“Thank you, Katy.”
She walked out of the room, rounding the corner. Then came the thud of her backpack hitting the floor.
Jeff stood, taking a step toward my desk. Wow, he was tall. Long legs. Narrow waist. That Carhartt coat only accentuated the width of his broad shoulders. “I’m sorry. For her language. And especially mine.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I quite enjoyed a well-placed fuck. Just not from sixth graders.
“Thanks for calling me, Miss Adler.”
“Della,” I corrected. Most parents called me by my first name. “And you’re welcome. This is totally out of character for her. Is there something going on at home?”
“She hates her hair.” He sighed. “It feels too early for her to hate her hair, but what do I know? At her age, all I cared about was sports.”
“Middle school is hard.” So was high school, for boys and girls both. “But there’s no big change or something that might be causing this behavior?”
“Not that I know of. Unless something is happening at her mother’s house. But she hasn’t been there for a few weeks. My ex wasn’t feeling well last week so Katy stayed with me.”
“Maybe she misses her mom then?”
Jeff huffed. Not a yes or a no. Just a huff before he dipped his chin. “I’ll talk to her. Make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
With a nod, he walked across my classroom to join his daughter in the hallway.
My eyes tracked his every step, taking in his wide frame and the strength of his thighs as they flexed beneath those tan carpenter pants. There was a surety to his steps, not a swagger but a confident stride. And hot damn, he had arguably the most perfect ass I’d ever seen.
Curved and muscled and begging to be sq—
Whoa whoa whoa. No, Della. My gaze slammed onto the linoleum floor. What was I doing?
Never in my career had I fantasized about a parent. Never, ever. And here I was drooling over Jeff’s ass? What was wrong with me?
Maybe because he’d taken me by surprise. I just hadn’t expected him to be so handsome.
From his dark hair to the straight nose and full lips. He had a rugged, stubbled jaw and a gravelly voice.
No excuses. He was Katy’s father and there were boundaries. So I stood from my chair, shaking my head, hoping to pop my thoughts back into appropriate territory. Okay, so Jeff was hot. So what? That didn’t change the fact that he was entirely off-limits.
Maybe I should have called her mother. Only Katy had told me her mom was sick and this week, she was with her dad. I’d expected to meet, well…a regular dad. Not a man who could be a ranch-wear model.
I crept toward the door, drawn closer by that masculine timbre as he spoke to Katy.
Lingering by the door frame, I peered into the hall. Katy leaned against a row of navy lockers.
Jeff had dropped to a knee in front of her so they could talk at eye level. “Okay, Dandelion. What’s going on?”
Dandelion. He called her Dandelion. My hand pressed to my heart. That nickname was as adorable now as it had been when I’d learned it minutes ago.
“It just slipped out.” Katy shrugged. “You cuss all the time.”
“Yeah. But I’m an adult,” he said. “You know there are words you’re not allowed to say until you’re old enough. Besides, aren’t you busting me every five minutes, making me fill the cuss jar whenever I slip up?”
“Sorry, Daddy.”
He put his hand on her cheek. “This is not okay.”
“I know.”
Katy’s behavior this week had been a complete shock. She was normally so sweet. Innocent. Smart and diligent with her studies. Not that I’d ever admit it, but she was my favorite student, which was why I hadn’t sent this straight to the vice principal. I didn’t want this on her official record. If it happened again, we’d have to have a different conversation, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
Jeff’s thumb stroked her cheek before he ran his palm over her hair. “Never again, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered.
The gentleness and attention he gave her was as adorable as her nickname. And surprising. Maybe that was why I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Jeff. After what Katy’s mother had told me, the mental picture I’d created for Jeff seemed very different than reality.
Rosalie and I had met at the beginning of the year when she’d brought Katy to orientation. We’d visited for a few minutes, and Rosalie had seemed kind. Appreciative. But when Katy had gone out to test the combination of her locker, Rosalie had warned me that Jeff wouldn’t be involved. What was the word she’d used? Deadbeat.
He didn’t seem like a deadbeat. Not in the slightest.
“What’s your punishment?” he asked her.
Katy tapped a finger to her chin. “Dishes for, um…five days.”
He narrowed his eyes. “It’s pretty bad when a teacher calls a dad.”
“A week of dishes?”
Jeff shook his head. “A week of dishes and all the laundry. Mine included.”
“Eww.” She scrunched up her nose. “Your stuff is so smelly.”
“Maybe after a week of dealing with my stinky socks, you’ll remember to watch that mouth in school, huh?”
Katy heaved a sigh. “Okay.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. Also sexy.
Apparently everything he did was hot.
He crooked his finger, and she flew into his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Yep, that was attractive too.
He held her like she was his entire world, loved more than she’d ever know.
As Jeff let her go and stood, holding out his hand for hers, I stepped into the hallway. “See you tomorrow, Katy.”
She gave me a finger wave. “Bye, Miss Adler.”
“Thanks,” Jeff said.
“Bye.” I lingered beside the lockers as they started down the hallway, watching as he slowed to let his daughter set the pace.
Don’t check him out. Don’t check him out.
That ass was like a magnet, drawing my focus. It really was perfect.
A throat cleared.
I jumped, whirling. Luka hovered beside my shoulder. “H-hi.”
He smirked. “Admiring the view?”
“Stop.” I elbowed him in the ribs, hoping he wouldn’t notice my flaming cheeks. “They’re cute together.”
“How’s your day going?”
“Good, actually.” After I’d called Jeff, I’d prepared for the worst. Most parent meetings were a foolproof way to ruin an otherwise nice day. But that meeting had been a breeze. “How is your day?”
Luka clapped his hands together, rubbing them as he gave me an evil grin. “Pop quiz for my class after lunch.”
“You get far too much enjoyment from torturing your students.”
“Probably.” He winked, the same devilish wink he’d been giving me since college.
Was it flirting? I’d been trying to figure that out for a decade.
Luka dragged a hand through his dark blond hair. No matter how often he combed it with his fingers, it always seemed to lie down in the perfect place.
He’d been born and raised in Montana but would pass as a professional surfer without question. He had a tall, strong frame ripped with muscle. The tousled hairstyle. The cocky smirk. The sparkling blue eyes. All he was missing at the moment was a tan.