Page 77 of My So-Called Perfect Life
“You bought all this to distract yourself from me?” His voice is oozing with smugness. “All because you didn’t want to give in to me. All those brush-offs when you really wanted to say yes? Oh, Dani Girl, you should’ve just given in.”
I step back to give myself some breathing room. Mostly because I don’t want to lose my job for having sex on my desk. “There’s no need to be cocky.”
Ryan’s laugh booms throughout the room, echoing off the walls. “It can’t be counted as being cocky if it’s true.”
Sexual energy fills the room. A tension crackles in the air around us. I don’t have to be a science teacher to identify the chemistry going on in this room.
A knock at my door severs the connection that was slowly pulling my body to Ryan’s despite my best efforts, and I praise the Lord for the distraction because, for whatever reason, my reserve and willpower cease to exist around this man. His presence lures me in like the tides to the moon.
“Hello, hello,” Brooke, one of the other kindergarten teachers, says as she enters the room. “It looks great in here, Danielle. I stepped up my game after your theme last year, but you’ve outdone me again.”
Brooke and I have a healthy competition going on as to who has the more fun kindergarten room.
“What’d you do last year?” Ryan asks as Brooke takes a walk around the room.
“Dr. Seuss.”
“It was unbelievable,” Brooke adds as she comes to a stop next to us. “Each of her centers was based on a different book. She even had a class goldfish inTheCat in the Hatreading area.”
I really was so proud of my classroom last year. “Thank you.”
“Who’s this?” she asks, looking Ryan up and down. Not that I can blame her. He is a fine specimen of a man.
Ryan offers his hand. “I’m Ryan, a friend of Danielle’s.”
She takes his hand and smiles. “Nice to meet you.”
Ryan grabs the empty boxes. “I’m going to take all these boxes out to the dumpster.”
I watch shamelessly as he exits my room.
“I was going to say I’m sorry about you and Scott, but clearly, you’ve upgraded.”
I nod. “I certainly have.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ryan
“Ican’t just head outfor the weekend, Ryan,” Danielle protests. “I don’t have anything ready. I need to sit down and make a list of everything I need. Go to the store for anything I don’t have. Do laundry.”
Her reaction doesn’t surprise me. In all honesty, I was expecting this the moment the idea started working itself out in my mind. Danielle doesn’t do well without the ability to plan.
“Danielle,” I say, running my hand down her arm to her fingers, entangling them with mine, “just grab some clothes, toss ’em in a bag, and let’s go. We’re not going to the middle of nowhere. If we forget something or you need anything, we can grab it when we get there.”
She places her hands on her hips and glares at me as if she’s testing me. “And what’s the plan when we get there?”
“Plan?”
She acts as if I just told her I wanted to take her to Guantánamo rather than the beach.
“Yes, plan, Ryan.” She nods with gusto. “You just show up here and tell me you’re taking me away for the weekend. I want to know what’s going on.”
“The plan is to get out of the city for a weekend. It’s the last weekend of summer, and I thought it would be a nice surprise to take you away before school starts on Wednesday. That’s all. I’m not trying to kidnap you. No ulterior motive.” I smirk and add, “Well, maybe except to spend some time inside you.”
Her annoyance lessens slightly as her hands drop. “It’s Labor Day weekend, Ryan. Where are you going to find an open place on the beach? Where are we going to sleep? In the bed of your truck?”
I admire her need for structure and orderliness, but it makes trying to have a romantic weekend a little hard.
