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A guilty blush burned her cheeks. She shot to her feet, her head colliding with Jake’s arm in the process. She heard a faintsnap,but was too embarrassed to register what it was. “Yes!” She stumbled into, then around her chair, quickly moving to the opposite side of the desk. “Of course!”
The twinkle in Jake’s eyes made her nervous. No way he could know what she’d been thinking, right? She’d die if he knew!
They’re still twinkling.
His gaze didn’t waver, making her shift uncomfortably under the scrutiny. It felt like he was raiding her secrets.
Stop twinkling!
She nearly jumped out of her skin when the bell rang. She used to groan whenever characters were “saved by the bell” in movies, but she took back every eye roll she’d ever executed because she’d never been more thankful for anything in her life.
The children all hopped up at once, ready to make a mad dash to the door.
“Wait a minute,” Laurel ordered, stopping them in their tracks. She squared her shoulders, pretending the man standing on the other side of her desk wasn’t playing havoc with her senses. An in-control teacher, that’s what she needed to be. That was her safe space.
“Before you go,” she told the kids, hoping with everything in her that she didn’t sound as flustered as Jake was making her feel. “What do you want to say to our guests?”
A chorus of little voices shouted, “Thank you!”
Officer Bennett, Dr. Kent, and Jake responded, “You’re welcome.”
“Okay.” Laurel nodded to her class. “You may go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Make the rest of your day super-duper?—”
“Awesome!” the kids finished for her.
She always ended her class with that farewell. She liked them leaving with a positive thought in their heads.
Keeping her teacher's armor firmly in place, she thanked her guests for donating their time and exchanged numbers with Officer Bennett, so they could arrange his return.
After everyone had left, she turned and placed her hands on her desk and leaned over it with a heavy sigh, letting the tension ebb away. Her hair fell forward, the blue streak hanging front and center before her eyes, taunting her.
So, that’s what the snap she’d heard had been. Her barrette had come undone when she’d run into Jake’s arm. Perfect. That meant Officer Bennett, Dr. Kent,andJake had seen how ridiculous she looked.
“You okay?”
Laurel yelped upon hearing Jake’s voice and spun around, knocking a box of crayons off her desk in the process. The lidopened when it hit the floor, sending crayons rolling in every direction.
“Fudgsicles!” She crouched down and started gathering them up, thankful her clumsiness gave her a reason to avoid looking at him.
He joined her, his shoulder brushing against hers as he kneeled down beside her.
Fudge!Here she was trying to get away from him, and now he was so close she could smell the clean scent of his… well, he wasn’t wearing cologne, but he still smelled incredible.
Maybe this is what pheromones smell like.
How else could she explain the kick in her pulse and warmth spreading throughout her body?
She tried to sidestep crawl away to create some distance between them. The train her thoughts had been riding on earlier had left her confused and turned on, which was not good. Being in such close proximity to him, she couldn’t afford to be hot and bothered because right now, all she could think about was his lips on hers.
Keeping wary eyes on him, instead of where she was going, she bumped into her desk. The thin side metal caved in, then bounced back into place with acu-klunk.She dropped onto her butt on the floor, back against the wall—er—desk. Scooping up some of the crayons, she hugged them to her chest like armor.
Because crayons are great protection? Pathetic.
Jake was within kissing distance—not moving closer, but not moving away either.
“Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m not scared.”
