Fringe Benefits (5 page)

“Wow. What a cutie.” Bethany nudged Dani with her elbow. “I see why you brought him today. Makes a great first date with so many guys for him to talk to.”

“It’s not a
date
,” Dani insisted. She smoothed her hand down her white capris and adjusted the spaghetti strap of her purple top since it kept dropping to one side. “The poor guy was just shell-shocked after the first weeks at school, and he needed a place to relax. He doesn’t know too many people in town.” She shrugged, causing the strap to fall against her upper arm again. “I’m just being nice.”

Juliana sat down on one of the seats in the new gazebo Robert had recently completed. She popped open her Diet Coke as Mallory took the opposite side. Both were dressed as casually as Dani, probably to avoid the heat. Beth wore a pink sundress that suited her dark hair and complexion.

The manny was inside the house with the Wilson twins and Beth’s daughter, Emma. They’d exhausted themselves on the enormous jungle gym and were all napping in earnest. Made for a nice, quiet, and rather lazy afternoon.

“Did you card him, Mal?” Jules smirked. “Don’t want to get arrested for serving beer to a minor.”

Dani followed the gazes of the Ladies to Nate. He stood with the other men, holding tight to a bottle of Miller Lite and chuckling at whatever they were talking about. “A few of the teachers haven’t met him yet, so he keeps getting asked for a hallway pass.”

“A definite baby face on that one,” Beth said. “Have you asked him to move in yet?”

“For pity’s sake, Beth.” Dani shot her a frown. “He wouldn’t be ‘moving in.’ He’d be my tenant.”

She was an idiot for even thinking about having him so close, but ever since their night out, she could think of nothing but having Nate live in her basement.

I’m an idiot
.

Problem was, she was fascinated by him. Each school day, they shared a common prep period, which gave them time to plan for their sophomore classes. They could also talk books, something few of her friends, even the Ladies, could manage. To have someone share her hunger for literature was rare. And special.

And there was, of course, the kiss that had curled her toes and haunted her dreams with images of the passion she thought she might find in his arms.

A real idiot
.

“Move in. Become your tenant. Pure semantics,” Beth countered. “He’d be upstairs with you for stuff like laundry. And you didn’t answer my question.”

“Her lack of answer
is
the answer,” Jules said. “She wants him there but can’t find the courage to ask. Want me to talk to him? We’re going out to see a few houses Monday after school. Could discuss renting then. I’ll even draw up a contract for you.”

With a shake of her head, Dani decided to stop being passive-aggressive. She was a grown-up; it was time to start acting like one.

She wanted him close? Fine. She’d admit it, if only to herself. So she’d offer him a way to be near that didn’t threaten their working relationship. “No. I’ll ask him when I drive him back to his hotel.” The thought of him going back to that pit made her stomach knot. “Definitely asking today.”

“He’ll be a helluva lot happier with you,” Jules said. “Your apartment is great—”

“Because my husband’s a genius,” Beth said with a smile.

“—and he can stay there while we search. I’ve got several places that are perfect for him, but it’ll be at least three weeks before we can close any of them. Most are fixer-uppers, so he might want to get a few things updated before he moves.” She fixed her intense green eyes on Dani. “You really are helping him out. That long-term place is—”

“Horrible.” Dani couldn’t help but feel guilty for not suggesting her apartment sooner. “I know. I know. I’ll ask. I promise.”

Three weeks. The perfect amount of time to decide if this infatuation was simply that.

*   *   *

Nate smiled at something Ben Carpenter said. The man had a great sense of humor, as did the other two guys who were clearly taking Nate’s measure.

He tried to keep all their relationships straight in his mind. Connor Wilson belonged to the redhead, Jules. They were parents to the two dark-haired boys. They sold real estate, and she was taking Nate out to look at houses Monday. Seemed like a nice couple for salespeople. Most were pushy; these two weren’t. Very, very helpful, but definitely not pushy.

Ben went with Mallory, the thin lady with the great smile. She’d helped him with locker duty, and for a tiny thing, she could use her voice to get a kid’s attention pretty damn quick. Ben was the one who was going to help if Nate got a fixer-upper. Since he couldn’t afford something like the Ashfords’ home, he hoped Ben was as frugal as Nate’s mother had taught him to be.

The cute brunette with the curly hair—Beth—was married to Robert Ashford. He was the one Dani said used to be a teacher but now built homes, and Beth still taught at Douglas. He’d constructed Dani’s house. Maybe one day she’d let Nate take a tour so he could judge the quality for himself.

“I should’ve asked for an ID,” Ben quipped as he pointed at Nate’s longneck.

Connor grinned. “You hear that all the time, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” Nate took a pull of the beer. “But it’s my face, so I’m stuck with it.”

“You’ll be glad in ten years.” Ben raked his fingers through his dark hair, drawing Nate’s attention to the gray at the temples. “Another five, I’ll be entirely gray.”

Robert shook his head. “Takes longer than that. I had gray at your age. Over forty now, and”—he rubbed his temple—“hasn’t gone beyond my sideburns.”

“Besides,” Connor added, “he’s a blond. Won’t go gray as fast as guys like us with dark hair.”

Ben scoffed as he flipped a slab of ribs. “We sound like a bunch of women, bitching about our gray hair. Next thing you know we’ll be talking about gravity making our boobs sag and how bad our hot flashes are.” He inclined his head toward where the four women sat in comfortable chairs at the far end of the deck. “Uh-oh, Nate.”

The teasing tone of Ben’s voice kept Nate from being concerned. “Uh-oh what?”

“All four of them are staring at you. There’s mischief afoot.”

“He’s right.” Robert grabbed a beer from the cooler. “The Ladies can get themselves into a jam eight ways from Sunday, especially if they’re conspiring.”

“So the Ladies are troublemakers?” Although that had been his original guess, it didn’t jibe with what most of the people at school had to say about them. The women were well respected, as were their husbands.

When Dani had extended the invitation to come to the cookout at the Ashfords’ house, he’d jumped at the chance to spend more time with her. She might be resisting going on a serious date, but he would wear her down. It had been a long time since he’d felt such a strong attraction to a woman. Only Kat had ever gotten that kind of reaction.

Kat had been his one and only long-term relationship. He’d only dated sporadically in high school, and he was the polar opposite of a ladies’ man. Plagued with awkwardness his first three years of high school, he’d waited a lot longer than most guys for his growth spurt. Between his junior and senior years, his body had cooperated, adding five inches of height and destroying his knees in the process. He didn’t truly hit his stride until college, and he’d met Kat not long after he’d started classes at IU. She was the only woman he’d ever loved, and at the time, Nate had thought she was “the one.”

He’d been dead wrong.

“Did you like IU?” Connor asked.

“Yeah,” Nate replied. “Liked it enough to stay almost six years.”

“Change majors?”

Nate nodded. “Senior year, I had an epiphany when I took a work study as a teaching assistant for one of my professors. I loved being in front of a class. It felt… right. Since I was almost done with the requirements, I went ahead and got my bachelors in English; then I decided to go back for a teaching license and a master’s in education. My mom objected, but I knew what I wanted.”

“She’s a teacher, isn’t she?” Ben asked with a grin. “Mallory keeps telling Amber to do anything
but
teach. My daughter’s got a mind of her own, though. Seems like every teacher is steering college kids away from the profession.”

“Can you blame them?” An acerbic chuckle slipped from Robert’s lips. “I sure as hell don’t miss the bullshit. You know, teaching used to be a great profession. Now it’s just mountains of paperwork, crappy pay, and people thinking a computer can do your job better than you.”

“Easy, boys,” Connor cautioned. “You’re gonna scare the kid.”

Kid?
Was it a blessing or a curse to always look younger than he was? He was twenty-four, and everyone told him he acted a lot older. But that damn baby face…

Nate tried to turn the topic. “Amber?”

“My daughter from my first marriage. She’s a sophomore at Douglas this year. Wants to be a teacher, no matter how much Mallory tells her not to.”

Nate snapped his fingers. “Amber Carpenter. Fourth period. Didn’t make the connection ’cause I’m still learning names.”

“Takes a few weeks,” Robert said. “I sure don’t miss having to memorize a hundred-plus new names every year.”

“Not talking about the students,” Nate teased. “Talking about all of you.”

At least the men laughed.

“Why’d you leave teaching?” Nate asked Robert.

Shooting a grin at Connor, Robert replied, “This cocky bastard breezed into town and turned my life upside down.”

Connor let out a chuckle. “Now, Robert… you need to blame Tracy as much as you do me. Barrett Foods is what turned your life upside down.”

It wasn’t hard for Nate to fill in the rest of the story. “Barrett Foods. I’ve got tons of kids whose parents work there. I take it you built most of their houses.”

Robert replied with a nod.

“Do you like being a builder?”

“Love it,” Robert replied. He inclined his head at Ben. “We both thrive on breathing sawdust and sheetrock powder.”

“I envy that,” Nate said. “My dad isn’t very handy with tools. My stepdad is, but he and Mom travel a lot. If I’m gonna buy a house, I can guaran-damn-tee you it’ll need work, so I’ll have to get my hands dirty. Doubt my stepdad will be able to help much. He and Mom are usually on the road to somewhere new.”

“I’ll be glad for any help you wanna give, and I’ll teach you anything you want to learn.” Ben slathered a little more barbeque sauce on the ribs and then shut the lid to the stainless steel grill. Then he sat down on the bench and glanced at Robert and Connor before he leveled a hard stare at Nate. “Time for the tougher questions.”

Bracing himself, Nate took a long swig of his beer. “You want to know about me and Dani.”

Connor let out another laugh. “Damn, kid. You really cut to the chase.”

All Nate did was shrug. He’d learned quite a bit from watching his parents’ marriage fall apart. The biggest lesson was to always be honest, something his father had a hard time doing, even with his sons. “There’s nothing to tell. Not really. Dani and I are colleagues. Technically, she’s my boss. Or so she keeps reminding me…”

“Heard you didn’t worry about that when you got locked in the supply closet,” Robert drawled. “Got quite cozy, didn’t you? And then you took her on a date to Aspen Grill.”

So the Ladies shared information not only among themselves but also with their husbands. Another shot of envy sliced through Nate. How wonderful would it be to have friends? Especially friends who could be trusted with secrets?

Nate’s closest friend had always been his brother, Patrick. Come to think of it, Nate had been such a horribly shy geek and had never made any close friendships. Unless he counted the people he killed daily in online role-playing games. Cyberfriends hardly counted.

One of the reasons he’d chosen to be a teacher was because he wanted to help kids who were like he’d been. Alone. Feeling like a misfit. Wondering when or if life would really begin.

“No girlfriends back at IU?” Connor asked.

Nate shook his head, biting his tongue against the overwhelming need to talk to someone about Kat.

“You’re holding back,” Ben insisted. “What don’t you want us to know?”

“Mind you,” Connor added, “keeping secrets has a way of biting a guy in the ass.”

That was a loaded line if he’d ever heard one. “It’s… embarrassing. Makes my life sound like a soap opera.”

Robert plopped onto the bench next to where Nate had taken a seat. “We love soap operas. So spill.”

“Would you believe my ex-fiancée is now my stepsister?”

The three men stared at him in stunned silence.

Nate let a wry grin spread over his face. “I know, right? Very Greg and Marcia Brady.” He figured now that he’d opened the can of worms, he might as well tell them the whole story. “Kat and I had no idea our parents had even
met
when we started dating. My mom hit it off with her dad when we were a world away in Bloomington. I liked a girl in class and worked up the guts to ask her out, and we clicked. Imagine everyone’s surprise when we all got together for Parents’ Day lunch.”

Ben let out a low whistle. “Oh boy. Fireworks?”

“Like the Fourth of July.” Funny, but the memories made Nate smile now. It had been almost four years since he and Kat had called it quits. Maybe he’d finally moved on for good.

“No women since then?” Connor asked.

“Dates, but nothing serious.” Nate’s gaze was drawn to the Ladies, who were meandering from the gazebo to the deck. He’d wondered if he’d ever get close enough to Dani to tell her everything about his relationship with Kat. Looked like he might have to since he’d shared it with the guys, which made his heart beat just a little faster.

What would she think?

The kiss they’d shared haunted him, but that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to know Danielle Bradshaw better. The more chances they had to chat, the more he realized exactly how much they had in common.

Both were morning runners, enjoyed listening to R & B, and worshiped Mexican food. Then there were books, something he loved sharing with her. They could talk plots and themes and characters in a way he’d never known with anyone else. Nate wanted to learn more about Dani because he’d loved everything he’d seen so far. And he’d only scratched the surface.