Page 16 of Confessions of a High School Guidance Counselor

I bit my lip, taking him in. Not knowing his name didn’t keep me from imagining his hands all over me. But first things first. “My name’s Birdie Melrose. What’s yours?”

He let out half a laugh and smiled. “Cohen Bardot.”

Feeling better, I nodded and smiled, then got into his fancy car.

He pulled out of the club parking lot and started down the street.

“Where do you live?” I asked, gently tugging my shirt so it would hide the way my thighs pressed together when I sat down. My cellulite was on full display, even in the dim lighting. Something told me Cohen could have any girl he wanted, and I didn’t want to get counted out because of my size.

“Downtown Emerson,” he said simply.

My eyebrows drew together. “Are you going the wrong way?”

“Not quite.”

“Does that mean you’re going to murder me?” I asked. “Because downtown is that way and we’re going this way.”

He chuckled. “I have another stop to make first.”

I closed my eyes, not wanting to hear his answer. “Where?”

“The store.” He glanced at the dash. “If I drive fast enough, we’ll get there before it closes.”

It was almost ten o’clock now. “I have condoms,” I blurted. Then I covered my mouth. How awkward could I be? “Not that we’re going to need them—I mean, I hope we need them, and I always practice safe sex, but, just in case, you know, we do need them and you don’t have them and that’s why you’re going to the store, I....have them.”

My cheeks burned, and his profile revealed an amused smile, making my humiliation that much worse.

“You talk a lot when you’re nervous, don’t you?”

“To be fair, I talk a lot most of the time. It’s kind of my job.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Talk show host?”

I snorted. “Hardly. I’m a guidance counselor.”

“Doing important work. Not like the barkeep with the dirty bathrooms.”

“Your work felt pretty important tonight,” I admitted.

“Yeah?” he said, turning down another street.

“My friend practically dragged me out. She thought I needed...to meet new people.”

He smirked, and God, that was sexier than all the other looks combined. “Remind me to thank her.”

Did that mean there was going to be a time when he met my friends? A time past tonight?

Mara would have kicked me if she heard my train of thought. This was supposed to be a rebound. R-E-B-O-U-N-D. My chance to get back on the horse, not buy the horse and the cow and take them home to live happily ever after. Or whatever you do with a horse and cow. I’m not very ag savvy.

I had to get out of this mental funk. This thought that sex had to end in happily ever after. Or that I’d ever live happily ever after.

My eyes stung. “What store are we going to?” I asked, hoping for a good distraction and praying he wouldn’t see my shining eyes.

“Marshall’s,” he said. “I know it’s not anything fancy, but nothing else is open, and I owe you a new dress.”

My eyes widened. He wanted to take me shopping for a new dress? He was good lookingandkind? Okay, that was joint bank account material.

I closed my eyes again, forcing my mind away from forever. I just learned his name, after all.

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