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“I hope you’re happy with yourself.”
Joss blinked and pulled out one headphone. “I always try to be happy with myself, why do you ask?” That look of absolute innocence on her face was so damned maddening.
“Because you’ve done your best to make sure the whole town thinks I’m some kind of soccer Scrooge. You’re making me look bad.”
Joss let out a laugh and shook her head with a scoff. “You’ve done that all on your own, Principal Rutherford. And I didn’t do anything to make you look bad, I simply explained to the parents what the deal was and presented the only solution available to me. And like me, they are willing to do whatever it takes to secure a future for those girls. It might be nice if they had your support.”
“You think I don’t support them?”
“What have you done to support them besides showing up for one game all season?” She was so sure of herself as she sat back and folded her arms. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She stood and grabbed her things as she made her way to the door.
“Not so fast, Ms. Callahan.” I reached out and grabbed her wrist just before she was out of reach altogether.
“What do you think-,”
In one quick move, I spun her around and pulled her body flush against mine, fitting my mouth over hers as if it belonged there. This kiss was as hot as the last one, only a little hotter, because we could be caught at any moment. Her lips were soft and supple as they pressed against mine, her tongue tasted of peppermint cocoa and her skin smelled like pineapples and coconuts.
Her scent and her taste was a lethal mix that yanked a groan from me as I ground my body against hers.
Joss pulled back with a gasp and pushed at my chest. “How dare you! Thinking you can use my old crush on you to get me to back off helping my girls, that’s just dirty and rotten. What’s worse, it’s unprofessional and a low blow. I expected better from you, Principal Rutherford.” She opened her mouth to say more before she snapped it shut, growled and stormed out of the teacher’s lounge.
“Yeah well, I expected better of myself too.” It’s just too bad that I couldn’t seem to win for losing when it came to Joss. She drove me crazy, made me do things completely out of character, which ended up hurting her feelings or pissing her off.
Or both.
Joss
Takeout menus in a small town left a lot to be desired, but there I stood at my kitchen counter staring at the options. Pizza or tacos or burgers. There was a Chinese food option if I was willing to wait, and really, what else did I have to do?
The doorbell rang and I smiled, wondering if the takeout gods had heard my wishes and sent a big box of soul food to my front door. It was unlikely, but still I hurried to the front door and pulled it open.
“Principal Rutherford.” The words came out on a disappointed groan. “What are you doing here?”
He flashed that panty melting grin that I—still—found irresistible and leaned in just close enough that I smell the minty toothpaste he’d used recently. “I thought we agreed you would call me Ben.”
I shrugged, unwilling to be moved by his flirtatiousness. “You agreed, and I decided it wasn’t appropriate.”
He held up a familiar box that smelled like sausage and mushrooms and heaven, a smaller box on top that my nose recognized right away as fiery chicken strips.
“I brought pizza. And wings. And wine,” he said in a sing-song voice as he held up the bottle in his other hand. “I thought we could hang out. Get to know each other. As friends,” he added with a smile that made those last two words difficult to believe.
“Friends call before they show up.” It was a weak comeback, but other than ego, I had no real reason to refuse his offer of friendship, even if it was insincere. And I was hungry.
He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if you’d pick up.”
My brows rose at his honesty. “So, you decided to take the choice out of my hands?”
“Not at all. You’re perfectly free to slam the door in my face right now and miss out on this double veg, double sausage, double cheese pizza.”
I folded my arms and shook my head. “What a snake, using my favorite pizza against me.”
“Whatever works,” he said, completely unapologetic, which was kind of hot actually. “If it helps, I got my favorite wine because I didn’t know yours.”
It should have helped, dammit. It didn’t. “There’s nothing to know because I don’t have a favorite wine. Can’t really stand the stuff.”
His cheeks pinkened, but Ben wasn’t deterred. “Then invite me in and you can hold that against me all night.”
