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“Yes.” I nod, reaching for my bag as Daisy runs back over to grab hers as well. “We’ve met a few times and his daughter is one of my students.” I smile nervously at the way Mr. Vaughn’s eyes find mine but look away quickly. I clutch the straps of my bag, holding it on my shoulder tightly.
“Mr. Vaughn is our most important parent and supporter here at Crestwood.”
I glance up at Mr. Vaughn who’s staring right at me, past Mr. Fein like he isn’t even there.
“You know my brother actually worked for one of your companies; he was in the finance department.”
“Is that so?” Mr. Vaughn says, his eyes still trained on mine like they’re slowly undressing me.
“Yes, doesn’t anymore unfortunately…” Mr. Fein’s voice trails off as Mr. Vaughn turns his attention away from me and toward him. “Anyway, can I just say, sir, we were all just overwhelmed with joy and gratitude when you decided to continue on with Daisy’s education here after kindergarten.”
Weston smiles but it doesn’t seem genuine, but rather more hollow. The only time I’ve seen a genuine display of anything remotely human is when he’s with his daughter.
“My pleasure, Rick. I need to get going. Daisy,” he calls to her and she comes running over as Mr. Fein excuses himself and apologizes profusely for interrupting.
It’s kind of pathetic the way he’s pandering to Weston. I wanted to interrupt and sayaren’t all of our parents important?Especially the ones who actually care about their kid’s school.But I know with people this wealthy, it’s the politics you have to play.
“You didn’t want to tell him where we met before?” Weston asks, his voice lower as he takes a step closer to me.
“Uh, no. I didn’t think it was pertinent to the conversation.” I clutch the straps of my bag tighter as Daisy preoccupies herself by playing with a toy from her backpack at her father’s feet. My eyes slowly drift up his body, clad completely in black. His black button-down stretches across his chest as he slides his hands into his pockets.
“Thank you for sitting with her. I am very sorry for being so late.”
“Again,” I say, causing a slow grin to tug at his lips.
Wow, guess there is a human inside there after all.
“Yes, again. I can’t promise you it won’t happen again, but I will try to make sure that it doesn’t.”
“It really upset her. She was crying because she was theonlystudent whose parent didn’t pick them up on time.” I try to keep my voice level as he stares down at me.
“Am I being lectured again, Miss Flowers?”
“You know, Mr. Vaughn, someone once told me that time management was a valuable skill. Maybe you too can learn to develop it with a little discipline,” I repeat his words from earlier this week back to him.
His head falls back, a loud laugh erupting from his chest. He pulls one hand from his pocket, bringing it up to run through his thick hair that flops right back into place. “At least you were listening.”
“Yeah.” I smirk. “Although I think when the guy who told it to me said it, he was being a bit of a condescending prick.” I mouth the word so Daisy doesn’t hear it. “But with me, it comes from a place of sincerity and self-reflection.”
He takes a step closer, only a few inches between us now as his smile disappears just as quickly as it appeared. He tilts his head to look down at me, an almost menacing look on his face. “You’ve got a smart little mouth on you, don’t you? I bet that too could be taken care of with a little discipline as well.”
Where the hell did that come from?
I don’t know if he’s threatening me or coming on to me, but my body goes into full-blown panic mode. I feel sweat break out on my forehead. My stomach flips, and my mouth goes completely dry. I know without seeing my reflection that my cheeks are probably glowing red.
“Daisy, time to go,” he says, keeping his eyes on mine for another lingering second.
“Bye, Miss Flowers,” she says as she follows her dad out of the room and around the corner.
“Bye,” I say in a dry croak, lifting my hand slowly to raise it. My hand lowers, resting my fingertips gently against my lips as my body calms down. However, he meant those words, my body only interpreted them one way.
I might have just gotten myself in way over my head by going toe to toe with a man like Weston Vaughn.
4
WESTON
Ilean back in my chair after putting Daisy to bed, the city lights dancing far below. I can’t get that look that Miss Flowers gave me out of my head when she talked back to me. She’s feisty. I’d be lying if I said the thought of giving her a little lesson in respect didn’t turn me on.
