“Please, help yourself,” Haley said dryly as she sat down next to him and added a packet of sugar to her coffee.
“Thank you. I think I will,” Jason murmured as he slathered more butter on his muffin.
“What are these amazing plans you have for tonight?” Jason asked between bites.
“Date,” she said absently.
“I guess that means our love affair is over,” he said with a pout.
“I guess so.”
“I’m hurt.”
“You’ll survive…with therapy, of course,” Haley said with a wink and a grin.
“Is this another loser?”
She looked away and mumbled something.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t speak mumble,” Jason said while eying the piping hot apple muffin with streusel topping that she just took out of the bag. Hell, how had he missed that delicious little morsel?
His hand seemed to have a life of its own as it crept towards that tasty little treat. With a gasp, Haley’s hands came down to protect her muffin.
“Control yourself!” she hissed as she broke off a small chunk and ate it. His eyes went back to the muffin. He knew that he was pouting when Haley rolled her eyes and continued eating, but didn’t care. Damn it, where was the love? He was a hungry man. With a sigh, Jason opened his bag and pulled out one of the three coffee rolls he’d ordered and began eating them all while keeping his eye on that muffin.
“You’re pathetic,” Haley muttered with a roll of her eyes as she pushed the last half of her muffin over to him. With a huge grin, he popped the muffin in his mouth and savored it with a groan.
“So, what is it that you don’t want me to know, my little grasshopper?” Jason asked, stirring his coffee. The last date she had was a loser in his opinion and really, wasn’t that all that mattered? He hadn’t been worthy of all his work. They’d work on that until she dated guys that he approved of. Someone with a cabin in New Hampshire for fishing trips or a house down in Florida would make him very happy. He really could go for some deep-sea fishing in the winter.
“Stop calling me that!” Haley hissed softly. “For the hundredth time, I am not the Daniel-san to your Mr. Miyagi.”
He simply shrugged. “If that’s what you want to believe…”
“It is, and I do.”
“If I could get everyone’s attention before you head off to homeroom?” Jenkins said, holding up his clipboard to get everyone’s attention. “We need one more volunteer for tonight’s dance,” he said, throwing a hopeful look Haley’s way.
“Wax on…wax off…” Jason whispered, earning a rather indelicate snort from Haley.
“Did you say something, Miss Blaine?” Jenkins asked, sounding really fucking hopeful as he drew everyone’s attention to Haley.
Jason leaned back in his seat and watched Haley as a blush crept up her adorable face while she nervously pushed her glasses back up her nose. Ah, it seems his protégé still hated drawing attention to herself. Well, she’d have to get used to that if they were going to be friends since he had the unfortunate habit of drawing attention to himself pretty much everywhere he went.
“Yes, Miss Blaine, did you have something to say?” Jason asked mockingly.
She shot him a narrowed glare before turning to look at Jenkins. In seconds, the glare was gone only to be replaced by a rather sweet smile. He was so focused on that smile that he almost missed what she said.
“No, Mr. Jenkins, that wasn’t me. Mr. Bradford was volunteering to chaperone tonight’s dance,” Haley said, nodding solemnly.
“What?” Jason said, too late, it seemed.
Jenkins grinned hugely. “Well, that’s excellent! Very good. Make sure you’re here by seven o’clock. The dance ends at eleven. Thank you, Mr. Bradford,” Jenkins said in a rush. It didn’t escape Jason’s notice that the man hadn’t bothered double-checking with him and that he’d practically ran out of the room before Jason could refuse.
His attention immediately turned to the little traitor. “You betraying bitch,” he gasped.
Her smile went from innocent to wicked in less than a second. “Have fun at the dance,” Haley said in a mocking tone as she stood up and placed her hands together in front of her and bowed.
Smartass.
