by Josie Kerr
“So, if there’s any issue that you need to be apprised of, should I call the school? Send an email? Last year, the teacher insisted that I email the principal, which was fine, but one time she didn’t get the email until mid-afternoon, and Lucy’s mother had come up to treat her to taking her to lunch. It didn’t turn out very successfully.”
“Oh – wait just a moment.” Molly went to her desk and pulled out a box of brand new business cards. “I just got these today. My email address at the school is listed, as well as the general school email and the phone numbers. Use any of those whenever you need to give me a heads up about Lucy’s situation.”
She handed him the card, being very careful to avoid touching his fingers with hers.
“Thanks, Ms. Mayhew. I appreciate it.” Buddy picked up the sparkly bag that Molly had laid on the desk and held it up. “Lucy will be glad to get this back. She usually doesn’t leave her things but I think the excitement got to her. Have a nice evening.” He inclined his head and slipped out of the classroom, lifting his hand in a wave before he left.
Molly glanced at the clock and was shocked at how late it was. She and Buddy had talked much longer than she realized. She gathered up her things again and this time, didn’t pause to look over her room. She stepped out in the hall and turned to lock the door, belatedly remembering that she’d not put her classroom key on her wristlet yet.
Huffing a quiet curse under her breath, she balanced her big tote between her hip and the wall as she rummaged through the contents, searching for the one key.
“Did you lose something, Molly?”
Molly shrieked, startled by the man’s deep voice.
“Melissa said you were still down in your classroom and was getting worried,” the man continued. “I offered to see what was taking you so long so she could finish wrapping up this little show-and-tell session.”
Molly sucked down a calming breath and turned to face the man responsible for throwing her while life into turmoil.
“Boone! You scared me half to death, sneaking up on me like that.” She gripped the found key in her hand. “What in the world are you doing here anyway?”
“Since you didn’t see fit to return my calls, I couldn’t share the good news with you, darlin’.”
Molly narrowed her eyes. She didn’t trust Boone Cash as far as she could throw him. “Couldn’t share what good news?”
“Molly, I am a single man, free and clear. Imagine my surprise when I was looking over the school newsletter and saw that you, my absolute favorite elementary school teacher, had taken a position at my youngest’s new school.”
“Scott’s here at Hembree Springs? Okay, back up, Boone.” She squeezed her eyes closed, hoping she appeared more nonchalant than she felt. “You moved to Roswell?”
Boone laughed. “Oh, honey, no. I’m still in Buckhead. Justine and the kids moved to Roswell because of, well, you can guess . . .”
Molly’s nostrils flared. Oh, she just bet she could guess. “Out of all the houses in Fulton County –”
“North Fulton . . .”
“Right, North Fulton – she just happened to pick one that was in the boundaries of my new job. Just happened to do that.”
Boone shrugged. “I might have nudged her a little bit.” He focused that megawatt smile at her. “But Molly, I don’t think you heard me, sweetheart. I am single. And now that you don’t have to deal with all that . . . negative baggage from the old school –”
“Oh, there you two are.” Melissa Simpson, the principal of Hembree Springs Elementary stood at the end of the hall with her hands on her hips. “I was hoping that I wasn’t going to have two missing persons on my hands.”
Molly, relieved to no longer be alone with Boone, set off down the hallway at a brisk clip. She could hear Boone trying to talk to her, but she pretended to not hear his excuses and platitudes. Really, it was for everyone’s good that she was ignoring him, because if she listened or thought about him too hard, she was liable to shove her practical, sturdy shoe directly up his ass.
“I’m sorry about that, Melissa. A student left her bag in the room and her father came to retrieve it and we got to talking,” Molly apologized.
Melissa waved her off. “It’s fine. I just got worried when you didn’t come down to the reception. I should have known you were speaking with a parent. But now, let’s get on out of here. We’ve got an early, early day tomorrow.”
“That’s right, we do.” Molly affixed her brightest, perkiest, teacher-iest grin her face. She turned to Boone. “Morning is going to come super-duper early, isn’t it?”
She could see Boone’s horrified expression out of the side of her eye as she traded chirpy goodbyes as she got in her car. She turned on the engine and waved, waiting until Melissa got in her own vehicle. When Melissa began to make her way out of the school parking lot, Molly took off behind her, continuing to ignore Boone who had crouched in preparation to spew some sort of cockamamie apology at her. No sir, she was through listening to Boone Cash’s bullshit. She stared straight ahead and turned up the radio. The only thing that she was going to think about for the rest of the evening was the new school year, and she would be damned if Boone Cash was going to ruin her new start.
Matchmaker releases October 2017
Pre-order Matchmaker exclusively on Amazon.com!
Acknowledgments
To Tiffany, who put up with me changing heroes not once, not twice, but three times, and as always, kept an eye on the actual rules of MMA so I didn’t make an idiot of myself.
To Yvette, for fantastic playlist additions and encouragement.
Tiffany and Yvette, I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you. Seriously. I just wish we were closer geographically.
To Lexi C. Foss, author friend and fellow ab-ogler – thanks for allowing me to muse idly.
To Bethany, you’re still the best editor ever. Seriously.
And to all the readers who have continued to read about the fighters of DS Fight Club – thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Also by Josie Kerr
The Second Chance Neighbors series
A Bad Bit Nice
The Best Ever
The DS Fight Club Series
Fighter
Kicker
Trainer
Striker
Brawler
Cutman
Clincher
Matchmaker (October 2017)
About the Author
Josie Kerr is a transplanted West Texan living on the edge of semi-profoundly rural Georgia, a.k.a. the southernmost edge of the northernmost county in Metro Atlanta.
She has an M.Ed. in Secondary English Education, but discovered that she hated high school more the second time than she did the first, so she decided to meld her love of technology with her background in education and became an Instructional Designer. When not writing articles about how to fire someone without getting sued or why you should really not apply for jobs using your [email protected] email address, she writes steamy romance novels that feature grown-up heroes and heroines.
Connect with Josie:
Website: www.josiekerr.com
Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorJosieKerr
Twitter: @AuthorJosieKerr
Pinterest: pinterest.com/AuthorJosieKerr
Spotify: AuthorJosieKerr
Amazon: Author.to/AuthorJosieKerr
For bonus material, giveaways, and special sales, sign up for Josie’s newsletter. (She’ll never sell your info or give it to a third party.)
s-inline-share-buttons">share
