Page 26 of Mess With Me
“No, just different.”And so like her.
“It’s a thing,” she insisted.
“Okay,” he said slowly.
“Well, gotta go. Thanks for the jump start, Sergeant Case.”
“Eth. My friends call me Eth.”
She gave him a sweet smile. “Keep up the good work, Eth.”
Then she drove off, all happy with her single self.
He drove home at a sedate pace, not so happy with his single self.
Ethan told himself it wasn’t weird for a police officer to show up in a friend’s classroom to teach kids about stranger safety. Sure, he usually passed the duty off to a rookie officer, but this was Ally’s classroom and they were on good friendly terms. Only two days ago he’d come to her rescue and jump-started her car. He was also curious about her solo wedding and…aw, hell he was hooked. He couldn’t stop thinking about her no matter how hard he tried. He peered through the glass window of the closed classroom door, where Ally was enthusiastically explaining some basic addition on a whiteboard. She wore schoolteacher clothes—crisp white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, navy blue skirt that ended just above the knee, and navy blue flats. Not sexy. Shouldn’t be, anyway. He must be caught in some kind of Ally-attraction field, because even her geeky outfit on their hike with the socks on the outside of her pants turned him on. He blew out a breath and focused on the kids. About twenty of them, mixed in their attention. Some of them appeared to be listening, some half asleep, and some wiggling around in their seats and whispering to each other. He would’ve been the kid in the back, throwing spitballs. He knocked on the door.
She went to answer it, her blue eyes widening. “Eth, what’re you doing here?”
He warmed at her casual use of Eth. “I’m here to talk about stranger safety, stepping in for Wayne.”
She flushed pink. “Well, this is a surprise.”
He tipped the end of his cap at her. “I’ll do a good job, ma’am.”
She shook her head. “Silly. Of course you will. Come in.”
He set the plastic bag full of coloring books illustrating today’s lesson on her desk, along with his cap, and then joined her in front of the class. The kids stared in awe. He would’ve too at this age, seeing a real live police officer in uniform complete with handcuffs, nightstick, and gun. They were probably six.
Ally introduced him. “Class, please say hello to Sergeant Case.”
“Hello, Sergeant Case,” the class chorused dutifully.
“Hello,” he said.
“He’s here to teach us about stranger safety.” She turned to him. “You want me to gather them on the rug, or would you prefer to stand in front of the class?”
“I’ll stand.”
“Take it away.” She retreated behind her desk and smiled encouragingly.
He cleared his throat. “So does everyone know who the safe adults are in their life?” He knew the required speech. He’d done it before when he was a rookie and had reviewed it before coming in.
The kids all shouted answers at once. “Mommy!” “Nana!” “Daddy!”
“Raise your hand,” Ally gently reminded them.
They came to order pretty quickly. He was impressed. A gentle reminder would not have been enough for him at this age. He launched into the ten points he was supposed to get across on safe adults, strangers and their various enticements, the best response to a dangerous situation, and made sure not to give them any time for questions or comments. If he didn’t barrel straight through to the end, he’d forget something, and he didn’t want to read the lessons straight from the coloring book. That was lame. Several hands were in the air, which he studiously ignored.
Finally, he wrapped up with a review of the ten points and what constituted a safe “green light” situation and a dangerous “red light” situation. “Okay, any questions?”
The hands flailed around. Seemed like everyone had a question. He pointed at the girl with two long braids who was practically falling out of her seat in her effort to stretch her hand toward him. “Yes, what’s your question?”
“Are you Ms. Bloom’s boyfriend?”
He stiffened.
“Gabby!” Ally exclaimed. “Why would you say that?”
