“I don’t think we’re getting married.”
“That’s not what the rumors say,” he teased.
“You know that rumors are exaggerations, right?”
“It’s still fun to poke fun at you a little.”
Nick smiled. “Thanks. You seem to be really good at making my life easier here.”
“Only because you’re a brand new teacher. The rest of them get tired of me a lot.”
“That can’t be true. Professor Ewing seems really happy with you. He said I couldn’t take you.”
The TA laughed. “I’m going to get on my way. I’ve got some more studying to do.”
“Have fun.”
“Watch out for rumors.” The TA waved, and he was off.
Nick was left to his own thoughts. They were driving him crazy. There would be no focusing on the paperwork that he needed to do with his mind in a blur over the beautiful woman who had given him so much.
15
Breaking the Rules
Rosalinda looked at her phone as it rang. Almost no one called her office anymore, so it caught her by surprise in a world that seemed to survive on cell phones and email.
Gingerly, she picked up the ringing phone. “Professor Carlisle,” she answered.
“I was hoping that I would get you.” She knew that voice. It was the voice of the dean’s secretary, a kind woman who seemed to want to help everyone that she could, but didn’t take a lot of crap doing it. Rosalinda respected that about the woman, but the tone in her voice told her that there was trouble on the horizon.
Rosalinda gulped. “What’s up?”
“We were hoping that you could come up to the office and have a talk with the dean.”
“What’s this about?”
“It’s a rather personal matter that’s better discussed in privacy, with all involved parties.”
“Am I in trouble?” she joked, trying to get some more information.
“Not really. I’m sure this will all be cleared up quickly. Don’t worry about it,” the woman said, and it brought Rosalinda a small amount of comfort.
“When do you need me there?”
“Can you come by now?”
Rosalinda looked over her schedule. “Sure. I don’t have a class for a couple of hours.”
“You’ll be out in time. That’s certain.”
“Great. I’m on my way.” She reached for her purse and slung it over her shoulder. She could stop for coffee on the way back from the office, provided she still had a job.
“No. Stop thinking like that,” she told herself. “You aren’t going to get fired.” She headed out of her office, and scurried to the main offices. It was somewhat of a trek to get there, and she was winded from rushing over as she got into the office. On the way, she had ignored all of the beautiful scenery that the campus held. Her mind was too focused on whatever was coming her way.
She ignored the cottonwood trees that swayed in the desert wind. She ignored the squat buildings, carefully cultivated to be surrounded by desert friendly accessory plants. She ignored the students who smiled and waved at her as she passed. It was all unimportant.
She had never been called to a meeting like this before. Never like this. There had been other meetings, with important things to discuss, but never anyone who called and specifically asked for her to arrive outside of those times. It was terrifying.
The secretary looked up at her with a smile. “He’s waiting for you in his office,” she said.
“Thanks.” Rosalinda wanted to push for more information, but it wasn’t going to work, and it would just make it take a lot longer for her to find out. She walked into the office.
The first thing she saw was the fact that Nick was sitting there. The man looked pale. He must have gotten the same call.
The dean looked over at her. “Glad to see you, can you have a seat?”
“Sure.” Rosalinda was confused. “What’s this about?”
Nick nodded along. “Did we do something wrong?”
“Not really, I just wanted to check on something. I’m sure you’re both aware of the rumors spreading through campus about you two?”
Rosalinda glanced between the two men. “No? I just got in today.”
Nick frowned. “I have. I came in on Saturday, and a lot of people seemed to be talking about us.”
“I wanted to check if there was any truth to the rumors,” the dean said with a smile. “You aren’t in trouble. We just require personal relationships between coworkers to be declared so we can keep track of it.”
Rosalinda gulped. She didn’t know what to say about that. “Personal relationships?”
“Apparently, a student saw you two in a compromising position in your office, Rosalinda.”
“Oh,” she paused.
Nick spoke up. “We have a little bit of history. We knew each other before. It wasn’t what it was made out to be.”
“So, you’re not in a relationship?”
They both stopped and stared at each other. Neither seemed able to answer the question; it was just too confusing to handle at this point. After all, there was so much left to say. So many things that they both weren’t sure that they wanted or not. And so many complications.
But Rosalinda didn’t want to answer. She was afraid that the answer would end with a broken heart, because she didn’t know what Nick wanted. There was no way to know. She cursed herself for dodging the conversation every time he hinted at talking about it.
Nick drew in a shaky breath. “We aren’t officially in a relationship, no. But we’ve been discussing it. Do we need to declare that?”
“If you’re going to be working here, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Rosalinda nodded. “I’d like to sign the paper. If it doesn’t happen, we don’t actually lose anything, right?”
“It’s just so we know. For liability.”
“I don’t really get how it affects liability.”
“I don’t either, but it’s a policy that hasn’t hurt anything. Just a small amount of paperwork to track office romances in case it leads to any trouble,” the dean sighed, and shuffled the pile of paperwork on the desk in front of him. “If you just sign, I’ll approve it.”
“You need to approve it?” Rosalinda balked, staring at the paper. Everything felt so unreal as she pulled a pen out of her purse and started to look over the paper. Nick joined her, looking pale as he read over the rules. “What does all of this mean?”
“It’s a contract that says you won’t do anything that damages the school. That the school is not a place to partake in personal relationships.”
Rosalinda nodded.
“So, we don’t make out at school, right?” Nick confirmed, glancing over the form before signing it.
Rosalinda signed it in silence. She didn’t really get what was going on here, but it seemed important to sign these papers, which also seemed to make Nick’s intentions very clear. And a very deep part of her actually liked that idea.
It was probably more than a little part, she admitted to herself as her eyes brushed over to Nick. He was looking at her carefully. “Do you mind it?” he asked quietly.
“Mind what?”
“That we’re on paper as dating?”
She gulped. “I really don’t know.”
“I hope you don’t mind too much. I’d like to have a chance to see where this goes.”
“I thought you were just-“ she froze. She didn’t want to say more.
“It’s not just that,” Nick said, and shook his head. “I missed you. And I want to know if this has a possibility of going anywhere.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m sure about it,” Nick nodded.
“Maybe we should go and get some coffee and talk about it,” Rosalinda suggested. They had a lot to share with each other; a lot that needed to be discussed.
“I’ve got a couple of hours until my class,” Nick said.
“I’ve got about an hour and a half until mine.�
�
“Just enough time to get a drink,” Nick nodded.
The dean looked up with a smile. “You two kids have fun. I’m going to file this.”
“Thank you, sir.” Rosalinda nodded, but her eyes didn’t leave Nick.
“Try not to get caught kissing in your office by a student, this time?”
“We’ll try,” Nick promised him as he held the door open. “Thank you for understanding.”
“You aren’t the first ones that have been through this,” the dean assured them as they walked away. “It’s going to be just fine.”
It was small comfort to Rosalinda, but her mind was more focused on the fact that they were going for coffee. An official moment with Nick, that now held official sanction.
They could have something amazing, if she was willing to let go of all the worries that still plagued her. She let Nick walk her to the coffee shop between the dean’s office and the buildings they worked in. It was the same as the one in the nursing building that she frequented. Coffee orders were soon placed, and they were laughing together as they both ordered the same thing: a caramel macchiato. “What are the odds?” Nick laughed.
“It’s a pretty popular drink,” Rosalinda said with a grin. She was starting to feel a lot more comfortable.
“Is it?”
“Yeah. I mean, it wouldn’t be on the menu if it wasn’t something that people order. There have to be numbers backing it up.”
“I guess you’re right. It’s still nice to know we have something in common, at least.” Nick led the way to a table. He had paid for the drinks and gotten something small for them to eat while they talked.
“We’re supposed to be talking about something important,” Rosalinda said as she noted the time. They didn’t have much of it.
“I was hoping to be able to take you out sometime.”
“With Dominick?”
“With him too, but I was hoping to get some time alone with you.” He got up when their order was called out.
Rosalinda waited and thought about what Nick had said. When he got back to the table, she looked up at him. “I never really thought about dating.”
“Not ever?”
“Maybe when I was younger. I just kind of assumed that I was always gonna be alone.”
“Why?”
She paused. “I don’t really know. I guess I never really wanted to date.”
“Is it my fault?”
“Not really. It’s just kind of weird. I never really wanted to,” she answered. “There was no one who I was interested in, really.”
“What about now?” Nick looked hopeful.
“I guess I am.”
“I want to go out with you and Dominick, but I was hoping that you would let me take just you out sometime, too,” he explained carefully. “The truth is that I’ve been thinking about you for a while.”
She blushed. “Why?”
“I don’t really know, but I’d like to see if it means anything.”
“I don’t even know how I would tell if it means anything,” Rosalinda sighed heavily. “It’s so hard to understand.”
“It’s got to be hard to understand,” Nick nodded. “I still don’t get what came over me in your office, either.”
“We were both kinda guilty of that, I guess. It’s such a weird thing. I can’t explain it at all.” She shook her head. “We should have known better.”
“Maybe we could have avoided being called to the principal’s office.”
“That’s pretty much what happened, isn’t it?” she laughed. “I can’t believe that happened.”
“It’s because we were caught kissing by a student.”
“I still can’t believe it,” she shook her head. “I never do that kind of thing. It’s so crazy.”
“It’s not that crazy. We still like each other.”
“I guess it’s kind of how it happened last time. A surprise.”
“It was a surprise,” Nick grinned. “A welcome surprise. I’m really happy that the surprise happened.”
“Even the surprise that came from it?” Rosalinda looked down at her hands, wrapped around her coffee cup.
“Yes, even that one.” Nick sounded so honest and urgent that she absolutely believed him, and it took her breath away. She didn’t respond. She couldn’t make herself find the words.
“So, would you like to go out sometime?” Nick asked eventually.
Rosalinda thought about it, glancing up to see the hopeful look on his face. “Sure. Sounds good,” she finally agreed.
“Don’t do it because you think you have to,” he frowned.
“It’s not that. I just don’t know what to say about it. I don’t know how to respond.”
“Oh, I see.” He still didn’t quite look like he believed it, and that seemed to bother him. But Rosalinda didn’t know how to make it better.
“When do you want to meet?” she asked. And with that, they set a tentative date, depending on whether she could get a babysitter, and agreed to meet up to have a nice night on the town. Nick was going to make all the plans, so it was up to Rosalinda to try to guess what she was going to do with him.
16
One Hot Momma
Nick was nervous as he drove up to Rosalinda’s house. There were so many things that could go wrong with the plans tonight. He had decided to start simple, but he didn’t know what she was expecting.
He hoped it wasn’t too much. He had told her to be comfortable, and to bring Dominick. He’d decided it was probably a better way to ease her into a first date with him. It was the best thing that he could do to help her. And he knew that he wanted her to give him a chance.
The pair came out almost as soon as he pulled up. Dominick was jumping up and down, but what caught his eye was the young woman. Rosalinda had her hair drawn up into a ponytail.
She was wearing a simple t-shirt, jean shorts, and sandals, but they seemed to hug the curves of her body in ways that made his breath seize up in his chest. There was so much perfection in her, and he wanted to take in more and more of it.
He sighed as she climbed in. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing’s wrong. You just look amazing.”
She smiled at that. “Thanks.”
Dominick hauled his own booster seat to the back seat of the car. “What?”
“I was just telling your mom how nice she looks.” Nick turned back to him.
“Do you think she’s pretty?”
“She’s very pretty,” he grinned.
Rosalinda blushed and looked down at her lap. “Get buckled up, now.”
“Mom!” The little man shouted. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t know. Nick made the plans.”
“What plans did you make?” Dominick turned back to his unknown father. “I wanna know.”
“I was thinking we would go out to a nice dinner,” Nick suggested.
“Is it fancy?” Dominick bounced up and down in his booster seat.
“Probably not. Someplace decent. What kind of place do you like?”
“I like the Chinese place,” Dominick said eagerly.
Rosalinda grinned. “He’ll always go with Chinese if you give him the choice. You can’t run through a drive through with this guy.”
“Sounds like a kid after my own heart. Which one is your favorite?”
Rosalinda spoke up. “He likes the place near campus. There’s a small buffet there that he likes to go to.”
“I haven’t been there in years.”
“It’s gotten better,” Rosalinda grinned.
“I can’t believe that. The place was amazing for years.”
“That’s why it’s still open. I promise, it’s just as good,” she said awkwardly. She was just trying not to show to the world how much was on her mind.
“Are we gonna eat out again?” Dominick sounded amazed. “For dinner?”
“We usually don’t do this more than once a week.” Rosalinda grinned. “He’s not used t
o it.”
“Yeah! It’s really cool,” her son agreed. “I like it.”
Rosalinda smiled. “We try not to go crazy with the spending, don’t we?”
“Mom says we need to save money so I can go to any college that I want.”
“That’s because you have a super smart mom,” Nick said.
“She’s the smartest mom in the world.” Dominick looked so sure of himself.
“I think she is, too.”
Rosalinda blushed again, looking down at her lap as she buckled in.
“I think we’re embarrassing your mother,” Nick said, as he looked back on the back seat.
“You really think so?”
“Yeah.” Nick grinned. “It’s great.”
“It’s not nice to embarrass people.” Rosalinda admonished, but Nick could see the slightest smirk behind it.
“Sorry, Mom.”
“It’s fine, baby.” She smiled over her shoulder. “You guys were just having fun.”
“It’s a lot of fun. I’m excited,” the boy said, bouncing in his seat.
Nick laughed. “You two are great together.”
“You really think I’m great?” Dominick looked excited.
“Yeah. You’re really great.” Nick smiled as he drove carefully down the road. He could feel the stress of driving with a kid in the car, and it was a little worrying. He definitely didn’t want anything to happen with Dominick in the car.
It wasn’t that he had never driven a car with a kid in it before, but this was one of those moments that made him panic a little in his chest. He forced himself to ignore it. He couldn’t let himself think that way, not right then. He knew that this was something that most people had to get over, that first time driving with something so precious and dependent on you in the vehicle. Because of it, he kind of tuned out the rest of the conversation as he drove to the place where they were going to have dinner. It was a modest affair that welcomed children, and he loved that idea. It would be a nice dinner of Chinese food that they could all share together.
The owners greeted Dominick warmly, and they were seated quickly. Rosalinda followed him up to the buffet while Nick was still watching. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face as he watched Rosalinda help her son with his plate, a plate of her own balanced in the crook of her elbow. “You still remember your days as a server?”
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