Chuck hassled her. Oh, fuck no. He grabbed her shoulders. “Did that fucker hurt you?”
“No! Of course not.” She shook her head so fast her hair flew in her face. “Ralph was with me,” she said as though her sassy friend could take down Chuck. “He just…said a bunch of bullshit.”
Yeah, that was Chuck. One hundred percent bully. All talk, and no action, but talk could do as much or more damage than fists. Keith had learned the hard way.
“Did he come on to you? Or say a bunch of homophobic garbage to Ralph? He’s an out and proud bigot. So’s his douchebag cousin, Bud.”
“No.” She squirmed, clearly uncomfortable with what she was going to say next. “He led me to believe he knows that I’m Scarlett, though.”
Fuck me.
“Shit, babe, he’s just the type of asshole to use that for his own benefit. Wait, why aren’t you panicking?” As soon as he left here, he’d be paying Chuck a visit. Maybe he’d bring his trusty shotgun along.
“No,” Mickie said, wagging a finger in front of his face. “Whatever murderous idea just went through your head, you’re not doing it. I did freak out, but Ralph talked me off the ledge. He reminded me that I’m fierce and I don’t take shit. So if Chuck is stupid enough to come after me—which he probably is since he seems to have been blessed with only a few brain cells—then I’ll deal with it like the badass bitch I am.”
He smiled. God, she was something when she got all fierce. “I’m proud of you,” he whispered before pressing a kiss to her mouth. When he pulled back, she tried to chase for more, but he wasn’t finished talking. “It’s good to see you ready to fight instead of running like you did the other night.”
Nodding, she slipped her arms around his neck. Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink. “I think that was more about us, and your reaction to Scarlett than anything.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. And damn he was. Even if he still worried she wouldn’t want to stay in Vermont forever, he hated the idea of hurting her.
“Shh, we already talked about it. It’s done.” Then she bit her lower lip and averted her eyes.
“What? Is there something else?” He wanted to demand she tell him what had her eyebrows drawing down.
“Chuck, he said stuff about your mom.” The words were practically whispered as though the low tone would buffer the blow.
His blood had been ice a moment ago, but now it shot to an instant boil. He started to pull away, but she grabbed his other hand and held him in front of her.
“I didn’t believe a word he said,” she rushed on. “I don’t believe it. None of it is my business, so you don’t have to explain anything now or ever. I just thought you needed to know that he’s insinuating things about your mother.”
With a grunt, Keith shook his head. Mickie quieted, letting him sort through his thoughts while watching him with those curious eyes. Christ, she was good for him. In such a short time, she’d learned to manage him and his moods. After a few seconds, he lifted one of her hands and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Let me guess. He said she was a prostitute.”
“Not in those exact words, but the meaning was clear. Yes. But like I said, I didn’t believe him. He’s an asshole, Keith.” She tightened her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug.
It’s not a lie,” he whispered against her ear. Physical pain erupted in his chest.
She released him and gripped his hands in hers squeezing gently. “Keith, you don’t need to—”
“I want to.” He needed to show her same level of trust as she’d done with him if he wanted this to work. “I’m trying, remember?” He gave as much of a smile as he could muster.
Her eyes softened. “Yeah. Come on, let’s sit somewhere more comfortable.” Still holding his hand, she guided him upstairs and into her bedroom, where she sat on the edge of the bed. One little tug had him next to her. She turned, draping her legs over his thighs. “Anything you tell me stays here, Keith. My life is not an open book anymore, and I’d never, never do anything to betray your trust, or jeopardize your family’s privacy. That includes suing the pants off Chuck if I need to.”
She must have been referring to her very active presence on social medial in the past. Basically, every moment of her life had been tweeted, photographed, and chatted about. Since meeting her, he’d yet to see her so much as scroll through Facebook, but still, opening up was a risk as her vacation from social media was probably just that, a short stint. Habits were hard to break.