“Thank you,” Dave said, pointing at her. “I'll be here for the next ninety minutes.”
She smiled. He smiled back.
Dave cleared his throat. “Anyway, I heard it's always good to start a lecture with a joke, so here goes.” His palms went up. “Why did the chicken cross the Moebius strip?”
“Why?” a man in the back row asked dryly.
“To get to the other…er, um…” He scratched his head.
Silence. Steph smiled.
Dave grinned. “Thank you smiling woman in the front row.” He swept his arms forward. “Moving right along with number bonds…”
After the workshop, she'd approached him with a few others on the pretense of asking him a question. Up close, she liked his size, taller than her, his lean build with broad shoulders, the deep blue eyes she finally saw behind those black-rimmed glasses when it was nearly her turn to speak to him. He was cute. Geeky cute.
Finally, they were face to face.
“Hey,” he said. “Thanks for humoring me. It was just crickets out there. It’s like no one expects math to be fun.” His brows crinkled comically at the notion.
“I hear ya,” she said with a laugh, though she wasn't crazy about math. She did appreciate him lightening up what was typically a long day of dry, put-you-to-sleep workshops.
He grinned, and his blue eyes sparkled behind his glasses.
“Any advice on the best way to introduce proofs at the fifth-grade level to prepare my students for middle school?” she asked.
“I've got a lot to say on this subject.” He looked at his shoes. “Do you, uh, want to grab some lunch, and we can, uh, talk about it?”
“I'd love to.”
He met her eyes and grinned. “Great! What's your name?”
“Stephanie Moore.”
He shook her hand and warmth shot up her arm at his touch. Their eyes met and held. He’d felt it too. The chemistry.
“Pleased to meet you, Stephanie,” he said in a husky voice.
At Dave’s suggestion, they went to a restaurant down the street from the hotel for a quieter atmosphere. Their lunch had been informative. Dave, true to his word, had a lot to say about proofs as well as preparing students for middle school math. She loved his enthusiasm for teaching. She discovered they worked for the same school district, which meant he lived not too far from her. She already knew she wanted to see him again.
They reached for the check at the same time, and they both blushed.
“I'll pay,” Dave said. “As payment for listening to me yammer on.”
“It was educational,” she said.
A corner of his mouth kicked up. “That's me.”
As they walked back to the hotel conference center, they chatted about the conference and the workshops they'd attended while Steph kept wondering if he'd ask for her phone number.
He held the door to the hotel open for her like a perfect gentleman. They were about to rejoin the masses for the afternoon workshops when Steph did something she'd never done in her life. She asked him out.
“You want to have dinner this weekend?” she asked.
“You-you're asking me out? Wow. That would be awesome!” His smile was ear-to-ear, and she was glad she'd asked. “Give me your cell. I'll program my number in.”
When he handed it to her, she glanced down. It read: Teacher Dave. She loved the way he was simply himself with no pretense, no pretending. A sweet guy who loved math, who wore what he wanted, who expressed exactly how he felt without hiding behind a macho guy façade. It was so refreshing.
Now, with Dave going toe-to-toe with Griff, she wasn't sure if the real Dave had come out of hiding or if he was pretending to be something he wasn't just to impress her. Either way, she wanted the sweet Dave back. She had enough of testosterone overload with Griff.
She grabbed the TV remote and stilled. What was that noise? It sounded like singing. She walked to the back of her apartment toward her bedroom. Yup, singing and an acoustic guitar. She pushed up the window blinds and stared down at Griff gazing up at her. She should’ve known he wouldn’t go away that easily. He never did listen to what she wanted. She opened her window. He was standing under the motion-sensor light in the back that was as bright as a spotlight. It was her favorite song of his—a ballad‚ “Once I Held You.” He smiled as he sang: