Thou Shalt Not(84)

My heart had stopped, raced, and been warmed all in a matter of seconds. I felt such a strong desire for this woman. I wanted her. Not just sexually. I wanted all of her. And I knew if I ever doubted that, remembering this moment would remind me.

I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her bare waist, lowering my head onto her shoulder.

I could feel her cheek tighten and lift in a smile, but she didn’t say anything. And so we stood there in silence, savoring the best Tuesday morning of my life, until it was time to get ready for work.

I made a quick breakfast of eggs and toast. April came into the kitchen as I was spooning eggs onto the plates.

“There is nothing sexier than a shirtless man cooking you breakfast,” she said, running her hands along my chest. “Especially when he looks like this, shirtless.”

I kissed her nose and moved away to dump the frying pan in the sink.

“Coffee?” I asked.

She nodded. I filled her mug and grabbed the creamer out of the fridge. It was hazelnut. My mind flashed to Holly’s face. I shoved the creamer back and took out the milk instead. Not appropriate to be thinking of your hazelnut flavored FWB right after you fucked your married co-worker.

I didn’t see April again until she walked into our staff meeting, five minutes late. All eyes turned toward her when the door opened. She was wearing the same dress she had been wearing the day we met. I was sure it was on purpose. I swooned a little.

“There is the woman of the hour,” Mr. West said loudly.

“Sorry for being late,” she said. “Car trouble.”

“No worries, no worries,” he said. “Come on up to the front here.”

April walked up to the front of the group, and Mr. West proceeded to tell us all that April Batista was now a full-time employee of Lakefront Christian School.

There were claps and cheers from the other teachers. April just smiled demurely.

I was proud of her. And I was glad we had gotten to celebrate the night before. I looked forward to celebrating again.

After everyone prayed over April, and the announcements for the day were made, we dismissed. A few of the teachers flocked to April to congratulate her.

I wasn’t going to linger and wait for them all to finish with her, so I made my way to the classroom.

Landry, my personal tie-tying assistant, was standing two doors down from the classroom, in front of Mrs. Lerner’s door.

“Good morning, Mr. H,” he said.

“Good morning, Landry. What are you doing up here this early?”

The students weren’t allowed to be in the hallways until the bell rang. Certainly Landry knew this.

“Ms. L wanted me to come up after basketball practice, you know,” he said.

“For?”

“She’s gonna help me with my science stuff, you know. Gotta get those grades up, Mr. H.”

“Doesn’t she tutor after school?”

“Yeah, but we got a basketball game today. So she said come up early.”

I wasn’t meaning to sound like I was interrogating him. I was just curious.

“All right, well good luck with the science stuff.”

“Thanks, Mr. H. You comin’ to the game today?”

“Yeah, I think I might.”

“Cool, man.”

I left Landry in the hallway and got to my desk, sorting out papers that would need to be passed out during the first two periods.

Five minutes later, April walked in.

“Well, if it isn’t Mrs. Batista,” I said. “The newest Lakefront Charger!”

She did a mock curtsy in front of my desk.

“Thank you, thank you,” she said, pretending like she was waving to an audience. “First of all, I just want to thank Jesus and my ninth grade English teacher, Mrs. Belvedere.”

I laughed.

“Did you really have a teacher named Mrs. Belvedere?”

“Yeah,” she said. “She was kind of a bitch, but I loved her.”

“Wasn’t there a teacher on one of those nineties shows named Belvedere?”

“Yeah, I think there was,” she said as she sat down on the death couch. She sunk into the couch and her legs came up. I could see her panties. It turned me on.

When she had situated herself, she leaned forward as far as she could.

“I am so sore today!” she whispered.

“Too much time at the gym last night?”

“Something like that.” She smiled.

“I’m going to take you to dinner tonight,” I said.

“Oh really? What’s the occasion?”

“Well,” I said, standing up from my desk. “I heard Lakefront hired this drop dead gorgeous teacher and I’m excited about having permanent eye candy every day at work. So I wanted to celebrate.”

I extended my hand to help her up from the couch. I really wanted to kiss her.