Page 12 of Romantic

“Are you here on vacation?” Brandon asks.

“I’m on sabbatical,” says Jack.

“So you’re a professor?”

“Not exactly, I worked in finance until I decided to get out of it all before I lost my soul. You know how that goes.”

“I don’t,” Brandon says bluntly, his expression thunderous.

“So, Brandon, do you need something? It’s always a treat to see you . . .” I say in a bright, light voice. “But it seems like you stopped by for a specific reason . . .”

“Oh yeah . . . about that . . . I . . .” He looks around the room as if searching for an answer. He’s acting so weird. “I . . . um . . . my mom told me. Well . . . one of her best friends is principal at a private school, and they need to hire a temporary English teacher while the current one goes on maternity leave this fall. It would just be short-term, but if you’d like, my mom could put in a good word for you.”

“Really? Oh yes! That would be amazing. Thank you for thinking of me.”

“Great!” He breaks into half a smile. “I’ll text you more info.”

“Where’s this job?” Jack asks.

“Redwood City,” Brandon says to me as if I had asked the question, not Jack.

“That’s perfect—it’s not too far away,” I say. “Thanks, I think I’d love that.”

“No problem. Sure you don’t need me to drive you to urgent care or the doctor?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you. My ankle feels much better than last night. I think I’ll be walking on it soon.”

Brandon nods.

“Okay. And look, I’m sorry I didn’t go with your friends last night,” he says looking truly apologetic.

“Nah, you were kind of right about it being a recipe for disaster.”

He nods distractedly and walks himself out. Watching him go, I feel a bit uneasy, like I handled that all wrong.

***

“Fess up, Annie,” Jack says with a wicked gleam in his eye. “Are you sure there’s nothing going on between you and that guy?” Brandon left just a few minutes before, and Jack has made himself at home, rummaging through the kitchen and bringing back a breakfast of birthday cake and coffee.

“Absolutely nothing,” I say around a delicious bite. “He’s just protective of me, like an older brother.”

“How much older than you is he?”

“Seven years.”

“Really? I’d guess much older.”

“I suppose he’s lived a lot of life for thirty-four. His wife died when his daughter was just a baby.”

“Wow! Tough luck. No wonder he’s going gray before his time.”

“Brandon is not going gray.“ I sound a bit more defensive than I intended. Pushing aside any thoughts of Brandon. I playfully pat his cheek. “And not everyone can have your beautiful, boyish face.” Jack snatches my hand and holds it for a minute. I watch as our fingers intertwine. This guy knows what he wants.

“You’ve got frosting right there.” He points to the corner of my mouth. “Should I get that for you?” I nod, knowing full well that he plans to use his lips to clean up that frosting. It hasn’t even been a full day since he pulled me from the river, but I am so ready for this kiss. “Yes, please.” I lean in and he kisses me, and it is just as delicious as I hoped it would be.

Poor Brandon! he is quite smitten already.—Sense and Sensibility

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