Maybe This Time (The Educators Book 3) (2 page)

“Sure.”

He dropped down on the floor and tossed around the marbles. After a while, he noticed Marlene had fallen asleep. Rising, he retrieved his sports coat and laid it over her.

At five o’clock, the plane was officially canceled and arrangements were made to get the stranded passengers to a hotel.

He’d distracted himself during the day, but now Gage let the worry in. His daughter shouldn’t be left alone all night. She was at his house because her mother had dumped her there while Gage was in Atlanta, for God’s sake, and left town.

Delaney said, “We’ll help you to the hotel, Marlene.”

“Thanks.” The woman struggled to get up. “I don’t know what I would have done without you two all day.”

“I enjoyed myself. And my little buddy here helped pass the time.”

The boy yawned. “I’m tired.”

Gage crossed to him. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride to shuttle.” With that, he scooped Jason up and settled him on his shoulders. The kid was quiet all the way outside and Gage sat with him on the trip to the hotel.

And paid for their dinner.

And bade them goodnight at seven.

“Hell, I’m exhausted,” Delaney commented when they were leaving the restaurant.

“Too tired to have a drink with me in the bar?”

She looked at him strangely.

“I’d say we know each other well enough.”

“It isn’t that. In this light, your eyes are the color of my marbles. My lucky charm.”

“Yeah, want to tell me why they bring you luck?”

“Over a beer, maybe.”

They settled in the hotel bar. In the dim light, he began to notice other things about her. How her nose turned up at the end. The feminine curve of her chin. How her big brown eyes held sadness now and again. He wondered why.

“So, tell me about more about you,” he said sipping his Johnny Walker Red.

“Not much to tell. I’ve been a teacher for nine years and it’s my life.”

“It always is with the good ones.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say I’ve had recent experiences with one who makes tenure a dirty word.”

“Legally?”

“No, not yet, at least. I have a daughter who’s not the high school darling and this guy has made it his mission to prove that to her.”

“You’re married?”

“Divorced.”

“Does your daughter live with you?”

“More than she’s supposed to.” He sighed heavily. “We have joint custody. But my ex drops her off at my place on a whim.”

“And?”

“She feels abandoned by her mother. And since she got into high school, when the divorce happened, she gets into more trouble, it seems, when she’s staying with me.” He shook his head. “It’s why I wanted to get back tonight.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Let’s not talk about our problems.”

“Fine by me. Talking about issues is highly overrated. Why don’t you tell me about your Legal Aid cases, and I’ll share my positive teacher stories and try to change your mind about us as a whole.”

He clinked his glass with hers. “You’re on.”

o0o

Around midnight, when they strolled back to their rooms, Delaney was feeling all sorts of delightful things. After a few beers, she was suffering from lowered defenses, which was probably why she blurted out, “I guess I’ll see the dawn of my birthday.”

His brows shot up. “Tomorrow’s your birthday?”

“Uh-huh. The big 3-0.”

“Ah, you’re a babe.”

“And you’re an old man?”

“I saw thirty years ago.”

She pouted her lips. “I like older men.”

“Well, I’m not
that
old.” He touched his temple, where some gray was starting to show. “Premature,” he said.

“It looks good on you.”

“I like the auburn color of yours.”

“Yeah, I’ve had streaks in it at one time.”

“Seriously? My kid, too. I have to say it drives me nuts, and I think that’s why she does it. Why don’t you have them now?”

“When I got a teaching job, I stopped with the wild stuff.” She grinned. “Except in the summer. Sometimes I go back to one of the more daring tints.”

“Don’t you see your students over the summer?”

“Nope. I don’t live where I teach.”

They reached his room first and he stopped. “I suppose we should get to sleep.”

“I was thinking of staying up all night. We only have six hours until we have to be back at the airport.”

Leaning against the door, he folded his arms across his chest. It was a nice chest, not too pumped yet solid.

“But being an old man, you probably can’t stay up like that anymore.”

Gage arched a brow. “You’d be surprised what I can do all night, Delaney.” His voice was a low sexy rumble and there was no mistaking his meaning.

She giggled.

The moment stretched out; the air electrified. “What time is it?” she asked.

He checked his watch. “Just after twelve.”

Turning, she faced him fully. “Hmm, I think a girl deserves a kiss on her birthday, don’t you?”

“I do. I absolutely do.” Straightening, he put his hands on her arms and drew her close. The hallway was deserted, the lighting dim. Lowering his head, he pressed his lips against hers.

From there it got very wild, very fast.

o0o

Delaney arrived at school early Tuesday morning so she could get her bearings from being absent the day before. As she entered her classroom, she felt an immediate sense of belonging. She decorated for every season and now, winter snowflakes hung from the ceiling, fake snow bordered the blackboard and posters of ski slopes and snow covered mountains with motivational sayings graced the walls. The bulletin boards displayed poetry, essays and projects students had done. Plain and simple, she loved it here. She’d just removed her coat when the wall phone rang. The caller was the principal’s secretary asking her to come immediately to the office. It was urgent, Sheryl said.

Grabbing her purse, she hurried out and down the hall. It was a long enough walk that thoughts she’d promised to keep at bay at school plagued her…

Here?

Oh, God, yes! How did you know?

I feel like I know your body.

You do…oh, Gage, yes. Yes.

The sex in that obscure hotel room with Gage whatever-his-last-name-was had rocked her world. The next morning, she’d been chagrined to have jumped in the sack with him, but that whole night—they
didn’t
sleep those precious six hours—had been amazing.

“Stop it!” she mumbled to herself when she was almost at the administrative office. “Concentrate on school.”

One of her girls was in early, too, and stopped Delaney in the hall. “Ms. Dawson, did you hear what happened to Steph yesterday?”

“I think I’m about to.”

“She got into it bad with Mr. Speranza.”

“Hell.” Oops, she had to learn to control her cussing. “Pretend you didn’t hear that, Lily. I’ll see you in class.”

At least she knew she why she’d been summoned. Sheryl greeted her then led her to Dylan’s office. She stepped inside and saw Stephanie Grayson, with her usual sulky expression on her face, seated next to a man whose back was to her.

Dylan Kane, their principal, and the reason that Delaney was at the high school, nodded to her. “Thanks for coming so soon, Ms. Dawson. Stephanie refused to talk until you got here. Please sit.”

As she took a chair next to the girl, she squeezed her arm and glanced over at the man who must be her father.

“Delaney Dawson, this is Gage Grayson, Stephanie’s father.”

Oh, wow.

Oh, God.

Jesus.

She was in trouble now. The man who explored every inch of her body, more than once, the man who moaned when she touched him, was Stephanie Grayson’s dad?

Well, at least now she knew his last name.

Chapter 2

Gage Grayson sat open-mouthed when the woman he’d made love to with an abandon he hadn’t felt in years sat down at the conference table. Who knew she was about the only adult in the world his daughter liked? Damn it! His troubled relationship with Steph didn’t need this complication.

Today Delaney wore a pretty red dress that hit below her knees, with some kind of patterned stockings—that covered her unicorn tattoo--and clunky shoes. In her ears were the same sparkly studs he’d nibbled on that night. One side of her hair was pulled back by a rhinestone clip.

Images flooded him, one as they’d deplaned in Rochester…

Will I see you again?

I’d like that, Gage. Very much.

Give me your phone number.

She’d scribbled it on a napkin. The number and
Delaney.
No last name.

He cleared his throat. “Hello, Ms. Dawson. Nice to see you again.”

“You know her?” Stephanie asked, her tone horrified.

“We met in Atlanta trying to get back to Rochester on the same plane.”

“We didn’t know we had anything in common,” Delaney added quickly.

Like hell, he thought. Our moves were so in sync it was spooky.

Forcefully, he turned his thoughts away from the incredibly erotic night to his child, who was in trouble again.

The principal started the meeting. “Okay, Stephanie, we have Ms. Dawson here. You said you needed her or you wouldn’t talk. We’ll let that threat ride and get down to what happened with Mr. Speranza yesterday.”

“Where is he, anyway?” she asked as she flicked the paper edges of her spiral notebook with her thumb.

“Stephanie, don’t change the subject.” Kane’s tone was firm. “Talk.”

“He hates me. Nothing I do is enough.” She glanced at Delaney. “He took my journal in class yesterday. You said those are private. What if he reads it?”

Somehow Gage couldn’t imagine Tom Speranza caring at all how Stephanie poured her heart out in the writing. In his many conversations with Gage over the phone, the guy was only interested in academics. Gage played along to keep the peace, but in reality, he thought the guy was an asshole. “Is that your main concern here, Stephanie?”

Her eyes blazed fire at him. “So what if it is?” She turned to her teacher. “Will you go get it from him?” Her tone was over-the-top insolent with him, but all sweetness and light when she addressed her teacher.

Delaney looked to Kane, who said, “I’ll get your journal.”

“You won’t read it?” Steph asked.

Gage had the urge to touch her, as Delaney had. But he didn’t think Steph would welcome a show of affection from him. The knowledge made him exasperated, so he said with more snap in his voice than he wanted, “Steph, your journal will be fine. We need to talk about why you’re behaving this way.”

“As if you care.”

Delaney’s eyebrows shot up at Steph’s accusation. He wondered if she recalled him telling her he was worried about his daughter.

“I do, care,” he said simply.

She turned to Delaney again.

“I agree with your dad.” Delaney’s voice was so confident it seemed to calm Steph down.

Again, the principal intervened. “We have to address what happened after Mr. Speranza took the journal which, by the way, he told me he did because you were writing in it during class.” To Delaney and Gage, Kane said, “She told the teacher to f-off.”

“Oh, Steph,” Gage said.

“I was pissed at him. He had no right.”

“We’ve talked about your language.”

Her chin lifted. “Ms. Dawson lets us use any words we want in our journals.”

“She does?” Gage frowned. That didn’t sound good.

Even the principal seemed taken aback, but he recovered quickly. “Let’s not deal with class rules. Stephanie, you’ll be in detention for two days. Teachers will bring work to you. And you have to apologize to Mr. Speranza.”

“No.”

“No?”

“He was wrong, too.”

Jesus
, Gage thought.

This time Delaney covered her hand. “I’d like to talk to Steph alone, Mr. Kane. I’m free second period. Can I get her out of detention then to see if I can help her work through this?”

“Do
you
think I should apologize?” Steph asked her.

“Yes. You have to respect your teachers.”

“You told us when we read
The Perfect Family
that people have to earn our respect.”

“They do. But I also told you in certain settings—like school or a job—that doesn’t always happen and we have to capitulate sometimes.”

“That means gives in,” his daughter said to no one in particular. At least she was learning vocabulary.

Dylan checked the clock. “All right.” He scribbled out a slip. “Take this to detention, Steph.”

“I gotta go to my locker and get my books.”

“Do that, then go straight to room 202.” When Steph gave him her
Screw You
look, Gage felt his muscles tense. The principal leaned forward. “I’m letting Ms. Dawson take the lead on this now, young lady, but if you don’t cooperate, I’ll take further steps.”

“Like what?” the girl challenged.

“Stephanie!” Gage hated her tone.

Kane’s eyes flickered with annoyance. “You’ll be removed from Mr. Speranza’s class.”

“But he’s the only one who teaches idiot earth science.”

“It’s not for idiots. It’s for students who don’t excel in the sciences. Like you excel in English. In any case, I’ll remove you from his class and you’ll have to go to summer school to pass the course in order to go on to eleventh grade.”

Gage could see his daughter’s eyes, the exact color of his, assessing whether being taken out of Speranza’s class would be worth the punishment.

“And know that the course is taught by Mr. Speranza in the summer, too, so you won’t get out of working with him.”

Steph gave him a disgusted look, one Gage was truly sick of seeing.

“Go ahead now. I trust you don’t need an escort?”

“No. I’ll go there after I get my stuff.”

When Steph rose, Gage said, “I’ll pick you up after school.”

“I got plans, Pops.”

“Not anymore. You’re grounded.”

She made a sucking sound with her lips, the typical teenage retort of disgust, but left without saying more.

When they were alone, Gage addressed Delaney and Kane. “I apologize for her rudeness.”