No one had kissed me like Jack. Ever. Never had my body reacted to someone’s touch the way it did for him. I’d never known the fire of lust the way I’d felt it tonight, but oddly enough, I wasn’t ready to share any of that quite yet. I wanted to hold it for myself, to turn it over in my hands and understand what it was about the man that made me feel like I was coming undone.
I met Evie’s gaze and her eyes widened.
“Oh my God! You’re falling for him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look like this after a date.” A glance at my face dimmed her smile. “For that matter, you’ve not really gone on all that many dates as far as I can remember.”
She had me there. I decided years ago that dating really wasn’t my thing. Too messy. Too vulnerable. Too easy to get your heart trampled, and after what happened with…
Well, after that…
…the time that shall not be mentioned…
…I promised myself I wouldn’t let anyone or anything bring me down again. Not after I’d worked so hard to drag myself out in the first place.
But, with Jack I felt safe. My mindset seemed solid. I didn’t feel like I needed to protect myself from him. Did that mean dating was back on the table?
I shrugged. “New home, new life, new rules. Being with Jack is easy.”
Evie’s grin grew even wider. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”
“Like what before?”
“Giddy. Goofy. I mean, you’re always happy, but…don’t your cheeks hurt from that permagrin you have going on?”
I took a moment to appreciate that Evie saw me as someone who was always happy, especially because during that time I never thought I’d smile again.
“As a matter of fact, they do.” I smiled even bigger, anchoring myself in the present where everything was perfect and beautiful. “And more importantly, I don’t care.”
The next Monday, Jack’s last appointment of the day ran late. He texted me in a frenzy, asking if I could take Charlie to her karate class, promising dinner in return. I got directions to the dojo, then piled the kids into the car and waited in the lobby with the boys while their sister started her lesson with the other kids. The place smelled like a gym, and the worn seats had a plastic coating that stuck to my thighs, but the most uncomfortable aspect of the place was the moms, eyeing us from across the room.
“How come you guys don’t take class, too?” I asked Garrett.
He just shrugged while Connor ducked his chin. Something told me there was a story there, but I didn’t want to push them for it, at least not here, with the other women staring and whispering when they thought I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t like the way they looked at me and I definitely didn’t like the way they looked at Garrett and Connor. It felt way too much like high school, like they were the cool kids and we were the outcasts and I’d outgrown that BS when I was sixteen.
For the kids’ sakes, I put on my most pleasant face and tried to ignore the bitch factor, but that only made them whisper more. The best bet probably would have been to bury my face in my phone and do nothing, but I wasn’t a do-nothing kind of woman. I caught their attention and raised a hand, my overly bright smile streaked on like warpaint.
“Hello.” I wiggled my fingers and dropped my hand. “I couldn’t help but notice you were staring, so I assumed you’d like an introduction. I’m Amelia. Here with Charlie Cooper.” I gestured to the kids practicing kicks and punches with the sensei on the other side of the glass. Connor and Garrett looked up from their handheld games long enough to see who I was talking to, then disappeared back into whatever fictional world they were immersed in.
One of the women gave me a look laced with pity. “You poor thing. Have they been little monsters to you, as well?”
Garrett frowned and Connor’s chin dropped to his chest while heat simmered in my chest.
How dare she say something that rude while the boys were right there?
The Cooper kids had been a little rough around the edges, but monsters? Nope. Not even close.
“They’ve been delightful, actually.” I upped the amperage on my smile while my eyes shot daggers. “I’m really glad to get to know them.”
The woman clicked her tongue and turned back to her friends, whispering loudly, “I’d say that too, if I was sleeping with their dad.”
I sat up straighter, jaw dropping, sucking in breath to defend my honor just in time to see one of Charlie’s punches go wild and strike a little boy in the face. She gasped, clearly mortified by the accident as the other kid crumpled to the floor with a bloodcurdling shriek.
Half the moms in the room jumped to their feet, shocked, then the judgmental one turned to me. “Delightful, huh? I bet poor little Toby Hinkle doesn’t feel the same.”
I recoiled. “That was clearly an accident.”
“Let’s just say accidents like that didn’t happen when Natalie was around.” The curl of the woman’s lip. The snide tone. I had a sudden urge to throw a punch of my own.
As if summoned by the little boy’s shrieks, a woman with hair the same red as poor little Toby Hinkle dashed into the waiting room from the parking lot, her hands flying to her mouth as she saw him crying like he’d taken a double kick to the testicles. “Of course it was the Cooper girl,” she said as she pushed through the doors into the classroom, bending down to yell at Charlie, her finger wagging and her face turning a violent shade of purple.
Charlie’s bottom lip wobbled and tears trailed down her cheeks.
Oh hell no. That was not gonna fly. Not on my watch. Not when she hadn’t done anything wrong.
I stormed into the classroom in time to hear Charlie whisper an apology while Mrs. Hinkle unleashed a litany of awfulness I wouldn’t wish on anybody.
I came to a stop in front of them. “Hey now,” I said to the red-faced woman. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
Mrs. Hinkle sneered. “Someone needs to.”
I glanced at the instructor, hoping for backup on the fact that this whole thing was an accident. Afterall, he was the one wearing the black belt while all I had was a t-shirt with the words Spread Love riding a rainbow across my chest. He held up his hands and backed away, so I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck.
All right, then. Game flippin’ on.
“Garrett, Connor, and Charlie Cooper are wonderful children who have been through one heck of a hard year.” I indulged in a little finger wagging of my own. “Instead of judging them for how they’re dealing with the sudden loss of their mother…instead of judging their dad for trying to juggle the job of two parents without ever getting a chance to grieve his wife…maybe you all could take a step back and send even the tiniest shred of compassion their way. Instead of judgement, consider empathy. Lord knows the world needs more of that.”
The women stared at me in shock, and I should have stopped there, but I was on a roll. I reached into my purse and pulled out a bottle of sage spray I’d packed since Jack wasn’t a fan of me burning it anymore. Turning in a circle, I spritzed sage all over the dojo, muttering things about negative energy and bad vibes while the women watched in shock. The sensei backed away as I came near.