“I’m only asking about you.”
My eyes snap to his. Gone is the playfulness, and something else lurks beneath his gaze. Something I can’t read.
“Yes.” This time I speak easily, but maybe that’s because it’s only a one-word answer.
“Good, we’ll have dinner after.”
“I—”
“Let’s go, Scott,” he says, cutting off my response. He turns and leaves without giving me a chance to tell him no.
“Oh. My. God,” Apple says. I’d completely forgotten she was in the room. “Since that man has been picking up his nephew, not once has he ever asked someone out. Or taken anyone up on an offer to go out.”
“Never?” I ask, suddenly interested in his dating life.
“Never. Not even when Becky asked.” Apple gestures to her boobs knowingly. As if I don’t know who Becky the kindergarten teacher is. She does have giant boobs that should be covered better during school hours, or maybe they simply look giant because her waist is so small in comparison. “I think he even told her she was being inappropriate.”
Maybe it was inappropriate. Not that I’m considering going. I should definitely not. I’m his nephew’s teacher, and I’m shocked he wants to go on a date with me. Things could get messy if it doesn’t work out, and by messy I mean me broken-hearted and crying every time I see him, because I’m an uncontrollable crier. If a puppy is too cute, I’ll cry.
“God, what am I going to do?” I ask her. I can’t go out with him. Not only would it chance breaking my heart, but the teachers would talk. They always talk, and more so when it’s about Jack and what he’s up to. I’m pretty sure they even read crap about him online. Maybe I should be reading the articles, too.
“Oh, you're going to dinner.” Apple has a giant smile on her face.
Why is everyone so excited to play matchmaker here? Even if I agreed to go on a date with Jack, I’d be so in over my head. I can barely form sentences around him, or stop myself from blushing like a schoolgirl. What would we even talk about?
“Stop overthinking it. I can see your mind going a mile a minute. We’ll have some wine and talk it out. Also, what are you wearing tomorrow?”
Crap, I forgot about my costume again. “Maybe we should stop for an extra bottle of wine,” I tell her, throwing my bag over my shoulder.
I have a feeling Jack isn’t going to go down easy when I inform him I won’t be going to dinner. I don’t think he’s a man who hears the word no very often.Chapter TwoJackScott runs through the front door and tosses his backpack on the stairs before heading into the kitchen. I follow him, hearing the sounds of my sister and knowing she’ll probably have something to eat.
I smile when I see Scott give her a hug and take a plate of something over to the table.
“Where’s mine?” I ask, placing a hand over my heart and pretending to be injured.
“On the table,” she says with a smirk.
My sister, Kim, is a damn good mom and always has food in the house, which is why I like coming here. She and her husband, Eric Grayson, have been married since they were nineteen. Eric works in pharmaceutical sales, so he travels a lot during the week. I like to help out when I can by taking Scott to school or picking him up, even though Kim is more than capable. She and Eric are still hopelessly in love. They have been from the day he transferred to our high school and they saw each other for the first time. I always wondered what that was like…until the day I saw Raven and it all became clear.
“Did you see her?” Kim asks, leaning up against the counter.
I take the plate she’s made for me and walk around to the breakfast bar and take a seat. I look over to see Scott playing with something at the dining room table. I want to make sure he’s out of earshot, though the kid seems to hear everything.
“I have a date,” I say proudly, popping a strawberry in my mouth.
She puts her hands over her mouth and looks at me in shock. “She said she’d go on a date with you?”
I grimace at her excitement. “Not exactly.” I think about how shocked she looked when I told her we were going out to eat. I smile. “But she’ll go.”
“Maybe I can finally start taking Scott to school then. I swear they probably think his parents have abandoned him. But in reality my brother has a crush on my son’s teacher and he’s borderline stalking her.”
“Borderline?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. She knows some of the things I’ve done to get Raven in my sights, but not everything.