But as I followed Cal, it became clear we were headed toward the back of the club where the music wasn’t quite as loud and the lighting not quite as bright. WTF? Were he and his wife going to jump me and steal my purse? Didn’t they know how little teachers made? Before I could protest or offer up any questions, Cal stopped and turned abruptly, causing me to barrel into his firm chest. I sprang back like I’d been electrified. No touching the married man! Look, Mamá! No hands!
“Sorry,” he offered, putting a steadying hand to my elbow.
I smoothed down the skirt of my dress, suddenly regretting my choice in club-wear. The muumuu would have been a much wiser choice in retrospect.
“It was too loud out there. I wanted to talk to you.” Cal leaned down, shortening the distance between his head and mine, which, sadly, topped out at around five-foot-three, even with the heels.
With no thought to how rude it might sound, I blurted, “About what?”
Standing upright again, Cal put a hand to the back of his neck and, if I wasn’t mistaken, a hint of pink touched his cheeks. “Oh. Um. Well.” He tilted his head and a short chuckle burst from his mouth. “I guess, first, I wanted to thank you for smoothing things out with Phoebe the other morning. I’m not so great at those things.”
My eyes widened. He was being polite, not weird. “Oh. You’re very welcome. But you do know it’s my job, right?” I felt bad that I’d made him so uncomfortable, so I smiled to lighten things. It worked.
He laughed. “I suppose, but you still deserve a thank you. Phoebe’s an only child so Lisa was worried.” His head shook once. “I don’t really know how you do it.”
Figuring he was talking about my magical teacher skills, I wiggled my fingers in the air. “It’s all about distraction.”
“Ah. I’ll have to work on that.”
I smiled, not sure what else to say at this point. My eyes did another scan, still hoping Lisa Evans might pop in out of nowhere. This was so odd. Was he here alone? The deejay announced a new dance mix and the crowd erupted into cheers, drowning out most of what Cal said next. I strained to hear and shook my head, conveying I didn’t catch his words.
He leaned in closer, and I heard the words, “…think you’re beautiful.”
My head snapped back. Hold up there. Did he just say he thought I was beautiful? What a nerve this guy had on him! My blood began a slow boil, but I managed to keep my head about me. A confrontation would only make things more uncomfortable as the school year went on. It would be best just to pretend this never happened or avoid this guy altogether. An arm came around my shoulders, startling the crap out of me. I actually let out a yelp before the sound of Wendy’s laughter registered.
“Yo! We’re heading out. We need to save Didi from herself!”
I didn’t miss the sideways glances Wendy delivered Cal’s way, but I was grateful for the excuse to not have to look at him again. I pulled Wendy back to the dance floor and hopefully a quick exit. Anything to put distance between Cal Evans and me.
“I think there’s a rule about police recruits having priors, Sam.” My head shook for the tenth time at my brother. Why I couldn’t keep my mouth shut around him was beyond me.
I climbed out of his car at the recreation league park and settled my sunglasses in place. The sound of Sam’s growl followed me. My big brother took his family position seriously. Which was why I should never have told him about the married douchebag hitting on me at the club. I mean, it was one thing to have a little fun in your head, but another thing entirely to act on it.
“If it means I get to punch this asshole in the throat, I’ll pass on the police academy and find another profession.” Sam hoisted himself out of his seat and grabbed his gear bag from the back.
“Oh, for the love…” I leaned my hip into the hood and crossed my arms. “I’m going to stop telling you anything if you can’t act like a normal person about it. I’ve got this handled, Sam.”
His dark eyes drilled into me. “Not the same way I’d handle it.” Somehow, my brother had tapped into a hidden resource in our family tree affording him more height and breadth than the rest of us had managed, so I had no doubt in his ability to physically intimidate even someone of Cal Evans’ size.
I pointed at him. “Exactly. Which is why I’m not incarcerated, thank you very much.” I turned and sauntered toward the field, leaving Sam to stew in my wake. It was time for football.
A few of his team members from the previous year milled about in various states of dress, stretching and whatnot. Ah, sports are wonderful, aren’t they? The opposing team’s players did much the same across the field. One guy, in particular, treated the open-air field as his own personal locker room, stripping down to his boxer briefs as he adjusted his uniform. I was beginning to feel like I should at least pay someone an entry fee—or keep some singles handy.
I took a seat on the bleachers and my eyes scanned a few other players before falling on the back of a tall guy with dark blond hair and a muscular frame. He, at least, wore pants, but his broad back was on display for my enjoyment. I darted glances to either side of me, finding a couple other women enjoying the same show. We nodded in acknowledgment, each knowing exactly where the others’ minds were. A bunch of dirty girls, we were. But, “go team” and all that.
Another peek across the field and the tall guy turned, affording us a glimpse of the front side. I nearly fell off the bleachers. It was Cal freaking Evans! And I’d been checking him out! I had a sudden urge to cover these women’s eyes while shouting, “Look away from the cheating scoundrel!” Instead, I picked my ass up off the seat and, without any forethought, stalked over to Sam.
“Well, you are never going to believe this! That guy is like a bad penny!”
Sam turned to me, brows knitted. “What guy?” I swear, his attention span was a thing of concern.
“My student’s dad—the married guy!” I whisper-yelled.
As if my words were helium, my brother’s chest immediately expanded, and his face turned to stone, his dark brows snapping together. “Which one?” His jaw threatened to snap in two. What in the hell had I been thinking?! I was about to be responsible for my brother getting kicked out of the police academy before he even got started!
My feet retreated a step. “Never mind.” I went for casual and fell very, very short.
“Sofia,” he growled.
After a dramatic huff, I stepped closer again. “Fine, but you have to promise not to beat him up.” My finger pointed in my brother’s face. “You can tackle him extra hard, but nothing he won’t walk away from, you hear me?”
“I can’t make any promises. Which one?”
My eyes searched the sky above us. Now would be a great time for a random bolt of lightning or, at the very least, a hail storm. Nope. Nothing. “He’s the really tall one. You can’t exactly miss him.”
Sam’s eyes shot to the opposing sideline. But instead of him transforming into a large, snarling, green man with amazingly stretchy clothing, Sam laughed.
Uh, what the fuck?
“The tall guy,” I repeated since Sam either hadn’t heard me or was experiencing a psychotic break.
His head tilted my way. “Yeah. I see him. Cal.”
My jaw dropped. “You know him?!”
“Kind of, yeah.”
“Sooooo… that gets him a free pass?” I couldn’t decide how I felt about that. I mean, he kind of deserved to get his face pushed in the dirt a little.
“No way.” Sam’s lips formed an evil grin.
My hands went up and I looked around, hoping an explanation might drop into my palms. “Huh?”
Sam gestured toward Cal with his chin. “Cal’s divorced.”
I absolutely deflated at that. Cal Evans, hot dad, helpful guy, flattering dance-club dude, was not, in fact, married. How had this never occurred to me? Wow. And I’d rudely turned my back and walked away from him at the club right after he said I was beautiful. What a bitch! I was guessing the other part of th
e conversation I’d missed had clarified the whole divorced thing. Ugh.
My eyes found Sam, and he still wore the evil grin. I narrowed my eyes at him as he donned his helmet and a whistle blew somewhere out on the field.
“But that doesn’t mean he’s allowed to hit on my sister.”
And Sam was gone, leaving me with yet another apology to prepare for Mr. Evans.
Chapter 3
With my healthy plate of crow waiting for me, I watched the game, wincing only slightly as Sam made no attempt to hide his intentions to lay Cal out at every possible opportunity. Personally, I thought the whole fingers pointing first to his eyes and then to Cal’s was overkill, but I don’t speak lug-head.
However, Cal returned every bit of Sam’s aggression, and both men were sweaty, dirty, panting messes by the end of the game. I doubted either one even knew whose team won. It was Cal’s, by the way. With one last sneer in Cal’s direction, Sam came wandering over to the bleachers. His face transformed with a shit-eating grin when he reached me. “That should do it.”
I gasped and smacked him on the arm as hard as I could without hurting my hand. “Asshole.” I swept past him and stalked across the field, apologies at the ready. Cal was wiping his face with a towel, making all sorts of man noises. Ones that I, personally, found kind of hot now that I knew he was single. Yeah, yeah, I know.
“Um, Cal?” He whipped the towel from his head at the sound of my voice, surprise lighting his features. That answered my first question—he’d obviously not noticed me sitting on the bleachers.
“Sofia! What are you doing here?” He didn’t look displeased to see me, but his expression was hard to read apart from the surprise.
I tried not to cringe as I hooked a thumb behind me. “My, um, brother plays for the other team.”
Cal’s eyes shot to the opposite sideline and after a pause, he threw his head back and let out the sexiest laugh known to woman. His long throat vibrated with it as his sweat-drenched hair fell back and the laugh bellowed from gut-deep. This was not the reaction I would have had in his position, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. In fact, I slid my sunglasses to the top of my head so I didn’t miss anything. My thighs tingled at the sound and I shifted in my flip-flops. Cal brought his eyes back to me, still chuckling, and my muscles down below clenched in unison at the wondrous things amusement did to his eyes and mouth. The man had dimples, for Christ’s sake!
I bit my lip and Cal’s eyes homed right in on the motion, his eyes changing again. Oh, wow. I released it immediately. “I was going to apologize for Sam’s behavior, but I’m not so sure I need to anymore?” I had a sudden urge to fan myself.
Cal’s eyes left my mouth and he resumed toweling his hair. “Ha! Yeah, it all makes sense now. It’s not every day an acquaintance tries to concuss you.”
My hand covered my eyes. “He was totally out of hand.”
“No. I get it. I have a sister too.” His hand dragged the towel behind his neck and he gripped both ends at his chest, causing my eyes to travel to his tanned forearms. “My brother and I have been known to do similar things to some of the guys who dare to come around her.”
I wasn’t about to mention my other two brothers right then. Another cringe. “About that too. I feel like I might owe you an apology for the club last night. It was rude of me to just leave like that.” It took tremendous self-control not to check out the rest of his body like I wanted to.
His head shook once. “It was so loud in there, I wasn’t sure what had happened, to be honest.”
“I know!” Relief coursed through me. “I could hardly hear a word you were saying. But my brother cleared it up for me. At least he’s good for something.” I shrugged.
Cal smiled again. “Oh, good. I guess. I mean, he’s not going to be waiting in the bushes outside my house, is he? I haven’t even asked you out yet.”
“Oh.” It was out before I could stop it.
“Sorry. I thought you knew where I’d been going with this.” He stepped a little closer and I shifted again, feeling his presence from the top of my ponytail to the tips of my painted toes.
“I did! I mean, I do. It’s just a little complicated, don’t you think?” My heart rate picked up.
“How so?”
“I mean with Phoebe and all.”
Cal tilted his head with one side of his mouth tipping up. “I don’t think you being Phoebe’s teacher has much to do with me taking you to dinner on Tuesday.” His smile grew. He knew exactly what he was doing, using his dimples and his brazen assumptions. Gah!
“Ha! Very sneaky.” I went for cool and probably missed by a mile. I was beyond hot and bothered and had moved along to fiery and flustered.
“So, what do you say. One dinner? We might find out we despise each other, so there’s always that.” His lips quirked again. God, he had a sexy mouth.
I laughed, completely charmed. “Okay, fine. Dinner on Tuesday.”
We exchanged numbers, although I probably had his already in the parent records in my computer. My goodbye wave was a bit shy, which was unusual for me, but this guy’s sex appeal came at me with both barrels. Consider all my buttons pushed! Tuesday couldn’t get here fast enough.
If I paid a little extra attention to Phoebe on Monday and Tuesday, it was only because the child was clearly brilliant and deserved it. No matter that the lesson plans mostly involved colors and addition up to the number two. It also didn’t hurt that during sharing time, she talked about how her daddy was her favorite person in the world because he made her pancakes with ears. How cute is that?
Okay, I was out of hand, but my nerves were getting the better of me. Not a word of my upcoming date had escaped my lips, especially after Sam’s behavior at the game. But I was also afraid I’d somehow jinx it if I talked to anyone about it. Not that my girls wouldn’t love rubbing my face in the abrupt reversal of my dating policy. Wendy, in particular, would have a field day, since she’d been the only one to lay eyes on Cal so far.
Since Cal suggested Keyfire Pub, I didn’t need to dress all fancy, but I still wanted to look hot. The first six outfits didn’t make the cut, but my dark-wash skinny jeans paired with a shimmery silk tank and strappy platform heels finally hit the mark. I styled my hair to within an inch of its life, all in an attempt to make the dark, glossy waves look effortlessly natural, of course. And I used a heavier hand with my makeup than I would on an everyday basis. First graders don’t get the sexy look. By the time I was done, my foot was tapping in nervous anticipation and I was checking my phone every thirty seconds thinking he might cancel at the last minute.
The knock on my door startled the shit out of me, even though I knew it was coming. I told myself to get my act together, then took a deep breath and walked slowly to the door.
I’m pretty sure a sigh escaped when I swung the door open and caught sight of Cal in his light grey button-down with its sleeves rolled up to reveal the tanned skin of his arms. Then it changed to laughter when he pulled his hand out from behind his back and revealed a bag full of shiny apples. “I’ve been told Honeycrisp are the best, so I went for it.”
My smile grew. “Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you, Cal.” He followed my gesture to come in. “You can set them on the counter if you like.”
He did just that and turned back to me, taking me in from head to toe while I did the same to him. Check, check, and check. “You look beautiful as ever, Sofia.” He grinned and nodded, giving me the melty eyes and causing me to fight a losing battle against a threatening blush.
“Right back at you.” Before things could get too awkward, I snatched my purse up from the entry table. “Shall we?”
Cal put a hand at the small of my back as we walked out the door. His touch was warm and firm, making me want to lean back into it, but that would likely end with us falling backward in my entryway. It struck me that Sam would approve of Cal’s good manners as he opened my doors and insisted I go first. I was relieved when conversation flowed naturally in th
e car.
“So, Cal, I hardly know a thing about you.”
He shrugged as he pulled out of my apartment parking lot. “Not much to tell, really. I was born and raised here, I live in a condo on Clemson, and I like playing football. Usually.” A wry grin came my way.
I shook my head and silently cursed Sam again. “Is Cal short for anything?”
“Callum. An old family name, I guess.” Another shrug. “Your turn. I want to hear about you.” His voice became a snake-charmer’s flute.
How did he make such an innocent statement sound so intimate? Gah!
“Okay. Well, Sofia is my full name and you already know I’m a teacher with an overprotective ass of a brother.”
“And that you like to dance.” Cal smiled as the car continued along Mason’s Valley toward the restaurant. “I feel compelled to admit I’m a terrible dancer, but you…” His eyes searched my face for a beat. “You’re amazing.”
I swallowed and willed myself not to blush again. “I don’t know if I would go that far, but I do love it. Dare I ask why you were there the other night if you don’t dance?”
Cal laughed, his eyes back on the road. “I was coerced. My friend’s wife dragged us there, but I can’t say I regret it.”
This guy had flattery down to a science.
“So, how long have you been teaching?”
“This is actually my first year, besides student teaching, that is.”
His eyes widened. “So how old does that make you?”
“Twenty-three. Why? How old are you?”
He considered me before asking, “How old do you think I am?”
About That...: A Small Town Romantic Comedy Page 2