When the children began filing into the room from outside, Kiley breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t that she was afraid of Josh. But being alone with him made her feel jumpy and she welcomed the distraction of a roomful of toddlers and preschoolers. She wasn’t at all happy about the effect he had on her and refused to think about why he made her feel that way. She was almost certain she wouldn’t like the answer.
“After you’ve hung up your coats, I want you all to come over to the carpet and sit down, please,” she announced to the children. “We’re going to practice our songs for your Christmas program before you go home this afternoon.”
Her daughter ran over to wrap her arms around one of Kiley’s legs, then looked up at her and giggled. “Me sing.”
“That’s right, Emmie,” Kiley said, stroking her daughter’s dark blond hair as she smiled down at the only good to come out of her brief marriage. “Can you go over and sit with Elaina and Bobby so we can get started, please?”
Emmie nodded, then hurried over to join her two friends where they sat with the rest of the toddlers.
“Miss Kiley, Jimmy Joe Harper pulled my hair,” Sarah Bartlett accused, glaring at the little boy seated beside her.
“Jimmy Joe, did you pull Sarah’s hair again?” Even before he nodded, one look at the impish grin on the child’s face told Kiley that he had. “I’m sorry, but I told you that if you pulled Sarah’s pigtails again you’d have to sit in the ‘time out’ corner for five minutes.”
Without further instruction, the child obediently got to his feet and walked over to sit in a chair by himself in the far corner of the room. When she noticed Josh glancing from her to Jimmy Joe in the “time out” corner, Kiley raised an eyebrow. “Is there something wrong?”
“You didn’t even have to tell him to go over there,” he said, sounding as if he couldn’t quite believe a child would willingly accept his punishment. “And he didn’t protest at all.”
“Jimmy Joe is no stranger to the ‘time out’ corner,” Kiley answered, smiling fondly at the adorable red-haired little boy. “He loves aggravating Sarah.”
Josh looked confused. “Why?”
“Because he likes her.” Kiley turned to her assistant. “Could you please pass out the bells and candy canes, Carrie?”
“I see,” Josh said as a slow grin curved the corners of his mouth. “In other words, he’s teasing her to keep her attention focused on him.”
“Something…like that,” Kiley said, her breath catching at how handsome Josh looked when he smiled.
As her assistant finished handing each child an oversize bell or a giant plastic candy cane, Kiley queued up the music on her CD player and purposely avoided looking at Josh. He made her nervous and she wished he would leave. But it appeared as if he intended to stay for a while.
Deciding that as long as he was there, he might as well participate, she picked up one of the bells and shoved it into his hand. “I assume you know the words to ‘Jingle Bells’?”
He looked surprised, then determined as he shook his head. “Yes, I’m familiar with the song, but I’m afraid I can’t stay. I promised a friend I would stop by his place this afternoon and I’m already running late.”
“That’s a shame,” she lied. She had accomplished what she set out to do. He was going to leave. She couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe another time.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he said, sounding doubtful. He reached out and, taking her hand in his, placed the bell in the center of her palm, then gently folded her fingers around it with his other hand. “Will you be free tomorrow evening?”
Startled by his unexpected question and the warmth of his hands holding hers, she stared at him a moment before she managed to find her voice. “Wh-why?”
“I’d like to discuss a couple of things with you,” he said evasively. He gave her a smile that made her insides flutter. “Unfortunately, I don’t have time to talk to you about it now. I’ll come by here around five-thirty on Friday evening and we’ll have dinner in the club’s restaurant. They have an excellent menu and we’ll be able to talk without interruption.”
Kiley opened her mouth to refuse, but when he tenderly caressed her hand with his, she forgot anything she was about to say. As she watched him walk across the room to the door, she shook her head in an effort to regain her equilibrium.
What was Josh up to? And what did he think they needed to discuss? She had been quite clear when she spoke to the funding committee about the use of the extra money for the day care center. Surely he couldn’t want to talk about what happened that night….