Page 23 of Stone Promises

I reach into my pocket and get my wallet. I count my money. Five hundred and twenty-three dollars. I pull out everything but twenty-three and hand it to Mal. “You have a great class here and I’d hate for them to miss out on the party.”

She shakes her head at me, mouth agape as I stuff the money in her hand. “See now, I feel better already. I love helping people, don’t you guys?” The students all agree. “Doesn’t it feel good to help people, Ms. Schaffer?”

“Yes, it does,” she says.

“And sometimes when somebody does something nice for you, you want to do something nice in return, isn’t that so, Billy?”

He nods fervently.

“Well then, I have a little problem and I need some help,” I tell the class. “I have to go to this dinner tonight see, and I’m supposed to bring someone with me because everyone else who will be there will bring someone with them and I don’t want to be the only one who goes alone. I was hoping that Ms. Schaffer here would help me out. Do you guys think she should help me out? Don’t you think it will make her feel good to do that?” All the kids nod and tell her she should help me.

I look at the daily schedule on the wall and see it’s almost time for their lunch. “I’ve really enjoyed my time here with you guys. I hope you learned something about being an actor and maybe one day, some of you can become actors too.”

“Please thank Mr. Stone for coming to speak with us today,” Mallory says.

All the kids do as she asks. “You’re welcome,” I say. “Thank you for having me, Ms. Schaffer. Pick you up at seven?”

We have a stare down. She bites her bottom lip the whole time. Then she rolls her eyes and blows out a sigh. “Fine,” she says.

I walk out the door, closing it before I jump up, pumping my fist in the air. Then I turn back around only to see Mallory peeking out her window after me. I give her a sailor’s salute and go on my way.

Chapter Eight

Mallory

I look around my bedroom at all the clothes strewn about. I must’ve tried on twelve different outfits. We’re just going to his brother’s house, so I decide not to dress up, finally settling on a nice pair of jeans and a light-green blouse that’s just tight enough to stress the buttons without showing too much cleavage. I finish the outfit with my favorite black ankle boots.

I look at myself from every angle in my floor-length mirror. Casual yet flirty.Do I want to look flirty?After all, I would never have agreed to this if he hadn’t strong-armed me in front of my class by making that generous donation. I roll my eyes thinking back on this morning. I never heard the end of it from Carly. She cornered me at lunch, wanting every detail about what happened in my classroom after she left. She showed me the picture of her and Chad that she took on his way out. I asked her to be discreet about it and she promised she would, but she also said that some of the mothers who were coming in to help with lunch had recognized him and their phones were clicking and videoing as he walked back to his car.

I hear a car door shut outside and all of a sudden, my stomach is in my throat. I feel sick. I haven’t been this nervous since the first day of my teaching job. That’s not true. I’ve never been this nervous. Will he think this is a date? I need to make it very clear upfront that it’s not.

I put on my pink lip gloss and grab my purse before heading down the stairs to find Chad talking to my dad. They both look up at me when they hear the heels of my boots click across the hardwood floor. Chad stops talking mid-sentence and his mouth hangs slightly open as he silently watches me descend the stairs. I can’t help feel a bit of an ego boost having him look at me this way. After all the women he’s been with. Beautiful actresses. Models. Yet he looks at me the way he is.

This is not a date, Mallory,I remind myself.

“Hi,” I say, reaching the bottom step.

“Hi, yourself,” he says back. “Wow, you look great, Mal.”

For a moment, I wonder what his reaction would have been if I’d worn the little black dress I tried on earlier. “Thanks, you look nice, too.” He’s wearing jeans as well, paired with a simple blue t-shirt and Doc Martens. The shirt he’s wearing brings out the color of his eyes, making them seem a shade brighter. His blonde hair is a bit unruly as if he’d recently run his hands through it. And despite the four-inch heels on my boots, he towers over me. I can see the allure. He looks like a movie star. My stomach does twists again.Heisa movie star, Mallory.

“Nice to see you again, Mr. Schaffer,” Chad says, shaking my dad’s hand.

“Please, call me Richard. You’re not sixteen anymore.”

Chad laughs, looking me over again. “That I’m not.” He motions to the front door. “Are you ready to go?”

“Sure,” I say, grabbing my coat from the closet. Chad takes it from me and helps me put it on. “Bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, sweetheart. I won’t wait up,” he says with a wink.

I shoot my dad an angry glare. Then I don’t miss the smirk on Chad’s face. Once out the door, I tell him, “This isn’t a date, you know. Just one old friend helping out another.”

“Not a date,” he repeats. “Got it.”

We get to the car and I see the same guy who was here the other night. His bodyguard. He steps forward to open the back door, but Chad waves him off. “I got it,” he says. “Mallory Schaffer, I’d like you to meet Cole Wilcox.”

Cole offers me his gargantuan-sized hand. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Schaffer,” he says in a baritone voice that matches his size.

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