Teacher's Pet Complete Series (37 page)

I got up and stopped short in the doorway. “Yeah, sure. I can do that.”

“Thank you.” He went back to his work without looking up, and, like a good son, I pretended not to notice the tear that fell from his face and splashed onto his desk.

“I remember when you had just turned four years old, and your father took the training wheels off of your bike for the first time. You were so excited to ride that bike, so exuberant to show your father that you could do it. You always wanted to please him. You may not admit it now, but you’ve sought your father’s approval almost from birth. But you didn’t want anyone to help you, not even him. Even though you could hardly sit upright on your own and push yourself down the street without toppling over like a giant house of cards.”

Caroline was sitting by Simon’s bedside, alone in his room, holding back tears. The light slanting in from the window made her eyes glisten, and she wiped them with her finger before they spilled over. She had no idea I was there watching her and her interactions with her son. I was in the doorway, hidden behind a wall, sneaking peeks.

She tenderly communicated to her son, brushing the hair from his forehead and rubbing his hand gingerly. To see that side of Caroline made me feel sorry for her for the very first time. I didn’t think it was possible, but that was exactly how I felt. She was human after all.

“You know, I should’ve known you were going to love motorcycles from that early Sunday morning, because, after you finally broke down and let your dad help you for a while, and you got the hang of riding the bike on your own, you used to make these motorcycle sounds while you rode down the street like a speed demon.” She chuckled softly and sniffled. I covered my mouth, feeling close to tears. “All day, all night, making noises with your mouth for hours at a time until nightfall. You were such a tireless child. I remember your father and I yelling at you to come in the house or slow down before you got injured. Watching out for the cars and being careful wasn’t you. You were a daredevil. I guess some things haven’t changed in all this time, although I wish it were different—maybe then you wouldn’t be in this place.” She ran her fingers through his hair, pushing a stray to the side, and she waited, I assumed, in the hope that he’d move.

“Oh, my sweet boy. If only you could wake up…I would do anything to see you open your eyes and look at me the way that you do. With that big, bright smile and your father’s dimples, how your eyes crinkle at the corners when you’re truly happy to see me. I really don’t know what to do. The doctors said you can wake up at any given moment. How I wish this was that moment so I wouldn’t have to keep worrying—”

“Are you going to stand there all day looking shady or are you going to come in and see how he’s doing?”

I damn near jumped out of my skin. The voice behind me was sudden, not loud, but it startled me enough to put gooseflesh on my arms. Especially when Caroline was alerted to my presence and narrowed her eyes to slits, glaring in my direction.

I sharply turned around to see Selene, Simon’s sister, with a mischievous smile tickling her lips, and then she started laughing. “Oh, man! You should’ve seen your face. It was like OHH! Your eyes got so big. You looked like a guppy.”

I almost smiled, but Caroline spoiled the levity. “What are you doing here?”

Selene’s expression quickly grew serious. She looked at her mother, and then looked to me and realized she might’ve started something. “Oh, come on, Mom. Simmer down. She’s here for Simon, not for you, and he needs all the support he can get.”

I loved her right then. I didn’t know her from Adam, with her strawberry-blond hair all loose and hanging down past her shoulders. She had on designer jeans, tight and blue, with nude-colored heels and a light blue top.

“I will not have this!” Caroline shot up angrily out of her chair, and I was convinced that if she could, she would have wrapped her hands around my throat and squeezed until I needed a hospital bed of my own. “Not only do I not want her here, but Katelyn will be back at any moment. Selene, you know how she is. She’d go bat-shit if she saw this girl here.”

“She might be right about that.” Selene turned her back to her mom and bent to whisper in my ear, far from discreetly. “I’ve always said Katelyn was coo-coo, and she’s done nothing but prove me right since she’s been back.”

“Yeah, I saw a bit of that crazy from her last night,” I said.

Caroline was standing with her hands on her hips as a sort of barrier between Simon and me. Her body language was firm and unmovable, and I wasn’t the one to try her, not tonight. Selene was standing in front of me like a barrier between me and the tense situation, and I was grateful for that, because I was starting to fear for the integrity of my sanity.

This family was full of control-freak nutcases constantly on a rampage and intent on undermining me. It made me question whether my mission to see Simon was even worth it. At least one of them, Selene, seemed sensible. I wouldn’t be happy until I was at his bedside, but I wasn’t in the mood for another heated confrontation with Caroline or Katelyn.

“Caroline,” I said, “I’m not here to fight with you. I don’t want to disrespect you or your family, but it would be a lie if I said I don’t need to see him. I very much need to see Simon. I want to hold his hand to at least let him know that I was here and I’m worried for him. Can I at least do that? It will only take a minute of your time and I’ll leave…please.” Tears threatened, again. I was sick of crying. I bit my trembling bottom lip and tried to appeal to whatever sense of empathy the cold woman might have.

Caroline moved as if to get to me, but Selene, respectfully, wouldn’t let her pass. Caroline appeared too angry for Selene’s comfort, and she put her hands to her mother’s shoulders, gently shaking her. “No, Mom. You used to tell me anger was a reaction and not an action, that it couldn’t provide a solution because it was static, and anger and intelligence can’t reside in the same conversation. Do you remember telling me that?”

Caroline nodded but wouldn’t take her eyes off me. “No!”

“Mom?” Selene said.

“No, I said! Selene, if she wanted to see Simon so badly, how come she wasn’t here all night like I was? How come she couldn’t stay in case something turned for the worse at the last minute?”

“You had me forcibly removed from the floor, don’t you remember? Two burly security guards carrying me off like last night’s trash? Do you need any other refreshers? It was a pretty memorable scene. Everyone watched and had front-row tickets.”

“Hmph,” was her only response. She presented her back to me and walked back to her chair. She sat down and proceeded to effectively ignore the both of us.

Selene grabbed me by the hand and stepped forward with me in tow.

“No!” Caroline shouted, pointing at the door without a flinch or a blink. Selene and I deflated and retreated.

She still held my hand as she walked me to the elevator doors. At that point I would have rather taken the stairs to the lobby. I felt a sense of déjà vu, but with a much nicer send-off. “Look, it’s no secret my mother doesn’t like you much. For what real reason, I couldn’t say, but I wanted to let you know I understand why you want to see my brother. I’d try anything to see that he wakes up, and I know you care for him greatly; I can see it. Never mind the fact you’re currently dating my other brother.” She shook her head. “The whole thing’s just freakin’ weird, if you ask me. But anyways, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but fuck it. I’m going to. If you want to see Simon and spend time with him all by yourself, you have an opportunity.”

“I do,” I responded. “How is that?”

“Be back here tomorrow at seven. Mom, Dad, and I are going out to dinner, so no one will be here, as far as I know.”

“Well, what about Katelyn?”

“Had some kind of career-altering case she had to prepare for. Left on a flight about an hour ago. She said she should be back in a couple of days.” Selene rolled her eyes. “So this is your best bet, okay? Tomorrow at seven, and you’re golden. You should have at least an hour with him. Say what you’ve got to say and give him all the love you can muster. Maybe it will help.”

“Selene.” Caroline was leaning in the doorway. “Can you come in here, please? I need to talk to you.”

Selene looked to her mom and then looked back at me and rolled her eyes. “Love the woman to death, but she can be a bit much, if you know what I mean.”

“I do. Believe me, my mother just might be worse.”

“Okay, so tomorrow, like I said, and make sure you’re here on the dot,” she whispered as Caroline looked on, very annoyed. “The more time you have with him, the better. I’m sure you’ll agree.”

I nodded as Selene walked away. I mouthed a thank-you to her as I heard my phone chirp. I glanced at the screen and saw it was Dane, whom I had forgotten all day. I groaned, thinking I was out of the frying pan and into the fire. Trouble ahead.

Dane was enraged like I had never seen him before, not even with the fights he’d had with Simon. I saw it from the moment he stepped out of the car. His face was all steel and seriousness, like the fact that I was at the hospital checking on Simon’s wellbeing was somehow a gross betrayal of his trust. It made me think for a moment that maybe it was, but I wasn’t opposed to him being there with me. In fact, I would’ve preferred it. Why was everyone around me always so angry? And why was I the source of the problem?

“Hello,” I said with trepidation.

Dane ran his fingers through his hair, trying to regain his composure, and took a deep breath before he spoke. “Hello.” He grinned tightly, but it wasn’t very real. The entire interaction was uncomfortable. “So, how is he?”

I was surprised that he asked. “Much the same. He hasn’t woken up yet. Caroline is in there with him. Selene is up there, too.”

“You ran into Caroline again?”

I nodded.

“How did that go?”

“That was much the same as well…if not worse.”

“I see that you’re a real glutton for punishment.”

“I guess I can be at times.”

I noticed he was fidgeting with his hands, kind of tense. He kept shoving them deep in his pockets and taking them out, wringing and squeezing them.

“What’s wrong?” I finally asked.

“Do you really want to be with me, Lynn? I mean this, us. Is this something that you want?”

I spoke up as fast as I could. “I—”

“You can tell me if it isn’t. I’d be upset, but I’d understand.”

“What if I didn’t want you to understand?”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind. It’s not important. The answer to your question is yes! Of course I want this. I want us. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I wouldn’t have texted you to come and pick me up, and I certainly wouldn’t be thinking about fucking you right now.” I smiled seductively, hoping that my bold flirting would get his mind off his troubles, but it didn’t—another epic fail.

“I’m serious, Lynn.” His stern expression didn’t change.

“So am I. Why would you think that I wasn’t?” I swallowed and prayed he believed me, because I was a little aroused by his presence. Even though my thoughts and desires were with a guy I couldn’t have, Dane was mine, and I didn’t want to lose him. A part of me realized my need to see Simon was tearing my lover apart. Dane rarely displayed emotions.

He was a reserved man, not counting his fiercely primal sex appeal. He was the sort of man that could make a woman’s body feel like nirvana, and I benefited from his sexual interest. Yet what he craved from a relationship didn’t mesh well with my cravings. Maybe that was why I continued to be drawn to Simon. I knew Dane loved me in his own way. A person would have to be blind to miss it.

He looked at me with earnest eyes that tried to peer into my soul. I only gave him glimpses of me. He thought I was impetuous and childish, and he didn’t understand my passions. I was with him because I loved his steely good looks and commanding presence. I appreciated his affection and all the things he did for me. And, as much as I didn’t want to think of myself as a loose woman, I was with him because I desired him. I stared back at him with an invitation written across my face. Dane growled softly and shook his head. He turned back to his Aston Martin and opened the passenger-side door so I could climb inside. He settled into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Okay, well, I have something to ask you, but now is probably not the time,” he said.

“If now’s not the time, why bring it up?”

“I set your parents up at the hotel where I’m staying. We can go there and talk. I can set up a room for you as well. For appearances’ sake, you know. Wouldn’t want your parents to think something funny is going on between us.”

“I’m pretty sure they already know a lot’s going on between us, Dane. Besides, I think I’d like to stay at Bobbi’s for now. I’m comfortable there, and Sonja’s only in town for another few days, so I’d like to spend as much time with them as possible. But if you say we need to talk, then we’ll talk. I should see my parents soon, too, before they disown me. Looks like you’re not too far off from doing that, yourself.” I leaned across the seat and kissed him on the cheek, but his response to that was less than enthusiastic.

The entire ride to the hotel I wondered what Dane needed to talk to me about. Did he want to break it off? Had he talked to my parents? It was making me nervous to have so many potential reasons going a hundred miles an hour through my head. I could hardly look in his direction, but he hadn’t looked my way much at all.

“I take it you’re mad at me.” I glanced over at him nervously, knowing I was right.

“Me? No, I just have a lot on my mind. What father expects of me, the project going on in New York. It’s nothing you’ve done. I’m just, um…just stressing, I guess.”