Page 10 of Mister McStudmuffin

“Having sex with me would have caused all of that?”

I laugh. “Not the sex per se, just the effects of it. A chain of events, if you will.”

“That’s not at all what would’ve happened,” he says, his tone ominous.

I stare at his tense jaw and narrowed gaze. Then it hits me. The heat in my cheeks is instant and I know the blush is crawling up my neck into my face. Awesome. Nothing like being a splotchy red mess. I clear my throat.

“I get it. You mean you wouldn’t have hit on me? You’re probably right.” If a meteor could hit the Earth right now, that would be awesome. Or even just me, just take me out of this embarrassing situation. He probably thinks I think I’m all that.

“That’s not what I meant either. Who’s to say it would’ve been a one and done? Why do you assume I would’ve broken your heart? And why the fuck would you have been fired?”

I exhale slowly, completely thrown off by his intensity. What is he trying to say?

“JD, you have a reputation as a player. You and Hayes both do.”

He shakes his head. “Hayes got married and moved home. He’s a dad now.”

“Yes, I realize. But that doesn’t change your reputation.”

He releases some sort of growly noise.

“I’m just saying that I was told, in no uncertain terms, the first day on this job, that the two of y’all were players and flirts and I shouldn’t even go there. I would’ve been just as disposable to you as every other woman you’ve dated since I started working here.”

“What if I told you there haven’t been any women since I met you?”

I snort out a laugh. “Then I would call you on your bullshit. There’s no way you haven’t been with any other women since you met me. It’s been more than two years.”

“So?”

“There’s no way you’ve been celibate. I mean, why? You look like that.” I make a ta-da motion with my hand, indicating the sheer hotness that is my boss.

“We’re getting off course,” he says.

“What about Brenda?”

“Who the fuck is Brenda?” he barks.

“The woman who worked here once. You and her had a thing, one night or whatever, and then she got fired.”

His eyes close and he squeezes the bridge of his nose. “Fucking rumors.” He sets his glass down and shifts closer to me on the couch. “Brenda did work here. She and I did hook up. Once and I regretted it immediately. And she did get fired. But not because I slept with her. For fuck’s sake, Chelsea, I would have thought you knew me a little better than that.”

His words sting and I wince. He’s not wrong. That story and the man before me have never aligned for me. “I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head. “You want to know what really happened? Brenda and I hooked up after the Christmas party. I went to her place, I told her it was just sex. She said that’s all she wanted. I left shortly after we… uh, finished.” His hand scrapes against his scalp and I’ve always thought that was the sexiest move.

“I take it things didn’t end like you thought.”

“No. She fucking stalked me. Broke into my personnel file to get my address and would show up at my house at all hours of the night. I had to file a restraining order. She claimed she was pregnant and that it was mine. Even after the court-ordered pregnancy test proved she was never pregnant, she still wouldn’t go away.”

I put my hand on his arm, right over that tattoo. “Oh my God, JD, that’s terrible.”

“After she was arrested for breaking into my house and crawling into my bed, everything ended. I believe someone in her family came and got her and brought her home. Wherever that was. I’m not sure what happened other than her family reached out to assure me they were caring for her, and there would be no future issues.”

“Shit on a shingle, that is terrifying,” I say with a shudder that pulses through my body.

“You think I’m a pussy because I had to have a woman arrested for assaulting me?” he asks, his words so quiet, I barely hear his question.

I scoot closer to him and cup his face. I stare into his eyes. “Absolutely not. That’s nothing more than toxic masculinity speaking. You had a stalker. That shit is scary and real. Of course you’re not a pussy.”