She had a feeling the shower she would be taking when she got home would be longer than usual thanks to this man. Thank God for pulsating shower heads.
AFTER ANSWERING AT least the fiftieth phone call of the day asking if school was closed on Monday, Kayla let out a deep sigh. “What a day,” she said, hanging up on yet another mother who had forgotten that teacher-parent conferences were on the following Monday, not this upcoming one.
She was getting ready for her lunch and sat at her desk waiting for the clock to drag itself to noon so she could have some time away from the phone. Today she really needed a break from the chaos, or a winning lottery number, or something positive to happen...
“Excuse me, ma’am? I’m here to pick up my daughter.”
Turning around she forced a nice welcoming smile to her lips...and then couldn’t help but laugh. “Hello again, Seth.”
He shook his head and smiled back. “So we meet again.” He shook his head. “I got a call from the nurse’s office that my daughter wasn’t feeling well. Her name is Hannah.”
“Give me a moment. I’ll go check with the nurse.”
Kayla knew Seth was probably watching her as she walked down the corridor. He had always enjoyed watching her walk away. She had a sway in her step that accentuated her ass. And she knew it, because he’d told her about it a long time ago.
Sure enough, a little girl, who looked very much like her daddy, was sitting quietly in the nurse’s room, swinging her feet.
“Hi,” said Kayla. “You must be Hannah.”
The little girl’s head lifted. “Is my dad here?”
“He sure is, honey. Let’s go find him, so he can take you home.” She couldn’t stop herself from resting a hand on the smooth forehead, and sure enough the little girl was warm.
“A bit of a fever, I think,” said the nurse, walking in. “But nothing too serious. She might be starting a cold, but it doesn’t look like either an ear or a throat infection. Best guess? Allergies. Probably find out they run in the family.”
Kayla smiled and took Hannah’s hand. “Let’s go sweetie.”
Hannah obediently stood and impressed Kayla by thanking the nurse. Obviously, she’d inherited a good chunk of her dad’s gift for charming people.
Taking her back to Seth, Kayla told him what the nurse had said.
“Yeah, it’s possible. Her mom had a bit of trouble with tree pollen. I’ll ask her pediatrician next time we see him if he can check her out. Maybe have something handy she can take if it gets to be a nuisance.”
Hannah stood looking up at her dad and Kayla as they spoke, her head moving back and forth as if she was watching the last set of a tennis match. “Dad? Dad...dad...dad? Can we go now?”
“Oh sorry Hannah. Sure baby. Grab your sweater we’ll head for home.” He smiled at his daughter, then looked back up. “Thanks, Kayla, for helping out. You know, we should go out sometime. Grab a coffee maybe. Catch up, all that stuff.”
“Sure, anytime. You know where I am.” Kayla cringed at her comment.
Really? Anytime? I’m such an idiot. I should’ve said yeah, how about tomorrow night?
KAYLA HAD JUST SLATHERED on a face mask, her hair was a tangled mess, she cradled a large bowl of ice cream and cookies in her lap, had her favorite rock band T-shirt and pajama pants on—when the phone rang. One look at the caller ID and she cursed long and loud. “Oh shitpissfuck, it’s Seth”
As if it mattered she put down the ice cream and answered the phone while trying to straighten her hair. “Hello?”
“Hey there, Kayla. I was wondering if you were doing anything Saturday evening? I’d love to get together and catch up on things. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I’m free, since Hannah goes to her mom’s this weekend.”
“Let me check...ummm, yeah, it looks like I’ll be free, I mean I don’t have any plans.”
“Awesome. I mean that’s great.” He cleared his throat. “Would you be okay going to Vegas and for dinner? It’s a nice drive. Not like a date or anything, just friends hooking up. I mean—uh—catching up.”
“Actually, that sounds nice. I haven’t gone anywhere at all since I got back and it would be really nice to see the lights again.”
“Awesome, awesome. I’ll pick you up around four. If that works for you.”
“That’ll be perfect. See you then.”
After hanging up the phone, Kayla leaned back on the couch and retrieved her ice cream. “Yessss, score.”