Page 40 of Educating Arrogant Mr. Hunter

We froze.

“Daddy?” Zoey called out again.

I shoved Beckett away and frantically smoothed at my hair and shirt. I snagged my purse from the floor and motioned for him to go. He leapt away from me and rushed down the hall to the kitchen to stop Zoey from seeing us. I could only imagine how I looked right now.

“Where’s Ms. Winter?” she asked.

“In the bathroom. I was showing her where it was. What do you need, princess?”

“I was wondering if she might want to hang out with us.”

I didn’t wait to hear what Beckett said and moved across the hall to an open doorway. Luckily, there really was a bathroom in this hallway. I ducked inside, splashed cold water on my face, and ran my fingers through my hair. Once I didn’t look like I’d been ravished or through a windstorm, I made my way back to the kitchen.

Beckett stood by the island, his palms flat on the surface, with his head lowered.

“Hey, I’m, uh, thinking I should go.” I pushed my purse strap up on my shoulder.

“Wren,” he rubbed a hand at the back of his neck, barely looking at me. It pricked at my pride to see the regret flashing in his eyes.

I moved through the other room and said my goodbyes to the girls, making sure to give each of them a quick hug before I left. Beckett stood in the doorway, watching us, not saying a word.

“I’ll see you all in school on Monday.” I waved, working extra hard to sound like my usual cheerful self. It must have worked because none of the girls said anything.

Beckett followed me to the door. When I stepped outside, he moved in behind me and shut the large wooden door.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

A wry laugh left my mouth. “Yeah, you’ve made that abundantly clear.”

His nostrils flared, and his tone deepened. “I’m not apologizing for kissing you. I’m apologizing because I don’t want to lead you on.”

My words rushed out of me as anger flooded every cell in my body. Did he really think he was so irresistible that I’d be begging for more after one kiss? “I’m not looking for a relationship with you just because you kissed me.”

“I know. Damn it, this isn’t coming out right.” He drew in a deep breath. “I don’t do relationships, and I don’t want to confuse Zoey.”

I frowned. “You’re not making this any better.”

“I just—” A hint of regret lingered in his eyes.

I cut him off. “You know what? It's fine, Beckett. We can pretend it never happened.” I stalked away, needing to calm my mind and my emotions. I couldn’t decide if I was more angry that he apologized or that my mind had conjured up a scenario where we dated and could make it work.

It didn’t matter though. I couldn’t date a parent anyway, and there was no way I’d put myself in the position of getting fired for Beckett Hunter.

Chapter Eleven

BECKETT

Isettled further into the couch cushion and flicked through the channels on the large-screen TV. It didn’t matter what was on. I wasn’t seeing the show anyway.

I’d totally fucked up last night.

What I told Wren was the truth. I didn’t regret our kiss last night. I regretted that we couldn’t have more than that one stolen moment. Which was ridiculous. I wasn’t in the market for a relationship and had no intentions of leading her on.

I’d waged an internal battle while we worked together. Each time she pursed her lips in thought, I wanted to smooth them with my thumb. When her eyes lit up with the excitement generated by her ideas, I wanted to lay her out on my island and fuck her. It wasn’t just her physical beauty, but the person beneath that tugged at me. That made me want to learn what made her smile, what made her happy, and what made her turn into a moaning, quivering mess.

Her eyes were truly a window to her soul and her emotions. I hoped she didn’t play poker because every feeling racing through her body was evident with one look. When her eyes drooped at the corners in a moment of sadness then flashed with anger, I’d been yanked out of my thoughts as she demanded to know what I was thinking.

There was no way in hell I could tell her. Not if I wanted to keep her at a distance.

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