Walking down behind her, he laughed softly. “I really wish you’d been my teacher back when I was Elena’s age.”
She didn’t want to get too serious right now. That wasn’t part of unwinding to her. “If I was, then going out with you like this would be highly inappropriate.”
He laughed as they both came to a stop on the second-floor landing.
“Always the clear-eyed one,” he said with a touch of admiration.
And then, because they were alone, he gave in to the urge that had been with him since the last time they had kissed.
Pulling Shania to him, Daniel enfolded her in his arms and brought his mouth down to hers. He felt her yielding to him, her lips parting in a spontaneous, unspoken invitation.
But then they both thought that they heard the sound of footsteps coming from just above them. They sprang apart like two guilty teenagers caught in a moment they shouldn’t be having.
They heard the door leading to the exit just above them opening and then closing. The sound of footsteps was gone.
Daniel smiled, relieved. Taking her hand in his, he said, “Okay, let’s get you fed before we go to Murphy’s so we can toast a job well done.”
“Well, this is progress,” she said, following him down the last staircase.
In Daniel’s estimation, he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary. “What do you mean?”
“You’re sweet-talking me.”
Shania managed to get the line out before she started to laugh. The sound echoed around them as they went down to the last landing, and then opened the door to enter the ground floor of the school.
The rosy feeling tightened around her as she went with him to his car.
Chapter Sixteen
“You must be happy as hell to have those pesky tests behind you,” Miss Joan said to Shania as she personally brought Shania and Daniel’s order to them. “Careful, the plates are hot,” Miss Joan cautioned even as she transferred those same plates from the tray to their table with her bare hands. Miss Joan had been said to have asbestos fingers. “Now you can concentrate on the really major things—like Halloween and Thanksgiving, which are both just around the corner,” she reminded the duo needlessly.
Placing two tall glasses of some sort of misty-looking, fruity drink next to the plates, Miss Joan tucked the empty tray under her arm.
Shania looked at the sparkling, light pink concoction and just had to ask. “Miss Joan, what is this?”
“Something I whipped up myself.” Miss Joan paused for a beat, then added, “Since Murphy’s and I have a deal—they don’t serve actual food, other than those peanuts of theirs, and I don’t serve any spirits—this little number is what I came up with as a substitute. Enjoy,” she told them with a wink, then turned away and went back to the rear of the diner.
Taking the glass in his hand, Daniel studied the contents for a long moment. “Looks harmless enough.”
“You could say the same thing about Miss Joan,” Shania told him, suppressing a grin.
“Oh, not really,” Daniel contradicted with feeling. “There is nothing harmless about that woman. Not if you’re paying close attention.”
“Well,” Shania said, wrapping her fingers around the lower part of the glass and psyching herself up, “I’m game if you are.”
Daniel raised his tall glass slightly in the air. “All right, we’ll both give this a try on the count of three. One, two, three.”
Shania and Daniel took tentative sips of their drinks at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise as they had the same reaction.
“Not sure what it is,” Daniel pronounced, still trying to place the taste and connect it to something, “but it does taste good.”
Shania set her glass down on the table. “It does,” she agreed, “but right now my stomach is rumbling. It wants food.”
Daniel laughed and gestured toward her plate. “Have at it.”
And she did.
Quickly.
Without meaning to, Shania wound up finishing the meal that Miss Joan had placed in front of her in what amounted to record time.
Enjoying his own meal, Daniel watched Shania, surprised as well as amused to see how she managed to polish off the meat loaf and mashed potatoes that Miss Joan had brought out.
“Wow,” he finally commented, “you weren’t kidding about being hungry.”
“I never kid about food,” Shania deadpanned. And then she looked at Daniel ruefully and apologized. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to inhale my food like that. Did I make you uncomfortable?” she asked, embarrassed.
“Uncomfortable?” he questioned. “This is admiration on my face. I don’t think I could have consumed anything nearly that fast. You must have set some kind of an eating record just now.”
Shania laughed. She supposed she had that coming. “Not exactly something a woman aspires to be known for.” A flush of red climbed up her cheeks.
It took Daniel a moment to draw his eyes away. “Well, you can rest easy, Shania. You’re known for a lot of things.”
“Do I even want to know what?” Shania asked him uneasily.
Daniel was surprised that the teacher was displaying a streak of insecurity. He would have thought that of the two of them, insecurity would have been his domain.
“Don’t see why not,” he told her. “Off the top of my head, I’d say you’re known for your patience, your dedication, your ability and willingness to go the extra mile for your students—or anyone else who needs help.” His eyes swept over her, taking in all of her. “Not to mention you do all this while managing to be the most beautiful woman around.”
“Just what did Miss Joan put in your glass?” Shania asked, shaking her head. Flattery always made her uneasy.
“Same thing she put in yours,” he countered. “I’m just experiencing a bit of clarity at the moment, that’s all,” he told her. “Happens to the best of us even when we’re trying to keep our nose to the grindstone and our eyes on the ground.”
Shania looked at him, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Stuff I shouldn’t be,” he answered. He knew he’d already said way too much. The problem was she had a way of drawing words out of him. “It’s just that, being around you, I just can’t seem to help myself.”
“Is that so bad?” she asked him, her voice low and intimate despite the fact that the diner was crowded this time of the day, or more accurately, this time of the evening.
Time, he realized, had seemed to slip away from him. Not just at this moment, he thought, but for a good deal of the time now.
“Now that you’re not starving,” Daniel said, deliberately looking at her empty plate, “do you want to go to Murphy’s?”
Shania turned the tables on him and asked Daniel, “Do you?”
Since she’d asked, he did her the courtesy of answering truthfully. “Not really.”
She nodded. “Me, neither.”
“I’ve got it. Why don’t we just sit here until we finish our drinks, whatever is in these things,” Daniel added.
“You talked me into it,” she told him.
“So this is what it’s like to use my powers of persuasion for good.” Unable to get through the line without cracking a smile, Daniel didn’t even bother to try.
Shania cocked her head, studying him, doing her best to get beyond the compelling planes and angles of his handsome face.
“What’s so funny?” she asked him.
He knew he should say nothing and then grow serious, but it felt so good to smile, so good to just be with her like this, talking about absolutely nothing and making it sound like they were uncovering the secrets of the universe.
And maybe, Daniel thought as he looked into Shania’s expressive face, in a strange sort of way, they actually were.
Shania felt as if his eyes we
re penetrating right down into her soul, seeing every thought, every impulse she had ever had, even though she knew that was impossible.
“What?” Daniel had to ask when he just couldn’t ignore the fact that she was looking at him intently any longer.
She was staring and she blinked, trying to erase the moment.
“Nothing,” she told Daniel, taking a breath and squaring her shoulders as she tried to clear her head. “Do you want to go for a walk?”
He suddenly found himself wanting to do anything Shania wanted to do, including walking to the ends of the earth if that was what pleased her.
“Sure,” he agreed. “Just let me settle up.”
Daniel looked around for the waitress who had originally brought them to their booth before Miss Joan took their order. He reasoned that Miss Joan was busy and he didn’t want to give the woman anything more to do than she had already done for them.
Seeing the waitress, he waved and caught the young woman’s attention. He had also managed to catch Miss Joan’s attention and, the next moment, it was Miss Joan who was making her way over to their table.
“Something else?” she asked, looking from Shania to the deputy.
“No, nothing else,” Daniel answered. “We’re both beyond full. I’d just like the check.”
Miss Joan’s eyes narrowed as they pinned him in his place. “Well, that’s too bad, because you’re not getting one.”
Daniel shook his head, unclear as to why she’d say something like that. “I don’t under—”
Miss Joan scowled at him. “Don’t make me hit you upside your head, boy. Deputy or not, you can’t tell me what to charge someone in my own establishment.”
She’d really lost him now. “What?”
“You heard me. Go.” She waved a thin hand majestically toward the door. “Both of you. Go while the evening—and you—are both still young.”
Shania knew how Daniel felt about getting preferential treatment. He’s already made that clear and she was ready to try to back him up.
“But—” Shania began to protest.
“Go!” Miss Joan ordered, every inch the ruler of her small kingdom.
Having known Miss Joan for most of his life, he wasn’t about to disobey an order when he heard one.
“You heard her,” Daniel said, sliding out from his side and coming around to Shania’s. “She gave us a direct order.”
Miss Joan smiled at Daniel, nodding in approval. “Well, it took you long enough, son, but you’re finally learning.”
Satisfied that they were leaving, the diner owner walked away.
“But we can’t go without paying,” Shania protested to Daniel.
“We can if she tells us to,” he reminded her.
Helping Shania with her coat, he took her arm and led her to the door. He opened the door and held it for her as she walked out. And then he quickly crossed the threshold and joined her.
Just like the last time, the temperature had dropped once the sun had gone down. Daniel walked slightly behind her so that the wind was at his back, not hers.
“I’ll take you back to the school so you can get your car,” he offered.
But Shania shook her head. “That won’t be necessary,” she told him. When he raised an inquisitive brow, she explained, “My car’s back with Mick.”
That didn’t sound right. Usually, when Mick fixed a vehicle, it stayed fixed. “Is there something else wrong with it?”
She sighed. It felt as if it was always something. But she refused to let that dampen her spirits tonight. She’d had a wonderful time at dinner and she was only going to focus on that.
“The alternator cut out on me,” she said, answering his question. “Mick’s putting in a new one for me at cost, bless him. Although I am beginning to suspect that my car just wants to have Mick baby her.”
Bringing her over to his car, he held open the passenger door for her. “Your car’s a her?”
“Aren’t they all?” she said, surprised that he was asking the question. Didn’t men refer to their cars as she? “What do you call your car?”
“Car,” Daniel answered simply.
She laughed and the light, sexy sound stirred something within him. Something that, no matter how many times he tried to bury it, just refused to remain quiet. He was beginning to suspect that he was fighting a losing battle.
“Then I’ll take you home,” he said again because she still hadn’t gotten into his car. This time, before she could say anything in protest, he sternly told her, “Don’t argue with me.”
Shania raised her hands in surrender. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” she told Daniel and then obligingly got into his vehicle.
Pleased, Daniel nodded his approval. “Good.”
* * *
After a few minutes, Daniel was bringing his car to a stop right before her house. It might just be his imagination, but it seemed like the drive over here was getting to be shorter and shorter. It sure felt that way.
Shania turned toward him after she’d unbuckled her seat belt.
“Would you like to come in for a little bit?” She realized that she’d made it sound more like coaxing than a request so she quickly added, “Belle will be very glad to see you.”
Daniel paused as if he was thinking the matter over—and then he nodded. “Sure. Wouldn’t be right to disappoint Belle.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Shania agreed, feigning solemnity. Getting out, she made her way to her door and unlocked it. Turning the handle, she opened the door and gestured for him to go in first.
The dog almost knocked him down in her enthusiasm the second Shania had opened the door and the German shepherd saw Daniel. Without thinking, Shania reached out in an attempt to keep Daniel upright. The next moment, they both wound up going down.
Circling them and obviously thinking this was a new game they were playing with her, Belle starting licking Daniel’s face and then Shania’s, alternating between the two of them.
Despite being the object of Belle’s friendly assault, Daniel managed to sit up.
“Not shy, is she?” he said, laughing. After scrambling up to his knees, Daniel took Shania’s hand to help her up.
“That’s one thing she’s never been accused of,” Shania assured him. “Thank you,” she said as he brought her up to her feet.
She automatically began to brush herself off. No matter how many times she vacuumed, there always seemed to be dog hair around.
“Nothing to thank me for,” he assured her. “If you weren’t trying to keep me upright you wouldn’t have wound up on the floor like that.”
She shook her head. The man was a born lawyer, always arguing.
“Just take the thank-you,” she told him. “And you,” she said to Belle, “you start acting like you’ve had some kind of training.”
“Has she?” Daniel asked, curious.
Maybe the word training would be going a little too far, implying too much, she thought.
“Well, she’s housebroken and we’re working out the rest of the kinks as we go along,” Shania told him.
The pronoun caught his attention. He’d established that she lived alone, but that didn’t mean that her status was “single.”
“We?” he asked,
Shania flushed a little as she went toward the kitchen.
“My cousin and me,” she explained. “I keep forgetting she’s not here anymore. We found Belle together.” She smiled at the memory. “Belle became our first student. She was our first project, so to speak.”
Daniel found himself smiling again. “And how did that turn out?”
The less said, the better, Shania decided. “Like I said, she’s housebroken.”
“Well, that’s a good start,” Daniel answered, humoring her.
“How do you feel about beer?” she asked him as she lo
oked into the refrigerator.
Somehow, looking in, she had hoped for a different result from what she remembered seeing in the refrigerator yesterday. But, sadly, there was no hidden fairy godmother to do the shopping for her expressly based on what she’d bought on previous trips to the grocery store.
Why was there never enough time to get everything done?
Daniel raised his voice so that it would carry to her. “Is that all you have?”
“Other than tap water and a container of milk that’s probably seen better days, I’m afraid so,” she answered, still holding the refrigerator door open.
“Then beer’s fine,” he told her.
Opening the last two bottles she had, Shania brought them both over to the coffee table and sat down beside Daniel on the sofa.
Daniel picked up his bottle and lightly clinked its neck against hers.
“To a job well done,” he told her. When Shania looked at him quizzically, he explained, “Since we didn’t get a drink at Murphy’s commemorating the end of studying for the PSATs, I thought I’d toast your accomplishment here with this.”
Shania inclined her head slightly, accepting his explanation. And then, whimsically, she reminded him, “There’s always the SATs next year.”
Daniel groaned, feeling a wave of empathy for his sister. “Let’s not focus on that.”
“I’m a teacher,” Shania told him by way of explaining her mind-set. “I always have to focus on the next test that’s coming.”
“But you don’t have to focus on it at this very moment,” Daniel stressed.
“No,” she agreed. “Not at this moment.”
He liked the way her mouth curved as she smiled. He kept his eyes on her lips as he took a long sip from his bottle. He was still looking at her lips as the beer coursed down his throat, moving through his limbs and filling them with a warmth he could only attribute to anticipation.
Chapter Seventeen
Daniel really wasn’t sure exactly how it had all happened.
One minute, he and Shania were discussing how she had really earned a little free time to kick back, at least until Monday morning when her week began all over again. The next minute, the space between them on the sofa had somehow just evaporated to nothingness.
The Lawman's Romance Lesson Page 15
