Page 22 of Forbidden Pregnancy
“What’s the big deal, Myra? You don’t have a boyfriend and I don’t have a girlfriend. Though many would be honored.”
“Get a hold of yourself.”
“It’s true,” Michael says calmly. “I’m not bragging.”
“Like you weren’t bragging about being a college football player? Like you don’t show off every chance you get? Michael… How about we return to our own separate activities. I have a job to get done.”
“Grading kid homework? How hard can it be?”
“I’m busy, Michael.”
“I’m not.”
He stands up and instinctively, I stand up too. This feels like a mistake judging by the smile on Michael’s face.
“Let’s go for a walk,” he says.
“Michael…”
“I’m not trying to be an asshole,” he says. “Cosima rides over through the apple orchards and if we climb up to the guesthouse, we can get a perfect view of the riding trails and the pond.”
Under any other circumstances, the prospect of a nature walk and an easily accessible awe-inspiring view would grab my attention, but I maintain an air of cool disinterest. Does Michael really think it will be that easy to get me to let my guard down?
“I heard solo walks are the latest trend in men’s mental health.”
“Come with me,” Michael asks in a deep, commanding voice. “I’ll keep my hands off you and you can tell me all about that old book I gave you.”
“You don’t care aboutThe Song of Solomon.”
If he thought Toni Morrison was a rapper, I wouldn’t be surprised.
“I don’t,” Michael says honestly (and a little too quickly). “I care about your thoughts.”
“I doubt that.”
Michael comes over to me and presses his hand to the small of my back. I want to freeze up or accuse him of being a chauvinist, but I find the gesture oddly touching and more gentle than I expected his touch to ever feel. Foolishly, I let him guide me towards the study room’s door.
Why am I going for a walk with Michael Corsini? Why does he even want this? I feel suspicious. I’ve never had much male attention in my life and it’s hard to think of this attention from Michael as anything more than a twisted game. But I still want this job and maybe I can use this walk to get him to treat his younger sister better. That would be a victory, wouldn’t it?
Once we reach the front door, Michael holds it open for me and then slips his hand in mine. My body stiffens as I try to process him touching me at all, much less holding me in this strangely intimate manner.He’s just making sure I don’t run away.The justification makes sense and brings me a buttloadof peace as Michael points to the path and practically drags me away from the school room around the manicured grounds of the Corsini family property.
Everything about Michael’s presence makes me deeply nervous. What do men built like Greek statues even talk about… aside from football. I can’t make conversation about wide receiver Stevie Johnson or Kyle Williams all day. I honestly can’t even make it past this sentence talking about football. When we step outside together, Michael stands close enough to me that his arm brushes up against mine, there’s no more pressure for me to speak.
“Cosima looks forward to your lessons every week. I hope she doesn’t scare you off.”
“Cosima won’t scare me off.”
He looks over at me calmly, as usual, but with red across his cheeks. “I hope I don’t scare you off either.”
“That’s far more likely than Cosima scaring me off,” I answer honestly, and perhaps too quickly considering Michael has the power to fire me at a moment’s notice.
He chuckles at my push back.
“Don’t stop fighting me,” he says. “I don’t want to end up… being cruel to my sister.”
“She’s one of the best kids I’ve tutored, honestly. You don’t have to be so hard on her.”
“I do,” Michael responds, his voice tense and impatient.
