She knew how close the family was. It was something she envied.
“And, Ann, no pressure on you to be anything but yourself with me and them,” he said quietly. “No girlfriend bullshit, I promise. Just fun between friends, who happen to be lovers.”
Why, why, WHY can’t you be an asshole?“Sure. It’ll be fun.”
“Great. Talk to you later. I have to go. Anson and I are hitting the gym.”
“Sounds like a great time—not.”
He laughed and hung up.
She sat there, staring at her cell phone, wondering why she couldn’t stop herself from growing closer to the man she knew she should be running far, far away from.
Chapter Thirteen
Ann sighed. Hello hump day. Another school day ended as the bell rang. She still hadn’t resolved her feelings on committing to exclusively dating Jack yet, which bothered the heck out of her because she had a bad feeling she’d fallen in love with him all over again. In retrospect, their weekend together had been beyond magical. Even their argument Monday night had ended in her favor, and he’d given her space last night.
As a result, she both looked forward to and dreaded Thursday night dinner. She wanted to be with Jack again, to see him smile with his family. But would they consider her and Jack acouple?And would that push Jack to pressure her to commit again?
She still didn’t think she was ready for that.
“Hey, Ann.” Trey Atwood popped into her classroom after a brief knock. “We still on for tonight?”
She blanked. “Tonight?”
His smile dropped. “For the movie?”
She suddenly recalled the email he’d sent her last week. About the movie she’d agreed to see with him…before she and Jack had gotten so hot and heavy.Crap.
She felt obligated to go with Trey, yet she also felt dishonest about the date. But why should she? She and Jack hadn’t committed to each other—well, she hadn’t anyway. A movie was just a movie.
“Sorry. I spaced. I thought it was tomorrow.” She upped the wattage on her smile and Trey look relieved.
“So tonight’s okay?”
“Yep. Seven-thirty at the Regal. I’ll meet you there. I have a few errands to run first.”
“Sounds great. See you.” He left with a buoyant step, while she felt like a tramp.
She knew she teetered on the edge of falling hard for Jack Bloom all over again, if she hadn’t already. Maya had warned her to be wary, but Ann could only fight his bright blue eyes, the warmth in his kiss and the care in his touch for so long. He wanted to date her. To be a couple. It freaked her out as much as it thrilled her to be the center of his attention.
Ann hurried home. She needed privacy for the call she had to make. With Jack now working at the university fulltime, he couldn’t just pop over during the day like before. She settled down, rehearsed what she wanted to say, then called him.
He answered right away. “Hey, beautiful.”
She forced herself to sound calm. “Hi, Jack. How are you?”
“Better now that I’m talking to you. Hold on.” His voice drifted. “No, put that in Professor Burrow’s room.” He came back. “Sorry. What’s up?”
“I have to cancel tonight.” They’d planned to grab a burger together.
“Anything wrong?”
Do or die time. Be your own woman. He doesn’t own you.She took a deep breath then quietly let it out. “No. I’m going to a movie with Trey, one of my coworkers.”
“Trey.” He paused. “That’s a guy.”
“Yep.”
