Jason was in her classroom when she arrived and she went from soft longing to tingling awareness in the blink of an eye. As he worked with the kids, he seemed more focused this week, though very tense. Which was exactly how Remi felt. Damn. She plastered on a smile for the kids and made it through the reading session. Once again, Jason hung back until they were alone.
Her heart tapped in her chest as she gathered up some papers she was going to take home and looked up at him inquiringly.
He stood there, putting his jacket on, blinking, his mouth tight. She’d kissed that mouth. And he was such a good kisser…
With a mental shake, she tried to refocus.
“Was it better today?” Jason asked, almost sounding…nervous.
“Was what better?”
“Ah…me. I know I’ve been kind of distracted. But the truth is…Remi, you distract me.”
Her heart missed a beat and her mouth fell open. “Me.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed his face, then blurted out, “I can’t stop thinking about you!”
She stared at him, her lungs refusing to expand and take in oxygen. Funny he should say that, since she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
“Would you like to go get some dinner?”
She still stared at him. From the pained expression on his face, she wasn’t entirely sure he’d actually meant to issue that invitation. “Dinner?”
“Yeah.” He lifted a shoulder. “You know. In a restaurant.”
Now she almost smiled. “Why?”
“Uh…why not?” He smiled too, that sexy, boyish smile that was enough to melt her panties. And she did begin to feel a little warm and her tummy did a little flip.
“I don’t think so,” she said, breaking eye contact and picking up the folder she planned to take home.
“Why not? C’mon, Remi. We had fun that night.”
Was that was this was about? He wanted more sex? She frowned. “I think if you’re looking for ‘fun’,” and she emphasized the word for effect, “you’d be better off with one of your supermodel girlfriends.”
He drew back and his smile disappeared. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, I’m not really made for fun. Apparently. After what happened the last time.” Add to that the fact that he’d said he was going to call her when he clearly had no intention of ever doing that, having dinner with him would be a big mistake.
He laughed. “I told you. That was funny. Maybe not at that moment. I think it’s nice that your friend cares that much about you.”
And it also showed how out of character it was for her to do something like that, but she didn’t want to point that out to Mr. Fun.
“Come on, Remi.” His voice was deep and velvety soft. “It’s just dinner.”
The suggestive and silky tone of his voice made her shiver, made her nipples tingle, made her insides clench.
He reached out and stroked a hand down her bare forearm, lingering at her wrist, his thumb stroking over her pulse there.
“How about the fact that you said you were going to call me and you never did?”
He pursed his lips. “I meant to call you. Really.”
She lifted one skeptical eyebrow.
“Really. But then I came here and found out who you are and…” His words trailed off and she regarded him with confusion.
“You found out who I am? How about, I found out who you are!”
He waved a hand. “That doesn’t matter.”
He apparently really believed that. She gave her head a shake. “You’re a famous pro athlete. I’m a teacher. That doesn’t exactly seem like…” She waved a hand back and forth between them.
“You’re telling me,” he said with heartfelt agreement that only puzzled her more. Lord, the man was twisting her brains up. “C’mon. Let’s go out.”
“When?”
“Right now. Tonight.”
“I can’t go out on a school night!”
He laughed. “Why not? It’s just dinner.”
Why not, indeed? He’d dismissed every objection she had, although hadn’t really dealt with them to her satisfaction. Remi nibbled her bottom lip. No Jasmine or Kyle waiting at home for her to cook dinner. She had papers to mark but that could wait ‘til later. What was wrong with a dinner out? Other than this guy was the hottest guy on the planet and was dangerous like dynamite. And about as resistible as chocolate.
“Just fun?” she asked.
He nodded. “Just fun.”
“Why not?” she murmured.
“We could go to Inferno,” he said. “The food’s incredible there.”
It was the hottest, most expensive restaurant in Chicago. She looked down at her black pants and teal blue turtleneck sweater.
“I’m not really dressed for that,” she murmured. “Neither are you.”
“True.” He shrugged. “How about pizza?”
She smiled reluctantly at him. “That sounds great.”
They dropped her car off at home and he took her to Mama Sophia’s. Over deep-dish pizza and beer she quizzed him about his hockey career. “I don’t know much about hockey,” she admitted. “But I think it’s very rough.”
“It can be.” He smiled at her. “That’s the fun part.”
“Do you fight?”
He laughed. “I have been known to mix it up a bit. But not often. There was a time back when I was a junior player and I was headed to goonsville. I was big and I liked to protect the other guys, but sometimes I tended to jump in and get physical without thinking about the consequences. I had a great coach, though, who really got me to work on controlling those impulses and to think about things.” He tilted his head. “You should come to a game.”
“Oh. Yeah. Maybe.”
“I’ll get you a ticket. I’ll get you two tickets and you can bring your friend…what’s her name…?”
“Delise.”
“Yeah. She didn’t seem too impressed with me the other night. I think I should make it up to her.”
“It wasn’t you she wasn’t happy with, it was me.” Remi grimaced. “She’s the one who wanted me to find a guy that night and get lucky. Then when I did, she freaked out and got all paranoid that I was leaving with a serial killer.”
Jason choked on a mouthful of beer. “Good to know she has a high opinion of me.”
Remi laughed. “She didn’t even know who you were. She would have felt that way if I was going home with the Pope.”
“Ha. Be glad it was me. You wouldn’t have gotten three orgasms with the Pope.”
Now it was her turn to choke. “I didn’t get three! We were interrupted…”
“Damn. That’s right.” His eyes went even darker. “I guess I owe you one more, then.”
Everything inside her drew up tight and her skin tingled with warmth. Oooh. Suddenly it was hard to breathe. Maybe after this…
“When is your next game?” she asked breathlessly, clutching her beer glass.
He grinned. “Sunday afternoon. Two tickets. Okay?”
“I’ll check with Delise.”
He nodded. “I’m number twenty-five. Don’t forget that.”
Remi’s cell phone twittered in her purse. “Damn.” She grabbed her bag and dug around for it. It was Jasmine, sobbing.
“He’s such a jerk!” she cried.
Remi eyed Jason. “Uh…who is, Jasmine?”
“Ethan! Who else!”
Remi sighed and leaned back in the booth. “Why? What happened now?”
Sniffling and choking noises came across the line. “I think he’s cheating on me.”
“Oh.” Remi rolled her eyes. There they went again. She’d been waiting for this.
“So I’m moving back home.”
“What!?” Remi sat up straight.
Jason frowned at her from across the table and mouthed, “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and put her hand to her forehead. “When?”