by Quinn, Taryn
She shivered and I held her tighter as the song blended into another slow one. There were people crowding in on us as the dance floor filled.
“I’m not good at this,” she said quietly.
“You were just fine the other night.”
She tucked her chin in where my shoulder met my neck. “That was probably a fluke.”
I tugged a handful of red-gold silk so she had to look at me. “Then it was a fluke for us both. I can’t promise you a fucking thing, but God, I want to be inside you again. On a fucking bed this time.”
“I don’t have one yet.”
Well, I’d just have to fix that, now wouldn’t I? My buddy at the furniture shop owed me a favor for towing his car from Rochester back home. It was time to collect.
She stumbled against me a little as she swayed. I couldn’t take her home tonight anyway. One, she was far too tipsy. I wasn’t a complete asshole. And two, Wes was at Sage’s house playing with the kids, but he had a shopping day with my parents tomorrow.
They loved to take my kid out for school shopping. It was the only time they really spoiled him, so I’d stopped being an asshole about it. I could take care of my kid—and they knew that—but I couldn’t deny the help was appreciated. Not when I had to pay off a new furnace for the sinkhole that was my house.
I locked down all the crap that lived in my head—kid, house, job—and spun her out in a quick twirl. Her surprised laugh filled my chest way more than it should. She was a little weird, and she said whatever came into her head. We didn’t seem to have much in common.
Right now, it was just my dick talking. Had to be. And as much as I wanted to lose myself in Kelsey, it was time to go back to the real world.
I dragged her back in, deliberately crowding close. “Guess I’ll see you around, Kels,” I said against her mouth.
The urge to brand her was a little too intense for my comfort. That and I couldn’t kiss her to a fucking Ariana Grande song. There were some lines I just couldn’t cross.
“Kels, we gotta go.”
She turned toward Ally’s voice. The indecisive look on Kelsey’s face made me want to tell her to say the hell with them. I’d find some way to get her in my arms for the night.
But then she was gone. And I was left standing in the middle of the dance floor with my dick throbbing and my head full of too much bullshit.
Sage nodded to me and I knew they’d get her home. I blew out my breath and dug my keys out of my jacket.
I had to get Wes in bed anyway. He’d be all sugared up after playing with Laurie.
Sometimes responsibilities were a bitch.
Five
I straightened my freshly ironed khaki skirt, then pushed up my sleeves of my baby blue sweater set. Principal meeting wear, I liked to call it. I usually went with a far more kid-proof outfit when actually teaching. But today was a good day to bring out the one cashmere sweater set in my wardrobe.
I wasn’t gonna lie, it was mostly for armor. Who could hurt you in cashmere?
It was a delusion I was willing to live with.
I held my hand up to knock.
“Come in, Miss Ford.”
I swallowed then turned the knob. You’d think I was in the principal’s office as a student. I put on my sunniest smile. Principal Gentry still wore an abbreviated version of her habit. As if a suit and a nun’s habit had a baby. “Good morning.”
“Have a seat, Kelsey.”
All right, so we were getting right down to it. I perched on the edge of my chair and folded my hands.
“We’ve had a few things change for the school year. Unforeseen things which have required me to juggle a few classrooms.”
My stomach pitched. Oh, God. I wasn’t getting sacked, was I? They just hired me on full-time.
She held up her hand. “Don’t worry, I didn’t invite you here to let you go.”
That was me, poker face of the ages. I swallowed a hysterical laugh. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“But there’s been a shift in enrollment for our kindergarten class. I no longer need a second teacher as I did last year.”
I gripped my fingers until I couldn’t feel them anymore.
“However, I do need a first-grade teacher due to yet another change. Most of the children from kindergarten stayed on. You’re the newest teacher with us, so you haven’t gotten into planning your curriculum much.”
So she thought. I’d planned out the first half of my year already.
“And from the information I have on you, you have training in all elementary education arenas.”
“Yes, Sister.”
“Good, good. That makes this much easier. Your classroom will have twenty-three students. Fifteen boys and eight girls. I think you may know one of them. Alison and Seth Hamilton’s daughter, Laurie.”
“Oh. Yes, I do.”
“I expect that your personal relationship won’t make a difference?”
“Oh, no. She’s a delightful girl, but I fall in love with all my kids. Doesn’t stop me from controlling the classroom when necessary.”
“Good to hear. This particular class has quite a bit of energy. I know you’ll do very well with the changes.”
That sounded like a canned response. I wondered how many other teachers were shuffled around? But now I needed to start over with my teaching plan. First graders needed a lot more structure than the half day kindergarteners. They had to learn how to deal with an all-day class.
Nothing like tossing me into the deep end on the second full day of my first full year as a member of St. Agnes.
“You may join the assembly with the rest of the teachers for the rally. We’re very glad to have you here, Kelsey. But I’m not going to lie. Catholic schools are having more issues with registration. We have to make sure our classrooms and teachers are the best in the county, if not the state.”
I swallowed. No pressure.
“That includes how the people of Crescent Cove see our teachers. We must uphold outward appearances, just as much as those inside our classrooms.”
I blinked. She wasn’t even bothering to sugarcoat that one. As one of the handful of single women working at the school, I recognized the anvil hanging over my head.
No fuckups.
The rules were a bit antiquated and provincial, but I didn’t want to try to buck the system. That wasn’t me, and besides, my students were too important.
I wondered if Sister Gentry knew how many of the teachers mixed it up at socials. I hadn’t been with St. Agnes long, but some of the teachers acted more like it was a college campus. Only they had the married cloak of invisibility and I so did not.
Folding my hands in my lap, I nodded. “Understood.”
“I sent all the details of your classroom to your tablet. Beth has your new keys and updated security codes for the supply cabinets.”
“Thank you.” I stood and resisted the urge to curtsy.
Good grief, pull it together, girl.
I slipped out into the chaos that was the admin room. A few more teachers were gathered at the edges of the room and into the hallway.
I waved to one of the teachers I knew. Admittedly, I didn’t know many of them besides names from the gossip circles. From the sounds of malcontent around me, I wasn’t the only one who had gotten unexpectedly reassigned.
Avoiding a particularly loud group of middle school teachers left me on the fringes of the room. No way to get near Beth. Great.
“Are you Kelsey?”
I turned toward the male voice. “Yes?”
“I’m Caleb Beck. I teach second grade in the classroom across from you. Welcome, new neighbor.”
“How did you—?” I shook my head. Gossip ran faster than water in this place. In the entire town. “Never mind. You probably knew before I did. Pleased to meet you.” I shook his hand.
He smiled and the corners of his blue eyes crinkled. He waggled his iPad. “They sent out a roster of teachers. Unfortunately, it went out before a few people had t
heir meetings.”
I winced.
“Yeah, welcome to St. Agnes. Well, a true welcome. I know you covered for Judy when she went out on maternity. We lucked out when they hired you on.”
I resisted the urge to cross my arms. “You certainly know a lot about me.”
He gave me a sheepish smile. “The pretty ones are worth finding out about.”
“Oh. Well, thanks.” Yeah, I didn’t know what to say to that one. Not to mention the principal’s voice was still echoing in my ear. Talking to the resident flirt was definitely not a good idea. “I guess I’ll be seeing you around.”
“I hope so.”
I resisted the urge to scrunch up my shoulders. I barely knew anyone in the school, but I’d heard plenty about Caleb. Enough that there was no level of desperation I could reach to believe a charmer like him.
I managed to make my way to Beth’s desk and got my room assignment and details. Unsurprisingly, there was already an update happening on my tablet.
This place was no joke.
I followed the troupe of teachers down the hall to our next assembly as I scrolled through the pictures of the kids in my new class. I stopped when I came to Laurie. Her sweet smile made me instantly smile back. She was such a cute and precocious child.
A kid with a smirky grin filled my screen next and I instantly knew he was trouble. Hints of the devil lurked in his super blue eyes. And the faux hawk from his previous year’s picture just might have been a further clue. Weston. Cute kid for sure. Onto the next ones. Emily and Jenny were twins.
God help me.
I tucked my tablet away when I got to the auditorium at the center of the school.
The next few hours were filled with information about updates to the curriculum from New York State. Then I was tossed into the elementary education minefield.
I went from two half day classes to one full. The only upside was that my day started a little later now. My nerves were jangling by the end of the second session of afternoon meetings.
I had to pull apart my entire teaching plan. How was I supposed to do that in twenty-four hours?
By the end of the day, I was pretty sure I’d become a pinball. This room for supplies, that one for music enrichment, this one for art class twice a week.
Kindergarten had been all in one room.
I walked into the sunshine at two in the afternoon in a daze, my tablet and notebook clutched to my chest. How the hell was I going to do this?
I didn’t even remember the trip back to my apartment, which was scary as hell. Thank God, it was only a ten-minute drive. A blue truck was parked outside my door with a simple headboard made of wood sticking out the end of the flatbed. It was wrapped to the nth degree, but there was no denying the soft, golden color of pine. Or maybe it was maple.
I frowned. Was I getting a new neighbor?
There were a few apartments in the building, but I was the only tenant thus far. At least that was what I’d thought. The building was barely finished with renovations. Then again, Mr. Forrester would want to fill the other apartments. Empty rooms meant lost revenue. The lower half of the building no longer had a for rent sign on it either. Looked like there was a whole bunch of changes happening lately.
The apartment building door was propped open with a rock.
“There you are.”
I peeked around the queen-sized mattress encased in plastic propped against the headboard. “Dare?”
“Yep.” He hauled the mattress down and shoved it through the doorway without another word.
“Wait.” I blew out a breath. He totally didn’t wait. I grabbed my bag and slammed the door to my car. I raced after him and up the stairs. “What are you doing?”
“You need a bed.”
“What? Well, yes, I do, but umm…” My bag twisted down my arm as I rushed to catch up.
“This seems a little extreme for sex. I mean, it was awesome, but do you buy beds for all your women?”
He muscled the mattress through my apartment door. Wait, how had he gotten in? I looked down at the keys in my hand and the wide open door. “Did you break in?”
He peeked around the mattress. “Not technically.”
“Not sure there’s a gray zone there, buddy.” I ran up the last of the steps and pushed by him before he could get all the way into my apartment. Evidently, that didn’t much matter. The frame for the bed was already set up with the box spring on top of it.
He wiped his brow and blew out a breath. “I came over to ask if you wanted to go with me to pick one out, but you weren’t here.”
“So you just went ahead and did it for me?” Outrage lifted my voice an octave or three. I wasn’t screeching…mostly. Good lord, his arms were amazing.
No, that is not the point to this.
He’d just…taken over. Why? This was not okay.
“First of all, Beck owed me a favor.”
“Beck?”
He nodded toward the window. “Furniture place across the way. And as much as I like fucking you, darlin’, this wasn’t contingent on me getting laid again. You needed a bed—and since it’s been a few days since I’ve been here and you still don’t have one…”
He gave me a pissy look which only made me want to stomp my foot at him. I huffed out a growl. “I was getting to it. I just wasn’t sure what size. As you can see, this place isn’t the biggest.” I ripped at the buttons of my sweater set. My apartment was on the top floor, and God, I was burning up.
His eyebrow quirked. “As I said, no payment is necessary.”
“I’m hot.” His smirk made me roll my eyes. “Not hot for you, you jerk. Just hot. It’s like seventy degrees and the sun is blasting in here.”
“Don’t stop stripping on my account. I’ll consider it a tip.”
“You are incorrigible.”
“So my mother tells me.” He used the hem of his shirt to wipe his face and I lost my train of thought. I really hadn’t had enough time to catalog all of…that on Saturday night.
I mean, it was still burned into my retinas, but it was more a hazy bit of insanity than anything I could pull together with any clarity. But wow, were there actually that many abdominal muscles in the human body?
I thought it was a six-pack.
That looked like way more.
He dropped his shirt and the smirk was back, dammit. I turned away from him and dumped my bag in the one free chair I had in my living room. The sound of him shoving the mattress across my floor had me rushing after him.
“Would you just wait a second?” I tripped over a pile of clothes I’d been sorting for another load of laundry. And hello, my bras were draped everywhere. I quickly snatched them off the rack and stuffed them in a box.
He flipped the mattress onto the box spring. “You want it between the windows or over there?”
I pushed my hair out of my face. “I don’t know. It’s so big. It takes up the whole freaking room.”
“I picked out a headboard you could clip lights to. My…I’ve seen it done before.”
My what? Girlfriend? Sister? Friend?
Not important. He couldn’t have a girlfriend, not if he’d bounced on me. He didn’t seem like that kind of guy. Otherwise, it was none of my business.
I glanced over at him. “That’s a good idea. Especially with how small the room is.” I twirled around and moved another box on top of the first box and shoved them both to the other side of the room. “Yeah, between the windows.”
He shoved it over then crossed to me. “You look good.” He rubbed one of my rapidly wilting curls between his fingers before flicking it over my shoulder. “Be right back with the headboard.”
When he was gone, I spun around and winced at the pile of underwear I hadn’t seen before. I popped those into one of the boxes and caught sight of my face in the mirror I’d used for makeup. Look good? Was he blind?
I grabbed my cutoffs and a T-shirt and quickly shucked my school clothes. I was buttoning my shorts just as he walked in
to my room. His blue eyes went hot and my freaking nipples went on high alert. And here I’d thought the scumbag clothes would bring down the awareness building between us.
Nope.
Maybe it was just the wide bed dominating the room.
He lowered the huge headboard to the floor and left again, this time coming back with a tool set. He dropped it on the bed and flipped it open, taking out a utility knife. He stripped the thing in seconds.
I was trying not to imagine how quickly he could slice off my clothes. No need to go there. He’d done an admirable job a few days ago. Goodness, I didn’t need to think about that with the stupid bed right there.
He lifted the headboard and moved to the windows. His freaking arms were bulging. He didn’t look like he was particularly huge, but there was no denying all the ropey muscles under his simple Ford T-shirt.
“Can you hand me the drill?” He poked his head up from behind the headboard. “And the long screws.”
Drill.
Jeez. Get a grip, Kelsey.
I unhooked the large, very professional drill from the big yellow case and brought it over to him. I wasn’t sure on the size of the bit—and the only reason I knew the term was from watching HGTV. I took the trio with me and rounded the bed and headboard into the small space he’d made for himself.
He was laying across the floor and his T-shirt had peeked up again. More eight-pack action for my viewing pleasure. He held his hand out and I put the drill in his hand, then opened the bits for him. He gave me a half smile and took one then the screw from me before he crammed himself under the bed to attach it to the frame.
It only took three minutes, but I was suddenly very glad he’d done the work for me. Three minutes for him would have been more like thirty with many swear words and broken nails for me.
“You really didn’t have to do this.” I stroked my hand down the simple lines of the headboard. I probably wouldn’t have picked something like this, but it worked in the space so well. I probably would have gone for something huge and tufted that wouldn’t work at all.
But I’d never been able to have a nice bed. I usually received hand-me-downs from my family and bought at consignment sales. I didn’t mind repainting crap furniture to make it pretty, but the new was pretty awesome.