Turbocharged

by Jessie Gussman

  “Great.” Nate looked at his watch. “Scarlett’s late.”

  “I’ll text her.” Kaitlyn’s fingers flew over the phone. “You know, Nate. You look pretty good yourself.”

  “Same as always.” He’d been so tempted to wear something that fit, something that wouldn’t hang on him and make him look like a scarecrow, something that would show his muscles because he really wanted to impress his girl, but he needed to put the fighter in him away. The clothes helped, not only with his mindset, but it changed the way other people treated him.

  Her phone dinged. She read the text, the smile slowly fading from her face as she stared at the screen. Her shoulders slumped as she looked up at Nate. “She’s not coming.” If it had been anyone else, he would have said those were tears gathering in her eyes.

  “Why?” His chest tightened with disappointment. He loved Bobby and Gary. But he wanted Kaitlyn to himself tonight.

  “She doesn’t say.” Kaitlyn lifted her phone up and read out loud. “’Not gonna make it tonight.’”

  “No ‘sorry’? No explanation?”

  “Nope.” Kaitlyn pulled both lips into her mouth and bit. Then she tossed her head. “I guess we’ll have to take them with us.”

  Nate tried to swallow his disappointment. “I’ll throw Bobby in the tub.” He tilted his head. “We could stay home, do something here. But you look so good, I want to show you off.”

  She smiled. Pleased. “No. That’s fine. I have another number I can try. I’ll let you know.”

  He nodded then started for the stairs.

  Not three minutes later Kaitlyn called up, “Good clothes.” Nate’s stomach clenched in disappointment, but he tried to hide that feeling from Bobby.

  “Does that mean I get to go with you?” Bobby splashed, and Nate ducked back. He hadn’t worn anything amazing, but he’d still like to stay dry.

  “Yep.” Nate set the shampoo bottle back on the edge of the tub and rubbed the handful he held into Bobby’s hair.

  “I can get him.” Kaitlyn appeared in the doorway.

  “How about you set some clothes out for us?”

  “OK.” She disappeared again. “Since we’re taking the boys, how about we just go to Runner’s,” she called from down the hall.

  Nate wanted to insist they still go somewhere a little farther and a lot nicer, but she was right. Runner’s had a dining area in addition to the bar, and it was the only place within a half an hour’s drive.

  “As long as you don’t change.” It was a little fancy for Runner’s, but he loved how good she looked and didn’t want all her efforts to be in vain.

  She swung back into the bathroom. “How did you know I was going to change?”

  “Good guess.” He grinned up at her. “You shouldn’t punish me because the sitter didn’t show.”

  She snorted and waggled a brow at him. “That’s pushing it. But OK.”

  He wasn’t sure how the evening would turn out, but if it was up to him, his first date with Kaitlyn would be perfect.

  ~*~

  The overcast skies that had been threatening rain all day finally delivered on their promises as Nate pulled into Runner’s. If he’d been alone with Kaitlyn, it would have been romantic and cozy. He’d have wanted to cuddle up and…maybe it was better the boys were with them. His brain knew it wasn’t a good idea to do what his heart was ready for. He took a calming breath; he needed to talk to Kaitlyn about what she wanted.

  “How about I drop you guys off at the door.” He gave the rivers of rain on the windshield a baleful glare.

  “Normally I’d say we won’t melt, but I’ve got a bunch of goop on my face that just might.” Kaitlyn grinned.

  Nate laughed. “Let’s not find out right now.”

  After dropping her off, he parked the car and jogged through the deluge to the front where Kaitlyn waited with the boys. Opening the door for her, he took Gary’s car seat, smiling at Kaitlyn. His chest puffed out of its own accord. He had the most beautiful woman in the world with him tonight, and they would have a great time. He’d barely had the thought before they stepped through the door and he heard the first catcall.

  A couple of men sitting at the bar turned their way.

  “Whoa, Kaitlyn. What’d you do, fall into a clothes rack?”

  “Never seen you in a dress before. Are you one of them cross dressers?”

  “Maybe Nate should be wearing the dress. After all, you’d be wearing the pants in that relationship!” Loud guffaws followed that statement.

  Kaitlyn ignored them until they mentioned Nate’s name. Then she turned her head their way. “Shut up, Sam.” She kept going, walking over to the hostess sign and waiting, Bobby’s hand clutched firmly in hers.

  Nate’s hands fisted, and he made them relax, hyper aware of Bobby’s presence. He’d just gotten kicked out of school for fighting. Nate absolutely could not throw a punch tonight. Not one. He stopped beside Kaitlyn, slipping his arm around her waist. He leaned down to her ear. “Those guys are idiots.”

  “Maybe I’m the idiot, thinking I could fix myself up and become a lady just because of my clothes and makeup.”

  Nate’s brows furrowed. “You are a lady. Clothes and makeup have nothing to do with it.”

  The hostess walked over, and Nate straightened.

  “Four tonight, Kaitlyn?” the hostess asked.

  “Yes, Kristy. Gary’ll stay in his car seat, but maybe we could have a holder for it?”

  “Of course.” She grabbed menus.

  Bobby looked around at Nate and let go of Kaitlyn’s hand to grab his.

  Kaitlyn glanced at Bobby and took the car seat from Nate.

  He laughed inside at what an old married couple they were, switching kids without a word.

  “Follow me,” Kristy said.

  “Found a man you haven’t slept with yet, Kaitlyn?” Another man yelled from the bar.

  “Hey, Nate! You must be a sucker. She didn’t make me buy her supper first.”

  Bobby’s little hand was tucked firmly in his own, but Nate stopped and turned. Glancing back he saw that the hostess and Kaitlyn kept walking.

  He pursed his lips. This should only take a minute.

  Nate pulled his hand from Bobby’s and started unbuttoning his billowing button-down as he walked toward the bar. What he wanted to do would be more effective without it. By the time he’d reached the men who’d been calling across the floor, he’d untucked his shirt and stripped it off.

  “Do me a favor, Bobby.” He balled the shirt up and handed it to the little boy, whose eyes were big and round. Sorry. “Hold this for me. And stand over there.” He turned the boy and gave him a little push.

  Then he turned back to the men at the bar, pleased to see the goofy grins had disappeared off their drunken faces. At least they were sober enough to see everything he wanted them to. He deliberately tensed his torso, knowing that because of all the training he’d been doing, he was in top physical condition and the wife-beater he had been wearing under his button-up outlined every strip of muscle. The men’s faces showed concern. A couple of them threw sideways glances at their cronies.

  “My girl’s worked pretty hard this week, and I wanted to treat her to a nice meal. She deserves it.” He looked around at the men, who seemed to huddle together, gaping at him. “Show her some respect.” He allowed that sentence to dangle there in front of them, the threat ‘or else’ implied and obvious. Nate ran both hands through his hair. His biceps bulged, and he was sure his abs were clear.

  A man with sketchy gray hair licked his lips nervously. “I always thought Kaitlyn was real nice.”

  “Me, too. Sweet girl,” another fellow rasped.

  “We’s just picking. Didn’t mean nothing by it,” a younger man whispered.

  Nate nodded. “Maybe some of you would slip by our table later and tell her how nice she looks.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Of course.”

  “Was planning on doing that very thing.”r />
  Nate stared at the men a minute more. One of the braver souls spoke up. “Didn’t realize her and you was a couple.”

  “Yeah, Kaitlyn ain’t never had a real boyfriend before, just lovers…ah, I mean,” at a look from Nate the man cleared his throat and tried again. “Just never stuck with one guy. Spread all that goodness around, you know.”

  “That’s enough.” Nate looked hard into the man’s eyes. “Ancient history is boring. She’s with me, and I don’t want her past thrown up in her face every time she steps out. Am I clear?”

  The men nodded. Nate felt something brush his side and looked down to see Bobby. The pulsing in Nate’s temples had slowly subsided, and he managed a small smile at Bobby as he took his shirt back. “Thanks.” He turned back to the men. “I’ll see you guys shortly.”

  “Yep.”

  “Soon.”

  “Be right over. Soon as you get settled.”

  Nate shrugged into his shirt and turned while buttoning it. “Let’s go, bud,” he said to Bobby.

  Kaitlyn came around the corner. “Nate?” She glanced at the guys behind him then back to Nate. “What are you doing?”

  “Saying hi to the guys.” Nate grabbed Bobby’s hand and worked to put his most innocent look on his face.

  “Wow, Kaitlyn, you look real nice tonight,” one guy said then nudged his buddy.

  “Better than a trout on a hook.” The guy grinned worriedly, his whiskered face breaking into deep lines.

  Nate rolled his eyes. There was a reason those guys were sitting in a bar with their buddies.

  Kaitlyn’s brow furrowed. She tilted her head. “Why is your shirt untucked and half unbuttoned?”

  “Aren’t you hot?” Nate let go of Bobby’s hand and finished buttoning up his big plaid shirt.

  “Nathan?” She put a hand on her hip.

  Nate stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, touching his lips to her forehead then her cheek. “I’m sorry, Katie. I couldn’t let it go.” He ran his hands down the silky material of her dress, feeling the curve of her spine. “What kind of man would I be to let people talk like that to my girl?”

  Her back trembled then lifted in a deep breath. “But it’s all true,” she whispered.

  Her words hurt his heart, but it didn’t matter. “I don’t care. They’ll not be disrespecting you while I’m beside you. Not ever, if I can help it.”

  “I don’t want you to get hurt, Nate.”

  And he didn’t even want to go there. Those guys wouldn’t hurt him. “Come on. Hopefully, no one stole Gary.” He moved to walk back, keeping a hold on her hand.

  “Kristy was holding him.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  At their booth, Kristy held Gary while Bobby jumped circles around her. Thankfully, the dining area was not busy. Only the table beside theirs was occupied. A little girl, about Bobby’s age, sat perfectly still and completely quiet across from her parents.

  “Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn! That’s Chesna.” Bobby pointed at the perfectly groomed little girl. “The one Phillip was picking on when I punched him.”

  “Ah.” Kaitlyn nodded.

  The parents looked up when Bobby said their daughter’s name.

  Bobby gave Chesna a little wave, which wasn’t returned.

  Kaitlyn raised a brow at Nate and said under her breath, “Opposites attract.”

  After taking Gary from Kristy and thanking her, Kaitlyn slipped into her chair.

  Nate sat across from her with Bobby beside him.

  “We’re not opposites,” he stated as he picked up the kids’ menu and pointed to the pictures for Bobby.

  Kaitlyn’s menu plopped back down, and she looked at him in astonishment. “Yes, we are. You’re calm and rational and patient. You don’t have anyone slapping you in the face with everything you’ve ever done. You were smart and careful. You weren’t stupid like I was. And you never do anything wild or dangerous.” Her face sparked with animation, and her hand motioned as she spoke. “But I, on the other hand, am wild, impetuous, and foolish, and I live with the regrets of the bad decisions I’ve made every day.” Her voice had softened, and she blinked before looking down at the table.

  Nate stared at her. Was that really his personality? He’d believed all his life that he was just like his dad. That he was impulsive, short-tempered, and easily angered. Yet Kaitlyn was saying the complete opposite. Had he changed? Or had he overcome his weaknesses? Or had people just seen that he was a good fighter, with good fighting instincts, and assumed that he also had his dad’s temperament? It was an idea he’d never considered before.

  “Can I get this, Nate?” Bobby tapped on his arm then pointed to his menu.

  Distracted, Nate looked at it and tried to focus.

  Kaitlyn had definitely given him some things to consider.

  20

  “He’ll break an arm.” Kaitlyn sat on the park bench, curled into the warmth of Nate’s side.

  Bobby climbed on the monkey bars.

  “It’ll hurt, but he’ll get over it. Might teach him something.” Nate’s voice sounded rough and deep next to her ear. She shivered. As the time slipped by on their date, she’d been bothered more and more by his imminent departure.

  “What are you doing tonight?”

  She heard his sigh, felt his hand move to her arm, rubbing up and down.

  “I’d rather talk about your truck, about the possibility of getting a bigger turbo, about the next pull, even your parents would be a better topic.” There was a smile in his voice, but it still sounded strained.

  She certainly didn’t want to talk about her parents. The last she’d spoken with her dad, he’d asked her not to take the boys back out, saying that Karen was worse. How she could be any worse without being dead, Kaitlyn didn’t know, but wasn’t going to ask. She wanted to know about Nate. “I can’t go tonight. Not now, with Scarlett not showing up.”

  “It’s better that way. I should never have said anything or given you the address.” He sounded resigned. “Let me ask you something.”

  “Sure.” The rain from earlier had swept the clouds away, leaving a warm, fall sun shining on the wet, sparkling grass. Nate had had to wipe the bench off before they could sit down, but Bobby hadn’t minded the wet bars a bit.

  “I already admitted that I don’t have much relationship experience.”

  “Yes.” She cringed inside because of the guilt that statement brought about her own past.

  “And one of the reasons is that I never wanted to go into a relationship with the idea that I was just playing around, wasting time.”

  “Uh, OK.” Where was he going with this?

  “I know that’s not normal in today’s world, but we’ve already established the fact that I’m not normal.”

  “Yeah?” Kaitlyn cringed as Bobby slipped off the highest bar and landed in the wet mulch. She relaxed as he scrambled up immediately. She bumped Nate playfully with her shoulder. “Would you please just say what you’re trying to say?”

  “I’m saying, one, I want you to be my girlfriend, officially. And two, that this relationship is serious to me, and I’m looking at it ending in marriage. Not tomorrow, but not in years, either. Soon.”

  Kaitlyn’s heart hitched up in her throat and stuck there when he said the M word. She had trouble breathing, and she wanted to protest that he couldn’t possibly know that he wanted to marry her. Not now.

  But he kept going. “There’s so much I admire about you, from your grit and determination to your compassion and vulnerability. But I’ve not been totally upfront. I had no idea when I agreed to help Tank out that I’d meet you and…well anyway, there’s some facets to my personality that you don’t know about. Which is one of the reasons I would have liked you to come tonight.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “If you don’t make it, I’ll tell you everything tomorrow, when I can talk about it in past tense. Tonight is the end for me. The last. That part of my life will be over. But now? If we dis
cuss it now, I’ve got to admit that it’s still me, that it’s what I am.”

  “Are you a hit man for the mafia?” Kaitlyn was mostly joking.

  He laughed. “No.”

  “Well, then, I can’t imagine anything else that might be a game changer for me.” She paused as an idea struck her. “You’re a stripper?” Immediately, though, she knew she could never hold that against him. “Never mind. If you are, I don’t want to know it, but I couldn’t say it was a game changer. After all, you know about my past.” He had a vague idea of her past. “Um, I’ll tell you anything you need to know.”

  “I never got an answer on the girlfriend thing. As for your past. I want you for myself, Kaitlyn. Can’t lie. But I’m hoping eventually I’ll mean more to you than any of those other guys, that I’m different…”

  “You already are.” She turned and cupped his face with both hands. “You’ve already made it clear that you care more about me than you do about yourself. And that was when we weren’t even good friends.” She looked deep into his eyes then dropped her hands and looked away. “After Kyle died, I knew my dad wished it had been me. Clint wished it had been me. Everyone thought it should have been me. I felt…worthless. That was when I took the boy Linda wanted. He couldn’t hold me tight enough, I couldn’t get close enough, even when we were as close as two people can get. There was a passing moment of pleasure, but the emptiness that it left behind was worse than what I started with. But I kept trying. I needed someone to love me, to love me for who I was, even though I didn’t even like myself.” She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed. Nate’s arms came around hers, his big body enfolding her. His rough cheek scraped the side of her head.

  “Tank was the only one who seemed to see that there was more to me. But he treated me like a little sister. I had a crush on him for a long time, but that didn’t stop me from sleeping with anyone. Anyone. And the big emptiness inside of me just kept getting bigger and bigger and nothing could fill it.

  “I had determined by then that I would make my dad proud by being a better mechanic than Kyle. By building a better pulling truck. Although I was looking for my dad’s approval, I still searched for love in the physical relationship. But I think I see now that relationship isn’t where love starts, it’s the culmination that’s only satisfying after there’s a foundation built on other things.” She looked at Nate with her brows raised. Wanting him to agree with her.