Love Letter Collection (A Timeless Romance Anthology Book 6)

by Karey White

  Within seconds, Dane answered, and his brows rose. He looked so handsome standing there, his light-brown hair slightly rumpled as if he’d been lying down, his body fit and looking good in casual clothes, his expression so happy her stomach tightened in reaction. She felt a strong tug of attraction, but, clenching her fingers together, tried to ignore any and all sensations. When would these feelings for him shut off? When would they fade away? When could she get on with an emotional life that didn’t include this man standing before her?

  Julie suddenly had a really bad feeling about this— sort of like the feeling she’d had when she’d sent one of her students to give Dane the heartfelt love letter at the end of the school year last summer. Too late now. At this point, she had to say something. “Principal Parker, I really need to talk to you.”

  “Julie, please call me Dane.” He stepped back to allow her more room. “Do you want to come in?”

  She hesitated, but not wanting him to think she was afraid of him, went inside to see a tastefully decorated living room with masculine plush furniture, all done in beige.

  It was so completely different from the colorful splashes she had in her own place, which reminded her that she’d never been here before, which made what she’d done six months earlier seem even crazier. Her cheeks heated.

  “I’m here to try to talk you into agreeing to cut your hair for the fundraiser.” When he opened his mouth to say something, she held up a hand. “You’ve already gotten everything else your own way. You’ll be happy to know we’re not writing the— love letters.” She swallowed, almost choking on the last two words. She couldn’t help it. She still cringed every time she thought about the way her letter had exposed her feelings to a man who wasn’t the slightest bit interested in her.

  “I’m just trying to find a way to motivate the kids,” she went on. “They’re very disappointed that you won’t go along with this. I don’t understand what the problem is. You’re a guy, and it’s just hair, and it’ll grow back fast. Lots of guys are bald, anyway.”

  “Do you want to sit down?

  She didn’t, but if he was going to be hospitable, maybe that boded well for the negotiation. At least he wasn’t kicking her out.

  An off-white cat with brilliant blue eyes strolled into the room, jumped up on the beige couch, and curled up on one side. It matched the furniture almost exactly. But it answered that question. Julie had often wondered what had happened to the kitten he’d tried to give her.

  She sank onto the loveseat, leaned back, and crossed her arms and legs.

  He sat in the armchair across from her and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Julie, if I really thought this was about a fundraiser and motivating the kids, I might be tempted to say yes. But I suspect this is more about what happened between us six months ago. I’ve already apologized, but I’d like to say again that I’m sorry.”

  Julie swiped a hand in the air. “This is nothing to do with that. This is about the students, and what they want.”

  He let out a breath and leaned back into the couch. “I’m not convinced, so the answer is still no.”

  Julie jumped up, paced to the window, and looked out. “How do I convince you that one thing has nothing to do with the other?”

  He sighed. “Sorry, I’m not buying it.”

  She turned to look at him. “What do I need to do to convince you?”

  “If you truly have no hard feelings, how about dinner on Saturday night?”

  Fear spiked down her spine. She headed for the door. “We have nothing else to talk about.”

  He stood. “Julie, please, sit down. We’ve needed to talk for a long time now, and I, for one, am glad you’re here.”

  Julie stopped and looked at the sleeping cat. “I want my cat back.”

  Dane followed her gaze and shook his head. “No way. You didn’t want the cat. You gave it back to me, and now it’s mine.”

  “Then I want my letter back.” At that statement, she could feel a rush of heat to her face. But while she was here, while she was in the same vicinity as the letter, she might as well try to retrieve it. The thought of him over here reading it, rereading it, showing it to friends and family, laughing, had eaten at her for the last six months. “It’s mine.”

  “What’s really going on here?” he asked.

  “What’s going on is that I want my letter back.”

  “I don’t have any letter that belongs to you.”

  “How can you say that? I can’t stand knowing that you have it, and I want it back.”

  “It’s mine.”

  “Then give me the cat.”

  “The cat’s mine too.” He sighed. “Look. Please sit down. I’m glad we’re having this chance to talk.”

  “I bet you are.” She could not believe she’d asked him for the letter. All these months, she hadn’t said a word about it, and neither had he. Now it was out in the open, the elephant in the room, and her bringing it up only highlighted how much it meant to her. Maybe even how much his rejection had hurt. Certainly, how much it had embarrassed her. Why had she said anything?

  Again, she headed toward the door.

  “Hold on. Where are you going?”

  But she didn’t stop. She wrenched the door open, hurried down the walk, and out to her car, which was parked against the curb. She didn’t realize he’d followed her until she unlocked the door. She got inside and, with a press of a button, locked all the doors.

  His expression impatient, Dane tapped on the glass. “Julie.” His voice was muffled.

  Her hands gripped the steering wheel. Why did she have to keep messing up with this guy? What was it about him that made her turn into an idiot every time she was around him? She started up the car and pulled away. Maybe it was time to find a new job.

  Chapter Six

  “Wait up!”

  Julie turned around to see Kayla Stone hurrying after her, curly red hair teased high, moving this way and that as she dodged kids in the hallway, then closed in on Julie.

  “Hey,” Julie said. “How’s it going?”

  Kayla grinned. “Oh, you know, it’s great, if you don’t mind drool on all the desks. We’re watching movies today in video productions, and at least half the kids fall asleep every period, dripping puddles onto their desks. It’s disgusting. We have to clean up with Windex and paper towels before the bell rings. Yuck and double yuck.”

  Julie laughed and started walking again. “We’re still studying love letters in honors English, and so far, no one is falling asleep.”

  “Ooh.” Kayla’s eyebrows waggled. “Anything risqué?”

  “Oh, sure. I found plenty of naughty letters.” Julie winked at her friend. “But those aren’t the ones we read in class.”

  “Too bad. Set them aside for me. Anything new with you?”

  Julie looked around at the students crowding the hallway, and when she didn’t see Dane, turned back to Kayla. “I went by Principal Parker’s house yesterday,” she said, her tone low.

  Kayla’s mouth fell open as she moved around a crowd of girls, then came close once more. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. What happened? Tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out.”

  Julie laughed but looked around again. “I asked him for my letter back.”

  Kayla’s eyes went wide. Her mouth gaped. “No. You did not do that. You just did not! What did he say?”

  Julie shrugged. “He said no. He says that to me a lot lately.”

  Kayla grabbed hold of her shoulder, stopped her, and forced her to turn around. A kid jostled them, but Kayla maintained eye contact. “Are you telling me you went to his house, asked him for the letter—”

  “And for the cat.”

  Kayla’s eyebrows pulled together. “The one he tried to give you? And he said no?”

  Julie nodded once. “That’s what I’m saying.”

  Kayla let go of Julie’s shoulder and twirled in a circle, earning her a few looks from the kids trying to get to class. She stopped,
a wide grin on her face. “I can’t believe this, Jules. This is unbelievable. You go to his house, you humiliate yourself, and he says no?”

  Julie shot her friend a glance. “I didn’t exactly humiliate myself.”

  “Close enough. And he wouldn’t even give you the cat? You know what this means, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I don’t have a letter or a cat.”

  “No. It means he likes you.”

  Julie made a scoffing sound. “Six months ago, he made it pretty clear how he feels about me.”

  “I don’t know. What if we got it all wrong? He did try to give you an expensive cat.”

  “We didn’t get it wrong. I didn’t.” Julie shook her head and started walking down the hall again. Kayla quickly followed.

  “Ms. Ashburn,” a breathless voice said behind her. “It’s working.”

  Julie and Kayla stopped and turned to see Angela Hart a few feet away and closing fast. She held up a five-dollar bill.

  “What’s working?” Julie asked.

  “We’re selling candy bars for a dollar apiece. But if someone wants us to add a love letter, we charge another four dollars. And people are paying it!”

  “Wait. You’re selling love letters?”

  Kayla laughed and clapped her hands.

  Julie shot Kayla a narrow eyed glare. “You’re not helping.” She turned back to Angela. “I thought I’d made it clear that Principal Parker nixed the idea of writing love letters. He said we couldn’t do it.”

  Angela’s chin rose. “All the money is going into the fundraiser, so what does it matter?” She took off running.

  “Angela, wait!”

  The young girl was quickly lost in the lunch crowd.

  Julie turned to Kayla. “What am I going to do about this? Dane is going to kill me.”

  Kayla arched a brow. “Dane now, is it?”

  Julie blushed. “Principal Parker.”

  “I say just go with it. You told the kids not to do it. If they’re selling love letters under the table, it has nothing to do with you.”

  “He’ll never believe that. I wish I didn’t know about it.”

  “So pretend you don’t. Just tell the kids that if they’re doing it, to keep it to themselves. Wink, wink.”

  Julie shook her head. Somehow, this would come back to bite her on the backside.

  Chapter Seven

  The next day, Julie stood in front of her honors class, brows raised. “Does anyone want to explain what’s going on with the love letters? I thought we agreed not to write and sell them.”

  “We don’t know anything about that, Miss Ashburn,” the suddenly talkative Jae said from the front row. His lips tilted in a barely there smile.

  “Uh huh.” She looked out at the classroom. “Just so you know, I can’t condone going behind Principal Parker’s back. So no more love letters, please.”

  “Yes, Ms. Ashburn,” the class said as a whole.

  She pursed her lips. “All right. So long as we understand each other. Open your books to page 64. Jae, start reading the second paragraph aloud, please.”

  With her book open, Julie read along as she walked back and forth at the front of the classroom, throwing out an occasional comment. When Jae finished, she gave out a writing assignment that would take up the rest of class time.

  As the kids started it, Julie sat at her desk and noticed an envelope lying off to the side. She picked it up, pulled out two folded pieces of paper, and started to read.

  A few paragraphs in, her eyes narrowed, and she glanced up at the class. No one was looking at her. No one paid her any attention at all as they wrote their assignments.

  She flipped to the second page and glanced at the signature. Dane Parker? Her breath caught as her heart started to pound. The signature was bold, like the man himself. She flipped the page over and started to read again.

  I’m sorry for the conflict between us. I can’t get you out of my mind. I hope you can forgive me for being such a hard case. My attraction to you makes me nervous, and I’m not myself around you. Your eyes are like starlight; your face, your voice, the very thought of you keeps me awake at night. I’ve dreamed of sliding my fingers into your thick blonde hair, of holding you close, and…

  Breathless, she flipped the page.

  to prove myself, if your students earn $5,000, I’ll shave my head.

  Love, forever and eternally,

  Dane Parker

  Julie quickly glanced up at her students, certain she’d catch some of them watching her, but no one paid her the slightest bit of attention as, heads bent, they worked on their assignments.

  She read the signature again, read the entire letter again. When the bell rang, the students stood, gathered their things, and hurried toward the door. Not one of them acted out of the ordinary.

  “Are you coming to the assembly, Miss Ashburn?” Hannah, the last one out, asked at the door.

  “Oh. Yes. I’m coming right now.” Julie placed the letter in her purse, slung it over her shoulder, and headed down the crowded hall to the assembly.

  As it was her job to introduce the fundraiser at the assembly, she headed to the front row, where Dane and several teachers sat. Normally she would have taken the empty chair on the end, as far from Dane as possible. Today, she took the seat beside him and smiled shyly.

  He shot her a questioning glance, then smiled back. She looked down, pleased and embarrassed at the same time.

  Announcements were made, and the juniors put on a couple of skits, and then it was her turn to talk about the fundraiser.

  She removed the second page of the letter, stuffed the envelope back in her purse, and slowly walked up the stairs to the podium. She glanced at Dane and smiled again before starting. “As everyone knows, we are doing the candy bar fundraiser again this year.”

  Groans rippled through the audience, followed by a couple of loud boos. She chuckled; nothing could break her good mood.

  “We usually have a goal of earning $3,000, but this year the plan is to go higher. And to help motivate us to reach our goal, Principal Parker has agreed that if we raise $5,000, he will shave his head.” She held up the letter as proof.

  The kids erupted into cheers. She looked down to the front row to smile at Dane, but he shot her an incredulous, angry look, surprising her.

  Shaken, she lifted her chin and looked over the audience. “Let’s give it our best shot!”

  As everyone cheered, she returned to her seat, passing Dane as he headed toward the stairs. He snatched the letter out of her hand as he walked past her and climbed the stairs. He quickly scanned the page, then, setting the letter down and gripping the wood of the podium, he sighed loudly and began to speak.

  “Well, it looks like I’m good and caught. On the positive side, we’ve never made more than $3,000 on this fundraiser. While I was hoping to make more this year, I’m now hoping we don’t earn more than $4,999. So don’t feel like you need to sell too many candy bars.”

  As the kids laughed and yelled encouragement to each other, Julie sat stunned. She fingered the necklace at her throat, crossed her legs, and bounced her foot. What had just happened? She glanced over her shoulder and saw two of her students, Angela Hart, and Jae Boswell, looking very pleased with themselves as they whispered to each other. Jae spotted her and froze.

  She sank back into her seat. They had written this letter. Her chin trembled as humiliation washed over her. They’d used her to trap Dane and force his hand. How could they have guessed that such a letter would lure her into action rather than embarrass her? Had Dane told someone at the school about the letter she’d written? She didn’t think he’d do something like that but…

  She pressed her hands to her hot face and, as she thought about how gooey she’d gone inside at the slightest bit of attention from him, shame enveloped her. She was so pathetic. She was so glad he didn’t have the first page in his possession, only the second.

  As soon as the assembly ended, she jumped up and hurried away
.

  “Julie. Wait up.” From Dane’s tone, she could tell that wasn’t a request, but a command. She stopped and slowly turned.

  He walked over and held up the letter. “What do you think you’re playing at? I never wrote this.”

  “Yeah, I kind of just realized that. It was on my desk this afternoon. ”

  “You thought I’d written it?”

  Lips compressed, she nodded once. “Your signature was on it.” Again, she was so glad she had the first page, with all its talk of love and sensuality, in her purse.

  “Was there more to the letter? This looks incomplete, and it’s signed ‘Love, Forever and Eternally.’”

  Her cheeks were on fire. “I threw the first part away.”

  His head lowered and his lips pressed flat as he studied her face and she could tell he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t press the issue, for which she was grateful.

  “I’m really sorry about this, Principal Parker. Maybe we won’t earn the money, and you won’t have to go through with it.”

  “We can only hope.”

  She nodded. “I really am sorry.” She looked around for Jae and Angela, but they were long gone. She rubbed her forehead. “Look, I have to ask. Did you show anyone the letter I wrote you? Someone here at the school?”

  “No. I haven’t shown it to anyone.”

  She couldn’t even look at him. “I’m just wondering how the kids thought to send me this letter today.”

  “I have no idea, but not from anyone seeing your letter, I can guarantee you that.”

  She nodded once. “Okay.”

  “So you know who wrote it?”

  “I have my suspicions. I think some of my honors students need to spend a little time in detention after school.”

  He sighed. “Look, it’s okay. If they make the money, it’s not a big deal. I’ll do it.”

  “Thanks,” she said weakly. She just wanted to disappear. “That’s great. I’ll let the kids know.” She snatched the fake letter out of his hand and walked away.