Page 7 of Barefoot Chaos
"My number?"
"Yes. What's your phone number, girlie? We're going to make plans to get together. My bestie, Bailey, is a personal shopper. We'll help you get your clothes 'up to snuff'." She giggled at that and waved her phone at me.
It felt kind of like I was a charity case but desperate times, remember? I gave her my number and we planned to meet up Sunday morning.
A new group of kids crammed into her booth, so I left her to charm their socks off while I perused the other booths. I was just walking from her booth to the next, not looking where I was going as I was discombobulated by my new friend, when I ran into a warm body. Hands grabbed my arms and steadied me before I could ricochet off and hurt myself. Which was fortunate because walking in these heels on a slick, wood floor was hard enough without being a human pinball.
"My apologies." The velvety voice sang to me.
A shiver ran down my spine and my thong chafing turned surprisingly sexual in nature. It could only be one man.
"Kai," I muttered, eyes wide in surprise.
He cocked his head and those hazel eyes turned green as they swept me from head to toe and back up again. "Do we know each other?"
Well that was just awkward. I'd called him by name, like the fantasizing crazy woman I was, when we'd never actually met. "I-I saw your speech earlier. Kai Kane, right? Is that Hawaiian?"
There. That was normal. I was about to pull myself upright, my dignity restored, when I realized his hands were still on my arms, holding me in place. I liked those hands on my arms. Maybe I should try tripping and bumping into people more often if it had this effect.
He flashed his straight, white teeth at me, those eyes never leaving my face. "Yes, it's Hawaiian. How'd you know?"
"I'm an English teacher. Sort of a nerd for words and language. I find Hawaiian to be particularly beautiful with all the vowel usage."
"Ah, I see. Do you have a name too, teacher?" He smirked at me, his hands trailing off my arms, causing goose bumps to appear.
"I do, though not as alliterative as yours, I'm afraid." I used my newly freed arms to push my glasses up and take a step back. The oxygen level that close to him was lower than normal air or something. I couldn't seem to catch my breath.
He chuckled, causing the cutest dimple to appear on his cheek. How did one man get all the good genes? Statistically, he had to have some of the negative ones too. Maybe he'd go bald early or develop halitosis.
"My mother had a thing for alliteration, but I'd much prefer to know your name, alliteration or not." He was still throwing the dimple out there, which is why my brain short-circuited and I didn't tell him my name earlier. It was a powerful weapon, he should use it sparingly.
"Oh! Right. Sorry. Yes, I'm Hessa Woodland." I stuck my hand out.
He grabbed hold of my hand, but didn't shake it. Just held it.
It was awkward. It was warm. It was nice. It should never end.
"Nice to officially meet you, Hessa."
"Ms. Woodland, are you coming?" I whipped my head to the side and saw Grace standing there, waiting for me it seemed. I looked around and most of the kids had exited the gym, off to their next class.
I jerked my hand out of Kai's grasp, coming back to reality and realizing I couldn't be standing around holding hands with a man in front of the whole school. I didn't want a resurgence of my grade-school nickname from a particular nasty bully: Hessa the Hussy. I didn't mind being a hussy, but behind closed doors. A girl had to have boundaries.
"Nice to meet you too, Kai. See you around." I couldn't look him in the eye, instead, hustling around him to catch up to Grace and get to my classroom on time. The thong was back to straight chafing, the sexy leaving my body the further I got away from Kai.
"I hope I'll see you around..." I'm pretty sure that's what he said as I walked off, but I wasn't about to turn around and confirm.
Kai
I watched her walk away, her hips swaying in that dress of hers, the heels bringing up desires that weren't appropriate for school grounds. I'd never had a librarian fetish before, but I was starting to see the appeal. The long, blonde hair pulled back in a demure ponytail, the black-rimmed glasses, the prim and proper sweater over a tight pencil skirt.
And her skin. She was pale and soft and warm. I'd wanted to have my hands on her as long as I could, enjoying the blush that spread over her face just from a simple touch.
Where did this woman come from and how could I see her again? That was my only thought as I stared at the door through which she'd left me.
"Yo, earth to Kai."
I spun around and found Esa smiling at me, arms crossed over her chest.
