High-Powered, Hot-Blooded

The request stunned her. “Um, sure. I will.”

“Okay. Bye.”

“Bye.”

She pressed the end button to disconnect the call, then walked around to the trunk where the jack and spare waited.

Suddenly it wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been and she wasn’t tired anymore. Duncan wanted her to let him know she was all right. He worried about her. Maybe it wasn’t much, but as it was all she had, she was going to hang on to it with both hands.

Friday evening, Annie checked to make sure all her students were in their white men’s T-shirts, with the fabric wings sewn on the back. Glitter-covered cardboard halos bounced over the five-year-olds’ small heads. Once everyone was accounted for, she took a second to glance through the edge of the thick drapes to see if Duncan had arrived. Something she’d been doing every half minute or so since she’d arrived.

He still wasn’t there. Which was fine, she told herself. He’d said he would try to get there, which was probably a polite way of saying he wasn’t interested. It wasn’t as if they were really dating. What gorgeous single guy wanted to spend Friday night with a bunch of other people’s kids?

She held in a sigh as she backed away from the drapes. Only to bump into something warm and solid.

She turned and saw Duncan standing behind her.

“What are you doing here?” she blurted.

“You asked me to come.”

She laughed, hoping she wasn’t blushing. “No, I mean backstage.”

“I wanted to say hi before the program started. One of the moms is saving me a seat.”

Annie took in the broad shoulders, the strong features and the way he filled out his suit. “I’ll just bet she is.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Thanks for coming. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to see if you were still pissed.”

“I was never pissed.”

Humor brightened his gray eyes. “Now you’re lying about it.”

“I’m not. I was annoyed. There’s a difference.”

“You were pissed. You were practically screaming about the tires. Talk about shrill.”

He was teasing, which she liked a lot. Back when they’d first met, she would never have imagined it possible.

“I was calm and rational,” she told him.

“You were a girl. Admit it.”

“I could hit you right now.”

“You could and no one would notice. Especially not me.” He took her arm and led her into a shadowy alcove. “Here.” He handed her a piece of paper.

She looked at it. The sheet was a printout of a memo, detailing the new policy on discounted tires.

“Now will you get your damn car fixed?”

She stared at him, knowing that while he’d been helping her, he was also helping a lot of other people. “I will,” she said, raising herself onto tiptoes and lightly kissing him. “I promise.”

He put his arms around her and pulled her close. “Good. You’re a pain in the ass. You know that, right?”

She giggled. “Yes. You’re dictatorial. And annoying.”

They hung on to each other for several seconds. Annie loved the feel of him, the strength and heat of his body. As always, being close to him made her feel safe.

“I have to get back to my class,” she said reluctantly. “They’re wearing cardboard halos that won’t really survive very long.”

“Okay. I’ll see you after the Christmas thing.”

“Winter festival.”

“Whatever. I’ll see you.”

“Yes,” she said and watched him walk away.

She knew then that despite the fact that she’d only known him a few weeks, she was well on her way to being in love with him. He was unlike anyone she’d ever met. He was better in every way possible.

He’d promised not to ask her to be friends and she trusted him to keep his word. But he’d also promised when the holiday season was over, so was their relationship. And she knew he would keep his word on that, as well. Wishing for more wouldn’t change the outcome. Duncan had told her once that, in his life, somebody always won and somebody always lost. This time, she had a bad feeling the loser would be her.

Monday morning Duncan walked into his office to find a plate of cookies on his desk. They were covered in holiday plastic wrap and there was a handwritten note attached.