“Yeah?”
I grab an extra box of Twinkies and hold it aloft. “If you help me make a delivery tonight, I’ll have Twinkies with you.”
Chapter Two
Quinn
These cookies are ridonkulous.
Yeah, I’m the new guy they hired to teach English at this school, but that’s the only word I can come up with to describe what’s in my mouth.
I mean, who in their right mind wastes top-notch chocolate chip homemade cookies on a PTA meeting?
I grab two more as it looks like most of the people here are not paying any mind to the sweets; all these well-dressed parents seem to be gathered in small pods, discussing important matters. A few of them glance my way with flirtatious curiosity, watching me move across the room to take a seat among the rows of folding chairs, and I cannot contain my smile. My face is surely giving away every thought racing through my head about the amazing woman I met Friday night.
And now, three days later, the memory of Mal is getting in the way of me mentally preparing for this meeting—a meeting of all the prominent parents at this school, from whom I’m about to ask a huge favor.
If I want funds to take my students halfway across the country, I have to get serious.
Still I can’t help but let my brain wander back to that oddly magical evening. One moment I let my cart run away while looking at the Little Debbie snack cakes, and the next minute I’m helping the most deliciously curvaceous woman I’ve ever seen haul box after box of homemade goodies into a splashy anniversary party full of complete strangers.
I liked the way she had looked me up and down and asked me, “You got enough muscles under that flannel to help me unload some cupcakes?”
The sparkle in her eye touched off something dark and needful in me. I was ready to respond by ripping off my shirt to let her see for herself.
I’m not a totally muscular dude, and I might be a little soft in the middle. But I am big and pretty strong.
The evening got even weirder when the golden anniversary couple invited us in to the party to eat dinner.
Mal and I insisted on eating in the kitchen, away from the party guests. I was happy to have her all to myself, to be honest. She’s light, bubbly, and full of energy like nobody else I’ve ever met. I loved listening to her talk.
“Well, this is better than Twinkies,” she’d said. “Speaking of which, I should really be getting home soon to start working on my neighbor’s kid’s birthday Minion cupcakes.”
“Minion cupcakes?”
She nodded. “That's what the Twinkies are for. You cut them up and pop them on top of the cupcakes, attach googly eyes and boom. Minion
s.”
I remarked that it didn’t seem like all that much work, especially if she just used a box mix for the cupcakes themselves. She’d made me laugh when she pretended to stab herself in the chest.
“Bite your tongue, sir! Nothing made in my kitchen comes from a box from the store.”
“Except for the Twinkies, right?”
Mal narrowed her eyes.
“Why are you teasing me?”
“I’m not making a very good impression for a first date, am I?”
“This is a date?”
I smiled and finally decided to be forward, covering her hand with mine where hers rested on the table top.
“Definitely the best first date I’ve ever had,” I blurted out.
Her eyes widened. But she didn’t pull her hand away. It stayed there, soft and warm under mine. I had a mind to pick it up and kiss the back of it.