“Eden,” he says, “too soon for what? What’s too much?” He swallows and looks like he’s measuring his words. “I’m in this, babe. Not, like, move into your new house with you in this, but I care about you. I’m falling for you. I’d spend time with you if all you wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch kid shows for hours. Doing something like this? Something that might bring you closer to your dreams?”
He kisses me again. “I respect what you’re trying to do with your life. If the only way I can support you is by kicking you in the pants when you’re doubting yourself, then I hope your fine behind is ready to meet my toes.”
I shake my head, laughing in spite of the tears of gratitude that sting my eyes. “Okay, okay,” I say. “I just hope you still feel that way in six months when I’ve got a leaky sink and a mountain of homework.”
He releases me and holds up a finger. “Leaky sink, I got. Homework’s all you.” He chuckles.
We gather up Junie and head over to the campus. We find the visitor parking lot, and I fish a notebook and the pass that Catherine from Admissions gave me out of the diaper bag.
Vito sets up the stroller and puts Junie in, then fastens the little safety straps. She kicks and laughs, then immediately tosses a toy onto the sidewalk.
Vito picks it up and pretends to kiss the bunny’s ears. “It’s all right, bunny. Just a scratch.” Junie’s squealing for it, and he hands it back to her but then motions toward me. “Go on,” he says. “We’ll be fine. If you have any trouble finding us when you’re done, just look for the guy doing wheelies with a stroller.”
I shake my head but grab his arm. “Walk me to class?”
A sexy grin spreads across his face. “Lead the way.” As we follow the campus map to the building where the math and finance classes are held, Vito lowers his voice. “I like the idea of you being a sexy schoolgirl,” he says. “Maybe we can act that out sometime.”
Heat pools in my belly, and I rub his back, letting my hand graze his incredibly fine ass. The fall sun is setting and even if anyone saw me grab his behind, I don’t think they’d care. The campus looks pretty quiet at this hour, commuter students doing exactly what we are, hustling between the parking lot and night classes.
There are some students hanging around in groups, though. Kids carrying enormous backpacks, talking, laughing. Some running with headphones on. I don’t see any babies or children, not that I expected to.
There could be plenty of people enrolled who left their kids at home with sitters or spouses. I’m fortunate to have Junie with me. And to have someone by my side to keep an eye on her while I stick a toe in this scary new pond.
“So, what’s the class?” Vito steers the stroller, expertly avoiding a crack in the pavement before we reach the nicely maintained path that leads toward the instructional center.
“It’s just an intro course,” I explain. “Personal Accounting. I think it covers the basics of money management and bookkeeping.”
He nods. “Love it for you. You lost me at accounting.”
I slip my hand into the back pocket of his jeans and squeeze. “You know they have all kinds of programs here. Have you ever thought about what kinds of classes you’d take if you wanted to go back for a degree?”
He shakes his head. “And therein lies my problem. I’d probably end up spending more time on the shit that was fun than what I needed to do to actually get a degree.”
As we approach the building, I hang back with the stroller. “I won’t be long,” I tell him. “I’ll let the instructor know that I can’t stay the whole time. I’ll slip out in an hour—or even sooner if it’s really boring.”
I hold the door open for a couple kids rushing by, but Vito shakes his head. “You stay as long as you want. We’ll go exploring.”
I clutch the entry pass in my suddenly sweating hand. I hear the buzz of shoes hitting the tile floors, the squeak of the stroller wheeling along beside me.
This is really happening. I’ve never set foot in a college classroom, and I feel like an impostor. My stomach flips over, and I’m glad I skipped dinner, just eating a banana while I fed Junie her dinner.
“Hey.” I hear his voice against my hair. “This you?” He nods toward a closed classroom door. The lights are off, but we’re early. Class doesn’t start until seven, and it’s quarter till.
I nod. “Looks like this isn’t a class people come early to. Maybe it sucks?”
He lifts my chin in his hand and kisses me lightly. “Maybe it will. You’ll find out,” he says lightly.
“Excuse me.” A really, really young-looking guy carrying a massive backpack steps around the stroller and yanks open the classroom door. He turns on the light and props the door open. For a minute, I think he might be the instructor, but he takes a seat and plugs in a laptop, so I think maybe he’s just a student arriving early.
Vito wheels the stroller out of the path of the door. “You going in?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I worry my lower lip between my teeth.
“Maaamaaa.” Junie tosses her bunny to the floor, so I release Vito’s hand to bend over and get it.
“Juniebug, Mama’s going to go into that room right there, and you’re going to go for a walk with Vito. Does that sound like fun?” I kneel down to give her back the bunny and kiss her cheek when I hear the clacking of very high heels on the floor.
I hurry to stand, guessing that those are not the shoes of a student. I see an absolutely gorgeous, willowy woman with shoulder-length blond hair striding toward the classroom with a slim leather briefcase in one hand. She’s wearing black eyeglasses, but her outfit screams money. She looks elegant, expensive, put together.
