Page 41 of Sweet Poison

“Methinks Principal Moore is trying to play matchmaker.”

I could feel my whole face blaze while the girls cackled like a clan of hyenas at my discomfort.

* * *

While the rest of the day wore on, no matter how I tried, I couldn’t take my mind off the impending dinner. I wondered if the girls were right. My dad had taken a shine to Cole and thought he would make a suitable suitor for his daughter.

Eventually, the end of the day came to pass, and I grew even more horribly nervous. My stomach was in knots and I actually felt queasy. I usually waited in the playground with my students until they were picked up by their parents. Thus, more often than not, I was exchanging pleasantries and meeting a lot of their parents on a daily basis.

I wanted to avoid meeting with Cole, but I was sure it would start unnecessary gossip and speculation about why I was behaving so differently since Cole showed up. So, I sucked it up and stayed in the playground. My heart was doing somersaults when he arrived.

"Treat him like all others," I chanted to myself over and over again, but I soon realized that might draw even more attention because the moment he arrived, he became an incredibly hot topic, actually, the only topic of conversation for the moms who had come to pick up their kids.

I’m not a materialistic person but when I saw him get out of his car, I felt there was something quite off to me, though. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but his car simply didn’t suit him. Why would a man as worldly and sophisticated as him drive a car like that? Was that his idea of what a small-town hick drove and he was trying to blend in?

But the moms, I noted very clearly, didn’t raise any brows at anything other than the man himself. They all turned from where they had gathered chatting and watched him until he came over to where I was with the kids.

“Daddy!” Anya called as she hurried over to him.

He lowered himself down to her height and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and I knew then that he was legit. At least with her. No kid was that happy to see their parents if they weren’t showered with all the affection and love in the world. With her hand tightly in his he straightened and looked at me.

“How was the day, Miss Moore?” he asked.

I could hardly believe this man had laid with me. Seen me naked. Eaten me out. Oh God! I pretended to brush away at a fluff on the sleeve of my top, so I didn’t have to look at him and could clear my thoughts.

“Um … it was good. Same old, same old.”

“How did Anya adjust?”

I smiled at her. “Pretty well. She’s incredibly active. She might still have some dirt under her nails from working in the flower bed with the other kids, so please wash her hands when she gets home. She’s already done so here, but I’ve taught them to do it again as soon as they return home.”

“Will do,” he said, his gaze once again meeting mine.

At that moment one of the parents detached herself from the group and sauntered over to him.

“Hello,” Marylin Davis greeted. She was a good-looking, slim, fashionable woman in her late twenties. She wore a tight-fitting pink T-shirt and a pair of low-waisted jeans that showed off the strip of flat golden skin on her midriff. Her son was in Pearl's class.

“Hello, Mrs. Davis,” I greeted, but I had apparently turned invisible. Or perhaps she just hadn’t heard me since she was giving her full attention to Cole, I mean, fluttering her eyelashes and all that.

“Whatever,” I muttered under my breath.

I felt unreasonably jealous and irritated. I knew I should expect it though, given the specimen of a man standing before me. Mrs. Davis held out her hand, all sickly smiles, and googly doe eyes, but Cole only looked at her with cold detachment. He wasn’t scowling, but there was something about his demeanor that made him instantly unapproachable. Had she paid attention she would have realized it too, but she was too taken by his physical presence and to notice such nuances.

“You’re new here, right?” she cooed. I noticed she had retained his hand in a handshake. “I’m Arnold’s mother. He is in third grade along with the older kids.”

“Oh, right.” He nodded and gently pulled his hand away. “I’m Cole, and this is Anya.”

“Nice to meet you, Anya. I’m Marilyn.”

Anya however, frowned at her. It was quite amusing and I was secretly happy the smart girl was not responding to Mrs. Davis’ fake overtures. I turned to look at Cole to see his reaction, and to my surprise, I saw him watching me. Marilyn looked up then too, and I don’t think she was particularly happy to see that Cole was watching me rather than her.

“She must be really shy,” she said to Cole, “but don’t worry, it’s because she’s new. She’ll loosen up soon and have a wonderful time with the other kids.”

Cole lowered his gaze down to his daughter. “Are you shy?”

“No,” she replied.

I choked down a laugh. I had to quickly cough to cover the laugh up. Marilyn turned to me, but luckily, I was saved from eye contact because a couple of the other moms had started to walk in our direction as well.

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