Liz returned his gaze evenly, determined not to let him see that his touch was affecting her in the slightest, that it had been driving her crazy all afternoon long. Beneath the table, though, her fingernails were probably cutting right through the booth’s bright blue plastic seat covers.
“Where’s Kevin?” Todd asked, glancing around the crowded restaurant. Sound echoed off the glass walls and tiled floors. It was one of those places that had apparently been designed on the theory that the more noise there was in a restaurant, the more convinced people would be that they were having fun.
“He made a dash for one of the video games the minute we walked through the door.”
“And you didn’t dash with him?”
“I told him I’d order.”
“After making such a fuss to get you to come, he shouldn’t have left you alone. I’ll go get him.”
“Mr. Lewis—”
“Todd.”
“Mr. Lewis, I’m used to being on my own. Kevin’s with a friend. Let him enjoy himself. Besides, it would probably embarrass him to have anyone catch him with his teacher.”
Her easy acceptance of being abandoned amazed him. A lot of women would have been insulted, even if the male who’d left them was only eight. “You really understand kids, don’t you?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. It is my job,” she said, then added, “but if what you’re really saying is that I genuinely seem to like kids, the answer is yes. I think they’re great. They usually say exactly what’s on their mind and they’re open to new experiences.”
“What about you? Are you open to new experiences?”
He was doing it again, lacing the conversation with enough innuendos to disconcert a saint. “I’d like to think so,” she managed to say without stumbling over the response.
Todd settled back in the booth. “Then I think we should get to know each other better, don’t you?”
“I suppose,” she said cautiously, making the mistake of meeting his steady gaze. Her heart somersaulted. Those eyes of his could lure a woman into forgetting all reason, to say nothing of professional ethics and quite possibly her name. Her hands slid right off the seat. She clasped them tightly in her lap, drew in a shaky breath and added quickly, “For Kevin’s sake.”
He nodded. “Of course. Why don’t we start by using first names?”
“I really don’t think it would be appropriate, especially not in front of Kevin.”
“But he’s not here right now. Let’s compromise. You call me Todd and I’ll call you Miss Liz.”
She grinned despite herself. “You call that a compromise?”
“You’d rather call me Mr. Todd?”
A faint smile playing about his lips mocked the seriousness of his tone. Liz frowned at his determined impudence, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away. Retreat now would give him a victory in a battle she’d almost forgotten how to fight. Instead the tension built just as it had earlier, crackling through the air like summer’s lightning.
It was Kevin who broke it, joining them with a huge grin on his face.
“Hey, Dad, guess what! I beat Joey Simons at Battle of the War Lords!”
“That’s great, son,” he said without taking his eyes from her mouth for one single second. Her lips were parched and she wanted very badly to run her tongue over them, but knew perfectly well that would only inflame the situation. She grabbed her glass of water and drank the whole thing. Todd grinned with unabashed satisfaction.
“Will you and Mrs. Gentry play with me?” Kevin pestered. “Joey had to go home.”
With obvious reluctance, Todd tore his gaze away from her and looked at Kevin. “What about your hamburger? It should be here in a minute.”
“Oh, yeah.” He slid in next to his father. “I forgot.”
Watching Kevin and his father together, Liz felt a lump lodge in her throat. Suddenly she wanted to cry. There was so much adoration in Kevin’s eyes, such a sense of camaraderie between them, it almost reminded her of… Closing her eyes against the surge of pain, she sealed off the thought before it could form.
“I think I should be going,” she said suddenly, just as the meal arrived. “I’ll pay the check on my way out.”
“No!” The protest was voiced by father and son.
“Really, it’s late.” She needed to escape before the threatening tears embarrassed her.
“We just got here. You haven’t even eaten your hamburger,” Kevin said.
“I’m not really hungry. Your father can have it.”
“A little while ago you said you were starving,” Todd reminded her. His penetrating gaze seemed to see right through her flimsy excuse.
“Besides, it won’t be the same,” Kevin said. “You promised me a celebration.”
At the mention of the promise, her determination wavered. Kevin might be manipulating, but he was using the truth to do it. She had promised. However, if she’d had any idea what sitting in this booth across from Todd Lewis would be like, she would have devised some other reward for Kevin. She would have seen to it that it didn’t require being crowded into such close quarters with a disturbingly masculine parent who insisted on toppling all barriers between them, starting with the informal way he meant to address her. Miss Liz, indeed!
Kevin was gazing at her now with wide, hopeful eyes. His father’s eyes had a speculative gleam in them, as if he’d guessed that he was the reason for her desire to run and was wondering how to capitalize on his advantage. That decided her. She would stay. She would eat every bite of her hamburger, even if she choked on it.
She gave Todd Lewis her most defiant, go-to-hell glare and picked up the ketchup. Her gaze never wavered as she shook the bottle. Kevin’s sharp gasp drew her attention. She glanced down. Her hamburger had virtually disappeared in a sea of thick red ketchup. She groaned. How could she have done something that stupid?
“I’ll order you another one,” Todd said, reaching for her plate.
She grabbed it back. “This one’s fine. I like a lot of ketchup.” Her tongue nearly tripped over the flat-out lie. Still, she refused to admit to her foolish mistake.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll take it and get you another one.”
“I’ll just scrape a little of this off,” she said stubbornly.
He shrugged finally. “Suit yourself.”
Liz determinedly scraped off enough ketchup to serve all the fans in the stadium during next Sunday’s Dolphins game. She took her first bite, then forced a smile as Kevin and Todd watched her expectantly.
“You’re sure it’s okay?” Todd asked, his expression doubtful.
“Just fine,” she said with forced cheer.
To herself, she vowed to get through the next half hour without coming unglued, if it was the last thing she ever did. She also swore that she would not under any circumstances ever admit to either of the males across from her that she absolutely never ate ketchup. It gave her hives.
Chapter 3
Todd pulled his pickup into the lot behind the elementary school. The dusty playground was empty, except for a forgotten soccer ball. The swings shifted slowly in the hot stirring of humid air. The cloudless sky burned a merciless reminder that Miami was still weeks away from the first cool nights and gentle days.
As if the weather weren’t enough to sap energy, Todd felt an age-old feeling of intimidation squeezing his chest as he walked around the corner of the low, brick building. When he’d finally graduated from high school two years late, he’d vowed never to cross the threshold of another school. He was here now only because of Kevin. And one feisty teacher who wouldn’t let well enough alone, he reminded himself.
As he neared the entrance, he heard the faint ringing of a bell and a moment later the quiet erupted into a scene of absolute chaos. Several hundred noisy, rambunctious students began pouring through the doors like salmon frantic to get upstream. He stood out of the way and watched, hoping to catch a glimpse of the determinedly staid Mrs. Gentry in the midst o
f the pandemonium.
It took him only a few minutes to spot her. Her red hair was pulled tautly back. Curly strands, indifferent to her efforts at restraint, had escaped to create a halo that glittered a coppery gold in the sunlight. In her slim beige skirt, emerald green silk blouse and sensible beige pumps, she was solemnly leading a perfectly formed line toward one of the bright yellow Dade County school buses. The impression of rigidity returned with a thud, correcting a night of more alluring dreams.
Then he saw a small girl of six or seven lift a laughing face toward her. Elizabeth’s—Miss Liz’s—generous mouth curved into an answering smile. With fingers that seemed somehow hesitant she reached out and lovingly brushed a strand of hair back from the child’s face. There was an odd sense of yearning in that fleeting touch that wrapped itself around Todd’s heart.
Contradictions! So many contradictions, he wondered if he’d ever understand them all.
There’s a lifetime to try.
The unexpectedly wayward thought careened through his head, slamming into his consciousness with the impact of a fullback charging at full speed. His breath rushed out, followed by a colorful, resistant oath. There was no way in hell this woman—any woman—was going to get to him again. Not after Sarah.
But his palms were sweating like a lovestruck teen’s and his heartbeat skittered and danced in a way he’d all but forgotten. He seized on past hurts and entrenched bitterness to chase away the symptoms of an imagination gone awry. They did a damn poor job of it, he noted wryly as he waited at the entrance for Elizabeth Gentry to join him. He rubbed his palms on his denim-clad thighs and hoped the heat in his loins would cool.
While he waited, she stood watching—a lone sentry—until the last school bus pulled away. Again he caught that flash of yearning on her face, the subtle droop of her shoulders when the children were out of sight. An aching need built in his chest, a need that made no sense. A tender wondering filled his soul with questions he wanted to ask, but didn’t know how, didn’t even know if he had the right to ask. Worse, he couldn’t even imagine where all these thoughts were coming from. He covered his confusion with a smile meant to tease away the frown on her lovely face.
“Why so glum?” he asked softly, stepping from the shadows as she neared the front door.
Startled eyes met his. He thought there was the beginning of a smile, but it ended before it could brighten her face. She merely nodded in satisfaction.
“So, you came.”
“I told you I would. Right on time, too,” he noted as if seeking approval.
That did earn a full-blown grin. “Are you expecting a gold star for attendance? If so, it will hardly make up for all those zeros.”
Despite her teasing tone, his voice and his mood went flat. “I stopped worrying about report cards long ago.”
“Even Kevin’s?” she queried briskly, chasing away any last remnants of the light mood.
Disappointed and unable to figure out why, he snapped, “You’re all business, aren’t you, Miss Liz?”
She scowled disapprovingly. The prim set of her mouth wasn’t all that far removed from his original image of her. With an urge of pure devilment, he felt like kissing those lips until they were bruised and swollen and parted on a sigh of pleasure.
“It’s Mrs. Gentry,” she corrected with that familiar snap in her voice. “And I do try to act like a professional when I’m having a business meeting. Shall we go inside?”
“By all means,” he said, responding to her cool demeanor with a touch of sarcasm he couldn’t have stopped if he’d wanted to. The woman infuriated him. Worse, something told him she enjoyed it, that she liked watching the barriers go up. He wondered why. Did she need them there to protect her heart? Not from him. He wasn’t interested. Perhaps he should tell her that.
As soon as they reached room one-twenty-two, she grabbed an eraser and attacked the blackboard as if the day’s lessons had offended her by lingering on display. Chalk dust filled the air with a fine mist and a scent that dragged Todd back nearly twenty years.
He pulled a too-small chair up beside her desk, turned it around and sat down straddling it to wait. With each moment that passed, his impatience grew. Only when the blackboard was cleaned to her satisfaction and the chalk lined up neatly and the papers on her desk straightened into tidy piles, did she sit down. It took several more minutes for her to lift her gaze to meet his. Only then did he realize that she’d been gathering her composure, not putting him in his place.
“Tell me about Kevin,” she suggested, idly scratching at a blotchy red spot on her arm. When she pushed up her sleeve, he saw the marks went all the way up.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She regarded him blankly. He reached over and touched one of the raised blotches. “What happened?”
Red flamed her cheeks. “Hives,” she said curtly. “About Kevin…”
Hives, hmm? Generally caused by allergies or nerves. He wondered which had caused hers? He decided not to ask. It would give him something to speculate about later, when her image was plaguing him.
“I thought you wanted to tell me about Kevin,” he said instead. “Isn’t that why we’re meeting?”
“We’ll get to my observations. I thought it might be helpful if I knew whether his behavior in school reflected his behavior at home. Does he give you any discipline problems?”
Sarah’s complaints sprang to mind, but he shook his head. “No more than any kid his age.”
She seemed surprised by that. “Are you sure?”
“I know what I was like at Kevin’s age. He’s no different.”
She smiled. The effect was like the sun emerging on a cloudy day. It warmed his heart, even as she said, “But I suspect you were a holy terror. That’s hardly a fair comparison.”
“I turned out okay,” he countered, responding to her amusement. “For a holy terror, that is.”
“Don’t you want more for Kevin?”
He sighed. “I assume you’re thinking ahead to college.”
She shook her head. “Right now, I’m thinking ahead to passing third grade. He won’t at the rate he’s going.”
Her somber prediction had the desired effect. It shook him up as none of her vague warnings had. “It’s that bad?” he said skeptically. “Surely—”
“Mr. Lewis, he can’t read.”
“He struggles over a few words.”
“The simplest words.”
“Then why did he pass second grade?”
“I can’t account for another teacher’s decision. All I can tell you is that the situation cannot continue without doing irreparable harm. Once a child has lost the chance to acquire solid reading skills, everything else becomes almost impossible. History, geography, science, even math. Kevin is bright, but he’s frustrated and angry. He takes it out on his classmates.”
The scenario had an all-too-familiar ring to it. “Boys like to fight,” he said defensively. “It’s perfectly normal.”
“He’s clobbered two girls in the last week,” she said bluntly.
Todd was genuinely shocked at that. He found he could no longer cling to the hope that this was all a tempest in a teapot. He’d scattered blame and defenses since the conversation began and Liz had countered every one of them. “I’ll see that he’s punished.”
“I’ve already seen to that. More punishment is not the answer.”
“What then?”
“Testing. Maybe special classes.”
Todd felt his stomach knot. “I will not have my son made out to be different.”
“But he is different,” she said with surprising gentleness. “Denying it won’t help him.”
“Dammit, he’s just a little boy,” he snapped, frustration and anger on Kevin’s behalf making his head pound. So much about this was familiar. Familiar and painful. He closed his eyes against Elizabeth Gentry’s patient, compassionate expression. He rubbed his temples, but the throbbing kept on.
He loved Kevin, just the way
he was. Why hadn’t Sarah? Why couldn’t Liz Gentry? He didn’t expect him to scale intellectual mountains. He just wanted him to grow into a man who could take pride in whatever skills he had. His unquestioning love and support should be enough. It was more than he’d ever had. He had no idea how to explain all of that to the woman who was waiting so quietly for him to reach the right decision. Whatever the hell that was.
He studied her, wondering what made her tick, why she fought so hard for one little boy when there were dozens more needing her attention. Far more about her puzzled him. When had a woman so full of feminine promise become so wary around men, so determined to keep the focus of her life on her classroom? Or did he have that wrong, as well? Perhaps he was the only man who seemed to throw her.
“Why are you so uptight around me?” he asked suddenly.
She paled and said staunchly, “I am not uptight.”
“Oh, really? Do you always destroy paper clips that way?”
“What way?” she said, staring at him blankly.
Liz recognized a desperate attempt at distraction when she saw one. Unfortunately, though, Todd Lewis was right. He was pointing toward her desk, smirking in satisfaction, mischief making his eyes sparkle. She glanced down. There was indeed a pile of twisted bits of metal in front of her. She sighed. Okay, so she was uptight. It didn’t mean anything. Admittedly, though, it was usually the parents who got nervous about these conferences.
She took a closer look at Todd Lewis. He did not seem nervous. In fact, he looked every bit as overwhelming and lazily self-confident as he had the previous afternoon on his own turf. He’d obviously gone home to change before the meeting. His jeans were pressed. His shirt was crisply starched and open at the throat to reveal a tantalizing swirl of dark brown hair. His hair was damp and recently combed. He smelled of soap and the faintest trace of after-shave. It all added up to raw masculine appeal. Not even the fact that he was sitting on a scaled-down chair meant for third-graders diminished him. If anything, it simply emphasized his powerful build.
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