Page 63 of Caught Stealing

Chapter Twenty-Five

Andrew

I said it once, and I'll say it again. There is beautiful, and then there is Charlotte Clarke. And I mean it when I say the woman’s beauty only increases every time I see her, but there is something about her in a flowery summer dress that has my heart beating wild and free. It fits her feminine curves just right and the blue matches her eyes. I can hardly stand to look at her. I shouldn’t, because I’m pretty sure every time I do, her students notice I’m drooling like a hound dog with a fresh bone. There’s no chance her hair is pinned up in a messy bun as an afterthought, not when she keeps sending me those flirty smiles and casually brushing the loose tendrils at the nape of her neck back into the bun. Those dang freckles.

“She have any single sisters?” Koa asks with his eyes trained on Lottie.

I shove him and scowl. “Keep your eyes to yourself, and no, her sister is already married.”

Koa shrugs and raises his hands in defense. “Listen, it’s hard not to notice how gorgeous she is. Didn’t hurt to see if she had any single relatives, okay?”

I know he’d never ease in on my girl, but I can’t help the jealousy that rages through me whenever a man looks her way a little too long. And boy, are they looking. This fundraiser is going to be the death of me.

“Okay, you all know the drill. Man your stations and don’t leave them unless there is an emergency. I’m going to show Mr. Rossi to the dunk tank. Do not annoy Mr. Keaton to death while I’m gone. Do your assigned jobs," Lottie says.

With her dismissal, dozens of students scatter to their designated stations. I have no idea why I agreed to get dunked all day, but at the time I was willing to do anything she wanted. I still am, but now that I’m about to get soaked by the school’s baseball team, I realize what a foolish agreement it was. I should have volunteered to run the ring toss.

Her dress billows in the light breeze and she scrunches her nose when she approaches me. “Are you sure you’re up for this? I don’t want your shoulder to get injured again.”

I rotate my arm and check it out. “Nah, it’s feeling good and I’m not sure how much damage they can do making me fall into a tank of water.”

“All right then, follow me.” She raises her hands as if I’m not sure what I’m getting into. Maybe I don’t know, but no matter how bad it gets, I’m still going to do it for her. The tank is the customary size of a dunk tank but the line already forming to send me to my doom is impressive. It’s mostly the school’s baseball team hoping to sink me, but the only one I’m really worried about is their pitcher. I’ve seen his stats, and he’s pretty good.

“Destiny, I have our torture subject,” Lottie says and squeezes a woman’s arm. When she turns around, I recognize her from The Salty Dog. “Did I mention she's the one who gave me the card about the app? She’s actually engaged to a Predators player.”

I offer my hand even though I want to hug this woman for getting Lottie on that app.

“It’s nice to see you again, Destiny. Thanks for slipping that card to this one.” I nudge Lottie with my hip and she blushes. “Owen Fields and I have been friends forever. You know him?”

“I do! I didn’t know you were friends with him. His wife and I spend a lot of time together. She’s actually going to be one of my bridesmaids!”

“No kidding? What a small world.” I ruffle my hair and glance at Lottie. I can’t help wondering if she’ll invite me to the wedding as her date. I’m sure she’s been invited, but rather than look back at me, she opens the door to the dunk tank.

“All right, we can connect all of the degrees of separation between you two later. That line is getting anxious to impress you, Mr. Rossi.” Lottie nods toward the teenagers chomping at the bit.

“Duty calls.” I tip my head to Destiny and climb into the tank of death.

Lottie circles around to the front and starts selling tickets while Destiny directs kids and parents to where they can throw the ball at a little red dot. The first dozen kids miss by a mile, but then that pitcher steps up and hammers me. I go down into the water like a sack of potatoes, only to emerge from it amidst the shrill laughter of teenagers. It’ll be worth it to raise money for their school and now that I’m wet, the temperature outside doesn’t bother me as much.

“Okay, settle down. Next!” Lottie collects more money and the line continues, never seeming to slow. When the kids keep missing, I decide to start heckling them.

“You call that a throw? I was pitching better than that when I was still in diapers!” I shout at one boy who scowls and throws as hard as he can. It misses by six inches.

The crowd gets worked up a little more with each taunt until I’ve gotten the whole school going. Koa meets Lottie at the collection table. They share a laugh, but it’s impossible to hear what they’re saying from inside the tank. Now I have some insight into what a fish must feel like. More kids and parents try their hand, but I’m only dunked a grand total of three times out of over two hundred attempts. I’d say these kids need all the help Koa and I can give them, but then Lottie pulls a few bills out of her purse and hands them to Koa. He picks up a ball and drops it in her palm and I know I’m in trouble. The two were scheming all along, and I’m about to pay for it.

“What do you think you’re going to do with that?” I raise my hands high but I’m not stupid, not after that epic game of pool she played against Koa last night. Not even played. She dominated it. My friend didn’t stand a chance.

“I’m going to make you pay for all the mean things you said to my students!” Lottie puts one hand on her hip and tosses the ball up and down.

“Sorry to say, this is harder than it looks, darling.” I cross my arms, taunting her further. I want to see her get fired up again, really push her into her competitive nature. If I’m a lucky guy, maybe I’ll get a repeat of last night when she wins. Man, that kiss? Deadly. Makes me want to go ahead and put in my retirement paperwork to free up more time for kissing Lottie.

“Put him in the water, Lottie!” Koa shouts.

“Oh, I am.” She takes a step back and hurls the ball harder than I anticipated, but…she misses.

“Too bad, so—”

I go down when Koa smashes the lever despite her missing the mark. I’m not expecting it, so I gasp when I fall and suck in some water. I’m a sputtering mess when I emerge this time, not to mention the laughingstock of the entire carnival.

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