Samantha
The first week wasa little awkward. Dax kept his distance, but we finally settled into a bit of a routine. He went to work and Bow went to school, so I was left at the old lighthouse by myself.
I was more than a little curious about the man I was living with. He was considerate and kind. The way he was with his daughter made my heart melt a little bit. Dax loved Bow, it was easy to see. The haunted look in his eyes didn’t seem to be so bad when he was with her. It was when he looked at me that I saw the wariness enter his gaze.
“You ok?” I asked when I walked into the kitchen and found him sitting at the table with binders scattered across the surface.
His coffee mug was empty, so without thinking anything of it, I picked it up to refill it.
“Thanks,” he mumbled and gave me a brief look before going over the paperwork in front of him. “I have two players that are about to be riding the bench if they can’t get their grades up, so I’m trying to figure out how to move the players around to cover their loss.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, especially since they are two of my better players. We aren’t like the big schools. These kids aren’t getting big scholarships to come to our school and play. They come here and play because they love it and just want to continue playing. They know it won’t be what they end up doing with their lives.”
“Not unlike you.” I smiled gently but he stiffened like I’d just slapped him in the face.
“Yeah.” His tone was gruff and frosty and I knew I’d made a mistake.
“What are they struggling with?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“Both are struggling with calculous and one of them is having a hard time in communications also, which isn’t a shock because he’s pretty shy.”
I considered what I was about to offer, knowing he might take it as an insult or me butting into his professional life, but I had to try and build some kind of relationship with him. Bow and I were doing great, but I couldn’t say the same thing for me and her father.
“I could tutor them,” I offered nonchalantly. This could move us forward or blow up in my face. I wasn’t sure which way it would go.
“Why would you want to do that?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and it was then I realized that I was going to have the battle of my life to win him over and gain his trust.
“First to help you out. That’s what family does, right? If we are going to get married, even if it is an arrangement of convenience,” I added when it looked like he was about to cut me off. “If we are going to get married, I want us to be friends. Friends help.” I shrugged.
“And second?” he asked, his jaw clenching down on the question.
“And second. I would love to have something to do while Bow is at school, and this would be perfect because they won’t be needing me when they are off playing ballgames when they are with you.” I looked around the room, considering how to word what I was feeling without offending him or sending me packing.
“I’m not sure I was made to be a housewife. I can cook basics, but I like working and being outside the home. Plus when Bow isn’t here, I’m pretty bored.”
He considered me for a minute. “I read about your wedding in the paper.” I sat back and let out a heavy breath when he paused. This was it—we were going to have that conversation. “Why’d you run?”
“I couldn’t marry a man that had been lying to me for two years.” I looked him in the eye. “I can handle anything as long as you’re up front honest and I know the score going in, but I couldn’t marry a man who cheated on me for two years while telling me he loved me.”
“I don’t like liars either.” He nodded, understanding. “Since neither of us like liars, we can agree to never lie to each other.”
“Yes.”
“Alright. You can tutor the guys, but it won’t be for free, and it will be at the school library. I don’t want the players here. I try to keep my personal life and work life separate, and even having you tutor the guys is blurring those lines more than I’d like.”
“Understood. What do you want me to tell them about who I am?”
He groaned and slid his hand down his face and across the dark blond shadow coming in on his jaw.
“Fuck. I honestly don’t know.”
“I can be a tutor that you found for them. It doesn’t have to be more than that, especially if I’m meeting them at the school. Other than me tutoring them, they don’t have to know we have anything to do with each other.”
“Yeah, let’s keep this under wraps, for now. I hadn’t figured out how to explain you yet, and I wasn’t expecting to let my two worlds collide overnight.” He pushed away from the table and grabbed the coffee I’d just poured him. “Plus, the month isn’t up yet. We don’t know what will happen between now and then.”
In other words, he was already preparing to send me packing, and I was becoming more determined to stay.