A knock on the open door broke my reverie. I looked up to see Sam standing just outside in the hallway, his worn blue baseball cap twisted in his hands. He shifted from foot to foot and glanced around as though he expected the principal to appear and ask him for a pass.
“Hey.” I came around to the front of my desk and leaned against it, although what I wanted to do was sprint over to him, take his face in my hands and kiss him senseless. He looked taller than ever in this setting, with the miniature chairs all around us. His brown T-shirt had smudges on it, but the way it clung to his chest more than made up for that. And his jeans ... soft old blue jeans ... fitted him perfectly in places that I didn’t want to think about.
“Hey.” He gazed around the room. “Class is over? Everyone’s gone?”
“Yup.” I smiled. “Were you planning on doing some charcoal drawing today? Sorry, too late.”
His eyebrows knit together. “Charcoal?”
I pointed to the bulletin board on the far side of the room, where today’s projects were displayed. “The masterpieces.”
“Oh. Cool.” He spared them a glance before he came inside the room, being careful to stay at least five feet from me, with desks between us. “I wanted to talk to you here, away from the house. About this morning.”
I frowned and tilted my head, as though every second of that kiss weren’t burned into my memory. “This morning?”
“Yeah. Outside.” He swallowed. “When I kissed you.”
“Kiss? Hmmm. Not sure I know what you mean. Maybe you need to refresh my memory.”
He exhaled, smacking the hat against his thigh. “Meghan ... what I mean is, it was a mistake. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it.”
I’d figured this was coming. “Okay.”
“What?” His eyes widened, and he took a half-step back, nearly losing his balance and falling into a desk.
I spread out my hands in front of me. “Okay. You shouldn’t have done it, you’re sorry. No big deal.” I hoped he couldn’t hear the pounding of my heart that contradicted my words.
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t a big deal?”
I laughed. “No, it isn’t. You were pretty clear last night about what you want—or rather, what you don’t want from me. I’m a big girl, Sam. I’m not going to cry and carry on like a lovesick teenager, just because you got a little carried away this morning.” I pushed off the desk and stepped forward until I was standing nearly on top of him. I could smell sweat and soap and maybe even a hint of rich soil. I touched him in the center of his chest with just my finger.
“After all, it was only a kiss.”
I bit back a smile at his quick hiss of breath. His hands clenched on the hat, and his lips parted. For a second, I thought he might grab me, but when he didn’t, I moved around him to the windows, where I pulled down the window shades.
“What are you doing in town, anyway?” I snapped the last one shut and returned to the desk to get my bag. “You didn’t come all the way in here just to tell me you didn’t mean to kiss me, right?”
Sam shook his head a little, as though clearing it. “No. No, I had to, uh, drop off a soil sample at the Farm Bureau.”
“Oh, good. Well, I’m done here.” I held up the ring of keys and let them jingle. “I need to lock up the classroom. After you?”
He stared at me a minute more before he nodded and walked back out to the hall. I followed, clicking off the lights and shutting the door behind us. I turned the key in the lock and dropped the ring into my handbag.
“I guess I’ll see you back at the house.” I started walking toward the front door as he trailed behind me.
“Yeah. I’ll see you there.”
It took every bit of my self-control not to turn around to see if he watched me walk to my car. I drove out of town under the speed limit, but once I reached the open back roads, I rolled down the windows, blasted the radio and floored it.
This man was driving me crazy.
I’D CALMED DOWN BY the time I pulled up in front of the old white farmhouse. Bridget was in her mother’s herb garden, watering the plants, and she gave me a happy wave as I rounded the house and went into the kitchen.
“Hey, there. I heard charcoal was a big hit.” Ali turned from the stove, where she was frying battered green tomatoes. She spotted my face and her smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
I waved my hand. “Nothing. Not really. Well ...” I hesitated. “No. It’s nothing.”
Ali put one hand on her hip. “What did that dumbass brother of mine do now?”