Page 81 of Teach Me Your Ways

“She is. She’s got enough personality for twenty kids.”

Sophie and Mom arrived a few minutes later. The smell of pizza and breadsticks filled the air and my stomach rumbled.

“I’ll help with that,” Grady said and quickly stepped forward to take the two boxes.

“Thanks,” Mom said, looking pleased. “Make yourself at home. Sophie, go wash your hands.”

“Can Grady sit next to me?” Sophie asked, already heading toward the hallway bathroom.

“If he wants to,” I called after her, shooting him an apologetic look. “We rarely get visitors. And you’re the first in this place.”

“I’d be honored,” he said, and the sincerity in his voice made my stomach flip.

We settled around the small dining table, Sophie chattering nonstop about a new school, friends she would make, and the elaborate Lego castle we were building. Grady listened with genuine interest, asking questions that made her beam with pride. Watching them together did dangerous things to my heart.

“So, Grady,” Mom said between bites of pizza. “I hear you spend a lot of time out in the field for your research. That must be exciting work.”

“It has its moments,” he replied. “Though most of it is less Indiana Jones and more sitting in the dirt with a toothbrush, carefully cleaning pottery shards.”

Sophie giggled. “You brush teeth in the dirt?”

“Kind of,” he explained with a grin. “We use little brushes to clean very old, very fragile things we find buried in the ground.”

“Like treasure?”

“It’s all precious, but yes, sometimes we find jewelry and stuff. Though usually it’s broken pieces of bowls or old tools. But those tell us stories about how people lived a long time ago.”

“That’s cool,” Sophie said, clearly impressed.

I leaned back and studied him while he took a drink from the can of Coke. I couldn’t help but watch his throat work. How was that sexy? Everyone swallowed the same way, but for some reason when he did it, I got hot and bothered.

Away from campus, he was softer. I knew he was sexy and could be relaxed, but our dinner was different. He laughed more. And he was so gentle with Sophie. Not gentle like kid gloves, but he relaxed and was very casual with her. And Sophie liked him. She was usually a pretty chill kid and got along with everyone, but with Grady, she was very comfortable. That was different. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“Do you like dinosaurs?” Sophie asked seriously, like the answer was important.

Grady’s eyes lit up. “I do.”

“You should look for dinosaurs then. Pots are boring.”

He laughed. “Compared to dinosaurs, yeah. I don’t actively look for them, but I have seen some.”

Sophie’s eyes went wide. “Really? Real ones?”

“Real ones,” Grady confirmed, setting down his Coke. “In Montana, there’s a place where you can see T-Rex fossils still in the ground. And in Argentina, I worked on a site where they found some of the biggest dinosaurs that ever lived.”

“Whoa,” Sophie breathed, her pizza forgotten. “Did you touch them?”

“Very carefully. With special tools.” He mimed brushing something delicate. “You have to be really gentle because they’re millions of years old and can break easily.”

I caught Mom’s eye across the table. She was watching this interaction with the same fascination I was, a knowing smile on her lips. Damn it. Mom was getting ideas. I could practically see the wheels turning in her head—successful, handsome man who was good with kids? She’d probably have us married off in her mind before dessert.

She gave me a small smile and winked before reaching for another slice of pizza.

Sophie launched into another round of questions about dinosaurs and treasure hunting, completely oblivious to the undercurrents swirling around the table. Grady answered each one patiently, his face animated as he described different digs and discoveries. He was still a teacher, regardless of the age of his audience.

The domesticity of it all was doing dangerous things to my resolve. Watching him with Sophie hit me in my ovaries like a freight train. Hard and sudden. My eggs were dancing and begging to be fertilized. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down.

After dinner, we migrated to the living room where Mom produced a massive pink Lego box from behind the couch like some kind of fairy godmother.