by Quinn, Taryn
Did I know Kelsey was a freaking teacher?
I’d been so busy working doubles to pay for the central air and heating unit I’d had to buy for my house that I hadn’t really had time to ask Wes more than a passing question about school. Not that my kid did much more than grunt at me about the subject. He was more interested in playing football with his cousins and an unrelenting obsession with Voltron. How that came back, I had no idea.
All I knew was that it was on a constant loop in my house. In fact, Netflix stopped asking if I was still watching. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but even I knew the dialogue at this point.
And now this crazy redhead who had invaded my brain with her outrageous mouth and stupidly perfect body was responsible for molding my kid. That sounded about as wrong as something that might’ve come out of Kelsey’s mouth, but holy fuck.
I stepped into the room and resisted the urge to tuck in the white button down shirt I’d put on instead of the dingy uniform I lived in at the shop. Parent-teacher night always put me in a mood. The nuns were forever looking at me as if I was less than because there was no wife at home.
I mean, there was my mom to help out, but Wes’s mom had been out of the picture for a third of his life. And for the nuns, a single dad practically equated with “do we need to call social services on you?”
I took care of my kid, for fuck’s sake.
I cleared my throat. “Is there a problem?”
“Dare.” Her huge golden eyes were more than a little startled. She gave me a quick once over and I was glad for the shirttails hiding the bulge in my fucking jeans. It didn’t matter that I was pissed at her, my dick was ready to play.
“Ohhh.” Ally looked between us then she pressed her lips together and stifled a laugh. She hid it well enough behind a cough, but she definitely knew we’d hooked up. Women loved to fucking talk.
It wasn’t like I was hiding the fact that I’d spent time with Kelsey on more than one occasion, but it wasn’t anyone’s business if we’d hooked up. At all.
“Laurie’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Ally patted my arm as she passed me. “They’re just in a little fight.”
“Over what?” I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to discuss any of this, but I knew I had to.
Kelsey licked her lips as she twisted her fingers together. “I tried to talk to Weston about—”
“Wes.”
Her brow furrowed. “Yes, Wes.”
I wasn’t going to let her put him in a troublemaker box. He was a good kid with a shit ton of energy. I tried not to think about his teacher last year who tried to convince me to put him on Ritalin or some shit because he didn’t pay attention. He didn’t pay attention because he was bored, and that was it.
I bunched my fists in my pockets and stared her down.
Ally glanced at the door. “Do you want me to stay or—”
Kelsey sighed. “It’s okay, Ally. I have this.”
“No, I want her here to figure it out between us,” I said, well-aware my voice sounded defensive. But if there was an issue, I wanted it settled now.
Kelsey smoothed her palm over the side of her leg. “It was a silly little misunderstanding. I tried to talk to Wes about it, but he wouldn’t talk to me. I’m not exactly sure on the particulars other than the fact that yogurt ended up down the back of Laurie’s hair and uniform.”
“Yogurt?” I was dumbfounded. I’d figured he’d thrown Play-Doh at Laurie or something. “He loves that shit—stuff. He’d never waste it. I can’t get him to stop eating it, for God’s sake.”
“I have a feeling it was an accident, but he was very embarrassed and angry. I can’t help him if he won’t tell me what’s wrong. And if it was an accident, we could have fixed it much easier.”
“Yeah, well, he’s prideful.”
“Shocking,” Kelsey muttered.
Ally let out a bawdy laugh. “Sounds about right. And Laurie overreacted, I’m sure. It got in her hair and that girl loves her hair.” She waved it off. “Again, it’s no big deal. She’ll forget all about it by tomorrow.”
Kelsey nodded at Ally. “Thanks for understanding. And coming in.”
“Feel better. I’ll see you Sunday unless you’re not feeling up to it.”
Kelsey twisted her long hair into a tumbling mass of silk over her shoulder. “I feel much better.”
I frowned. What did that mean?
As soon as Ally left, Kelsey trained those golden eyes on me. “You’re early, Dare. In fact, I was expecting someone named…” She moved to her desk and flipped open an iPad.
“Charles.”
“Right, Charles Kramer. I definitely didn’t put two and two together. Actually, I’m not completely sure I knew your last name. We sort of didn’t…”
“Talk?”
Her cheeks flushed. “No, not much.” She wore black dress pants and some sort of coppery sweater that made her hair look like the pale edges of fire. She was goddamn beautiful and almost untouchable in her teacher gear.
I wanted to muss her up.
I wanted to run out the damn door.
This was not cool at all.
Especially since it was obvious she had more to say about Wes and I had a feeling not all of it was good.
She waved her hand. “Have a seat, Mr. Kramer.”
“Really? That’s where we’re going with this?”
She huffed out a breath. “What do you want me to call you? Pizza Guy?” Her cheeks got even redder.
My eyebrow rose. “Not sure you want me to call you Thank You Girl.”
She moved behind her desk and sat down. “How about we just go with Kelsey and Dare, hmm?”
That prim and proper voice was so at odds with the woman I’d originally met at the bar and again at her apartment. I was used to the girl who would blurt out anything. She definitely was like Sage in that regard. But this woman? The buttoned-up elementary school teacher?
Yeah, no, that didn’t compute.
I glanced down at the miniature desk she wanted me to sit at and gave her a bland look before using the desk as a chair. No way was I folding my six-foot-two self into that chair. Fuck, no.
“I’m early because I have to go back to work. I hope that’s all right with you.”
“Certainly.” She folded her hands. “Wes is a great kid. I don’t have any real issues to go over with you—” She broke off as I stood. “Where are you going?”
“Then I’ll tell him to be more careful and we’re good here, right?”
“No. Not quite.”
I fisted my hands at my sides. “Then what?”
She got up from her desk and came around to lean on the edge. “Mr.—” At my almost growl, she cut herself off. “Dare…” She scrubbed her palms over her pants. “This is awkward.”
“Because we’ve been naked? Or because you don’t want to tell me my kid has a problem?”
“Well, I certainly see where Wes gets his defensiveness. And that’s what I want to talk to you about, but only if we can have a conversation like adults.”
I crowded her against the desk, boxing her in with a hand on each side of her hips. “You were adult enough to take me into your body a few weeks ago.”
Her pupils blew wide and her fingers clutched the edge of her desk beside mine. “We’re not talking about that.”
“Then stop trying to talk to me like I’m a fucking stranger.”
Her gaze kept bouncing from my mouth to my eyes to my neck and back again. She licked her lips. “I’m your son’s teacher.”
“And I’m annoyingly hot for teacher evidently.”
“You did not just quote Van Halen to me.”
“I might kiss you just because you know the reference.” I leaned into her. “I might kiss you just because.”
“Is this guy bothering you, Kelsey?”
I resisted the urge to snarl at the interruption. I was already hard as hell and her sharp orange scent was making me crazy. As it was, I’d gone to look
for blood oranges in the produce department just to see if that was indeed the smell I couldn’t stop thinking about. That had been the name on the bottle in her bathroom, but an artificial scent might not compare to the real thing.
It was damn close.
But it wasn’t Kelsey.
And my brain was definitely not engaged right now. Unless you counted the primal lizard part that wanted to rip out the douchetwat’s throat for interrupting us.
Kelsey pushed me back and shifted toward the guy in the doorway. I still hadn’t looked away from her, since she was my entire focus.
“Caleb, um, no. Of course not.” She smoothed her hair away from her face.
What the hell was that about? I finally dragged my attention from her to the doorway. Straight-laced teacher type. Was she actually worried about this dude seeing us together?
I straightened. I was good enough to hook up with, but not to be seen with. I’d been there before. Nice girls only liked the gutter when their ankles were up toward the ceiling.
Or…
I huffed out a half laugh. Or this was her kind of guy, not me. “Sorry. Didn’t realize I was poaching.”
“You were what?” She elbowed me in the ribs. “No one is poaching on anyone and we’re at school, for Pete’s sake. Neither of you should be saying the things you do here.”
I folded my arms and crowded into her again. “Saying things like what?”
“Are you serious right now? Are you going to pee around me or something?” She pushed me back a step, then glanced at the douchenozzle. “Never mind. This is ridiculous.”
I finally recognized the guy hovering in the hallway now that I had my head in the game and not ready to dive between her fucking thighs. Beck’s little brother was a teacher here. And douche still applied. He thought his marathon boy and gym rat muscles made him a man.
More than a few women had fallen for his brand of charm.
Personally, I wanted to use his head as a soccer ball whenever he was around me and his brother. Which wasn’t often. He was too worried about the closest single woman in a five-mile radius.
“Dare.” Caleb hovered at the threshold of her classroom. “I didn’t realize you were friends.”
I was pretty sure the fucknut wanted to choke on that word.
Kelsey sighed. “I’m fine, Caleb. Thanks for checking on me. Dare and I were just…talking.”
Without thinking, my hand coasted along her lower back.
She looked up at me again with eyebrows climbing for her damn hairline. I dropped my hand.
Caleb puffed up his chest, but he didn’t come any closer. “If you’re sure.”
“She’s sure,” I said darkly. Besides, what was this kid going to do? I could break him with my pinky.
“I can speak for myself, thank you.” She gave me a sharp look, then Caleb a tight smile. “I can handle myself. He’s harmless.”
I gave her a serious dose of side eye. I’d show her how harmless I was as soon as we were alone. She stomped on my foot and winced for her trouble. I had steel-toe boots for a reason.
“All right. I’m right across the hall if you need me.” He melted out into the dark.
“Caleb?”
He rushed back in. “Yes?”
“Close the door for me?”
I resisted the urge to smile big. Instead, I left my face stony. Caleb was afraid of me on a good day. Today was not a good day.
Caleb nodded and shut the door before glaring at me through the skinny window.
Pussy.
“You don’t get to do that. Just because we slept together.”
“Twice. I’m entirely sure it was memorable, darlin’. You screamed my name multiple times, each time. Even said—”
“Do not say what I know you’re going to say.” She stabbed a finger into my chest. “I can’t believe this.”
“It’s a small town. Did you really think we wouldn’t run into each other again outside of when it’s convenient for you? I work two doors down from your apartment.”
“Of course not. But this makes it a little more precarious. I’m your son’s teacher.”
“Considering most of the teachers in this school are married, I’m sure there’s some overlap all over the place.”
She huffed out a breath. “That’s not the point.”
“What is it then? That we slept together? Or that you’re ashamed about it?”
“I’m not ashamed. Well, not really. I mean, I have needs. Every woman does. That’s not the point!” Her voice rose with each sentence.
I placed my hands on her shoulders and shifted her toward me again, lowering my mouth until we were a few millimeters apart. “Then what’s the problem?”
“Conflict of interest is the problem.” She swayed a little and her face went as white as my shirt.
“Kelsey.” I grabbed her elbow.
“Oh, God.” She staggered away from me and slapped a hand over her mouth.
The look on her face had me reacting. I knew it well. I had a six-year-old. I spotted a small trash bin next to her desk and handed it to her just before she spewed. “That’s it. Just get it out.”
“Get away from me.”
I huffed out a sigh. “Not my first rodeo, darlin’.” I gathered her hair back at the nape of her neck. “You all right?”
“No. I want to die.”
“Didn’t take you for the weak constitution type.”
She held the back of her hand against her mouth. “Flu. Kids.” She moaned and went for another round.
I winced and gently led her to the sink across the room. “You done?”
“I think so.”
I pushed her hair back and gave her a once over. Her color was coming back. Slowly. “Go on and wash your mouth out.”
“I could just die.”
“You should have been in the shop when we got a batch of bad clams. This is nothing.”
She ran the water and rinsed her mouth. “Can you grab my bag from the bottom right drawer of my desk?”
I frowned at her, but figured she was upright enough for me to get there and back before she pitched forward. Maybe. She hunched over the sink and rested her head against the faucet.
I opened her desk and found a purse the size of my entire torso. Jesus. It took me two tries to get it free, but then I was back beside her. “Here.”
She plucked a green bag out from the bottom with barely a look. How she knew which bag was which among the six in there, I had no idea. But the sharp scent of mint disrupted the sour aroma.
While she was brushing the sick out of her mouth, I found a trash can liner and dumped the little wastebasket into the bag and tied it off. The little plastic bin was pretty and frilly like a girl. And also had a basket weave that would never recover. Better to just put it all out of its misery.
I put the bag near the door and went back to her. “All right?”
She blew out a slow breath. “Yes. We’ve had three kids out with the stomach bug. It’s not shocking I got it.”
I leaned forward and touched my lips to her forehead. “No fever.”
She blinked up at me. “No. I’m probably in the contagious phase. Which doesn’t bode well for you.”
I shrugged. “I rarely get sick. Motor oil in my veins.”
She tied her hair back into a low tail. “I hope that’s true. It’s not fun in the least. At least according to the moms I’ve talked to.”
“Maybe you should cancel the rest of the meetings tonight. Just in case. I can, uh, take you home if you want.”
“Yeah, I think I’ll send out an email to the other parents, but I can get home on my own.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m a big girl.”
“Yeah, but I’m going back to work anyway, so I’m right there.”
“Then I won’t have my car.”
“I can have one of the guys pick it up.”
She rested a hand against my chest. “I’ll be okay.”
“All right.
I can take a hint.”
She gnawed on her lower lip. “It’s not that. I hope you know that.”
“Sure, whatever.”
“And that’s what your son does. He obviously has learned it from you.”
I folded my arms.
“That too. Look, Dare. He’s an amazing kid. I’m not disputing that, so don’t get all…growly.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. But he’s obviously got something going on at home, or because of this thing with Laurie. Just promise me you’ll talk to him.”
“I will.”
“Good.” She stepped back and I immediately wanted to pull her closer again.
And that was stupid. Very stupid. Obviously, she had her own reasons for not wanting to start up something with me. My own list of reasons was about as long as my arm.
The top three reasons all included my kid.
Now I had to talk to him about some girl. Seth Hamilton’s kid no less. Wes was six. Just the thought of girls at his age made me want to hide under the hood of a car. Maybe I could teach Wes how to take apart an engine.
Surely that would be easier.
Fuck.
“Feel better.” I backed away and crossed to the door. I snagged the trash bag as I strode out and didn’t look back.
Even if a strong part of me wanted to gather Kelsey close and take care of her. That was the most dangerous part of all.
I lengthened my stride down the hall, dumping the bag in one of the janitor bins on my way out the door.
I jammed my aviators on my face and put her out of my mind.
I’d done it before. I could do it again.
One of these days, it would finally stick.
Nine
I slept on my lumpy couch. It made me wonder if half my stomach queasiness came from the smell of the ancient fabric. Which started me down the path of cleaning my entire apartment at dawn. All eight hundred square feet of it. It didn’t take long.
Just like my unpacking, though I’d stretched out that awful task as long as humanly possible.
Since I didn’t have another episode—yay extra strength Febreze and baking powder trick on Pinterest—I went full tilt on the baby shower prep for Sage. At least the non-cooking things. No need to infect the world if I was sick for some reason and just not showing symptoms.