Page 5 of Sharing Her Heart

“Good for you,” Nathan said, his eyes twinkling with humor.

The server arrived, and John ordered the bottle of wine for the table. “So Felicity, what do you do?” he asked after the server left.

“Oh, me?” Felicity cleared her throat, still feeling a little nervous. “I’m a school teacher.”

“That’s awesome,” he exclaimed. “I consider teaching one of the most important professions, right next to food delivery guys,” he continued with a twinkle in his eyes. Felicity chuckled, relaxing a bit more as she and John chatted about her job.

“You look too young to be a teacher,” Nathan commented out of the blue, surprising Felicity a little. He’d mostly stayed quiet.

“She’s not that young,” John said, scowling at Nathan.

“She looks it, though,” Nathan replied, not taking his eyes away from Felicity. “Too young and way too hot to be a teacher… Well, maybe not too hot. I remember having a few drop-dead gorgeous teachers when I was in school, but she’s definitely too young. She looks like she should be taking the class, not teaching it.”

Felicity was stunned and unsure how to respond to that. “Um, thanks…” she said, her face heating. She was sure there was a compliment in there but wasn’t sure what part. Nathan didn’t take his eyes away from her, and for a moment, she found herself spellbound by his gaze.

If any other man looked at her the way he did, she would probably label them a creep, but it was different with him. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that he was so much older than her.

“I’m not that young, though,” she found herself saying. “I’m twenty-three. That makes me too old to still be in grade school, or high school for that matter.”

“Twenty-three?” Nathan snorted. “That’s practically a baby. You’ve barely experienced life at that age.”

It sounded like a challenge, and Felicity’s instinct was to rebel. “Yes, I have,” she retorted. “I’m not as naive as you think.”

“Didn’t say naive. I said inexperienced.” He swirled his wine in his glass, and the corner of his lips kicked up in a grin. “It’s not your fault. Most people your age simply haven’t had the chance to experience all that life has to offer. Or meet anyone kind enough to show that to them.”

“And can you show me all that life has to offer, Nathan?” she snapped, glaring at him.

“Maybe,” he replied so softly she had to lean forward to hear him. “And it’s Mr. Wilder to you, missy.”

“That’s enough,” John finally stepped in. “Nathan, stop teasing her. Pay him no mind,” he said to Felicity. “He likes toying with people.”

“Oh, it’s okay… I…” Felicity stopped when she saw the smile on Nathan’s face turned mischievous, without losing that hint of wickedness about it, and knew he’d been pulling her leg. She smiled a little, accepting that it had all been in good fun. “Very funny, Mr. Wilder.”

He chuckled, settling back in his chair. “So what is it like teaching the leaders of tomorrow?”

“Exhausting and frustrating. I’ll never give it up for anything,” she finished with a grin. “I love my job, and I guess that makes the bad parts not so bad and the good parts great…”

The server arrived as she talked about her job, and she found herself relaxing more and more with them. They moved on to other topics, and Felicity was surprised to realize she was doing much of the talking. Considering how boring it was, she’d never imagined she had so much to say about her life, but Nathan and John were proving her wrong.

They wanted stories about being a schoolteacher. They asked about all her favorite things, and she and John almost jumped out of their seats in excitement when they discovered they loved the same bands and had even attended the same concert a few years ago.

Nathan and John also answered her questions… Well, John answered her questions. Nathan mostly stayed silent, watching the proceedings from his seat with an amused grin and chipping in with a comment here and there. She was not surprised by this. It matched his personality on the show exactly. He’d always had a quiet intensity about him that she’d always found fascinating. It was even more interesting seeing it in person and the few times she glanced over, she found him staring at her. Like he was studying her.

It should make her uncomfortable. It didn’t. Instead, it made her feel something else. Something she had no desire to explore in the middle of a nice dinner with two of her favorite idols who looked like they were old enough to be her father.

When it came to time to order, she couldn’t decide what she wanted to eat. Half the items on the menu were not familiar to her and she wasn’t sure what it was she wanted to eat anyway. When the server arrived, she spent a few minutes staring at the menu and began to panic when she still couldn’t decide what she wanted to eat.

“She’ll have the coq au vin. Serve that with mashed potatoes and some green salad,” Nathan interjected, ordering for her and giving the server explicit instructions on how he wanted her meal prepared.

“Thank you,” Felicity said, blushing after the server left. “I don’t know why I get so frazzled with stuff like this.”

“You’ll be surprised at how hard simple decisions can be sometimes,” John replied, smiling kindly at her. “Especially when there are so many choices to pick from.”

She nodded. “Sometimes, I wish I could have someone to make all the silly choices for me,” she added, laughing. “Like what to wear, or eat, or even what to do sometimes. You don’t want to know how long it took me to decide what to wear this evening.”

“Oh, that’s okay?—”

“How long?” Nathan interrupted John.

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