Page 43 of Child of Mine

You are here to do a job,Izzy reminds me.

But no one said you can’t enjoy the view while you do,Quinn adds.

When I return, both men are in the room. Sam’s focused on the two video consoles. The units are as big as a washer and dryer, so he has to stay on his feet. Unfortunately, this gives Henry the opportunity to slide a folded piece of paper across the desk to me without being detected. Suddenly, my heart’s pounding like the cute boy I’ve had a crush on all semester has finally noticed me.

Oooh, wonder what that says?Quinn asks.

Slide it back!Izzy yells.

I can’t help myself. Stealthily unfolding the piece of paper, I read:

We need to do that again.

In private.

My fingers want to find a pink marker and draw hearts and exclamation points all over the damn thing, but my brain hasn’t yet given up the ship, so I crumple it up, shove it into the bottom of my purse, and shake my head as I mouth,We do not.

He just raises one brow and sends me the sly smile. The you-know-you-want-this-as-much-as-I-do smile.

I mouth,I do not.

And kick him under the table for good measure.

He winces, but the smile stays.

Thankfully, Sam asks a question that requires our attention. We spend the next few minutes flipping back and forth between a few cuts, discussing which is more dynamic, and I think maybe I’ve done it. Shut him down. Shutusdown.

When it’s time for me to leave and pick up Lilah from a friend’s house before I head home for a quick meal, Henry stands and walks me to the door.

As he says, “See you tomorrow,” he shakes my hand.

Leaving another folded piece of paper in my palm.

I make it all the way to my car before I open it. Along with an address that I happen to know is halfway between the station and the Shakespeare Boston outdoor stage, he’s written:

Come over any evening.

I’ll be waiting.

Hal

* * *

For the next two days,every single thing about Henry has me wanting to take him up on his offer. The scruff of beard contrasting with full lips as his mouth quirks in a rare smile, the bulge of muscle straining the sleeve of his button-down shirt when he reaches across the desk, even his damn accent taunts me. Spending my workdays in a small room with him? Excruciating.

As my track record clearly shows, I can’t handle anything that makes me yearn for more. For me, rehab was mostly about being removed from temptation and then “screwing my courage to the sticking-place” as Lady M would say. Once I got through withdrawal, which was painful, I made a vow to stay away from anything that made me feel too much. Better to be numb than dead.

It worked. At least until Henry showed up.

Today, thankfully, I get an assignment that requires all of my attention and removes me from his presence. We have the go-ahead to add the computer to the show and the kids have finished recording the music for the opening number, so Carol wants me and the other APs to lead the kids in a brainstorming session to name this new character and get their buy-in.

We gather in a conference room. Armed with an oversized pad of paper on an easel and a set of colorful markers, I lay out our assignment.

As soon as they hear the words “computer” and “challenge,” they get it.

“Awesome!”

“It’s like we’ll be in a live video game!”

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