Alaina shook her head, but smiled. “I can make maybe a dozen things well. I doubt she has anything to worry about.”
“This is awesome.”
“I have a feeling you’re easy to please.”
“I’ll have you know I can be quite discerning.”
“Ohhhh, big word from the hockey player.”
He was irritated she continued to hold onto some of the “dumb jock” mentality even though she’d gotten to know him, but remained silent. He didn’t want to fight with her, and it wasn’t like the perception was unusual. Changing the subject, he said, “I feel like an idiot asking this since we’ve only been seeing each other a short time, but hear me out.”
One thin eyebrow rose and he debated how to proceed. “Some of the guys on the team cheat on their girls, whether they’re married to them or dating or whatever. I don’t like it, but I don’t say anything because what they do is really none of my business. I want you to know, though, I’ve never cheated and I never would. Hell, Sarah dated a guy last year and Sebastian kept going after her anyway even when he could’ve been considered ‘the other man.’ Obviously Seb’s a good guy. I guess situations are not always black and white.”
“Uh-huh…”
Judging by Alaina’s expression, she had no idea where he was going with this. Rob sighed. He wasn’t sure either. Rushing on before he lost his nerve, he continued, “Anyway, we haven’t known each other that long and we need to become more familiar before we make any declarations, but I’d like to move forward without interference from anyone else.”
“I’m sorry; I’m not following.” Alaina’s eyebrows drew down as she stared at him.
Rob was fumbling his words, clearly not able to express his desires. Now he finally understood how Seb must feel sometimes. It sucked. “I want to be exclusive. I don’t want you to date anyone else, and I won’t either. Obviously that includes sex, too.”
“Exclusive?” Her tone suggested the word was foreign and she wasn’t quite sure how to pronounce it or what it meant.
Feeling like a total moron, Rob kept talking, hoping to explain himself better. “I don’t want to be out of town and wondering if you’re making out with someone else on your couch, and I don’t want you back here in Buffalo thinking I might be banging some random puck bunny. I don’t think I’m overly possessive—I would never try to control you or anything—but I would feel better if you agreed to date only me. I know we’re still early in this relationship, but I think we might have something really special and I don’t want to feel like I’m constantly competing with some other guy.”
He stood, nearly knocking over his chair in his haste to get away from the most awkward conversation he’d ever had, and took his bowl to the sink. Rob didn’t even remember eating, though the first few bites before he’d made an ass of himself had been delicious. After rinsing the bowl, he gripped the counter and stared into the sink.
You are a total dick to ask this of her after what, five days of semi-dating? You haven’t even taken the woman out on a proper date. How can you expect her to commit herself to you? What a bonehead move!
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Alaina coming up beside him before setting her own bowl on the counter. Gripping his shoulders and lightly rubbing, Alaina said, “If that will make you rest easier, sure, we can be exclusive. Me dating others would never be an issue anyway. Guys aren’t exactly knocking down the door to take out a kindergarten teacher with hands permanently stained from art projects and barely living over the poverty line.”
Rob spun to face her. “Guys are idiots. But their loss is my gain.”
Nudging him aside, Alaina tilted the bowl and scraped out the remainder of her chili into the nearby garbage. “If you say so.”
“I do.” An immense sense of relief flooded him. He hadn’t completely screwed things up. This would be good.
They cleaned up together. Despite how well Alaina had seemingly taken his ridiculous request, Rob needed to get out of her apartment. “Hon, I need to go. I’ve got a busy week.”
Alaina frowned. “Will you be able to read? I can’t remember the schedule.”
“We’re in Columbus on Tuesday and then New Jersey on Wednesday. We’ll be back early Thursday morning, so I’ll come right after practice on Thursday if that’s okay.”
“Perfectly fine. I do wish the kids could know you’re their benefactor, but I certainly also understand why you want to keep it quiet.”
“I’ll be happy just to see the looks on their faces. I don’t need more than that.” He stepped outside then pulled Alaina to him, kissing her thoroughly before setting her back inside her door. “I’ll call you, but I might not be able to see you until Thursday.”
“I know. Behave.” Though she was smiling, there was a glimpse of insecurity in her eyes.
“I will.” Now that I have a reason to.
~ * ~
Alaina didn’t have much spare time to miss Rob in the next few days, though she still couldn’t prevent the feeling, as his image would appear to her late at night before she fell asleep. How he’d become such a huge part of her life in such a short time was beyond her. Most of her free moments were spent situating everything in the classroom.
On Monday, Claudette had sent Kyle to help, and as they moved things around to Alaina’s liking, he kept up a steady stream of chatter. “I saw that hockey player here the other day when he read. You know, the way he looks at you…he wants to get in your pants. But you know how those guys are. A different woman every night.”
“Not all of them.” Alaina stopped and glared at him. Kyle didn’t even know Rob. And truthfully, Alaina didn’t know Kyle. He could be the hugest man-whore on the planet and she’d have no idea, so she decided to stay with her current assessment of Rob. He was a good, honest, decent man.
“Hey, hey. Don’t get upset. I’m just trying to look out for you.”
“I appreciate that, but I don’t need anybody to look out for me. I’ve been doing it for myself since I went to college. Let’s get the last of the stuff ready. I’m tired.” Alaina was lying about being beat, but she just wanted this done. She was tickled they had so much stuff she’d had to put the extra supplies in the storage closet down the hall, where they now shared space with the old, decrepit things they’d moved there the past weekend.
The kids were gaga over everything, constantly asking if they could do some thing or another that wouldn’t have even been a pipe dream before Rob had arrived to save the day. On Tuesday, they did a march around the classroom and Alaina took a video, sending it to Rob before berating herself for disturbing him on a game day.
When her phone buzzed, she held her breath, hoping he wasn’t going to chide her for distracting him.
Rob: Kids are adorable. Thanks for doing that for me. Showed vid to Seb & Sarah too. Other than that nothing up but missing you.
Her hand crept over her heart.
Alaina: I miss you too. Sorry for doing that on a game day. Should’ve held ‘til tomorrow.
She waited to see what he said.
Rob: Don’t feel bad. I loved the video. Put a smile on my face that will be gone at game time, of course. Gotta go. Bus pulling up.
Alaina didn’t send a goodbye text, figuring if he was getting on a bus, he must be heading to the arena. The last thing he needed was for her to intrude on his preparation.
After poring over the Internet and a bunch of scholastic catalogs, she began to place a huge order for books Tuesday night while Rob played. She couldn’t bring herself to watch. Alaina knew little about hockey, but the game was sometimes pretty violent and if Rob was hurt…. She shook her head. He could take care of himself, but easing herself into this whole “exclusive girlfriend” thing was definitely a good idea.
Refocusing on her shopping basket, Alaina counted the books and, more importantly, made sure she could afford everything she’d picked out. As much as she would’ve liked to buy all “fun” books, she also got several readers and phonics boo
ks, plus a bunch of sets of math flashcards. She didn’t believe in pushing her students hard. After all, they were only in kindergarten—a time of exploration, a time to play. But if she didn’t develop these raw skills, the children would fall behind later, so she dutifully emphasized reading and math.
On Wednesday night, she sat down and actually watched an entire Storm game for the first time in her life. Over the past day of exchanging texts with Rob she’d decided she should support him no matter what his profession was. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t wince if he got hit. That was only natural.
Alaina didn’t hate sports, but her family consisted of three women—herself, her younger sister, and her mom, with her dad being the lone male representative, and he wasn’t a sports fan. As a result, growing up, she hadn’t been exposed to sports. Not to say women couldn’t like sports of their own volition, but watching or following sports had never been a part of her family life.
The players zipped up and down the ice, and she listened closely to the commentators, but couldn’t make heads or tails of half the things they were saying about the game. Stuff happened and the announcers got all excited, but Alaina had no idea why. She’d have to ask Rob to explain some of the rules. When the game ended, she sent a text to Rob.
Alaina: Nice win. I watched, though I didn’t understand a lot of what happened.
Several minutes later, as she was getting ready for bed, her phone pinged.
Rob: You watched? Very cool. Sometime soon, when I’m not playing, we’ll sit down and watch a game and I’ll tutor you. You can have a kiss for every right answer. ;-)
She laughed.
Alaina: How very charitable of you.
She had just returned from brushing her teeth when her notification signal went off again.
Rob: I thought so. Gotta run to the airport. Take care, sweets! See you soon!
After attaching the phone to the charger, she crawled underneath her covers. Though she’d never been very excitable, the truth was Alaina liked watching him play. Knowing she could also say, “Oh, Rob D’Amico? Yeah, he’s hot. And he’s mine,” sent a little zing through her blood. Not that she had anyone to tell something like that too besides a few close friends, but still. By his own volition he’d made their relationship exclusive. He was hers.
Wow. Crazy. She was certainly not one to care about the status of someone, but she had to admit showing him off to those mean bitches from high school would be pretty satisfying. Never in a million years had she thought she’d land a man like Rob. With a silly grin she couldn’t wipe off her face, she fell asleep.
~ * ~
FIVE
At school on Thursday, Rob was all smiles and high-fives, listening patiently as the children ran around the room showing him all their new stuff, never letting on he had any idea what any of the supplies and equipment were. A contented sigh escaped Alaina. She must’ve sound like a lovesick fool doing stuff like that. But who was around to hear? If she wanted to let out a feminine sigh as the hottest guy she’d ever seen, much less dated—and messed around with—read Is Your Mama A Llama? to her adoring students, that’s just what she’d do.
He finished reading then asked her to lunch when they were in the hall afterward. Alaina let out a relieved breath as she walked back into the classroom. Rob had treated her as he had before, not trying to take her hand or kiss her, which she was grateful for. Little kids were far more aware than many adults realized, and the last thing she wanted was to explain her relationship with Rob to the small fries.
A few hours later, Alaina met him at a small café, and the two of them ended up chatting for over three hours, talking about everything under the sun. Only when people began to arrive for dinner did they notice how long they’d been sitting at the table. Rob left a generous tip, and Alaina had to hold back a smug smile when she noticed the waitress had put her phone number on the check but he’d left the slip of paper in the sleeve on the table with nary a glance.
On Saturday night, they went to dinner on their first traditional date. Rob took her to a crowded, noisy, Italian hole-in-the-wall, and she had a huge plate of spaghetti in front of her in record time. His steak Marsala smelled amazing, and when he offered her a bite, she couldn’t resist.
She asked him some questions about the previous night’s game, which again, she’d watched, though she was having trouble tracking the puck on her small, non-HD television. The silly thing didn’t really look like a puck, more like a grayish blob moving from place to place. Rob patiently answered each question and offered to watch a game with her the next afternoon after practice. He then broke the news that tomorrow’s date might be the only time they could see each other for a while since the team would be gone most of the week, and she readily agreed to spend the time with him.
“Hey, do you want me to read on Monday? I don’t think I’m scheduled, but I could stop in quick before my pre-game skate.” Monday’s game was at the Barn, but the team would be gone for the rest of the week.
Either way, Alaina figured game days were important to him and that she shouldn’t intrude on him during that time. “No, we’ll be fine. Really.”
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t want to make too many demands on your time.”
Rob pulled a face. “I offered.”
“I know, but you’re a nice guy and you clearly love the kids. I can’t take advantage of that.”
“How about we work out some special method of payment?” He grinned, and she whacked him on the hand, sending Marsala sauce flying off his fork.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” I can’t believe I did that. I can’t believe he said that. Was Kyle right? Did Rob just want to sleep with her?
Alaina shook her head. Rob wasn’t like that. She hoped.
Rob dabbed at his Polo shirt, laughing. “Easy there, slugger. So I guess that’s a no?”
“If you want to kiss me, all you have to do is ask. Or just do it. You don’t need my permission. I think we’re beyond that, don’t you?”
“Is that so? I’ll have to remember that. Might come in handy later.”
Alaina smiled, looking down and playing with her spaghetti. Geez, didn’t the man know what a god he was in bed? Though they hadn’t done the actual deed, the single-minded focus with which Rob approached even a little messing around was sexy as hell. He could do just about anything to her and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it would feel good.
“Anyhoo…” Should she tell Rob about Kyle? On the one hand, he was just a student teacher. On the other hand, she didn’t want to not tell Rob and then, when he was at the school reading, have him see Kyle and wonder who he was. In the end, Alaina decided full disclosure was the way to go. Plus it would be a welcome change of subject. “A new student teacher started recently.”
“Oh, someone to haze and run into the ground like we do the rookies? Excellent!”
“Must really be something to be a hockey player,” she said. “We aren’t too bad. We don’t want to scare the student teachers too badly, after all. They do usually pull playground monitor duty, which sucks in the winter.”
“I can imagine.”
“He’s helping out with the upper grades.”
Rob raised an eyebrow. “He?”
“Yeah, his name is Kyle.”
“Oh, I assumed you were talking about a woman.”
Alaina’s eyebrows drew down. “Why? Because teaching is women’s work?”
“No, no.” Rob was shaking his head as he spoke quickly, and his hands were up in a defensive position. “Honey, please don’t think that. You know I respect the hell out of what you do. I guess I was more thinking because all the other teachers are female the student teacher would be too.”
That made sense, she had to admit to herself. “It’s actually unusual to have so many women placed in one school, and in particular when a woman is the principal. Though we do have male staff, just not teachers.”
“So should I be worried about this Kyle?” Rob sat
back and started drumming the fingers on the table. “I’d crack my knuckles if I need to.”
She could tell he was trying to dispel the tension he’d unintentionally caused and she let him off the hook. The comment had irked her, but Rob had never given any indication he thought her job was woman’s work, as she’d accused him. “No. I mean, he’s very…enthusiastic. He’s not even assigned to me. They have him dealing with the upper grades, but he told me to ask him for help if I needed anything.”
Rob scowled. “Sounds like he’s hitting on you.”
Alaina waved away his concern. “He’s probably overeager to please.”
“In the classroom better damn well be the only place he’s looking to please you.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing to concern yourself over.”
He leaned forward, capturing her free hand in his. “Promise to keep your eyes open.”
“Okay.” He was overreacting, but he had admitted to being on the possessive side, which was why she hadn’t been sure if she should mention Kyle or not. The cat was out of the bag now, though.
Rob leaned back. “So when am I going to see you next?”
“Tomorrow.”
“After tomorrow, smartass.”
Alaina thought for a minute. “Tuesday? What time are you guys leaving?”
“We usually practice, break for a quick lunch then are in the air by one thirty.”
“Oh, that’s no good. Probably not until you get back.”
Rob winked. “I guess I better enjoy tomorrow then.”
One side of her mouth kicked up. “You can help me cut out construction-paper leaves for the kids’ art project on Tuesday.”
Deadpan, he replied, “Fabulous.” She laughed and he continued, “By the way, we’re watching the game at my place. I like my TV way better. The players are life-sized.”
“Yeah, yeah. I work at an inner-city school. My salary barely keeps me in clothes with a roof over my head.” Much as she wished that was different, Alaina still wouldn’t trade her job for the world. Of course there was something to be said for financial security, but the satisfaction she got from teaching couldn’t be replaced.
Underneath It All (Storm Series) Page 8
