“Down girl. He’s still an asshole,” I snarled, glaring over at my haughty boss with daggers in my eyes.
“He has a thing for you,” Waylon interjected quickly.
Harper, Annie, and I all looked at the madman, dumbstruck.
Waylon put his hands up. “He does.”
“How do you figure?” Annie asked her fiancé.
He pointed over to him. “Within the next ten seconds, he is going to look around for Caroline again. When he sees her, he’s going to try to hide a smile.”
As if by magic, it happened just as Waylon predicted—with all of us staring right at him.
Fucking fantastic.
Blake tapped his watch, nodding to me. “Showtime,” he yelled.
“I am going to head outside to Jessup and the horses. See y’all in a bit.” Annie kissed me on the cheek. “Knock ’em dead, sweetie.”
I walked up to the mini stage in the front of the large room, grabbing the mic. “Good morning everyone. We’re ready to get the ball rolling here with career day. Just a quick rundown on how this is going to work before we begin. The teachers and volunteers have broken the kids into small groups. Each group will have about ten minutes or so with each of the booths for the kids to learn about your business and ask you questions. We have a lot of you here today, so please try not to go too far over time so all of the students get plenty of time with each of the careers. I wanted to take a quick second to thank all the parents, as well as the business professionals who aren’t even parents of students here but have taken the day off to spend it with the children. Career day is so vital to inspiring youngsters, and I am so proud to have each and every one of you here to be part of that. I also want to thank the Williams and Bryce Law Firm for graciously donating the funds to make today happen for us.”
After a quick round of applause, I hopped off the stage and opened the doors. Little smiling faces rushed in, and my heart melted as the room erupted into a frenzy of conversation and show and tell. The carpenters had even brought an entire demo station for the kids to play with.
“Those are fake power tools, right?” Blake pointed at a small boy boring a hole into plywood.
“Whatever is going to help you get to sleep at night.” I snickered then
glanced over to the hospitality section, where Rhett and Waylon were talking to a group. Waylon winked at me, making the back of my neck prickle.
“What?” Blake asked, looking over at me as I squirmed a little.
“Nothing. Just an inside joke between friends.” I laughed it off while turning away from prying eyes.
As Blake started to flick his Rolex again, I snapped, “Do you really have to do that? We all get it—you’re rich and probably only went into teaching for the love of it. You don’t have to throw your money in our face.”
Blake pulled me to the side, getting way too close for comfort with so many people watching. Gossip rips through schools like wildfire.
“Do you really think you have me figured out?” Blake growled at me.
I took a step back, but he immediately closed the gap.
“Are you just going to stand there and blink at me? No witty remark? No jab?”
“I think I said everything that needed to be said, unless you want to deny the allegations.” I turned my head away from him, fixating on the children enjoying themselves over with the firemen across the room.
“I didn’t come from money, wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I actually dropped out of high school to help my parents put food on the table for my six younger siblings, and I barely got into college by the skin of my teeth. When I was an undergraduate student, a couple friends and I came up with a software for insurance regulation that we sold for a hell of a lot of money, which we keep reinvesting and rolling over. I can take care of my family and finally afford to buy expensive things. For the first time in my life, I don’t have to worry or scramble paycheck to paycheck. So, excuse me for being nouveau riche and flaunting it a little. I love teaching. It is my passion in life, and I would be miserable doing anything else. Trust me, I tried.”
I turned back toward my boss. “I’m sorry,” I muttered. “You just come off as a prick, to be honest.”
“Go out to dinner with me tonight,” he demanded, putting his hand on my shoulder.
“Do you mind?” I pried his fingers off of my tingling skin. “People will talk.”
“Who cares?” he whispered as he took another step closer to me.
I stepped back into the wall as he cornered me. “I care,” I retorted. “Besides, it’s against the rules. Administration cannot date faculty.”
“Breaking rules can be fun,” he teased, taking a deep breath in close to my neck.
“This is wildly inappropriate, and I am putting a stop to it before you make even more of an ass of yourself than you already have.” I started to walk away.
“We’ll finish that conversation about a meal plan at another time, then,” Blake called after me as I retreated out the doors to where Annabelle was showing her group how to groom Hunter, her favorite horse.
I stood off a ways, stewing over the turn of events. It had all happened so quickly. How could he think I would be interested in going to dinner with him? Most of the time, I couldn’t even stand the sight of that fucking man, and there he was thinking I was into him.What a joke.
