Page 16 of Spying Under the Mistletoe
“Can’t say I have or that it’s on the agenda.”
Twenty-five heads nod, apparently satisfied with the answer.
Until…
“Why haven’t you kissed a frog?” she asks.
“I’m selective of who I kiss. You can’t just go around kissing anyone.” That’s pretty close to the truth.
I haven’t kissed everyone.
But I have kissed a fair number of women over the years—and that’s not including the girls horny teenager-me kissed after I discovered the joys of the opposite sex.
“Now, let me rephrase my earlier question. Does anyone have any questions about math?”
Ryan’s hand shoots up. I nod for him to ask it.
“What is one million and ninety-eight times fifty-five?”
“That wasn’t the kind of question I had in mind. Any questions about the coloring page you’re working on?”
Note to self: Be as specific as possible when asking the kids a question.
The bell rings, announcing lunchtime. I direct the kids to get their lunch bags and return to their tables to eat their food.
Chloe pokes her head into the classroom. “How’s it going so far?”
“Good.”
The kids are still alive anyway, and they’re not hanging from the lights.
Whether they’ve actually learned anything remains up for debate.
But that’s really none of my concern.
My only concern is the woman standing in front of me and her deadly excuse of a cousin.
“They’ll eat inside for fifteen minutes, and then Tracy will take them outside to play for the rest of the lunch break. That’s when we’ll get to take our break in the lunchroom.”
With that, Chloe disappears back into her classroom.
And I contemplate how to get to Step B—asking her out on a date.
6
Chloe
“I’ve got a sticky dilemma,”I tell Ava and Kiera as I enter the staff room with Landon behind me.
Several other teachers eating lunch look up from the other end of the long table. They smile at me and return to their conversation. Outside the closed window, excited kiddie shrieks and laughter leak in from the playground.
“Did Joey dump glue in his hair again?” Kiera asks.
Landon and I take a seat across from them.
“Thank God, no.” Trying to get it out was a nightmare enough as it was, but that was nothing compared to when his mom saw the mess. Let’s just say it took me several days to get over the hissy fit she threw when she came in to see me the next morning. “This is possibly worse.”
“What could be worse than that?”
