LITMIR.BIZ

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just go to the back of the room.”

      Alex watched her walk away. She wore a gauzy sage-green skirt, which swirled around her calves, and a matching top. It was a peasant kind of style with the tie around the neckline. Her dangly earrings accented the outfit. They were made of tiny green stones.

      Damn! What was wrong with him, noticing every little thing about the woman. He turned to the students. “Hi, guys. Remember me?”

      “Captain Shields.” They all spoke at once.

      One kid asked, “We gonna get to do the fire extinguisher again?”

      “Not today. We’re going to talk about what a person should do if he or she catches on fire.”

      From the back of the room, Lauren gasped.

      He threw her a knowing grin. “Some people think we shouldn’t scare you with all the possibilities of what could happen, but we’ve already talked about how to prevent fires and precautions to take. It’s important to know what happens in the event of a fire.”

      Lauren blushed. He gave her a smile that was meant to ease her embarrassment. She blushed deeper.

      “So, look up here.” He turned and wrote on the board. “Everybody repeat this for me.”

      The kids yelled, “Stop, drop and roll!”

      “I don’t suppose there are any volunteers who want to help me illustrate the technique?”

      Sixteen hands shot up. God, he loved this. Maybe he was a frustrated teacher.

      THE MAN UNNERVED HER. Lauren was right to have said no to a date with him. So what if she couldn’t get him out of her mind? She would, if she could stop having contact with him. Who would have guessed that he’d be at school today? She’d agreed to help out Hannah with some end-of-the-year art projects, and never imagined she’d run into the one guy she’d been thinking about way too much.

      Concentrating on the stars she was drawing, she listened to his strong baritone and the rumbles of laughter from him and the kids. She stole a sideways glance at them. He didn’t seem to mind being on the floor with the kids, even though he wore a nice outfit: a red silk T-shirt that outlined his broad shoulders and washboard abs, and pressed khakis, which highlighted his trim hips and long legs. “Man At Ease With Children,” she’d title the scene at the front of the room. He had the kids circled around him. A little girl was demonstrating the technique of Stop, drop and roll. Alex spoke softly to her. Gently he eased her down to the mat he’d spread out. The tender gesture made Lauren think of husbands and fathers. Her own father had been a wonderful man, even if both her parents had been as different from her as desert to ocean. They’d loved her dearly and were stymied by the fact she’d always felt a sense of not belonging. Thoughts of the loving man and woman who had raised her made her eyes mist.

      Damn. She was feeling too much today. Probably because she hadn’t slept enough last night. When she’d gotten home, she’d been sure someone had been in the house.

      First, there was the scent of the man’s aftershave in the air. The policeman who’d come had thought she was crazy….

      “Let me get this right,” Officer Carlos Jerado asked after he’d checked out the house and taken her statement. “You smelled somebody?”

      “I know it sounds silly, but I have a heightened sensory awareness. Besides, there were the other things.”

      Like the pillows that weren’t where she’d put them.

      “You know where every pillow is?” Jerado had asked, indicating the ten or twelve in the living room. “As for the desk drawers, you sure you closed them?”

      By the time the cop left, Lauren had felt like a fool.

      Still, she knew she wasn’t imagining things.

      Would Alex have believed her?

      Ah, back to the sexy captain, who right now was laughing so hard with the kids he was holding his stomach. It made her own stomach do a funny little two-step.

      “GOODBYE, CAPTAIN SHIELDS.” Interesting how a group like this could speak in unison.

      “Bye, guys. I hope I see you next year.”

      Hannah came up to him. “Thanks, Alex. I’m going to take the kids to an assembly now.” She looked to Lauren, who sat facing the back of the room. “Lauren, I’ll see you in a bit.”

      Lauren glanced over her shoulder. “Okay, Hannah. Goodbye, Alex.” She returned to her task.

      After Hannah left, Alex stared at Lauren. Drawn to her like fire to air, he ambled back, not exactly sure what he was going to say. Over her shoulder, he saw she’d cut out stars and was sketching faces on them. The faces were those of the kids who’d just left.

      “Those are beautiful.”

      She jumped. “Oh.”

      He put his hand on her shoulder. Her hair gleamed in the overhead lights. He could smell the lemony scent of her shampoo. “Sorry.”

      She pivoted in the chair, dislodging his hand. “No, that’s okay, I’m just spooked today.” She smiled up at him. Mauve smudges shadowed her eyes. “Sounds like you had a good time there.”

      “I love working with kids.”

      “They obviously love you. I’m sorry if you thought I was critical before.”

      “No, it’s okay. A lot of people are afraid to talk to kids candidly.”

      “Yes, I know. I always felt that protesters of sex education in schools were nuts.”

      Sex, huh? “Me, too.” He studied the lines on her face. “What did you mean you were spooked today?”

      “It’s nothing.”

      “Tell me.”

      She stood then, so she was more on eye level with him. “Last night when I got home, I thought somebody had been in my house.”

      “What?”

      “No, let me clarify that. I know somebody had been there.” She told him about the clues. “The policeman thought I was crazy. He said there were no signs of anyone breaking in.” She shrugged. “He finally suggested the landlord had come in without telling me.”

      “Did you ask the landlord?”

      “No, he wasn’t answering his phone last night or today.”

      “Does anybody else have a key?” Alex asked.

      “Hannah. She told me she wasn’t at my house last night.”

      Arching his brows, he couldn’t help flirting with her. “No guy has a key?”

      Her brown eyes twinkled. “No, no guy.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      “What, that there’s no man or about the break-in?”

      “Definitely about the break-in.”

      She shook her head, then turned, as if uncomfortable with the exchange. “Well, I’ve got to get back to this.” She nodded to the artwork. “I wanted to finish before the kids return from the assembly.”

      Her dismissal stung. “Sure.” He straightened. “Take care.”

      Feeling like a second-grader himself, he headed out to his car. This was dumb. The lady was definitely not interested. He tried to shrug off his pique as he strode to his Blazer and slid inside. He was tired, so he’d go home, sack out, then find something interesting to do tonight. For a minute, he stared at the school. Lauren was an enigma. And it looked as if she was going to stay that way.

      He caught sight of the morning’s paper that he’d tossed on the front seat. Hell. He picked it up and leafed through the pages. Sure enough, another Dee and Me.

      Frame

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