Chapter 12 #2
“I’ll be in touch.” He smiles before turning to face me again.
The two of us stand there, staring at one another as if we have a million things to say.
Words unspoken as Ally and Sage say their goodbyes, and Mindy writes her number on scrap paper to hand him before leaving to the checkout.
Nan moves to stand between us, bouncing her gaze back and forth from me to Dallas out of curiosity.
“Well, well, well.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Now that she’s here, Dallas, it looks like your Friday and Saturday plans are canceled.”
“I used a permanent marker on the calendar hanging in my kitchen, Nan,” he answers her, still looking at me. “So I’m going to keep those plans in hopes I get to see my neighbor again.”
My lips part as I take in everything he’s saying. How in the world is he still this flirty, bold man after I told him I needed to remain professional?
I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.
“Well, I’ll give you two a minute or twelve to talk,” Nan says, tossing her arm around Sage’s shoulders. “I’m going to show Sage the best ice cream flavor on the planet.”
“COTTON CANDY!”
Dallas gives Nan a knowing look before she covers her mouth with her hands, chuckling, and guides Sage toward the frozen section, leaving Dallas and me alone.
“What the hell was that, Dallas?”
His grin grows. It’s wicked and hot and so sexy.
Christ, what’s wrong with me?
“If a rumor started in town that I was dating one of my students’ parents, it could hurt my career,” I continue. “Not that this is. You know. We’re not dating and all. But…” I ramble, letting my words fall off my tongue when he steps closer to me.
His hand reaches the side of my face before he brushes a loose strand of hair from my eyes and behind my ear. His touch is featherlight and lasts only a few seconds, but I feel it throughout my entire body.
“It’s a good thing I don’t date anymore then.” He winks.
Aside from Dallas being Sage’s dad, the main thing preventing me from letting things progress beyond a surface-level friendship is that I’m afraid I’ll start seeing someone in town, and they’ll run at the first sight of who I am deep down.
And because it’s a small town, people will talk.
Before I know it, everyone is talking about the girl who organizes her spices from A-Z, has to have her plates and glasses arranged a certain way in the cabinets, and gets easily overwhelmed when furniture isn’t aligned correctly.
These are just a few things that make me, me, but I always worry it will drive someone away.
But I can’t push someone away who’s already only here temporarily, can I? Before I get to give it any more thoughts, a voice cuts through.
“We’re back,” Sage announces, cutting through my racing thoughts. “They have gallons and gallons of ice cream flavors here. This is definitely my favorite store.”
“Gallons,” Nan adds sarcastically.
“Oh, Miss Barlow. Did Daddy tell you how he burned the pizza last night and said a bad word?”
“What did he say?” Nan encourages.
“He said—”
“Nope. Okay. Moving on,” Dallas says, covering her mouth with his hand, and they start laughing.
Letting my eyes bounce between the two of them, I can’t help but feel the smile on my face grow.
“I have that puzzle for you, Sage.” Her eyes light up. “Maybe I can drop it off sometime this week if you’re going to be home.”
She looks up at Dallas. “Am I, Daddy?”
“Yes.”
“You should probably exchange numbers so you know everyone is decent,” Nan interrupts.
“Nan!”
“Fine by me.” Dallas shrugs with a grin before pulling out his phone and handing it to me. I look at the phone and back up at him before taking it, and I see that the phone app is already open for me.
He makes me forget my phone number all of a sudden.
“I guess…I’ll text you when I plan to come by,” I say, handing him back his phone.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket, and I take it out to see a text.
Unknown number:
It’s me.
Smiling down at the text, it feels like the weight of the world is in my palm. A line of communication with the neighbor whom I wanted to steer clear of, but am now having second thoughts about.
Do I want this?
Do I want to explore this, knowing he’s here temporarily?
“I’ll put her number in your phone,” Sage says to Dallas, pulling the phone from his hand. “I know how to spell Miss Barlow’s name now.”
She clicks away with her tongue poking out in concentration, and I take the opportunity to watch Dallas watch Sage.
He looks at her like she’s his whole world.
And it makes me feel like I’m missing out on so much.
Not even realizing that the fear of relationships will hold me back from this.
Experiencing someone looking at me like I’m their whole world.
Nan clears her throat, breaking Dallas’s trance from watching his daughter and mine from watching them.
He turns to face me. “Well, we’d better get going.”
I nod, wringing my fingers nervously in front of me.
“It was good to see you outside of school,” Sage says first. “I can’t wait to see you again tomorrow for the puzzle.
And the next day for school. And the next day, and the next day.
Every day with Miss Barlow! Yes!” she rattles off, her voice growing with each word, as if she’s realizing at the same time the words leave her lips.
I laugh. “Yes, I’ll see you then.”
Looking at Dallas now, my nervous system strikes again. He brings his bottom lip between his teeth as a lopsided grin forms on his face. I feel weak, like my legs are going to give out beneath me at any second.
“It was good seeing you, Poppy. I’m glad we ran into you this morning.”
“You too.”
These are the only two words I can manage without fumbling over my words.
Dallas winks and takes a few steps backward, facing me before shaking his head, smiling, and turning on his heel to walk away.
I feel my cheeks heat on their own.
“Well,” Nan says beside me, forcing me to face her. She has her arms crossed over her chest and a knowing grin. “Looks like Pretty Poppy has an admirer in town.”
“Definitely not.”
“I saw the way he looks at you, girl.”
“How did he look at me?”
She stands there, assessing me. “He looks at you like you’re the answer to everything.”