Page 16 of Running Into The Grump

“I said some things that might have been unwarranted too, and I apologize.”

“Thank you, though I don’t think that’s all true,” I told her, making her grin.

“Maybe some of it was called for. But you, this still doesn’t explain every encounter.”

I crossed my arms and leaned on the table; not sure I could explain it because I couldn’t. There wasn’t a real answer, at least not one that I could find.

“I really wish I had the words for you, Jacqueline. I never hated you, though it may seem like I did.”

She frowned as she slowly shook her head.

“No, Jackson, that’s the strange part. It never felt like that. Not once. None of the anger, annoyance, words, nothing felt like you hated me.”

She stopped and looked at me, and I noticed how light her eyes were with her makeup. Then I noticed she was even wearing it.

“Can I ask you something strange?”

“Sure, Jackson.”

“What changed? Your clothes have changed. And right now, you’re wearing makeup. In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen this side of you.”

“Oh, um, I guess that was you.” She blushed as she shrugged. “You called me frumpy and I didn’t like it, so I changed what I wore.”

I bit my tongue to keep from retorting that she shouldn’t change for anyone, especially a man. But I don’t think my words were the trick. I remember a lot of men that came into the library told her the same thing. That she would look prettier if she let her hair down, changed her clothes, and even lost a few pounds.

Now that, that was something I would never want her to change. Because her clothes, they made those curves come alive in ways I hadn’t seen with anyone else before and there were parts of me that wanted to trace every inch of her with my hands, my lips, and my tongue.

I shook my head to clear those thoughts and instead, lifted a brow at her.

“I’m going to let that slide now because I don’t think that’s the whole truth. And only because I’ve heard it before and you never changed. But if you’re comfortable like this, then stay that way. But if you aren’t, then don’t change for anyone.”

“Do you like the new look?”

I leaned forward on the table to look at her, a smirk on my face.

“This Jacqueline is not the meek and timid librarian that I know. This one, she’s a vixen ready for her match.”

She threw her head back and laughed, making me grin, though it was the complete truth.

“Oh, Jackson, you are funny. I’m not a vixen by any means. But thank you for thinking so.” Her phone buzzed on the table and she looked at it, frowning. “It seems the library is shut down today. There’s far more work on it that needs to be fixed, it seems.”

“So, you have a paid day off?”

She twisted her lip before nodding.

“I guess so.”

“What’s your plan?”

“Maybe take my dogs to the park again. They loved it the other day and with the Fest going on, there’s not a lot of people who go to the park, so they had free reign to make a mess of all the leaves.”

The idea sounded fun for her, I know, but she was going back to being that crazy dog lady rather than having fun in town. And if I was being totally honest, I didn’t want to end the time with her. Not when the hostility seemed to have been fading.

I stood and offered her my hand, instead.

“What?” she asked.

“How about you take a drive with me? My bike isn’t too far away. The weather is great and the scenery is amazing around here.”