Page 9 of Thinking It Over

“No.” I offered him a smile, and his frown cleared. “I have a housekeeper who comes in every day while I’m at work. He takes her out for a walk as well as keeps her company while he’s getting on with his tasks.” Billy was a good guy. He was a former cop who’d been on sick leave after a work injury but had ended up taking really early retirement, along with a healthy payout. He wanted a much quieter life, hence the reason he workedfor me and one other person just out of town to fill in his days.

“That’s great. And the luxury of a housekeeper, huh? Nice.” Heat spread across his cheeks immediately afterward. “Not that I’m saying it’s a bad thing or you shouldn’t have one. I can only imagine how busy you are. Plus there’s Penny—”

My amusement appeared to be what cut him off. Drawing humor into my words, I said, “It’s fine. And it is a luxury. I’m privileged to be in a position to employ a part-time housekeeper. No backtracking needed.”

His smile finally came as relief registered in his gaze.

“I’ll stop by in thirty then and walk you out, okay?”

Jasper nodded as if on autopilot, his eyes widening a little at my offer.

I quickly followed up with “But if you need to head out earlier, not a worry at all. If you’re not here, I’ll see you tomorrow.” The addition of an early escape was out there. The last thing I wanted to do was make him uncomfortable or pressure him into thinking he had to stick around simply because I wanted him to.

I’d seen enough relationships between staff members start, evolve, some end, and some stay the course over my years to understand the need for both of us to protect ourselves and not leave room for misunderstanding.

I dipped my head a little and internally grimaced.Simply being in Jasper’s vicinity, minimal conversation or not, had me blundering my way through social decorum and making sure any advances I made were welcome.

There was no chance I’d ever bethatguy.

But overthinking and testing boundaries was hard as hell. Maybe it would be good if Jasper wasn’t here when I returned. It would mean I could stop behaving so foolishly and would ensure I didn’t humiliate myself in the pursuit of figuring out why I was so drawn to him.

As I recheckedthe time on my watch, nervous anticipation spread through me. Despite my lie of thinking it would be for the best if he’d dashed home as soon as I’d left, I hoped he’d waited for me. It sounded ridiculous, but even a few minutes in his company would be worth it. Just as I reached the classroom, I exhaled and attempted to shake off any lingering nerves. While this was high school, I was many years removed from being an anxious kid.

I peered into his classroom. A smile sprang to my lips at seeing him waiting by his desk, rummaging through what looked like a packed bag.

“You all done?” I asked and was once more greeted with his disarming smile. He was handsome, especially now, a little more unkempt compared to the beginning of the day.

“All done.” He picked up his bag and headed toward me. I stepped back so he could exit, and we faced the corridor that led to the staff parking lot. “How’s your day been?” he asked.

I cast a quick glance his way as I answered, “All good, thanks. Hectic as usual. But I managed to get through the priority tasks I have. It means less overthinking tonight.”

Jasper bobbed his head. “I can’t even begin to imagine the nature of the job.” He shook his head and then laughed. “I had to convince one of the boys today that shoving a pencil up his nostril wasn’t the best of ideas.” He snorted. “That I can handle. The admin that you have to tackle….” He shuddered, making me chuckle.

“Kelvin?” I asked, immediately thinking of which student he would be talking about.

“Yes.” He chortled. “Does he do that a lot? I’ll feel a whole lot better if the answer is yes.”

“He does.” I tilted my head in Jasper’s direction. “How long did it take you to convince him?” Kelvin was a good kid with some aspects of his life that posed as challenges pretty much every day for him. While he could be disruptive, he wasn’t too difficult to communicatewith or talk down should the need arise. He just needed some understanding.

“About ten minutes and me pulling up PSP game blurbs as examples for persuasive texts.” He shrugged. “It hooked him immediately. Reading and analyzing game blurbs seemed to be the right incentive.”

I pulled open the door to the exit, indicating Jasper should go first. I raised my brows. “Impressive,” I said as I followed after him, locking the door behind me. Larry, the caretaker, was onsite and would do additional checks within an hour. “Have you used those sorts of texts before?”

“When I was training, I taught a boy with ADHD. He sometimes needed support to help stay focused. I learned to adapt the material as needed.”

With a quick dip of my head, I considered what he’d told me, relieved that not only was he aware of the importance of diversity in the classroom but confident to step outside of units of work to meet the needs of his students.

“That’s great to hear.” We headed through the parking lot, and I reluctantly paused as we reached my car. “This is me.”

Jasper glanced at my car, and I got a little buzz of humor when surprise registered on his face. “Oh, wow.” He flicked his gaze at me, and I lifted my brows inresponse. “I wouldn’t have called you driving this in a million years.” He followed up with a grin, and I laughed.

“Surprisingly, you’re not the first to give that reaction.”

He reached out and touched the hood almost reverently. “1951?”

It was my turn to be surprised. It must have shown, as he snorted and said, “Yeah, I get that reaction a lot too when it’s clear I know my cars.” He rolled his eyes. “I don’t quite fit the cliché for book nerd and English teacher, but it’s not that far a stretch of the imagination, I know. But me knowing this is a 1951 Ford F1 with a V8 that I’m sure sounds incredible…. And—” He walked around my truck, then glanced back at me, his eyes wide. He then whistled. “You have a ton of original parts. Wow.”

A shit-eating grin stretched across my mouth. Not only did I love his enthusiasm, and my estimation of this man jumped up so many rungs my head spun, but I was proud of my F1. I’d sourced all the parts myself for my friend Drayton to then put her together to her former glory. “She is incredible.” I didn’t even get an eye roll at assigning a gender to my car, something my ex had curled his lip up at regularly.

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