Her Valentine Hero by Gail Gaymer Martin

Author:Gail Gaymer Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Two days passed and Jonny still hadn’t stopped by the attendance office. Neely struggled with what to do. She understood his aversion to Erik. Allowing Erik’s presence to control her life had been a mistake and one that accomplished nothing but creating more bad memories. Now the bad feelings had spread to Jonny, she feared.

To her surprise, she’d controlled her comments to Ashley. She’d said nothing about the date and waited for Ashley to report how it went. But Ashley had kept quiet too.

Progress required action. She knew Jonny’s schedule and had resolved to do something to get their relationship back on track. Losing his friendship hurt, and she blamed herself. When his prep hour arrived, she headed to the gym, but didn’t see him there. Hoping he wasn’t in the men’s locker room or someplace she couldn’t enter, she took the hallway to the teachers’ lounge. When she opened the door, she saw him, his nose buried in a sports magazine.

She stepped inside and stood a moment, waiting for him to notice her. He didn’t so she took the initiative. “Good article?” She sank into the chair near him.

He looked up as if surprised. “It is.” He turned the magazine over and lay it on the table. “Problem?”

“No. I just...” Her lungs locked. “I miss you.”

His brow arched before he spoke. “You do?”

She nodded, unable to get her tongue wrapped around the words lodged in her throat. What could she say that didn’t unveil more than she wanted to admit? “It’s still fairly nice weather. Do you want to run tonight?”

He tapped the table with his thumb a moment. “I can’t.”

She mumbled an “oh.” But then she took a brave step. “You have plans with Cindy?”

“Cindy?” He shook his head. “No. Where would you get that idea?”

Heat charged to her cheeks, and she lifted her eyes to heaven asking herself why she’d mentioned Cindy.

“I called your dad a while ago and we’re walking...unless you want to join us.”

Drowning in mortification, she shook her head. “I’ll let you two walk. Maybe another time.”

He studied her a moment. “Join us, Neely. We can’t really run but—”

“It’s good for Dad to have your company without me butting in.” She shrugged. “Man to man.” She lowered her eyes to garner courage. “I’m sorry I brought up Cindy. You’d mentioned talking with her the other day and I assumed—”

He shook his head. “Nothing’s going on between us. Not that she wouldn’t like that.” He grinned.

“I noticed.” Heat continued to burn her cheeks.

“You did?” He arched his brow again.

She nodded. When he didn’t say anything else, she slid the chair back and rose. “I’d better get back to work.”

He appeared to have something on his mind, but he didn’t share it with her. Instead he lifted the magazine. “Maybe I’ll see you after the walk.”

“Okay.” Inviting him to dinner rolled onto her tongue but she stopped. He’d refused the last two invitations. Three strikes and she’d be out. She lifted her hand in a wave and headed back to the office.

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