Tina Beckett - Flirting With The Boss

“Could you call a meeting with all the employees?” She looked at her watch. “And call the Silver Spoon and have them send over sandwiches and drinks.”

Erin smiled. “This is going to be fun.”

“We’re going to need our strength to get this bank into the twenty-first century.”

Two mornings later, Lori had been awakened by a call from a sick Claire Keenan, asking her for a favor. Would Lori like to take her place as a volunteer in the second grade classroom this afternoon?

There might have been several other things to do, but Lori found she wanted to check out the school. After her trip to the paint store and picking her colors for the bedroom, she had her purchase sent to the house.

She grabbed a quick lunch at the Silver Spoon, and after a friendly chat with Helen, she arrived at Destiny Elementary with time to spare. She went through the office then was taken down the hall to the second grade classroom.

Outside, she was greeted by the teacher. “It’s good to meet you, I’m Julie Miller.”

“Lori Hutchinson. I’m substituting for Claire Keenan. She’s sick.”

The young strawberry blonde smiled eagerly. “I’m glad you could make it. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Well, I guess Lyle’s long-lost daughter would be news in a small town.”

Julie smiled. “No, I heard it all from Cassie Yeager. Seems you live in a castle and have a princess bedroom like hers.”

That brought a smile to Lori’s lips, too. “If only.”

“I also heard you teach second grade.”

“I did. I was laid off this year.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but you’re welcome to come and help out in my class anytime. But it sounds like you’ve been pretty busy with other projects around town.”

Lori blinked. “You must have a good source.”

“My sister, Erin, works at the bank. You’ve really impressed her.”

“Oh, Erin. She’s been a big help showing me around. There do need to be some changes.”

Julie smiled brightly. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you came to Destiny and I hope you stay.”

“I’ll be here for this year anyway. In fact, my sister and her son will be coming in next week. Zack will be in second grade.”

“That’s wonderful. Then you’ll want to see how I run my class.”

Julie Miller opened the door to a room that was buzzing with about twenty-five seven-year-olds. The room was divided in sections, half with desks, the other half with tables and a circle of chairs for reading time.

Suddenly two little blonde girls came up to her—Ellie Larkin and Cassie Yeager.

“Miss Lori, what are you doing here?” Cassie asked.

“Hi, girls. Ellie, your grandmother isn’t feeling well today.”

Both girls looked worried. “Really?” Ellie said.

“It’s nothing serious, don’t worry. But she asked if I’d come in her place.”

They got excited again. “We’re going to try out for our Christmas program today.”

“That’s wonderful,” Lori said. This was what she missed about teaching, the children’s enthusiasm.

“It’s called Destiny’s First Christmas,” Cassie said as she clasped her hands together. “And everyone gets to be in it.”

“But we want to be the angels,” Ellie added.

Just then Mrs. Miller got their attention. “Okay, class, you need to return to your desks. We have a special guest today and we need to show her how well-behaved we are so she’ll want to come back.” A bright smile. “Maybe Miss Hutchinson will help us with our Christmas play.”

LATER that evening, Jace finally headed home. He was beat to say the least. A twelve-hour day was usually nothing for him, but he’d been off for three weeks. He needed to oversee everything today to make sure that the schedule for tomorrow went off without a hitch. The one thing he knew, he didn’t like to be away from Cassie that long. Luckily, he had good childcare.

He came up the road and the welcoming two-story clapboard house came into view. Although the sun had set an hour ago, he had installed plenty of lighting to illuminate the grounds, including the small barn. He had a lot of work yet to do on the place, but a new roof and paint job made the house livable for now.

The barn had been redone, plus he’d added stalls for his two horses, Rocky and Dixie. Maybe it was a luxury he couldn’t afford right now, but it was something that had helped Cassie adjust to her move. Luckily he’d been able to hire the neighbor’s teenage son to do the feeding and cleaning.

Jace frowned at the sight of a new SUV parked by the back door. Had Heather, the babysitter, gotten a new car? Then dread washed over him. Was it his ex-wife?

Panic surged through him as he got out of his truck and hurried up the back steps into the mudroom. After shucking his boots, he walked into the kitchen. He froze, then almost with relief, he sagged against the counter when he saw his daughter at the kitchen table with Lori Hutchinson.

He took a moment and watched the interaction of the two. Their blond heads together, working on the math paper. Then Lori reached out and stroked Cassie’s hair and it looked as natural as if they were mother and daughter. His throat suddenly went dry. His business partner had a whole new side to her, a very appealing side.

Too appealing. Lorelei Hutchinson was beginning to be more than a business partner and a pretty face. She had him thinking about the things he’d always wanted in his life. In his daughter’s life.

Cassie finally turned to him. “Daddy.” She got up and rushed over to him. “You’re home.”

He hugged her, but his gaze was on Lori. “Yes, sorry I’m so late.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Miss Lori drove me home.” His daughter gave him a bright smile. “She’s helping me with my homework.”

“I thought Mrs. Keenan was going to do that.” He’d made the arrangements with her yesterday.

Lori stood. “Claire would have, but she got sick. I took over for her this afternoon in Cassie’s classroom, and I offered to bring her home. I knew you would be busy at the site.”

Jace tensed. “My daughter is a priority. I’m never too busy to be here for her. At the very least I should have been called.” He glanced around for the teenager who he depended on. “Where’s Heather?”

“She had a ‘mergency at her house,” Cassie told him.

He turned to the jean-clad Lori. She didn’t look much older than the high school babysitter.

“We tried to call you but I got your voice mail,” Lori said. “It wasn’t a problem for me to stay with Cassie until you got home.”

Jace felt the air go out of him, remembering he hadn’t had his phone on him. He wasn’t sure where it was at the site. He looked at Lori. “Thank you. I guess I got wrapped up in getting things back on target at the job site.”

“It’s okay, Daddy.” His daughter looked up at him. “‘Cause we made supper.”

Great. All he needed was for this woman to get involved in his personal life. “You didn’t need to do that.”

Lori caught on pretty quickly that Jace didn’t want her here. She’d gotten rejection before, so why had his bothered her so much?

“Look, it’s just some potato soup and corn bread.” She checked her watch. “Oh, my, it’s late, I should go.”

“No!” Cassie said. “You have to stay. You said you’d help me practice my part in the play.” She turned back to her father. “Daddy, Miss Lori has to stay.”

Lori hated to put Jace on the spot. Whatever the issues he had about women, she didn’t want to know. She had enough to deal with. “It’s okay, Cassie, we’ll work on it another time.”

“But Miss Lori, you wanted to show Daddy your new car, too.”