Page 22 of Trick or Treat

She took a deep breath and explained the differences she’d seen. “When he’s with his mom, he sometimes comes in late for school and she never signs the papers I send home. Sometimes his clothes look like they need to be washed.” She held her hand up quickly, clarifying. “Not that that doesn’t happen to everyone from time to time. He also comes to school tired and he’s more short-tempered and aggressive on the playground.”

“Aggressive how?” The more she told him, the more agitated he was getting. She reached out and covered his fist with her hand, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

“He never starts anything on the playground, but when he perceives someone is being bullied, he steps in and has shoved a couple of kids to the ground.”

“I’m sorry, isn’t that a good thing that he’s standing up for someone being bullied?”

“Well, yes, but in third grade, we try to teach them to work things out without getting in fights.” She watched him as he absorbed what she was telling him. She squeezed his hand again. “Look, I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. This clearly upsets you.”

“No. It’s fine. Tell me the rest. You’ve got something else to say so spit it out.”

She took a deep breath and released it before she continued. “There have been a few times his mom has forgotten to pick him up after school. The poor thing was scared, so I sat with him until she showed up.”

Trick closed his eyes and she could see the muscles in his jaw ticking. Clear signs he wasn’t taking this well.

“What time does she show up?”

She really wasn’t sure she wanted to answer that.

“Tell me,” he commanded.

“Five o’clock. We spend that time with Keegan reading to me. He’s a very good storyteller.”

“I’m sorry about that. I wish I could say that things will be getting better, but I honestly don’t know when. I’ve got an attorney who’s trying to help me get custody of my kids. Their mom’s not in a good place right now and I’ve been worried.” He absently rubbed at his jaw.

“I can clearly see how much Keegan means to you. I’m sorry if what I’ve said has upset you. That wasn’t my intention.”

“No. You’re fine. I want you to always tell me what’s going on with my son.” He picked up a pen and a sticky note. He wrote down his cell phone number, his brother Owen’s, and Jackson’s. “If you ever need to get a hold of me or his mom doesn’t show up to pick him up, you call this number. If you can’t reach me, call one of these two numbers. They’ll either know how to reach me or I’ll send one of them.” He stood and looked down at her. “Is that everything you wanted to tell me?”

“Yes.”

“All right then. I need to get home so I can talk to my son.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek before she realized he was going to do it. “Thank you. I appreciate your honesty.”

At the door, he turned and said, “What happened here tonight between you and me,” he waved his hand back and forth between them, “was not a mistake.” He winked at her and left her wondering what just happened. And what exactly did he mean by that last part?

The sound of her phone dinging, indicating she’d just gotten a text, drew her attention. She picked up her phone and saw that she had a message from Kurtis. “Oh crap.”

So caught up in what she was doing with Trick, she’d forgotten that she had agreed to meet Kurtis for drinks tonight. They’d tried to get together once before, but it didn’t work out. He’d had to call at the last minute to cancel, saying he had to take care of some emergency at work. She still wasn’t clear on what exactly he did for a living. She didn’t ask because she thought it could be something they’d have to talk about when they finally met up.

Damn it. What was she going to do? She couldn’t very well leave here and meet up with Kurtis. It didn’t feel right to go meet one man while smelling of another. Some women might not see a problem with it, but Lindsey did. She could go home and get a quick shower, then meet up with Kurtis, but that didn’t sound very appealing either. What she really wanted to do was go home, get her shower, kill some time watching television, then slip into bed and replay the whole thing with Trick over in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

She took a deep breath and texted Kurtis.

I’m sorry. Meetings taking longer than I thought. Can we reschedule?She didn’t think it would be a problem considering he canceled on her once before.

Sorry to hear that. I completely understand. We’ll try again in a few days.

Thanks for understanding. Looking forward to seeing you.

She gave it a minute to see if he would respond. When nothing immediately came through, she got her things together and headed home.

As soon as Lindsey made it home, she dropped her purse on the kitchen counter and went straight to the shower. She couldn’t help it. The small taste of Trick left her wanting more. She was so turned on, she could barely stand it. Standing under the hot water, she closed her eyes and imagined Trick’s hands on her. Sliding her hand down her flat stomach, she jerked and gasped at the first contact of her fingers on her clit. Closing her eyes, she worked herself between her legs with one hand while pulling at her nipples with her other. It didn’t take long before she was coming. It wasn’t as good as Trick, but it wasn’t too shabby either. It just left her feeling hollow. Maybe she should be embarrassed at how quickly she was able to bring herself to orgasm, but she couldn’t find it in herself to be.

With her immediate need to get off taken care of, she dried off and climbed into bed. Naked. She never did that and had to admit it felt indecent. She fell asleep with a smile on her face and dreamed of her shaggy blond-haired biker with his coffee brown eyes. See, that was the thing about dreams. Anything was possible when she was dreaming. Even the possibility that a sexy man like Trick could be interested in a quiet elementary school teacher like herself.

“Hey,”Trick called out as he closed the door to Jackson’s house behind him.

“In the kitchen,” Calliope called out.

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