Page 75 of Educating Arrogant Mr. Hunter

Beckett choked. His face grew red, and his eyes streamed tears. “What?”

We couldn’t have heard her correctly. She was too young to know this word.

“What’s a cock?” she said slowly, as if it would help us understand her question.

Nope. We’d heard her right.

Beckett glanced around the restaurant. “Where did you hear that word?”

“From Grandma and Grandpa. I heard him in the background when we were talking.”

Beckett looked like he was about to have a stroke.

“Zo, what were they talking about when they said that word?” I asked, knowing kids often didn’t realize what they were saying.

“I don’t know, something about the window Grandpa just replaced. Don’t either of you know what it is?” She was getting frustrated with us, and the laughter I couldn’t prevent burst out.

“Oh, I bet you mean caulk,” I stressed the L in the word.

She sighed. “That’s what I said.”

“It’s a putty that people use to fill and seal gaps around windows, doors, baseboards. Lots of things,” I answered.

Beckett’s face had lost the purple tinge and slowly returned to normal. “I have some in the garage. I can show you later if you’d like.” He almost sounded normal.

“That would be so cool. Thanks, Daddy.” She went back to devouring her ice cream, having no idea the panic she’d just caused.

Beckett and I met each other’s gaze and shared a smile.

“Oh, you’ve got something right here.” He pointed to the corner of my mouth.

I wiped the wrong side.

“No, here.” When I wiped the opposite side again, he finally realized I was messing with him.

His laughter boomed around the room, causing a few patrons to stare our way.

“Beckett, Ms. Winter. How nice to see you both here.” Ice slid through my veins. I tried to force myself to breathe, but my chest had grown so tight it was like sucking an entire strawberry through a tiny straw. Impossible.

“Virginia. It’s so nice to see you,” Beckett answered the mom of one of my students. His smooth tone not once letting on that he was probably sweating it too, but never as much as me. He didn’t have his job riding on someone finding out we were together.

“How funny we all ran into each other here,” Virginia said. Her flat tone set off warning bells in my head.

“Yes, Mrs. London. It’s crazy how small Rhode Island is,” I said, trying to play it cool. Sweat dripped down my spine and I prayed it didn’t start to bead my brow. I was a terrible liar.

She wrinkled her nose delicately. How she pulled that off, I didn’t know. “My sister is pregnant and demanded their coffee ice cream.” So it was just bad luck that we ran into her. She didn’t seem the type to visit any restaurant that wasn’t expensive and had Michelin stars attached.

Silence descended over us and I squirmed in my seat. Every sound now magnified. Dishes clattered together as a server picked them up from his table, a group of teenagers laughed loudly across the room, and the tap, tap, tap of a waitress’s shoes drilled into my skull, not helping the headache that had begun to spread.

What the hell was I supposed to say? Was she hoping I’d crack and admit I was here on a date with Beckett? My face grew hot, sweat dripped down my back, and I had to force my hands to lay calmly on the table.

“Daddy and I are helping Ms. Winter plan the festival,” Zoey butted in, and I couldn’t have been more grateful. “Did you know we’re having Santa’s reindeer?”

I let out a shaky breath that I tried to hide behind a cough. My shoulders released some of their tension as I reached for my water and took a sip. I wasn’t cut out for this cloak and dagger stuff. Was my sexcapade with Beckett worth this constant anxiety when we were out in public, or the threat of losing my job?

“Well, no, I didn’t. I’ll be sure to share that with Violet when I get home.”

Finally finding my voice, I spoke up. “It’s truly a lucky coincidence we ran into you here. I wanted to reach out to you and your husband and ask if you’ve given sponsorship of the event any thought.”

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