Accelerated by Bronwen Hruska

Author:Bronwen Hruska [Hruska, Bronwen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9781605983790
Publisher: Pegasus
Published: 2012-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE BRADLEY LOBBY VIBRATED WITH POST-VACATION ENERGY OF tanned people explaining how they got that way. But the knot in Sean’s stomach distracted him from the spectacle. He’d been up all night wondering how it would be to see Jess again and now, tunneling through the crowd, he tried to form an expression that didn’t reveal how devastated he’d been by the blowoff. He was just a father picking up his son. He needed to untense his shoulders and pretend he’d never ripped off her clothes. “I can do this,” he said to himself like a mantra. He wondered if any of the tanned parents could tell he was a nervous wreck.

From across the room, he watched Jess dismiss the kids one at a time. Walking toward them, he saw her pale skin glow next to the orange-brown skin of Kayla’s mom. Toby waved and Sean slipped into line next to him. “Hey Buddy. How was your first day back?”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

The cloud of vanilla and musk coming off Kayla’s mom caught in Sean’s throat and he coughed, causing Jess to look up and notice him. When her eyes met his, he could have sworn she blushed for a second. He smiled at her, which he hadn’t exactly planned. She looked away.

“How was your break?” Kayla’s mom was asking Jess, in a voice far too deep to be coming from her skeletal body.

“I was in Rhode Island with my dad and my fiancé,” Jess said. “We had a nice New England Christmas.” So the Invasion of the Bodysnatchers guy was back in the picture. His eyes flashed to the ring on her finger. It was all making nauseating sense.

“St. Maarten’s was ninety degrees,” Kayla’s mom said. “Not Christmas-y at all. But we had a nice time.”

Not that he knew what he’d say when he and Toby reached Jess, but the waiting was killing him. Now Dylan was giving her a presidential handshake, looking her right in the eye. When Dylan’s Caribbean sitter whisked him away, it was Toby’s turn. They were last in line.

“Bye Jess,” Toby said, giving her a perfunctory handshake. Jess shook his hand then flashed Sean a fleeting smile that packed a lot in: regret, wistfulness, kindness, and even, he thought, a hint of longing. It was possible he was reading too much into it.

“How’ve you been?” He tried to sound like a regular parent. One who hadn’t explored every inch of her naked body.

“Fine,” she said. Her eyes darted away briefly. “How was your break?”

The chitchat was practically unbearable. “It started out well, but the rest of it was just so-so.”

She took a breath and held it before letting it out slowly.

“I sent you a couple of emails.”

“Sorry, I’m pretty backlogged.”

“It’s about Toby,” he said, enjoying the small pleasure of being able to play the parent card. “It’s kind of important.”

“Oh.” This had taken her off guard. It would derail her from whatever script she’d prepared. “Okay.” She looked at her watch. “I have about ten minutes.

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