“That’ll work.”
He mentioned something about the timing of the wall coming down but she wasn’t really listening. Instead she found herself thinking Marcus really was good-looking. And caring. He had a good sense of humor and showed up when he said. All excellent qualities in a man.
“You’re not listening,” he said, his tone more amused than annoyed.
“You’re right. Sorry.” She stood. “Why won’t you ask out my sister? It would solve a lot of problems for me if you two started going out.”
“I’m not interested in your sister.”
She waved that away. “You’ve mentioned that before. I don’t get it. She’s a catch. Is there someone else?”
“I’m not interested in your sister,” he repeated, his gaze locking on hers. “I’m interested in you.”
She stared at him, sure she must have misheard. Interested in... “I don’t understand,” she said, feeling both hot and cold at the same time, not to mention confused but also tingly and intrigued. “Me? I’m not anyone special and—”
But before she could finish her sentence, he walked around the desk and put his hand on her waist. Both the proximity and the touch silenced her. For a long second they just looked at each other, then he lowered his head and lightly brushed his mouth against hers.
She’d had plenty of warning—she could have pulled away—and yet she didn’t. She stood there unmoving, as if frozen by shock or something. Only it wasn’t shock that held her feet in place. Instead it was the warmth generated by his lips as they moved against hers, lightly at first, then with slightly more pressure. She found herself leaning toward him. Unexpectedly she put her hands on his shoulders, as if she wanted to keep on kissing him, which was confusing. She didn’t, as a rule, go around kissing men. The last man she’d kissed had been Harris and that had probably been eighteen months ago.
Apparently she’d needed a good kissing because she was certainly enjoying this one. Heat seemed to flare inside of her, warming her belly and making her think about different kinds of touching and how long it had been since she’d had a man in her bed. The need caught her off guard and made her finally pull back just enough to stare at him.
“You kissed me,” she said, hoping her voice sounded accusing when she knew it was really only breathless.
He gave her one of those slow, sexy smiles. “You kissed me back.”
“Not on purpose.”
He chuckled. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
“I can’t. I’m with my kids.”
“Then when you’re not.”
“You’re asking me out,” she confirmed.
“Yes.”
“On a date.”
The smile returned. “Yes.”
“With kissing.”
She hadn’t meant to say that last part. Her cheeks heated and she would have looked away only she couldn’t.
“With kissing,” he promised.
“Okay.”
“Looking forward to it,” he said, then turned and left.
Jax sank back into her chair and wondered what she’d just done. Kissing Marcus was not the plan. He was supposed to fall for Ryleigh and make everything all right. Only he’d said he was interested in her, and based on her response to what they’d just done, she didn’t seem to mind.
“No running,” Ryleigh called, knowing not one of her students would listen to her. The afternoon bell had rung, signaling the end of the school day, and her kids were eager to be somewhere that wasn’t here. In less than a minute, she was alone in her classroom.
“I’m not going to take it personally,” she murmured to herself, then chuckled. She’d been teaching long enough to know very little about what happened in a day was about her. The students were all excited for the upcoming summer—a feeling she could relate to.
She’d just started cleaning the boards when her sister stepped into the room.
