Page 18 of Welcome to Forever
They walked at a comfortable distance from each other down the row of flowers he’d planted the week before.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry about last night.”
She looked up. “Don’t apologize. It was my idea.”
“To pretend we were a couple maybe, but I got carried away.” Securing the ball cap on his head, he slid her a glance. “I forgot about your fiancé. Guess I just got wrapped up in the moment. When I got home, I couldn’t sleep. Kissing you was way out of line, and I’m sorry.”
Guilt wasn’t the only reason he couldn’t sleep, though. It’d been a long time since a kiss had made him ache for more. And he’d ached last night in every part of his body.
She stopped walking and faced him. “Really. You don’t have to—”
“If I was the man marrying you, I’d be furious if someone kissed my fiancée.” He cleared his throat and planted his gaze on the mower in the distance. When he looked at her, all he could think about was pulling her to him and kissing her again. And how sweet that kiss had been, or how long it’d been since he’d kissed a woman and felt anything. He certainly hadn’t with Nicole.
“It’s fine,” she said quietly.
He shook his head. “I don’t want some guy trying to beat me up.”
“Trying?”
His gaze returned to her. “Yeah, well, I haven’t seen the guy, but I’m pretty confident in my ability to take care of myself.”
She laughed, the sound so sweet that he had the urge to make her laugh again. Time to mow the lawn before his palms started sweating like a high school kid with a tank-sized crush. “Well, that’s all I wanted to say…Oh.” He reached inside the pocket of his jeans, well aware that her gaze traveled down to watch. “I found this.”
“My keys! Where did you find them?”
“I went back to Kirk’s this morning. The cashier said someone left them in the bathroom overnight.”
Her hand brushed against his knuckles as she grabbed the keys, her skin soft like silk. He wondered if the rest of her felt the same. He had to stop having these thoughts. She was getting married, and not to him. And she was Ben’s principal. Two very good reasons to leave her alone.
“Thank you. I had a spare set, but it was giving me the creeps having my keys out there for anyone to use. I was considering leaving early today and getting my locks changed.” She laughed lightly.
“Youshouldleave early some days. You know what they say about all work and no play,” he said.
“It makes a boring Jane. Yes, I know. My mother used to tell me that all the time.”
Jessica crossed Micah’s mind. His ex was definitely more work than play. “I suspect
you’re anything but boring.” He watched her throat constrict as she swallowed. It was pull her in for another kiss or walk away, which is what he should’ve done last night. He tipped his head toward the mower. “I have to get to work.”
“All work and no play,” she teased, tossing his own words back at him.
“Thisismy play,” he said, readjusting his hat. “See you later, Kat.” Then, he headed toward his fully-loaded John Deere mower. There was nothing better than taking a ride and letting the vibration shake the stress off his body.
Nothing better.
Except maybe watching a beautiful principal stoop to admire his flowers as her knee-length skirt slid up the backs of her thighs. She had nice, long legs. Standing again, she started to walk away. She also had a nice…
He kicked the lawnmower into gear with a loud roar of its engine.
She was a beautiful, engaged principal, who, for all he knew, was just as much all-work-and-no-play as Ben’s mother—not what he needed. In fact, Kat Chandler was thelastthing he needed in his personal life right now.
—
Kat entered the school and stopped for moment, letting the cool air-conditioning hit her heated cheeks. It was hot outside for the beginning of September, and Micah Peterson hadn’t helped to cool her down.
“Yeah, he’s hot,” came a lilting voice across the lobby.
Kat’s eyes flung open. “I didn’t know you were standing there.”
