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“Why, thank you. I had a fantastic sous chef,” she answers, not moving far from me as I fill the dishwasher.
I drag the task out, knowing that as soon as I finish, I will have to get ready for work to avoid being late. But I cherish these last few moments of our peaceful morning despite knowing that, more likely than not, I will be seeing her later this evening.
When the countertop is sparkling, we both know there is no dragging out the inevitable.
“Come on,” I’m the first one to say as I let out a deep sigh. “We don’t want to be late.”
She pouts her lip but nods in agreement as she follows me back into her room.
Getting ready feels dreadful, knowing it signals the end of a perfect morning.
If Jared saw me now, he’d have a field day at me being all gloomy at the thought of leaving a woman for only a few hours.
And maybe I am whipped and acting like a lovesick teenage boy. But for Maria, the feeling makes sense.
“You always look so handsome in a suit,” Maria comments as she watches me straighten my tie from outside the bathroom door.
“And you always look so beautiful in everything,” I reply, finding the floral dress and thick brown belt around her waist divine.
Coming out of the bathroom, I give her one long kiss, which will probably be my last one of the morning.
“Come on,” Maria says as she pulls away, letting one of her hands graze across my cheek. “You need to get out of here.”
“I know, I know,” I tell her, walking over to the couch where I’d set down my briefcase. “But I’m thinking about how I can get out of work. Maybe I can say I’m in the hospital.”
“What would it be for?” Maria asks, seeming to entertain my antics as she walks me to the door.
“Lovesickness,” I answer without pausing, loving the small snort she lets out at the corny joke.
“I’m not sure that will work. But you can workshop your excuse for next time,” she tells me, staring at me as I hang by her door.
“One more kiss,” I mutter, my eyes boring down at her as my hand hangs on the doorknob, not ready to turn it yet.
“One more,” she obliges, standing up on her tiptoes as she presses one last kiss to my lips, the soft pressure being all I need to get me through the day.
Pulling away, I finally open up the door as she tells me, “Have a good day at work.”
“You too,” I begin, stepping outside the comfort of her home. “See you tonight?”
“Of course,” she answers.
The idea of not spending the night together is nothing but implausible at this point.
CHAPTER18
MARIA
“That’s everyone,” I tell Tyler as I mark the last chaperoned group off my clipboard.
The kids have been looking forward to today and are filled with anticipation. But that’s nothing compared to my own excitement. I’ve been planning to take the kids to the Museum of Science for a while, and I finally get to do it. Encouraging the kids into science-related fields means a lot to me, and I hope that this trip will help pique their curiosity.
Looking over at Tyler, I watch as he lifts two of my students, Aaron and Dante, into the air as they grip his forearms. They’re giggling immensely, and my heart pounds at the sight of him with the kids.
I wonder if, in a different life, he could have been a teacher.
“Is everyone ready to go inside?” I call out over the exuberant chatter of five-year olds, getting a resounding “Yes” in response. The chaperones herd their small groups together.
Leading the charge, I make my way to the small line that’s already formed at the entrance and take a deep breath at the formidable task ahead. Getting twenty preschoolers through the turnstiles will be like a whimsical experiment of controlled chaos.
