When he finally looked up to see why she wasn't saying anything—and she had to note that it actually took two more attempts by him at asking the question before he deigned to lift his eyes to hers—his expression was far more irritated than questioning. Amy had to laugh. At this point, what else could she do?
However, when he posed an annoyed, “What?” at her, she strove to maintain her calm.
“I don't mind waiting to continue our conversation until your business on the phone is finished and you can turn your full attention to it.” She smiled happily, which did not seem to help the situation.
He responded by narrowing his brows and giving a short shake of his head as he waved away her statement dismissively, clearly irritated. He returned his eyes to his phone as he responded, his voice tight with annoyance. “Not necessary. I'm fine. So, what do you do?”
Oh what’s the point?
“For the third time. I'm a teacher.”
Jim snorted. Without looking up, he said derisively, “Teacher. Must be nice.”
Amy could not believe this guy. “It is, actually. It’s a lot of hard work, but it is very rewarding.”
Jim barked out a laugh. For a moment, Amy was not sure if he was amused by their conversation or by whatever he was looking at on the small illuminated digital screen, but that confusion was cleared up when he said, his tone even more dismissive and scornful, “I’m sure it must be nice to get to just play with kids all day, go home at two o'clock, and then get three months off in the summer. I'd kill to have a job like that.”
That was it. The straw that had broken the proverbial camel’s back. Maybe she was just frustrated with all of these ‘dates’ and she was taking it out on Jim, but at this point she really didn’t care.
If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was people belittling the profession she held so much respect for even before becoming a part of it. She had been down this road before. She knew it wasn't going to do any good, but…
“You know what? That's a very ignorant statement to make,” she said, keeping her tone even, although she couldn't prevent the tightness from creeping in. “Most people don’t realize everything that goes into being a great teacher. The hours of preparation, the thought that goes into each student's academic progress, the record-keeping, the communications with students, administration, and parents, not to mention all the plain old sleepless nights I spend worrying about various students that are going through tough times, concerned that I'm not doing everything in my power to be the best teacher possible for them, to be everything they need.
“Not only do I never go home at two o'clock, but I'm rarely home before seven. In fact, I don't work just forty hours a week. It's more like sixty hours.”
Jim was regarding her with a superior smirk, but she couldn't stop herself now that she was rolling.
“Then, there's the fact that I spend the majority of that much-touted 'three month vacation' preparing for the next school year, keeping up with my professional certifications, and traveling to conferences and workshops just so I can be an even better teacher. The only thing the 'three month vacation' means to me is that I'm not getting paid.”
Amy knew that she had just wasted her breath, but at least she had stood up for herself.
Jim regarded her with interest, as if she were a particularly rare specimen that he had penned by her wings onto his corkboard. He seemed as if he were making some decision, coming to some sort of conclusion. Finally, he shook his head almost sadly. In what Amy thought must have been the most condescending tone she had ever heard, he looked back down at his phone and started to swipe it again as he said dismissively, “Whatever you say.”
Okay. That was it. Even Amy had been pushed to the end of her rope now. She reached into her purse, took out the now ubiquitous forty dollars she carried with her on these dates, and tossed it down on her plate. However, when she saw Jim eyeing the money with a bit too much interest, she scooped it back up with the intention of handing it directly to the waiter herself.
“It was nice meeting you,” she said firmly although disingenuously. It had been anything but nice meeting him. But that was the closing line she had developed to get out of these awkward encounters, and that was what she was sticking with.
She expected that to be the end of it. In truth, she would have been shocked if he had even looked up from his phone. But as she was moving past him, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. She looked down at his hand on her arm, too surprised to say anything at first. Then she moved her eyes up to his face to see if she could get more of a clue as to what he was doing and what was going on.
She was amazed and disgusted to see that he now had, out of nowhere, a predatory and lascivious look on his face. As she watched, horrified and fascinated, he ran the pink, slug-like tip of his tongue slowly along his upper lip and then his lower.
“No need to rush off,” he said in a wheedling tone of voice she thought he’d meant to be seductive. “I thought we were getting along so well…”
With that, he moved his hand slowly up her arm, trailing his fingers along the inside of her forearm as if they were wispy snakes making their way up her body.
That was the thing that finally snapped Amy out of her revulsion-induced trance and spurred her to action. She snatched her arm back and said firmly, “That, Jim, is only one of the many things you have been wrong about tonight.”
Then, with her head held high, she spun on her heel and went to go find their waiter, after which she would be peeling rubber out of there. She honestly couldn't believe she'd driven all the way down to South Lake Tahoe after working so hard all day for this garbage.
She shook her head. She should have just stayed home and taken a bath. Online dating was getting her nowhere. Well, nowhere except doing a lot of driving and handing out a lot of cash in increments of forty dollars. And of course, lest she forget, putting up with a lot of weirdos, losers, and jerks.
Amy came to a conclusion on the spot. She wasn't much one for cussing—that was more Nikki's thing—but she felt that, in this instance, it was called for. She, as Nikki would so delicately put it, had had enough of this shit.
Chapter Fourteen
“I understand that, Kenny, but even if you are going on vacation, you still have to turn in your assignments on time.” Amy’s patience was on the verge of being totally and completely used up. Gone. Evaporated.
After her disastrous date on Saturday, she hadn’t gotten much sleep. Although, in all honesty, that had little to do with her rude, obnoxious dinner companion and much more to do with the fact that she kept playing the entire work day she’d spent with Matt over and over and over again in her mind’s eye. Every accidental touch. Every look. Every smile. His offering to give her mouth-to-mouth. Matt had become the one and only star, not only of her daydreams, but of her night dreams as well.
Her normally ‘lazy Sunday’ had been spent helping her Mom clear out the attic. Her mother had used the fact that they were working in the small, confined space to her advantage. She’d grilled Amy on what she was looking for in a man. Why Amy was dating so many men. When Amy was going to settle down and give her grandbabies.
Right. Like it is that easy.
Even Amy was amazed at how many different variations of inquiries into those subjects could be posed. Around town, Eric was known for his interrogation skills, and after yesterday, Amy could definitively say that he’d come by those skills honestly. For six hours her mom hadn’t stop asking questions. She’d never repeated herself, not once, and never got frustrated at Amy’s vague and non-committal answers. Amy had to admit that, as irritating as it had been, it had been just as impressive.
“But Ms. M., I have a parent’s note.” Kenny held up the white piece of paper as exhibit A, speaking slowly so she would not miss his meaning.
Amy’s head was pounding and her stomach was growling like a lion as she glanced up at the clock. It read five after twelve. Maybe Kenny wanted to spend his entire lunch hour deb
ating whether or not he needed to do his assignments, but Amy had a yummy egg salad sandwich in the teacher’s lounge that was calling her name. She needed to move this along.
“Yes, that excuses your absences but does not exempt you from turning in your work.” Amy wasn’t sure how much clearer she could make it, but the confused look on her student’s face told her she would need to try.
“But I’m not going to be here. I’m going to the Grand Canyon,” Kenny said with an earnest expression on his face. Amy realized that he truly believed he did not have to turn in his assignments and was trying to make her understand equally as much as she was attempting to make the situation clear. He was a sweet kid, just not always the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Breathing in slowly through her nose and out through her mouth, Amy counted silently to three then reached up and touched the bridge of her nose before quickly lowering her hand. She immediately concluded that she didn’t just push up her now nonexistent glasses when she was nervous. It was also when she was exhausted, frustrated, at the end of her ever-loving rope. “I realize that, Kenny, but—”
“Kenny, didn’t we go over this in third period?” Matt appeared, seemingly out of thin air, beside the gawky teen and leaned casually against Amy’s—their—desk. As he crossed his arms, one eyebrow cocked up—and he looked panty-melting hot.
She could only see his profile, but his effortless sexiness was enough to make Amy drool. So much so that she touched her mouth just to make sure that hadn’t happened.
Kenny grinned sheepishly, looking at Matt like he knew the jig was up. Amy watched the interaction in complete and utter shock. Sweet, innocent Kenny had been trying to get one over on her.
“Turn in your assignments, Kenny,” Matt said with a firm but friendly authority.
Kenny shrugged and nodded, looking first at Matt and then down at Amy, who was still seated behind her desk, “It was worth a shot. Sorry, Ms. M.”
Amy blinked several times as she watched her sweet-but-not-too-bright student grab his bag and head out of the classroom. “I’ve been duped,” she admitted.
“Don’t worry. It happens to the best of us.” He turned, gazing down at her.
“I know, it’s jus—” Amy began to explain as her eyes met his, but the second they did, all of the breath that had filled her lungs was sucked out of her body like a Hoover vacuum.
Matt’s wide smile put his deep dimples firmly on display. His skin looked even more sun-kissed than usual, probably from their workday Saturday, which made his green eyes look iridescent. His hair reminded her of those underwear commercials she’d seen where the models are just getting out of bed, appearing to have had some good times between the sheets.
She found herself totally enraptured as she stared up at Matt. His eyes, dimples, smile, tan skin, windblown hair—basically the whole insanely, ridiculously hot sex-appeal thing he had going on—made Amy lose her entire train of thought. It just completely vanished. Disappeared. Poof. It was gone.
Matt’s brow furrowed with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Uh-huh,” she managed to get out even though her mouth was dry as the Sahara Desert.
“I was just stopping by to see if you wanted to hit up the Taco Truck with me.” His voice held a hint of hesitation and his eyes looked a little worried about her well-being.
Clearly her answer had not been too convincing. She needed to pull it together. He was her colleague and friend, not a sex object. Amy almost laughed because she might know that mentally, but physically she was not on board with that assessment.
Forcing herself to speak with real words instead of just sounds, she said, “Yeah, that sounds great.”
Matt pushed away from the desk he’d been leaning on and the motion sent a whiff of his masculine scent wafting deliciously through the air. She closed her eyes, briefly savoring the aroma while reaching down to grab her purse.
When she stood up, she lost her footing a little, probably knocked off balance due to the standing while having her eyes closed and sucking in as much Matt-scent as she could. She felt large hands wrap around her arms, steadying her as she wobbled.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” he asked when her footing had been restored.
“Fine.” She waved a hand dismissively, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that she couldn’t seem to stand on her own two feet, speak, or even breathe when Matt was around. “Just a little tired.”
He searched her eyes and Amy felt her cheeks beginning to redden at his focused attention. The way she felt when he looked at her was so different than when anyone else did. It was not only that she felt like he saw her—really saw her—it was also that he looked like he liked what he saw. Like she was…special.
After several moments, he nodded decidedly before asking, “You ready to eat?”
“Yes,” Amy answered, happily abandoning her previously coveted sandwich. Who needed egg salad when you could have Taco Truck with Matt?
--- ~ ---
If Matt hadn’t gotten to know Amy as well as he knew he had, he would have thought she was making this stuff up. Whose luck is that bad with dating? He thought he’d had it rough the couple of times he’d attempted the dating scene, but his experiences were not even in the same ballpark of what Amy had been subjected to.
“He actually asked you to clean out his litter box?” Matt knew that was what she’d said, but he just had to clarify it.
Amy’s eyes danced with amusement as she spoke between bursts of laughter. “Yes, because his mother hadn’t had time to do it.”
“I’m glad you can laugh about it,” Matt said as he chuckled right along with her.
Wiping her eyes as she sniffed, she lifted one shoulder. “What else can you do? Not that it seemed so funny at the time, but saying it out loud really just sounds so absurd that it’s kind of hilarious.”
“These guys are definitely absurd!” Matt agreed wholeheartedly. “I can’t wait to hear about your next one.” Even as the words left Matt’s mouth, he knew they weren’t true. He didn’t want to hear about her dating anyone, even if it was a funny story like the ones she had been telling him. The thought of her going out, meeting these guys, just didn’t set right with him. He didn’t like—not one little bit.
“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t think I will be getting back up on the dating horse anytime soon. Phase one of my project looks like it may have been a complete and total failure,” Amy said as she looked down, picking at her taco salad with her plastic spork.
“Phase one?” Matt knew that the dates were part of her self-improvement project, but he hadn’t been aware that there were phases.
Amy’s eyes widened at his question. He’d seen that look many a time on his little sister’s face. Shelby was the self-proclaimed queen of saying too much. She was always putting her foot in her mouth.
“Mmm hmm,” Amy replied without offering up any further explanation.
Matt’s curiosity was officially piqued. “How many phases are there?”
“Three,” she answered quickly before changing the subject. “How are you liking Hope Falls so far?”
Matt really wanted to hear more about these phases, but obviously she didn’t feel comfortable talking about them. So he dropped it. For now.
After about thirty minutes of small talk, eating, and of course laughs, Matt crumbled up his taco wrapper and looked out of the glass enclosure they were seated in. They were surrounded inside the green room by lush plants and flowers, and the view of the pine trees and mountains outside was majestic. “Man, this place is beautiful.”
Amy looked around and sighed, her face glowing with happiness. “Yeah, I found this little slice of heaven last year and have been trying to keep it on the down low. It’s nice to eat lunch somewhere other than the cafeteria, my classroom, or the teachers’ lounge. As far as I know, I’m the only one who knows about it.”
“Well thank you for sharing it with me. Not only is the scenery amazing but this
was one of most entertaining lunches I think I’ve ever had.” He took the last swig of his soda as they gathered their trash and cleared the small table.
“Well, I’m glad my stories of woe entertained you. And thank you for showing me that I can have a meal with someone of the opposite sex and it’s not boring, disastrous, or embarrassing.” Amy smiled up at him and Matt noticed that she had a small piece of lettuce between her two front teeth.
“You have something right here.” Matt brought his finger to his own mouth and mirrored where she had food stuck.
She blushed as she reached up and rubbed her fingers over her teeth, removing the food debris. “Is it gone?” She smiled widely for his inspection.
“Gone,” he confirmed, nodding. Damn, she was adorable.
“Well, I guess maybe I spoke too soon. It seems I can’t have a meal with someone from the opposite sex without at least having something slightly embarrassing happening,” she joked.
“I don’t think that’s true. Let me take you out and prove you wrong.” The second the words left Matt’s mouth, his heart started pounding loudly in his chest and his palms grew damp. He couldn’t believe what he’d just said. Had he really just asked Amy out?
Amy froze in place. “What?” She looked as shocked as he felt.
Matt tried to calm his racing heart. He couldn’t date someone. What was he doing?
He needed to calm down and think. He didn’t want to lead Amy on but he did want to take her out. “I can’t say that I’ve really dated that much, except for a couple of set-ups I really don’t count, but I’m pretty sure we could manage one night that isn’t a disaster, embarrassing, or boring.”
She bit her lip, looking down at the ground. Then her eyes moved up to his. When he saw her baby blues, he felt his mouth turn up into a smile. He couldn’t help it. She was just so sweet, open, and beautiful. Whoever she finally did end up with was going to be one lucky man.
Snow Days (The Hope Falls Series) Page 11
