Page 142 of Broken Grump

She seems to be doing as I suggested, but her eyes pop open again in horror a few seconds later. “Oh, my God! Thatishorrifying!”

I belly laugh. “I told you!”

“Geez. Why the hell did Mrs. Groff let us sing that?” Then, she suddenly gasps, “Did you know she used to be a background singer for Ray Charles?”

I purse my lips. “Old Mrs. Groff? Your choir teacher with the mole and the snaggletooth?”

Addie giggles. “Yes. But she did have a gorgeous voice. Did you ever hear her sing?”

“Nope. I can’t say I ever had the pleasure.”

“Oh, it was beautiful. She went to Julliard, you know.”

The Ray Charles thing still seems like a pretty far-fetched lie to me, but what do I know? In any event, I turn the topic back to that fateful night years and years ago.

“I certainly did not hate the little lacey dresses you and Talia were sporting, though.”

She flicks her wrist in my direction. “Oh, come on. They covered every inch of our bodies. Mrs. Groff and our mothers made sure of it. And as if the turtleneck quarter-length sleeves weren’t already enough, they wanted us to look just like Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen in the movie, so that meant the addition of long, blue gloves too.”

“I remember.” The memory of her on that stage makes my heart pang. “Oh, and then you had those feather things.”

“Fans,” she clarifies.

“Whatever they were, they reminded me of Vegas showgirls.”

She snarls. “You’re ridiculous. We looked like two old biddies up there.”

“Maybe now. But for a horny teenager who had never gotten any action, it did something for me.”

Her hand covers her face. “Oh, goodness gracious.”

“Never underestimate the power of a man’s ability to turn anything into something sexual if he wants it to be badly enough.”

“Ugh. That’s so gross.”

Holding my hands up in a “w,” I say, “I’m just telling you the truth here.”

“No, I know. You guys are all big pervs.”

“Hey now! I didn’t say that.”

She giggles, and I swear I could listen to the sound of that all day.

“However, I must say, I definitely prefer tonight’s outfit to the other one.”

There’s another sparkle in her ocean-colored eyes when she grabs her shawl off the back of the booth and wraps it tightly around her chest and neck. “You sure? Because I can always go like this, if that’s what you prefer.”

“No, no.” Our meals are mostly done by this point, so I don’t feel as bad about going onto the same side as her. “I like it this way.” I remove the extra covering to reveal her spaghetti straps and revealing neckline.

I marvel for a minute as her chest rises and falls.

“Hayden,” she whispers.

“Yeah?” Our eyes meet, and I lick my lips before biting down on the lower one.

“Don’t forget what I said about being a lady.” The way she’s saying it, it seems like she might be trying to convince herself of something.

“Uh-huh.” Her words go in one ear and out the other as I experience an undeniable magnet pulling our bodies together.

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