Zane loosened his arms reluctantly. “Does that mean I should let you go?”
“Unless you want to come over to my place and order pizza and cut out felt bunnies for Easter…”
“Know what?” Zane smiled down at her. “That sounds terrific.”
CHAPTER 15
Vicki couldn’t decide which was more incredible, the fact that Zane was a wolf shifter, or that he had all the felt bunnies cut out before the pizza arrived, even though she’d ordered it on the walk home. They were cut out much more neatly than she could have done it, too, and before the end of the evening he’d put together entire sewing kits for the kids’ craft projects. Vicki, awed, said, “You should have been a first grade teacher,” and he laughed.
“I wouldn’t be nearly as fast at any of this if I was, though. Ah, irony.”
After a brief discussion, he reluctantly went home, as neither of them could think of a professional excuse for Zane Bellamy, Fashion Designer, staying overnight in her apartment. He did promise to come help the kids sew the bunnies, and Vicki, thinking ahead, got out all of the dress designs they’d done early in the year, with the intention of passing them out to the artists first thing in the morning. The kids would want to show them off, if Zane actually dropped by.
To her surprise, he was there at ten, just as he’d promised. Her heart knocked around in her chest a bit as he tapped on the door and waited in its frame for Vicki to beckon him in. He was, as always, dressed flawlessly. She watched several of the students respond on an instinctive level: there really was something about a sharp-dressed man, even if the kids didn’t have any technical fashion knowledge. “Class, this is Zane Bellamy. Mr. Bellamy, this is my first grade class this year. They’re the ones who encouraged me to enter the Starlight ballgown contest.”
Zane grinned at the little faces gazing up at him, and visibly—to Vicki, anyway—tried to hide his amusement at the ones who were obviously in awe, and the smaller handful that were thoughtfully critical in their expressions. Noah Brannigan, ofcourse, was one of the latter, as if an internationally renowned fashion designer had to meet up to his personal standards. Vicki wondered whether Zane would pass muster.
Michaela, the little girl who’d drawn the formal “ball suit,” raised her hand. Zane flickered a glance at Vicki, making sure it was all right to call on her, and Vicki nodded, saying, “Go ahead, Michaela.”
“Are you making Ms. Hawthorne a dress or a ball suit? I don’t like dresses.” This was delivered with an air of authority, or perhaps even warning.
“I’ve designed several…” Zane was trying really hard not to grin, and not quite succeeding. “Several ‘ball suits’ for women like you who don’t like dresses very much, but in this case, I’m designing a dress for Ms. Hawthorne. She told me you all had designed some clothes, too. I was hoping I could see them.”
Pandemonium erupted. Most of the class jumped to their feet, swarming Zane with their art waving in the air and their voices lifted, each of them trying to be heard over the others. It took several minutes to get them back into their seats, althoughZane helped considerably by going and standing next to one of the desks and repeating, “I’d like to see the drawing the person who sits atthisdesk did, as soon as they’re sitting in it again!” at loud intervals.
He took a minute with each kid and each drawing, making a fuss over some detail or color they used, until there was a class full of beaming children and a teacher who was convinced all over again that Zane Bellamy was the most attractive man imaginable. He even went back to one child, a shy boy with a studious nature and considerable artistic talent, and tapped on his creation. “Keep drawing,” he told the boy. “Keep designing. And call me in fifteen years.”
The little boy—Mohammad—beamed and nodded. Zane went back to the front of the class, grinning at all the kids. “Allof you keep doing art. It could take you places you’d never imagine. Now, I know your teacher has some sewing planned next. I do a lot of sewing myself, so I was hoping I could help out…”
The rest of the day was spent making little stuffed rabbits with varying degrees of success. Zane finished his almost literally in seconds, and alternated between making it increasingly impressive and helping kids who were struggling. Eventually everybody had a bunny, and as Vicki went around the class admiring their work, she realized Zane had added a little unique something to each of them, and had helped all the kids embroider their own initials beside his into the bunny tails.
“Good grief,” she said when the kids had said goodbye to their special guest and gone out for recess, “you made all of those Zane Bellamy originals. If they hold onto them, they could be worth a fortune.”
“What do you mean, if they hold on to them? They could sell themnowfor a fortune.” Zane tossed his hair arrogantly, although Vicki suspected he was probably right. “It was fun,” headded. “I haven’t spent much time around kids since I was in school. I forgot how naturally creative they are.”
“It’s impossible to get tired of that,” Vicki said happily. “Even when they drive you absolutely bonkers, one of them will do something so charming that you momentarily forget that you wanted to walk off the job. Thank you. This has been a wonderful treat. You’d better get out of here before they come back, though, or you’ll be stuck here the rest of the afternoon.”
“Dinner tonight?” Zane asked hopefully.
“I don’t know. Are your paparazzi going to follow us around and take pictures?” A few of the reporters and photographers had come back to Virtue when it became clear Zane was setting up shop there for a little while, and it was strange to have such unfamiliar,investigativefaces in town.
Zane made a face. “Probably. But I suppose they can’t make a fairytale romance out of us if we don’t go around being romantic in public.”
“Well, in that case, dinner tonight. You could even meet me after school and carry my books home.”
“Do kids still do that?” Zane laughed, looked around, and stole a kiss. “After school, then. See you in a while.” He slipped out, and Vicki spent the rest of the day smiling in anticipation of getting off work.
A great deal of snow had melted when she left that afternoon, winter wonderland dissolving into mud and slush. As long as it didn’t get cold again, that was okay, but late March in upstate New York could bring all kinds of unexpected weather. Vicki, like the kids from her class walking ahead of her, kicked a trail through the slush until her shoes were soaked, and only after the fact realized that was a bad idea. Zane came up to her as she was staring at her feet in dismay, and joined her in the activity. “What happened?”
“I forgot I wasn’t six and had to wash my own socks.”
Zane burst out laughing. Vicki looked up at him as he tried to recover himself, got a glimpse of her expression, and laughed even harder. “Sorry. Sorry! I just didn’t expect that answer!”
“Truth before pride,” Vicki said ruefully. “Honestly, it just looked like fun so I started doing it too and now my feet are soaking.”
“That’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever heard.” Zane, still laughing, offered his elbow. “All I can tell you as a saving grace is that the town council has apparently forbidden the paparazzi from coming near the school, so your drenched sneakers may not go down in internet history as a new fashion look.”
“Oh, well, that’s something. In that case, want to sneak around the block and get a coffee?”
