Chapter Five
O n Monday evening, Celeste strode down the hallway at Oakview College balancing a container of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies she’d nicked from the rack Jeannie had made for happy hour, Quinn trailing behind her with her Pentax hanging from a strap around her neck.
Celeste paused outside of the classroom, finger combed her hair, then looked back at her sister before entering. “Make sure you get a good shot of me working,” she said. If Quinn insisted on tagging along, she might as well be useful. Nothing wrong with getting a shot of her up on the Butterfly Lake Lodge social media pages, in case a prospective employer happened to look her up. She already had some hashtags in mind: #LifelongLearning , #KnowledgeableHost .
#HireMePlease , she thought.
“On it,” said Quinn. “And you’re looking extra cute today. Did someone spend time getting ready for class?”
“Quinn,” Celeste warned. Maybe she’d taken a few minutes to add some waves to her hair with her curling iron and picked the white bodysuit she knew hugged her waist nicely with jeans. So what? She didn’t get out much, so what was wrong with making an effort when she did? “Let’s go.”
All five other class members had already arrived and were seated with their materials laid out in front of them. Jack was perched on a desk, wearing a black sweater and army-green khakis, a pen tucked behind his ear and a smile on his face. As his gaze roamed over her, she couldn’t help but revel in the sensation of his eyes tracing the contours of her outfit. He might’ve been into women who wore fleece and Gore-Tex, but he was only a man.
“She’s back,” said the man with the gray ponytail. Bryant, she remembered. “And she brought a friend!”
“Couldn’t miss Jackpine week,” Celeste said. “This is my sister, Quinn. She’s here to take some photos.”
“Great to see you back,” Bryant said. “Glad you changed your mind.”
The man beside him—George, was it?—held out his fist to bump against hers. Of all the places she’d never thought she’d find herself.
“I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to acquaint myself with something that brings in a lot of tourism to the area.” With Jack’s gaze lingering on her, Celeste felt a tinge of nervousness tingling down her spine yet a newfound confidence rising within her. She stood up a bit straighter. “I know a lot of the local hotels cater to fishing trips. And it’s always nice to be able to make conversation with guests about their interests.”
“So does this mean that we’re going to get you out on the river?” Jack said. His lips were turned up in a teasing smile. “Experiential learning at its best.”
“Don’t push it,” Celeste said, even though the idea held the slightest bit more appeal if it involved spending more time with Jack.
“All right, well. Glad to have you back.”
Quinn gave him a wave and approached the desks, which once again were set up with a variety of different feathers and string.
“Cool,” Quinn said and immediately started snapping pictures.
Jack started the lesson and took them through another fly, a miniature blue feature tied with a yellow string on a black hook and a small piece of red fabric.
“We’re actually going to make a Skirrow’s Fancy today,” Jack said, holding up his exemplar for the group to see. “We use seal’s fur for this one. Gives it a nice buggy look but doesn’t weigh it down.”
“Seal’s fur? How on earth did people figure out that this would attract fish?” Celeste asked.
“Trial and error, likely,” said Jack. “Years and years of fishers making educated guesses. And it seems an unlucky trout took the bait on this one.”
“It’s a good lesson: Beware of things that attract you. They could also kill you.”
Jack cocked his eyebrow. “Agreed.”
What was that supposed to mean? She watched as he separated the strings in the pile in front of him. When he finally looked up, their eyes locked in a silent exchange that sent a shiver across the surface of her skin. She swallowed nervously.
Was Jack trying to tell her something? Had he been burned before?
She did her best to put the thought out of her head and focus on following along with the directions he was delivering. He was authoritative but not arrogant, and she liked how he stopped now and then to check in on everyone individually.
Halfway through the class, when one of the other students required help getting back on track, Celeste opened the container of cookies and pulled some napkins from her bag and circulated around the room.
“These are unbelievable,” said George, after finishing his in two large bites. She held out the container again, inviting him to take another from the container.
Jack’s face lit up with amusement. “You brought snacks?”
She used a napkin to pluck one from the container and passed it to him. “Nothing wrong with elevating the experience,” she said. His hand brushed hers as he accepted the napkin, and even the slightest of contact was enough to send a tingle of desire dancing across the surface of her skin.
She watched as Jack took a bite, his expression changing to one of blissed-out satisfaction. “Ugh. Where’d you learn to bake like this?”
“I can’t take credit other than for bringing them here. My mother made these,” Celeste said. “Special order. They’re a favorite of the guests at our lodge.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he said.
“Wait until you try the cinnamon buns. They’re the marquee dessert.”
“I’d like to invite you to return next week.”
Celeste couldn’t help the smile from spreading across her lips. “For the desserts or the pleasure of my company?” she said.
“Both,” said Jack, without missing a beat. Celeste was thankful Quinn was absorbed with something on the other side of the classroom and hadn’t heard the exchange. She’d have a field day on the car ride home with this flirtation.
For the rest of the class, Celeste found herself enjoying herself more than she’d expected, and not just because it was fun being around Jack. It was nice to be away from the lodge and learning something new, despite not having much in common with the rest of her classmates.
Celeste had her head down and was focused on getting the final string tied as tightly as possible and felt a subtle shift in the air before realizing Jack was looking over her shoulder. She smoothed her hair, self-conscious with him so close and unable to shake off the flutter in her chest ignited by the weight of his gaze.
“You two get together,” Quinn said, holding up her camera. Of course she was right there to capture the moment.
Celeste shot her a look. “Actually, I think unposed photos are probably better.”
“Best to have options,” her sister said, smiling wide.
Celeste made a mental note to kill her later on, then looked sideways at Jack.
“Ready for your close-up?” he said. He ran his fingers through his hair and straightened his collar. “How many followers did you say you have again?”
“One hundred fifty K and climbing,” Quinn said. “And my followers will love this.” She winked at Celeste, who stood awkwardly next to Jack and smiled as she snapped away.
“Hold up the fly,” Quinn instructed. “Now why don’t you go back to your desk and pretend to be working again. Jack, you stand over her shoulder and pretend to give her an instruction.”
“The things we do for our businesses,” Celeste said, trying to sound humorous even though her nerves were dancing beneath the surface. Did Jack find this as awkward as she did? He seemed pretty comfortable. Maybe it was the having Jack so close to her, his alluring aftershave filling in the air around them that was making her so jittery.
“Closer,” Quinn directed, and Celeste felt Jack’s firm torso pressed up against her back. With a steadying breath, she forced herself to maintain composure, willing herself to appear unaffected by his proximity.
Her sister continued to take photos, giving directions here and there. “Okay, I think I’ve got what I need,” she said. “I’ll aim to get the post up by tomorrow night, and I’ll tag your company and the college.”
“Thank you,” Jack said. “Appreciate it.” He looked at Celeste. “And thanks for modeling.”
By the end of the class, she had another perfectly executed fly, which Jack held up for the class to see. “I think you’re ready for the intermediate class,” he said.
“Oh,” said Celeste. “I didn’t realize there were multiple levels. Maybe I just have a really good instructor.”
Despite Jack not being at all her type, it was a fun back-and-forth. When was the last time she’d engaged in some harmless flirtation anyway?
With Matt, they’d started out as classmates at university, and their relationship had evolved in what Celeste now knew had been a matter of convenience. They’d had similar friends, lived in the same area, liked doing the same things on weekends. Had there ever been a strong sense of attraction, playfulness, or magnetism? She didn’t think so. It had burned when he’d broken things off, but in retrospect, staying together would definitely have been settling.
Once she had things in order in her life, maybe it would be time to start dating again. Her friend Lindsey had just employed a matchmaking service that she swore by. She could date someone in the city—it was only an hour’s drive away—and it might be nice to have an excuse to drive in and go shopping and visit great restaurants.
For now, even though dating was nowhere near a priority, there was nothing wrong with some fun flirting with an attractive distraction.
*
Maybe his parents hadn’t been so off base after all. Teaching wasn’t half bad. Jack might even go as far as to describe it as fun.
All six of his students had been successful with the day’s fly, and five of them were chatting among themselves about recent catches and plans for the spring season. When he glanced over at Celeste, she was listening politely and applying hand cream.
Jack could tell she spent a good amount of time on her appearance. Not in a way that made her look overly made up or vain, but there was a sheen to her that he imagined took some time to achieve. He liked it.
He’d thought it might be distracting and annoying to have a photographer in the class, but Quinn was professional and stayed out of everyone’s way, and Jack was feeling optimistic about having his company featured on her profile.
Having Celeste back was no doubt a major contributing factor in how much he’d enjoyed the evening. More than once she’d caught him looking at her, even once dipping her chin and looking up at him with a knowing glance. It was adorable. It was flirtatious. It was irresistible.
And then there was the fact that she’d brought cookies for the group. The combination of her presence along with the gooey sweet dessert was making him forget all about the promise he’d made to himself. Was that all it took? Was he that weak?
Maybe he needed to do something about all this pent-up energy. Two years was too long to be alone.
He’d dated a few women after Christine had left but no one who had captured his attention. It was hard in this area anyway, where people knew each other and you ran the risk of running into an ex at the grocery store or the gym. In Jack’s opinion, it wasn’t worth the trouble.
He looked up at the clock and was surprised to see that it was already after eight p.m. The time had flown by, and it seemed like everyone else was so absorbed in their work and conversations they hadn’t noticed either. “All right folks,” Jack said. “Looks like time’s up for tonight. You all did great work.”
“We only have one class left. When do progress reports come out?” Celeste said.
“This isn’t that kind of course. One hundred percent of your grade rests on the final exam.”
“I’d better get studying,” she said.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jack noticed Quinn laughing to herself. He didn’t care. Being around Celeste was fun.
“See you next week, teach,” said Celeste.
“See you next week,” he echoed.
He was already counting down the days.