“Give her my hotel room if that’s the issue. I have friends I can stay with.”
“Christ, not sure if I can rearrange all this again.” Dave sighed and shifted his feet, his loafers always clicking on the tile. “Email my admin assistant, Addy, about it. She’s the one getting this all set up. Just tell me when it’s finalized.”
“You got it.”
I waited, my pen frozen in my hand in the middle of writing my to-do list. Would he come in here? See my face and realize that I caught a few feelings for him? Would we talk about that kiss and what the hell it meant?
But a minute went by, then another, and I cracked my already tense knuckles to relieve the pressure. He was not coming into my room, and I exhaled, calming my erratic heart rate. This was fine. Totally fine.
I shouldn’t be worrying about him or what we were, or weren’t.
I packed my bag and made sure everything was set up for the next day, my normal routine soothing me. I got my broom and dustpan and got the leftover pieces of scraps on the floor and did a quick wipe down of handles. Content with my classroom being organized, I put my bag over my shoulder and turned off the lights.
Then I ran right into Christopher’s very large and broad chest. “Oof,” I said, groaning as the impact rocked my balance. He steadied me with one hand on my hip, and God, I felt the warmth all the way between my thighs and to my toes. “Christopher.”
He sucked in a breath and his lips parted, his face inches from mine, and my skin tingled with awareness. Awareness of how tall he was, how soft his touch was, how good he kissed, how his full lips feasted on mine in his car. He swallowed, loudly, to the point it clicked in the back of his throat, and his gaze moved to my lips.
It didn’t matter we were at school. I needed to feel his lips on me again, to get lost in the feel of them, ofhim,and I gripped the collar of his shirt, pulling him toward me to close the distance. His lips barely grazed mine when clicked footsteps neared us, and I stepped back, almost panting with want, and stared at him with wild eyes.
While I didn’t get what I wanted, his mouth on mine, the frantic look in his eyes matched the fire in my gut. Dave stopped just outside the door and smiled. “You tell her?”
“Just about to,” Christopher said, his voice a shade too deep. He cleared his throat, making me smile at his attempt to hide his reaction.
“Tell me what?”
“We’re both going to the conference,” my stupidly hot buddy teacher said, his grin stretching ear-to-ear. “We leave tomorrow.”
“Wait, Dave…how?”
“Buddy from college is on their committee. Charmed him. Plus this kid gave up his hotel room. I got subs coming in tomorrow so make sure they are ready. Georgia will be there tomorrow. Please play nice with her.”
“You got it,” I said, unsure if I was more excited about going with Christopher, about escaping the town for the weekend and avoiding Fritz for three more days, or the combination of everything. “This is excellent!”
“Glad you’re happy.” Dave nodded at us and moved farther down the hall, where Samantha stood chatting with Marisa like they were best friends. I didn’t even have it in me to care. Not with the way Christopher looked at me, his gaze softening and the lines around his eyes relaxing.
“You gave me your spot,” he said, dragging out the words like they were a poem made for me. His jaw was a little slack, and he shook his head back and forth a few times, like he couldn’t believe it. His incredulous expression had my face even hotter. “Gilly,” he said, reaching out for a second before letting his hand fall at his side.
“It’s no big deal,” I gushed, shrugging and attempting to hide the absolute mess going on in my mind. “Really.”
“It is,” he said, his voice getting husky, and I squeezed my thighs together. My physical reaction to him was out of my control, and it was like he knew. He moved closed, trailed his teeth over his lip, and smiled. “Let’s drive up together.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes.” He pursed his lips and sucked in a breath as he studied my face, neck, and body for a full minute. “This is going to be fun. You and me, in the city.”
“You made that sound…dirty,” I whispered, my voice shaking at all the scenarios in my head. Just the two of us together, in a car, at a hotel, decompressing with a drink.
“Oh, it is.” This time, he reached over to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, sending goose bumps all the way down my body to the point I shivered. “Tomorrow can’t get here fast enough.
“Holy crap!”I said, smiling to wide my face almost split in two. The conference was incredible. So many upbeat teachers and laughter all around us, and Christopher stoodrightnext to me as we checked in. Posters of speakers were everywhere, and I pointed to one, Heather Smith, and squealed. “Oh my God, she’s my idol. I know you’re a boring traditionalist, but her work on flexible seating is my teaching bible.”
“Not boring.”
“Eh, a little bit,” I teased, adding a wink on the end.
He rolled his eyes, and we made our way to the large table organized alphabetically.
“Hi, Mountain Elementary. Gilly Carter and Christopher Callahan.”
