Page 38 of Bad Teacher

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Violet smoothed her fingers on her hair before ringing the doorbell at Theo’s house. This was the third time she’d tutored ever since returning from Vegas and breaking up with him. The other times, he’d had some sense to make himself scarce. Marcelle usually opened the door anyway.

If Marcelle continued improving so wonderfully, she wouldn’t need tutoring lessons anymore very soon. The thought added a weight to Violet’s heart. She’d become close to the little girl, and loved spending time with her. She’d have to give it all away.

Though Marcelle would still be in her life, now she was pregnant with her half-sibling. Hopefully, all would go well. She hadn’t talked to Amanda yet, thinking she preferred to wait until farther long in the pregnancy to break the news.

The door was swung open, but instead of Marcelle, Theo stood in front of her, granting her entrance.

“Hi,” he said. Wearing jeans and a black V-neck shirt, he looked good enough to eat. Then eat again.

A hum formed between her legs. “Hi.”

He’d texted her to check on the baby and offer any help she might need. She’d appreciated it, but didn’t say much in response. Not that her fingers hadn’t perused over the phone’s keyboard a few times before she settled on an answer. But if she opened the door to him, if she let him in again, she feared she’d never be able to shut him out again.

She walked through the foyer, but didn’t see Marcelle waiting for her like usual, or standing by the formal dining area. “Is Marcelle upstairs?”

“She’s gone to a friend’s for a few hours.”

“Oh. Okay, then—”

He touched her elbow, and her skin prickled. She did what she shouldn’t have, and regarded his spellbinding gaze. A small smile curled at the corner of his lips, and he placed his hand on the small of her back, ushering her to the living area. “I need to show you something, Violet. Won’t take long.”

She furrowed her brows, unsure, but followed his lead. Curiosity won over her self-preservation. She sat on the couch, and noticed a large screen covering his already monster-sized TV. Hmmm. Her gaze wandered, and she found a modern projector a few feet from the screen. Was he going to start a presentation?

“What’s going on?”

He drew the curtains, blocking the sun and making the atmosphere a bit more dimmed and intimate. Dangerous. Very dangerous. “You’re having my baby. There are things about me you have the right to know.”

God, please don’t let him be a con artist or fugitive felon. That would be the icing on the cake.

He flicked on the projector, and a picture of a sweet, chubby baby with brown eyes and hair showed on screen. “That was me, as a baby.”

She relaxed on the couch. “Cute.”

“My mom said I was a good sleeper and never colicky,” he said.

She turned her face to see him by the projector, and the moment her gaze collided against his, a powerful jolt surged through her. This will be harder than I thought. Co-parenting with Damian was easy, because she didn’t feel anything for him other than friendship. Theo though… would be a different story.

He skipped through a few images, showing his parents and younger sister Anna. “She’ll come to the birth of the baby, if not sooner. You’ll love her.”

“She sounds great.”

“My mom too,” he added.

He stopped at a sepia colored picture of his father, the older version of him—except, his father had stern eyes and a deep frown line on his forehead. “My father is no longer with us, but he’s the reason why I wanted to leave Vonevell so much. Sure, the economy was bad back then, but my father always told me I wouldn’t amount to anything. He was a carpenter, used to taking a very logical approach to life, and didn’t think there’d ever be any money in cooking.”

She drew in a breath. “He was wrong.”

“Yes. When I met Celine, we united our skills and opened restaurants.”

A wave of heat stained her cheeks. “She seemed perfect for you,” she said, hating how bitter she sounded.

“She was. We had the perfect marriage,” he said, looking at the floor. “But I wasn’t perfect. I was broken, and resentful, but somehow didn’t think she’d ever love me if she saw the real me.”

He sat next to her, and she shifted in her place. Suddenly, the L-shaped couch shrank, her throat becoming thick and dry. Her heart knotted, the beats erratic. She contracted her stomach, hoping not to faint from lightheadedness. What the hell was going on with her?

“Celine was a great woman, and I’ll always be grateful for her.” When he held her hand in his, the air was socked from her lungs, and she realized not only her hand trembled, but his as well. “But I couldn’t be myself around her, and without knowing, I always had this wall up.”

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