The Princess and the Principal (The Rebel Royals 5)

Ron swatted at her hand. “Hey.”

Instead of shoving her hand away, he caught it in his. Somehow, her fingers slid through the gaps his made. To the casual observer, it would clearly look as though they were holding hands.

He’d sat next to Kylee many times in his life and brushed her leg or her shoulder. He’d handed her out of cars a few times. They’d even danced at school functions. They high fived after every test in high school. So, why did he feel like fireworks were going off inside him?

With great reluctance, he pulled his fingers free of hers. “What are you doing here?”

Kylee chucked her thumb towards the front of the auditorium. “My kid’s on the stage.”

“Right. Of course.”

He should mingle with others. Check to see if he was needed anywhere. Chat with a few of the parents. But he stayed put at the back of the room.

“Ron?”

“Hmm?”

“I was actually hoping I could talk to you about something. It’s work-related.”

“Oh, Molly’s doing great today after our talk.”

“No, not your work. Mine. I told you the other day that I work for Thrive Learning Systems. We’re a test prep company and we’re doing very innovative work on test prep for standardized testing. I was hoping to schedule a meeting to pitch you.”

“Done.”

“Really?” She tipped her head to the side, eyes wide with surprise.

“Really.”

“Just like that?” She tipped her head to the other side, grinning hugely with what Ron knew to be giddiness.

“Just like that,” he confirmed.

“Because I prepared a whole speech.”

Ron chuckled. Of course, Kylee had prepared and practiced. He took a dramatic inhale and then waved his hand. “Come on, let’s have it. Do you want to deliver the speech now?”

“No.” She held up her hands in a stop motion. “No need. I already aced it.”

“Why don’t we talk over dinner tonight?” he said.

“So, I can butter you up?”

“Well, I do like butter.”

A parent in the back row turned around and shushed them with a glare. Ron noted a few teachers were watching them from the sidelines. A number of moms in the front row gave Kylee a death glare, which apparently Kylee took notice of.

“Wow,” she said. “You weren’t kidding about the hot commodity bit. I think I’m gonna go over and sit with the grandmas to, you know, get out of the line of fire.”

“See you tonight?” Ron called out to her as she approached an empty seat in the last row.

But when she went to sit down, the mom sitting there suddenly put her purse in the seat. Kylee looked back up at Ron and glared at him, as though it were his fault she no longer had a seat.

It was good-natured joking. And it was. Just joking. Just dinner. Nothing against the rules there.

Chapter Nine

“Is that what you’re wearing?”