Page 36 of Molly's Mr. Wrong
SINCEMOLLYHADblocked Blake’s new number, she had no idea if he’d called again. She’d found that there was a pattern to his calls—when he hit a rough spot, he called, and since he was an aging athlete in a profession that was prone to upsets, he seemed to be hitting more and more rough patches. At least he hadn’t shown up on her doorstep, and hopefully he would end up on the opposite side of the country when he was traded. That happy thought got Molly through her first two classes. She settled at her desk with a cup of coffee during the hour she had off between her two literature classes and typed Blake’s name into a search engine.
Florida. Please, Florida...
Not Florida.
Molly read the lead twice. Blake Cook was no longer playing—he had just signed on as a manager/coach for a Montana team. The Butte Tommyknockers.
Damn it all.
Had this been one of the things he’d tried to tell her Friday night? No doubt.
It doesn’t matter. It isn’t like he’s going to stalk you. Much.
Molly jumped to her feet. She needed to move. She really needed to move. So she did—flat into Finn’s chest as he walked into her office.
“Oh. Sorry.” She felt her cheeks start to flame as she took a stumbling step backward. “I can’t even blame this on not wearing my glasses.” Which had slid to the end of her nose in the impact. She pushed them back into place with her forefinger.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
“You look rattled.”
Probably because she was rattled. Rattled by the fact that Blake was once again in her part of the country. Rattled that when Finn had reached out to take her arm to steady her, she’d almost forgotten. Her awareness of this guy was ridiculous and in some ways worse than it’d been back in her teen crush years. It didn’t help matters that he actually looked concerned about her.
“What happened, Molly?”
She shrugged and adjusted her glasses one more time. “You startled me. That’s all. How can I help you?”
He gave her a look that clearly said that she wasn’t fooling him. Old Molly, awkward Molly, tried to take over and start blushing or something, but new Molly was having none of that. She nodded at the papers in Finn’s hand. “English, I assume?”
He gave an unsmiling nod, his gaze still holding hers.
“I tried to work ahead on those sites you gave me. I kind of hit a wall with the online stuff. I’m missing as many as I’m getting right and I need a shove in the right direction. And these are your Monday office hours. Right?”
“Right.” She took his papers and started looking them over. “I’m glad you came by.”
“That bad?”
She looked over the top of her glasses. “No. I mean the last time you were in my office...” Her voice trailed off and she realized that she didn’t want to say anything that would keep him from coming back if he needed help. Personal feelings and prejudices aside, her job was to teach him English.
“When I asked you to coffee and you said no.”
“It wasn’t personal.”
He gave her aReally?look and Molly felt her color start to rise.Go away, old Molly.
“All right,” she conceded. “A little personal.” She heard a tiny squeak as she spoke and frowned at Finn, who shifted uncomfortably. He put his hand in his roomy hoodie pouch, but she would have sworn the pocket moved before he’d stuck his hand inside.
“I...uh...” He looked over his shoulder. “Have a friend with me.” He pulled a tiny gray kitten out of his pocket.
Molly’s eyes went wide. “Where did you get that?”
“Under my porch. Last week. Something happened to the mother, I guess, after she stashed him there. She hasn’t been back.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve left food out. Nothing. Mike and I are sharing custody because it involves feeding him every three hours. It’s my turn to take him and I was on my way home.”
