Breaking the Rules (19 page)

“Try more than a year, bro.” He reached down and picked up the thrown popcorn. “And if you keep throwing popcorn around, you won't be getting any. You know women. They hate messes.”

Scott bent down and picked up the rest. “Yeah, yeah.” He turned the TV up when the game started.

Colin got up to go say hello to Jason, then grabbed a beer in the kitchen and sat down again next to his brother. He knew he still had a smile on his face, but damned if he couldn't help it. Life was beautiful.

After watching the next few runs, Scott glanced at his brother sideways and asked, “So, you in love?”

Colin almost choked on the popcorn kernel that stuck in this throat. “Shit, no.”

After coughing up a lung, he closed his eyes. He pictured Hope's body splayed out beneath him, her seductive smile as he entered the bathroom this morning, her laughter as he made a joke about the Red Sox regalia in her kitchen. He remembered her snuggled up to him in the morning with a smile on her face, dreaming. He grabbed the front of his shirt to air himself off, because he was awfully hot all of a sudden. He pitched forward and rubbed his face with his hands. “Shit. I might be.”

Scott patted him on the back. “Just take it slow, bro. Take it slow.”

Colin gulped in air and took a huge swallow of his beer. “Yeah.” He sat back and tried to think of other things, like the Dolphins game and the damn Colts who were beating them. Nope. He could still see Hope's little blue bikini blazoned on his mind. Okay. Check out the cheerleaders. Nice legs. Then he thought of Hope's thigh tightened around his neck, and how her cute little tattoo beckoned him. Shit. He needed to get some air.

Getting up, he heard the backdoor open and Sarah holler, “Hon, can you help with the bags?”

“I got it.” Colin motioned to Sarah. “Hey, there.”

“Oh, good. You made it. Jason was worried.” She gave him a quick hug, then whispered, “Were you with Hope?”

“Uh — ” He tried not to smile. In fact, he forced his mouth to stop. But he didn't think it worked when Sarah pressed her hip against the counter and crossed her arms in a “know it all” stance. Time to make his escape.

When Colin came back in with groceries, Jason and his cousins were at the counter searching through the bags Sarah brought in.

Colin tapped Jason on the shoulder. “I thought you were dying for me to come so we could watch football together.”

Jason shrugged. “That was before the Dolphins started losing. Besides, I'm learning this new game and I'm finally getting the hang of it.”

“Well, we'll leave in a little bit then. You've been here enough time and we need to give Aunt Sarah and Uncle Scott a break.”

Sarah pulled a can of tuna from the grocery sack. “It's no problem, Colin. Stay for the game. I don't really like it anyway, and Scott needs a buddy to scream at the TV with.”

“Yeah, Dad. Don't let your brother down.”

“When did you get so smart, little man?”

“I don't know.” He shrugged and grabbed a water bottle that Sarah held out. “So, did you have fun with Ms. Robinson?”

Colin looked around the kitchen, and all eyes were glued on him. His son really was a little matchmaker, but he wasn't about to go into details with him. “We hung out a little.”

“It was cool to see her try to surf. She never laughs like that at school.”

Thankfully one of the kids picked that moment to find a pack of batteries in the grocery sacks, and all three kids ran off, now fixated on restarting their game. Colin helped Sarah put away the rest of the groceries and he grabbed another beer. Hanging out for another hour wouldn't hurt and he did love a good football game. He'd try again to see if it could take his mind off Hope's laughter that sent shivers down to his bones. He took a bigger sip and plopped down next to his brother. “Who's winning?”

“From the look on your face, I'd say you are.” Scott wiggled his eyebrows. “Unfair or not, you're winning, bro, and I'll bet you'll be winning for a long while.”

They clinked bottles and yelped at the referee who called a foul. This was the life. A damn beautiful one.

Colin sat by the pool in a chair and dried his hair with a towel. The early evening was quiet, except for Jason's strokes in and out of the water. The sun set behind the fence and birds chattered in the trees. Hope would like this. Reaching beside him, he picked up his cell phone. No messages.

Actually, he didn't expect a message, but he longed for one. Keeping his mind busy had been a chore, because he thought only about Hope, especially spread out across her bed with her blonde hair splayed out around her head like a crown.
Get a grip, man.
Some minutes passed before he decided to send her a message.

Caught myself smiling and realized I was thinking of you.

He put his phone back on the table, leaned back and smiled even bigger. It was true. Thinking about Hope and her laughter made him happy. It had been five days since their interlude in her condo — too damn long. He tried to figure out when he could see her next and heard a beep from his phone. He reached for it.

There was a one-word answer
: Sweet.

He shook his head and answered back.
Vixen.

He could picture her laughing at his response. He couldn't wait to see her again. This time he kept his phone in his hand, waiting for her to text back. The minutes crawled by with no response.

Then a beep and vibration shook his hand.
I'm in a board meeting. Stop making me laugh — and bluch.

I thought you were a principal. You misspelled blush. BTW, keep blushing. I like that color on you.

An immediate response came this time.
Perfectionist.

Tease.

Flirt.

Oh yeah, he loved this playful banter. He hadn't felt like this in years. Alive. Having fun. His fingers moved quickly over the keypad. He had to see her. Tonight.

Come over.

Jason reached the end of the pool and called out, “Hey, Dad, throw me a towel.”

He threw one over and looked at the phone. No response. Crap. Maybe she didn't like his invitation. Was she avoiding him again?

Ok. Be there in an hour.

Relief passed through his body and a huge grin spread on his face as he typed in his address.

Jason walked over to him. “Who you texting, Dad?”

“Ms. Robinson is coming over for dinner.” He placed his phone on the table next to him.

Jason stopped drying his back. “Really? Cool.”

“How about tacos? I think we have all the ingredients.”

“Yeah and you don't really mess those up.”

Colin swatted him with a small towel. “Hey! I'm not that bad.” He sat up straighter, knowing Jason would expect a comment about his swimming skills. “You're looking really good out there. Your stroke is clean and strong.”

“Practice makes perfect,” Jason moaned, repeating what Colin always told him. After sitting on the chair across from him, Jason asked, “So, you like Ms. Robinson, don't you?”

Colin didn't even hesitate. “Yep. I do. What do you think about that?”

“I think it's pretty cool. I mean, I really like her, too.” He shrugged. “She'd be a cool mom.”

Colin held up his hands. “Whoa, hold it right there. We're not getting married. We just like each other's company.”

Jason's shoulders slouched. “Oh, okay.” A frown of disappointment etched across his face.

“And Hope — I mean Ms. Robinson is a little, uh, worried about our privacy. Don't go around blabbing to your friends, okay?” Colin stood up and grabbed his wallet, phone and towel.

“I'm not.” Jason stood. “And Dad, I think it's cool.”

Colin put his arm around his shoulders. “Yeah, you told me that. Let's go shower and then get dinner started.”

Once they were in the kitchen cooking up the Calaway Taco Surprise, as Jason called it, the doorbell rang. He looked at his watch. It'd only been thirty minutes.

Opening the front door, he smiled at Hope. “You couldn't wait, could you?”

She stood in a dark blue pencil skirt and a matching tailored jacket. A soft magenta-colored shirt was underneath the jacket, begging Colin to smooth his hand over her chest, but he held back. His son was in the other room, for Christ's sake.

“My meeting ended right about the time you finished harassing me on the phone.” She cocked an eyebrow and smiled slowly. “You going to stare like I'm a chocolate-covered ice cream sundae all night or are you going to let me in?”

He held the door wider and let her pass. Just seeing her made him lose his senses. He couldn't open his mouth, because she looked so damn good. Her heels clicked on his linoleum foyer as she looked around.

“This is beautiful.” She grinned at him behind her shoulder. “I love the open layout of your house design.”

He coughed a little. “Thanks.” He put his hands in his pockets to hide the other brain of his. Did she realize how much she turned him on just by standing in front of him and smiling? Her perfume wafted around him as she passed and left a trail of the flowery scent for him to follow. After a few more steps, they stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

“Hey, Ms. Robinson. We have the Calaway Taco Surprise cooking up and it'll be ready real soon.” His smile was ear to ear.

“Exactly what I need, Jason.” She returned her attention to Colin, but jerked her chin in Jason's direction. “In addition to all his other talents, he's a cook, too?”

Colin was busy checking out her rear-end, but realized she asked him a question. He lifted his head and in a drawn out voice answered, “Yes,” thinking that was the appropriate response. Yes was always good.

Hope raised an eyebrow and walked over to him. She patted his chest and looked behind her toward the kitchen door where Jason disappeared. “Later, Colin,” she whispered.

He bent forward and kissed her, because he couldn't hold himself back. It was a short one, but the feel of her lips against his would hold him over until Jason went to bed. The look on her face satisfied him, because for the first time since he opened the door, he knew her knees wobbled like his own.

He grabbed her hand. “Come on. Let's go set the table and finish up in the kitchen.”

Once there, Hope let go of his hand and peered over the stove where Jason stood. “Smells great. Can I help?”

“Nope, Ms. Robinson. You go sit down, since you're our guest. The guys are here to do the work.”

She widened her eyes. “You two are up to something.”

Colin pushed her back and led her to the table. “Sit down. You've been at a stuffy board meeting and now you can relax.” He reached in a tall cabinet for three plates and utensils and set the table. “So, what was your big meeting about, anyway?”

“I feel really funny sitting here and watching you two do all the work.” She rested her chin in the palm of one hand.

Colin put a plate in front of her. “Don't.”

Jason stepped into the room with two enormous kitchen mitts on his hands, carrying a serving bowl of steaming taco meat. He placed it in the center of the table and bowed. “Dinner is served.”

Colin laughed and looked at Hope. “He's taking this real seriously, isn't he?”

“I love it. Next time we have a student-served dinner fundraiser, I'm going to have you head that up. Wait, I love that idea. I need to write that down.” She searched in her purse for her cell phone and typed in the message.

Once she was done, Colin took her purse and placed it on an extra chair against the wall. “No more work.”

Jason reentered the room with two serving plates, one loaded with what had to be a full head of lettuce, shredded to smithereens, and the other had tomatoes semi-chopped and cheddar cheese.

Colin ran into the kitchen to grab the taco shells and taco sauce. Once all the food sat on the table, Jason began to serve himself. “We do a self-serve thing here. Nothing fancy,” Colin translated.

“Well, this looks pretty fancy to me. Impressive, Calaway men.” She waited for her turn to serve.

“So, you were talking about the meeting,” Colin pushed, trying to make conversation in order to keep his mind off her chest, which bared a great view of cleavage as she bent over the lettuce plate.

“We discussed several things, including the Halloween dance this coming Wednesday night.” She sat up straight and eyed Colin. “Actually, we need more chaperones. Are you up to it? Parents need to help organize the refreshments and make sure the kids don't dance too close, which really doesn't happen since they're mostly twelve or thirteen. Actually, the thirteen-year-olds can be a little frisky, if you ask me. I mean, I never did that.” As she talked, she topped her tacos with more and more ingredients. When she realized what she was doing, she stopped with her hand midway in the air and cheese dangling from her fingertips. “I'm rambling aren't I?”

“You nervous?” Colin looked at Jason, who smiled back and forth between them.

“What I was trying to say is we need some more male chaperones. I'd love to have you there.”

“What do you think, Jas? Want your old man there?”

Jason shrugged his shoulders. “I don't care. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go in the first place, but I think Kyle said something about it, so sure.”

“Then I'll do it.” Colin shoved half a taco into his mouth and crunched. He actually loved the idea. It was another way to see Hope. Of course, it was at school, but that didn't matter to him. They could be friendly with each other and not jump each other's bones. Shit. He wanted to throw her up on the table right now, but he wouldn't. He had some self-control. He could do it.

“What are you smiling about?” Hope asked as she poured iced tea into her glass.

“Oh, just thinking it'd be fun to cross off another item from your list tonight.” He nodded his head outside the window to where the pool laid, and the moon shining on the water.