Page 78 of Smoke Show

"Hello, Mrs. Masterson, what can I do for you?" I asked.

"It's come to my attention that yourassociate, Eve Pendleton, was fired from her teaching job for violating her morality clause. I want to know why you allowed her to volunteer for the play. Did you even follow the background check policy? Why did you expose our vulnerable kids to her?"

The silk in her voice hid a serpent, ready to strike. I paused, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of an answer, confirming or denying the rumor.

"Principal Gleason, you also have a clause inyourcontract. I wouldn't want to have to disclose your relationship with Ms. Pendleton to the superintendent. Or cause him to question your judgment, bringing a woman who was fired from her own school into ours. Especially if you waived district policy for her. He's a very particular man. I doubt he'd look favorably on your association."

Every word only served to spark my protective instincts, pissing me off on Eve's behalf. It was no one's business why Eve had left her old job. I knew the whole story, but somehow, I doubted that Scott told his sister the real reason Eve was let go: a witch hunt. One Scott seemed to have escaped nearly consequence-free. After all, he was still living in the same town and his job hadn’t been on the line. Sure, his marriage was probably toast, but that was no less than he deserved.

"What do you want, Mrs. Masterson?" I asked, keeping my tone glacial.

"Nothing you can't handle," Mrs. Masterson responded. "I just thought you'd see that Jenny was cast as the lead in the next school play. She does love drama."

I bit back a sigh. If Mrs. Masterson thought she could blackmail me with Eve's past, she was sorely mistaken. But I had to play it cool until I spoke with Eve. She deserved to be included in any plans for countermeasures.

"I'll consider it," I said.

"You should do more than consider it," Mrs. Masterson warned.

"I know I’m misinterpreting this, and you’re not trying to blackmail me. I'll take your proposal under advisement.."

I set down the handset with a satisfying 'click.' Nowhere near a slam, but still soothing.

The last thing Eve needed was her past stirred up and shared to fuel town gossip. As much as I wanted to believe the people I'd grown up with wouldn't care about an old indiscretion, I knew better. The way they still whispered about Joe's death told me all I needed to about putting the past to rest in a town as small as Campfire: too many long memories and big mouths.

***

Eve looked up with a smile from her laptop as I stepped into Fierce Ink.

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself," I said, hoisting the pizza I'd brought like a prize. "I come bearing gifts."

Eve rubbed her hands together. "Yum. Gimme."

I pulled the box back to my chest, frowning. "You're not just dating me for the pizza, are you?"

She snorted. "Brady, honey. I can buy my own pizza."

I grinned. "I know. But I provide delivery service."

She stalked toward me, grin mischievous, until her chest nearly bumped mine. Eve traced one finger along my jaw, the nail scraping gently over my stubble.

"I do appreciate yourservice," she said.

I chuckled, enjoying the flirtatiousness in her expression. She tempted me to toss her over my shoulder and carry her up to bed. After all, pizza was good cold too.

As if sensing my internal debate, Eve held out her hands.

"But I'm starving, so gimme."

"Ms. Pendleton. Have you learned no manners in our time together?" I teased. "You know I love the way you sayplease."

"Please. Unless you want to eat some very cold pizza, we'll have to save the rest of the praise for later." she said.

I grew hard when she cocked a hip, smirking at me. The way she challenged me never failed to turn me on. I debated tossing the pizza in her oven upstairs and taking her to bed as a compromise, but there was also the matter of the phone call from Mrs. Masterson to attend to.

I followed Eve upstairs to her tiny apartment, nodding my thanks when she grabbed silverware for me and plates for both of us. Her space was comfortable and colorful. It seemed to have absorbed the essence of Eve, at once bold and warm, making me feel at ease even though we hadn’t spent much time at her place.

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