Page 54 of Falling into Place
“Nope.”
“Sit.” She pointed to the couch. “I’m starting it over.”
Chapter Fourteen
Carly
“Did you see the ballot box for Homecoming King at lunch? Who did you vote for?”
“Brooks Martin, who else?”
“Same. Last week he smiled at me in the hallway, and I swear I almost passed out. What about you, Carly? Who did you vote for?”
“Who did I what? Oh, I didn’t. I went to the library during lunch.”
—Gym class at Freemont High, sophomore year
This wasn’t her best idea.
Carly was already struggling with Brooks inserting himself into situations where he shouldn’t be—there’d been that dream the other night, and then yesterday, she imagined sharing a table at Coffee Slingers with him for no reason at all when she’d stopped in for coffee—andsomehow she’d thought it would be a good idea to invite him to watch a romantic movie with her?
Big regrets for that third glass of wine.
There were sexy parts, for crying out loud. She lived alone and only had a couch, which felt small enough to fit inside a Barbie Dreamhouse with the way Brooks’s body took up space. He’d sat about as far away from her as humanly possible, but warmth seemed to radiate off him during the heated scenes and Carly kept her eyes glued to the screen, cheeks burning.
Adult enough to casually say “dick,” my ass.
His pine-tinged scent was detectable at this range, and it saturated her senses and crossed a few wires in her brain. What would it be like to be the woman Brooks watched movies with on the regular? Was he a cuddler who could be easily distracted for a hot make-out session, or did he like to focus and catch every detail to discuss as soon as the credits rolled?
What was his favorite movie?
What was the last one he’d seen? She had so many questions. So many things she wanted to learn about him but didn’t really have the right to know. He was her client and she was part of the team preparing him to meet other women, and if she did anything to encourage these feelings, her job could be at risk.
Last but certainly not least, he wasn’t interested in her like that.
The movie ended and she shut off her wayward thoughts, putting on a confident, teasing demeanor. “Well?”
“Sorry, no tears.”
“What are you, made of stone?”
One corner of his mouth tipped up, but it wasn’t the full smile she’d come to covet. “Something like that.”
“Okay, so no crying. But did you at least like it?”
“Sure, it wasn’t bad. I love James Garner. He reminds me a little of Coach McKee. Remember him?”
It sounded familiar ... She squinted her eyes as she thought. “Wasn’t he the football coach at our high school?”
A gentle fondness passed over Brooks’s expression. “Basketball.” He paused. “He was my coach for four years and helped get me back on track after my mom died. Not before I made some big mistakes, but at the end of senior year, I finally listened.”
She’d had no idea. She hadn’t really paid attention to the school sports teams back then. Was Coach McKee the one responsible for the change in him? “It sounds like he was really special to you.”
“He was. Still is, actually. We’ve kept in touch.”
“Really? I love that. Last year, I helped Mrs. Knipplemeier find something to wear to her daughter’s wedding. Remember her?”
Brooks snorted. “Name a single teenage boy with a teacher named Knipplemeier who didn’t spend all year cracking jokes behind her back, and I’ll show you a liar. She’s probably the only teacher I’ll literally never forget.”
