shuffle fool you. That woman is a force of nature.”
He’d given her the option. If she wasn’t going to turn around, then he wasn’t going to be embarrassed about it, either. Hiking his shirt, Kurt angled his side toward the mirror and tried to feel for where the stinger was. The sink was high and the mirror was higher, making it impossible for him to see the tiny thing. It was also around on his side and closer to his back. He could just make out the redness spreading just under his ribs. Yeah, there was definitely a stinger stuck in him. He felt for it with careful fingers.
“I see it.” She hesitantly pushed away from the door.
He hiked his shirt a little higher, twisting slightly into the light in an attempt to find it in the mirror. Instead what he saw was the librarian duck in up to his side a half second before her fingers brushed his waist.
“Got it.” She washed it down the sink and then retreated to her spot by the door.
“Thanks,” he said, forcing a smile. The place where she’d brushed him tingled a little, but he told himself it was the bee venom. “All right, so… what exactly is it that we’re supposed to talk about?”
“Oh, um… no. No, it’s okay. I-I’ve changed my mind.”
“About?” he pressed.
She hugged her waist with one arm, clapping her hand to her forehead while she laughed in an unsuccessful effort to dispel the awkwardness. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Doing what?” he coaxed, not quite sure if he was growing impatient with her or curious.
Her laughter died. “I really wish she’d asked you about this first; it would have made it so much easier.”
Once upon a time, back before he became a felon, he’d thought he could read women pretty well. Lord knows, he knew physical attraction when he saw it, and back before Grams pulled that stunt with anaphylactic shock and the bee sting, this little woman had definitely been looking at him through the eyes of someone who was physically attracted. She didn’t know his history, though. And once she did, that physical attraction was going to die the kind of death only a guy who had absolutely nothing to offer a date could die.
“Talk about what?” he asked.
“Your grandmother,” she said, chewing at her bottom lip.
“What about her?”
“She…” A slow flush of pink rose to stain her cheeks, and she almost winced as she said, “She said you could stay at my place… for a while.”
Kurt stared at her and he was proud of himself, really. He didn’t say a single one of the curse words currently running through his head.
