Chapter Nine #2
‘No, I’m fine. You get off. Safe journey back to London.’ Then she could hopefully forget about him for a week.
‘Not happening. Not until this place is locked up and you’re in your car. So, the classrooms?’
There was a stubborn set to his jaw and she realised in that moment that he wasn’t as malleable as his smooth ways might lead a person to believe. ‘Thank you, yes. If you could check they’re all clear, I’ll do the rest of the building and meet you here.’
Five minutes later he stood, watching over her as she set the alarm.
Five minutes and two seconds later, the lights went out.
‘Damn it.’
Behind her, she heard him clear his throat. ‘Umm, is that supposed to happen? Because, you know, if you’d wanted to get me alone in the dark, there are easier ways to do it.’
A giggle wriggled its way out of her. Followed by another.
In years gone by, before Chris, when she’d been single and attracted to a man, she’d have followed that up with a quip.
Something about pushing him into the store cupboard.
But her flirting skills were rusty, and her mind wasn’t as sure as her body about what she wanted to do with this attraction.
She settled for the simple. ‘I’m sure there are. ’
She heard the scratch of hands over stubble as he rubbed at his chin. ‘When you said I can set the alarm and everything, I don’t suppose that included replacing a dodgy fuse?’
Hope bubbled. ‘Is that what it is? Can you fix it?’
He laughed softly, the sound even sexier now they were alone, in the dark. ‘Sorry to disappoint, but I’m an actor. We’re basically useless.’
‘But it could be a fuse?’
‘Could be. Could also be a loose connection, something happening at the grid. A guy outside wearing a balaclava and cutting through a wire.’ Her elbow connected with his stomach and he made an oomph noise.
‘Hey, it would make a good plot line. Unsuspecting headmistress, trapped in school with a handsome stranger, faces down evil gang demanding a better Christmas play than last year.’
‘Why is the headmistress facing them down? What’s the handsome stranger doing?’ Shaking her head, she rummaged around in her handbag for her mobile, muttering, ‘And why am I talking nonsense when I need to phone the alarm company?’
‘The handsome stranger’s hiding behind the desk,’ Dan replied as she punched in the number. She could just about make out the curve of his mouth as he spoke. ‘No point in both of them getting hurt.’
‘Ah, the typical hot guy. All looks and no substance.’ A glib line, intended to continue the banter because she was enjoying it, enjoying him.
‘You’ve got it,’ he replied mildly, but the way he turned his head away from her, the tension she felt emanate from him, suggested her jokey words had hit a nerve.
As the alarm company answered, Anna forced herself to focus on what they were saying. Not on Dan’s reaction.
‘Right, thank you. I’ll be here.’ She ended the call and slipped the phone back into her handbag.
‘Good news is the alarm people are on their way. Bad news is they say it’ll take them at least an hour, given the traffic.
’ She hesitated, torn. His company would be nice — she was going to stick with that word, it sounded safe — but she knew he had a long drive. ‘Look, you don’t have to stay—’
‘Are you hungry?’ Ignoring her, he pushed himself off the wall he’d been leaning on. ‘I figure if we’re going to be stuck here for a bit, we might as well order a pizza.’
The moonlight cast shadows across his face and though she couldn’t be sure, she thought he looked relaxed again. That he’d got over whatever bump she’d unintentionally laid down. ‘I was going to eat with Maisie, but I guess you’re right. It’ll be late by the time we get out of here.’
‘Where is she?’
‘With her grandparents, who dote on her so she won’t be missing me.
’ She’d miss listening to her daughter’s bubbly chatter over tea though.
Yet, if she was honest, she might also enjoy spending the next hour with this handsome not-so stranger who, she suspected, had a great deal more substance than she’d first thought.
Dan dug his phone out of his pocket and waved it in the air. ‘Why don’t I phone for a pizza while you explain to Maisie why you’re going to be late tonight.’ She saw a flash of white teeth against the gloom. ‘I suggest using the fuse scenario. The balaclava might give her nightmares.’
‘Not Maisie. She’d probably offer to come and rescue us. And if I tell her there’s pizza on offer, she’ll definitely be round.’ Fondly she recalled Maisie’s last birthday, where the only thing she’d wanted was a pizza as big as the moon. ‘Does your son like pizza?’
Dan stilled, eyes on his phone. ‘Probably.’ He glanced up and gave her a weak smile. ‘Any preference for toppings?’
Anna decided there and then she was going to use the next hour to find out exactly why the man she’d seen interact so well with the children at the school, her own daughter included, didn’t even know if his own son liked pizza.
‘Pepperoni is my favourite. Maisie’s too.
’ See, she didn’t only know her daughter loved pizza, she knew her favourite topping.
It didn’t make her a brilliant mum. Just a normal one.