Page 6 of Lust in Translation

CHAPTER THREE

KENDALL

THE REST OF THEweek breezes by as Margaret and I fall into an easy pattern of work, emails, and lunch. My life at home is the same blur it has been for the last six months. I don’t see Leo until the next Monday morning at seven when he waltzes into my office wearing his uniform and a smarmy smile. “Hatton won’t be here today, he has the flu. Just you and me and whatever love language you’re going to teach me.”

Taking in a deep breath, I center myself. Indifference. That’s what I need to portray when it comes to Leo Callaway. “Aren’t there five love languages? It’s a book. I don’t think they have anything to do with Spanish, Callaway.” Friendly indifference, I amend. He is my friend.

Leo shrugs, drops a notepad down on the table, and says, “Whatever you say, Kid. What’s on the agenda today?” His eyes flit to my desk, my personal items, and then to me, my body, and lastly, my face. He grins when he sees me watching.

“Tell me how much you know and we’ll go from there. Margaret wasn’t sure. Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know much. I need to know so I can tweak the program.”

Leo slinks down into a chair and draws a sip from his oversized coffee cup. “I know how to hire a prostitute, get out of jail, and order a beer. That’s like medium-level shit, right?”

I wince. “Charming, Callaway. Really, breathtakingly charming. You’d get along well in the seedy parts of a Spanish speaking country just swimmingly. Now, talking to diplomats? Not so much. We’ll fix you up, don’t worry.” They’ve issued me tablets for the students. I have downloaded several different apps on the one assigned to Leo and hand it to him.

“You’re going to fix me up, huh?” Leo says, eyes smiling over the rim of his mug.

I cross my arms over my chest. “You’re going to fix yourself. I’m here to help you. It’s going to be a lot of studying in your off time. You need conversational Spanish, so it will be a little more challenging than starting from the ground up like I would with a child.”Jab.“I’m sure you can handle it, though. The purple icon. Click it and take the placement test in the third tab on the bottom.”

He sets the tablet down and pushes it away from his large chest. “If I need conversational skills, electronics won’t help me. We should be talking.”

Sighing, I check the clock overhead. “How do you propose we do that?”

“My name is Leo. How are you?” he says in Spanish.

I roll my eyes and respond to his basic, badly pronounced question. Then in English, I say, “You need to be able to negotiate, and not sound like a toddler. Take the test.” I slide the tablet back to him.

“Do I look like a toddler, Kid?” he bites his bottom lip.

My neck works to swallow. He has looked like a man since the moment I laid eyes on him.

He finally breaks his intense gaze. “Let’s make a deal,” Leo rasps, motioning to the tablet. “If I speak to you in Spanish, you have to agree to answer my questions. Doesn’t matter what they are or how gritty your answer will be. You have to answer.” His big brown eyes blink once, anticipating my response.

I quirk one brow. I’ll answer him, alright. In Spanish. He’ll have no clue what I’m saying. “Deal. But for today how about you take the test. We’ll go over some differences in grammar, several of the basics, common phrases on the white board when you finish, and you can practice your questions for me tonight as homework.”

Leo leans back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. His back cracks loudly and I wince.

“That’s not good for you,” I say.

He smirks when he sees my eyes on his body. “Ah, I’d say it’s not good for you more than it’s not good for me.” Leo winks once. Perfectly, without any of the awkwardness some people have when they wink. It’s picture perfect and unnerving.

I’m preparing a defense, but he grabs the tablet and turns it on. Rounding my desk, I let out a pent-up breath. The uniform is distracting—that’s all it is. The whole situation is confusing because it’s one on one. I was prepared for teaching a class. Not this one-on-one scenario. Not with Leo. I remind myself why I’m here.

Noel.

Noel.

My marriage.

Failing.

Failing.

I look at Leo’s profile while he struggles with the questions, biting his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth as he taps the tiny screen with fumbling fingers. At the very least, this insane setup is a high-level distraction.

An email pops up from Margaret. It informs me of my scant class size.Huh, little too late, Marg. Little too late.I look up at Leo and he has one hand on his forehead.

“How’s it coming? If it’s too difficult, I can reformat it.”

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