Chapter Chapter Nine
Knox
She was so damn beautiful. You couldn’t make out one curve in her dress, but that didn’t keep me from fantasizing about them. She hadn’t seen me yet. She was hunched down, chatting with a little girl who had almost the same blonde hair color as hers.
“Hello,” I said.
Amy straightened up, smiling brightly. “Knox, you’re here early.”
“Only by about ten minutes.”
“Anyway, Gregory was supposed to chaperone the elementary kids for the afternoon activities, but he had to leave unexpectedly. And I’m supposed to be with you and the high schoolers right now.”
Amy narrowed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. “We could actually move the lesson out here.” She was clearly talking to herself more than to me. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all. I’m at your service.”
She grinned. “Okay, then I’m going to hurry to the classroom and tell all my high schoolers to come out here.”
“I’ll wait here.”
After Amy left, the blonde girl looked at me. “Are you a friend of Miss Amy’s?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I’m a very good friend of hers. What’s your name?”
“It’s Mina.”
“We’ve never met a friend of Miss Amy’s,” another kid said.
“She asked me to tell some of the older kids what I do for a living,” I told them.
“Why?” another one inquired.
I chuckled, but he looked at me with a frown. I had a flashback of Jeremy at their age. It wasn’t that long ago, and he’d had a million questions a minute too. I’d forgotten what that was like.
“Because it’s good to hear what adults do for work. It gives you an idea of what you can do later on in life.”
“Why?”
“Well, it might be something you’d be interested in too.”
She seemed to ponder this, then asked, “Can we listen too?”
“Yeah, Miss Amy just said that she’s bringing everyone here.”
“We’re going to hang out with high schoolers?” the skeptical boy asked. “Dude, we’re cool.”
“Yeah, you are,” I said.
“How long have you known Miss Amy?” another girl asked.
I did the math. “About eleven years.”
“But I’m eight years old. That means that you’re old, and so is Miss Amy.”
“That we are,” I agreed.
“Miss Amy is the best teacher,” she went on. “The best.”
“She likes being with you guys every day,” I offered. Amy probably knew the life story of every single one of these kids. It was just the type of person she was. “Miss Amy is a very good person, very nice. She’s one of the best people I know.”
That was exactly why I couldn’t fuck up our friendship, no matter how much I wanted Amy.
Damn it, I needed to get myself under control. I just had to shift my focus off her, that was it. After today, I wasn’t going to see her again until I cooled off.
“Talking me up, huh?” Amy said.
I looked over my shoulder. She was even more gorgeous than usual in this schoolteacher attire. Somehow, it fit her even better than her sexy dresses.
“Of course. Although these kids all love you.”
“We do,” some of them chorused.
Amy threw her thumb over her shoulder. “All right, that’s my high school group. Let’s join them.”
They’d all gathered under a huge tree in a corner of the courtyard. “That’s a good spot,” I said as we went in that direction.
“We picked one with shade. Although the sun really isn’t that hot today.”
We joined the high schoolers a few minutes later, and Amy moved next to me to address them. “Class, this is Knox Sterling. He’s a friend of mine. He’s very successful, as most of you know. Now, the little ones...”
“We’re not that little, Miss Amy,” one of the girls yelled.
“My other class,” she added with a smile, a few of the high schoolers chuckling, “is going to be here as well. Their PE teacher is sick, so we had to rearrange a few things.” Turning to me, she added, “All right, you can start. I suppose you’ll knock their socks off!”
I laughed and told her softly, “I’m going to knock your socks off, too, I promise.”
Her eyes widened, and her lips parted a little. She licked them, and I almost leaned forward.
What the hell is going on with me? There were two dozen kids watching us. I needed to keep that in mind at all times.
* * *
Amy
I went straight to the back of the group, leaving Knox front and center.
I didn’t want to detract from him in any way.
Besides, I wanted to position myself so that I could see everyone’s reaction.
Knox had been so adorable with the elementary kids that I couldn’t wait for him to work his magic on the high schoolers.
“Right, that was quite an intro that Amy gave me. I was very happy when she told me about her idea and invited me here. When I was your age, I researched a lot of people working in the technical field, or just running successful businesses, wondering how they’d done it.
At that time, my older brothers were setting up Sterling Investments.
We didn’t know if it was going to work out or not.
There was plenty of competition at that time, but we were determined to work hard.
I knew early on that I wasn’t interested in becoming a finance major like my brothers. It just wasn’t my thing.”
“We all hate math, dude,” Carlos, one of my best students, said. His forte was in liberal arts subjects, not math, science, and the rest.
“You don’t have to be good at everything,” Knox went on. “Your best bet is to find what you are good at and then get even better at it. As long as you excel at that one thing, you’ll find a way to be successful. When you’re the best at something, word gets around, trust me.”
He spoke without any trace of arrogance; he was simply stating his opinions and what worked for him and his career.
And my high schoolers were drinking up every word.
They never did that when teachers spoke to them about available careers.
But I could totally understand why. If I spoke about someone’s career in medicine, I had no real understanding on the subject.
I only knew the basics, like that you had to get good grades to go to med school.
But someone working in that field, sharing their experience of what the job was about day in and day out, was a whole other thing.
“Right, I’ve said my part. Do you guys have questions?” Knox asked.
Immediately, half a dozen hands shot up in the air. Knox patiently replied to every question, even the silly ones. He was truly good at this.
“All right, anything else?” he asked after delivering the last answer.
“Can we learn to code as well?” Nina, my elementary student, asked without raising her hand.
Knox looked at me. “I don’t know what the school policy is about... When is coding even introduced?”
“Not in elementary school,” one of my high schoolers responded.
“But I like computers,” Nina went on.
“I could talk to the principal about looking into coding programs for the younger kids,” I offered. That had never occurred to me, but I was certain that there were educational programs tailored to young ages, even if it were an after-school specialty class.
“Can we all become cool like you?” another elementary kid asked Knox.
“Ha!” Knox laughed, then answered, “If you get really good at something, work hard and smart, many good things will come.”
Did he know how good he was at this? The way he spoke to them was inherently positive and motivating. He wasn’t giving them bogus answers like “Oh, you can be whatever you want.” He was inspiring them in a way they’d understand.
I was actually picking up some tips and tricks. On occasion, I would hold career hours for seniors who wanted to study English and the like. I was definitely going to steal some of Knox’s tactics.
“Cool,” many of the kids replied.
They bombarded him with more questions right up until the final bell rang. Wow, this went great!
“All right, everyone, that’s a wrap. School is over, and Knox needs to get back to his office,” I said. “See you tomorrow!” I hollered to the older kids as they were getting ready to leave.
“Amy, this was one cool afternoon,” Jimmy, one of the high schoolers, said. “Thank you.” His eyes radiated with excitement, and I recognized that spark in several of the kids. It was exactly what I’d hoped Knox would achieve.
As the high schoolers gathered their things and headed to the bus or pickup line—none of my class was old enough to drive yet—I turned to my little ones. “I’m guessing your parents are already here to pick you up. We’ll all walk out together, yes?”
“Yes,” they all yelled.
Before they ran toward the front gate, I instructed, “Grab each other’s hands like we always do, and we’ll walk in a line to the front.”
While they organized themselves, Knox came up to me. “This was a success.”
“Yes! They truly loved you, even these guys.” I nodded to the elementary students, who were still trying to form a line. “You’re good with kids, you know that?”
“I’m a hit with Jeremy, so I had an inkling that the kids would like me.”
“I’m impressed. Thanks so much for doing this.”
“No problem.”
“The principal was really thrilled about it. Just putting it out there, but she wouldn’t mind if you spoke to the rest of the high schoolers, especially the seniors.”
He narrowed his eyes, pressing his lips together. For a split second, I was sure that he was going to shut me down.
But then he winked at me. “I’m yours whenever you want me, Amy.”
Ooh la la, that sounded sexy.
His eyes clouded for a bit, but then he shook his head. What was that about? I didn’t ask, though. I didn’t want to prod.
“Are you done for the day?” he asked.
“No. Once I get these guys to the front and into their parents’ cars, I have a planning session with Ms. Adams starting in a few minutes.”
“Let’s catch up later, then, and talk about today. I need feedback.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“I can text you when I’m done.”
Then he groaned. “Wait. I have a thing going on this evening.” He took out his phone and tapped the screen twice. “Yeah, I’m going to an industry event.”
“Sounds intriguing. What’s it about?”
“There are a few speakers talking about the newest developments in software programming.”
“So, there will be lots of competitors there?”
“Yes, but partners too.” He narrowed his eyes before adding, “Would you like to join me?”
“At the event? Why?”
“The question is, why wouldn’t you? There’s always good food and booze.” He stared at me intently. “Come on, Amy. When have I ever steered you wrong?”
“Might I remind you of the time you lured me into that fraternity nonsense?”
Knox chuckled. “I erased that period from my brain.”
“I haven’t, though. I still remember all of you guys daring one another to...” I pressed my lips together. “Nah. You know what? I won’t even talk about that.”
“Fair enough. I promise you that tonight isn’t going to be anything like that.”
“I should hope not.”
My heart was beating fast. Why was he asking me to go to an event with him?
“Are other people bringing guests?” I asked. I couldn’t bring myself to say “plus-ones.”
“Yes. There’s no strict guest list.”
“What time does it start?”
“Six.”
“That gives me enough time to go home and change.”
“You look perfect just like this,” he said, grinning. “You wouldn’t even have to change.”
“Well, thanks for the compliment, but I’m all sweaty at the end of a workday. Don’t worry, I’ve got appropriate clothing.“
“So, it’s a go for tonight?” Knox looked so hopeful. How could I not agree?
I grinned, looking at the kids. I needed to get them going. “Yes. It’ll do me good to get out of my usual rut and attend a fancy-pants event. Okay, I’ve got to get them out to their parents.”
Knox laughed. “It’s not fancy. But, as I said, the food is great, and the booze too. We’ll have fun.”
All I could do was nod.
“All right. I’ll pick you up from home.”
“Okay. Thanks again for doing this today.”
“Anytime, Amy.”
The kids were getting antsy, ready to go home. “I need to take them, then see Ms. Adams.”
“I’ll see you tonight.” He waved to the kids, then headed to the parking lot.
All the parents were waiting in line, and I felt a bit guilty about being late, but what could I do? I rushed to the principal’s office without a moment to spare. Fortunately, she was ready to see me right away.
During my meeting with Ms. Adams, I kept thinking about what to wear to the event, so by the time I arrived home, I had it narrowed down to two outfits.
Both were cocktail dresses that I’d worn at afternoon events at the school as well as evening attire.
I opted for a pink dress with wide straps and a crisscrossing lace pattern all over.
I was ready quite quickly, so I still had a bit of time.
I decided to check on Mom, and thankfully, she answered immediately.
“Hey.”
“Mom, how are you?”
“Good! Bone-tired, but that’s nothing new. How are you?”
“Great. Just got home, but I’m going out again.”
“You have something at school?” Mom asked.
“No. I’m going out with Knox, actually.”
“Sterling?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, I always liked him,” she gushed. “He was maybe a bit crazy, but I always figured you could be a bit more reckless.”
I laughed. Mom forever egged me on. She said she’d kept waiting for my rebellious phase throughout my teenage years, but it never happened.
“So, where are you going?” Mom asked.
“I don’t know. He’s going to an event and asked if I wanted to tag along. I figured, why not?”
“Good for you. I was starting to worry. When you’re not at school, you think about projects for school or stay at home, grading papers. It’s good for you to get out a bit more.”
I hesitated before deciding to share about my dating fiasco. “You’re right. That’s why I went on a couple of dates. I made it my mission to put myself out there.”
“Oh! And how did that go?”
“Not good,” I admitted.
“Oh, honey. I’d give you advice if I could, but my experience with relationships hasn't been good at all. So I can only commiserate, my love.”
She never presumed to know better than me. Talking with Mom was like talking to a friend, except when she went off and ranted about Dad. That hadn’t happened in years, thankfully, but every time it did, it caught me completely off guard.
“I was just hoping that if I put myself out there, things would work out.”
“So, you and Knox are going out on a date?” Mom asked.
I swallowed hard. “No, we’re just hanging out.”
She laughed. “You know, honey, that’s something students do, not grown-ups.”
“Mom,” I chastised.
“It’s true.”
“We’re going as friends.”
“See? That sounds more adult.”
“Right, well, I’m going to have to hang up because he’s picking me up soon.”
“Let me know how the ‘hanging out’ goes.” I could hear the laughter in her voice.
“Mom, why are you making fun of me?”
“No reason. You have a great time, and tell Knox I said hi.”
“Will do.”
Once I hung up, I heard a knock at my front door. As I opened the door, he smiled. He’d put on a suit, and oh my, did he look fine.
“So this is a fancy event,” I said, pointing at him. He rarely wore a suit. “You look sharp.”
“You look fucking amazing.” He dragged his gaze down my body.
I was rooted to the spot, breathing in and out rapidly. I felt so warm that I was about to fan myself. Except that would give me away.
Oh, this should be interesting.