Part 11 (1/2)

He facilitated between marching up to her front door and pounding on it until she answered, or blowing off the entire volunteering thing so he could head to Charlotte almost a week earlier.

Except that was what a quitter did. A quitter gave up after a setback... or five. Austin had never quit in his life, and he sure as h.e.l.l wasn't about to start now.

If she wanted a purely professional type of relations.h.i.+p, no matter how hard he could make her come, then that was what she would get. Well, she would get that until she came to her senses and- He paused by his truck, more than a little taken aback by his turn in thoughts. Never in his life had he chased after a woman this hard, and after three dates-he was for d.a.m.n sure counting tonight as a date-she'd practically thrown yellow flags at nearly every one of his plays. h.e.l.l, she threw flags when he wasn't looking and made up rules she wasn't willing to share with him so he could play to win.

Thing was, he didn't want to play a game with her.

He wanted... well, he wanted what he thought he wasn't ready to have.

f.u.c.k.

He needed to talk to someone. Someone with experience in this sort of thing.

Quickly, he shot off a text to his brother, Mason.

Austin: I need to talk to you.

Mason: Post it on our Facebook page.

Austin: No.

Mason: Can't be that important.

Austin frowned. His brother would do everything he could to avoid face-to-face conversations.

Austin: I don't want anyone else's input-just yours.

Mason: Seeking the master's advice, huh?

He rolled his eyes, but if stroking his brother's ego would gain him an audience, so be it.

Austin: You know it. So, what time can I come by tomorrow afternoon?

Mason: Skylar said be here at 5:30 and you can stay for dinner Austin: See you then.

Just as he said he would, Austin showed up in Harper's cla.s.sroom exactly fifteen minutes before the bell rang. Of course, half the school showed up in her cla.s.sroom, too. All under the guise of needing to borrow something, or to ask for Harper's advice on a matter. It was downright painful, not because of the way people were acting, but because she had to be near a man who had done his level best to take care of her last night.

A man who'd put up with her hot-and-cold act without coming down to her level. Honestly, she was afraid. Afraid by the rush of feelings he brought out in such a short amount of time. Afraid by how quickly she could forget herself when he was around. Afraid of how bad it would hurt once he was back in Charlotte, back to his old life, which did not include her at all.

She sneezed.

”Bless you,” Austin said, gathering the stacks of construction paper so that he could sort them by color.

”Thanks,” she whispered. Her head started to ache. By the time the tardy bell rang, her entire body was simultaneously freezing and burning up.

Austin kept glancing her way, even as parent volunteers appeared out of thin air to help out in her cla.s.sroom. Where had they been on field trip days?

”I've sorted paper, counted out googly eyes, and given each kid a glue stick, like your instructions said. Is it alright for them to start or should I wait for you?” Austin asked.

”You can start.” She glanced over at one of her longtime parent volunteers. ”Will you help Mr. Lawson, please?”

The volunteer immediately sprang into action.

A coughing fit racked her body and she excused herself from the room, heading to the teacher's lounge to rest for a bit. The school nurse happened to be in there as well, filling out paperwork for new students.

”You look awful, Harper,” she said. ”C'mere and let me take your temperature.”

Harper waved her away. ”I'm fine.” This time, she sneezed four times in a row.

”You are not fine.” The nurse stood and took Harper's hand. ”Girl, you are burning up!”

”Really? I'm freezing.”

”Open.”

Harper dutifully parted her lips, and then pushed them together to keep the thermometer in place. In a matter of seconds, it was beeping. The nurse took it and scanned the temperature reading.

”Go home,” she said with a sympathetic smile. ”You have the latest crud going around, and I can't let you stay here with a fever of one hundred and two.”

”What about my students?” Harper protested.

”Reggie will tend to them.”

With a little shove, Harper left the lounge and headed to her cla.s.sroom to get her things. Going home sounded like a fabulous idea. Crawling into her bed and sleeping for a hundred years sounded even better.

”Are you sick?” Austin asked, attempting to place his hand against her head, but she stepped back.

”Don't touch me, or you'll get it too,” she said. ”I'm going home. Reggie, er... Princ.i.p.al Phelps will be in here soon, so you can work with whoever he gets to subst.i.tute for me.” Black dots appeared in front of her eyes, and she swayed. Grabbing the chair so she wouldn't fall, she bent over to grab her purse.

”There is no way I'll let you drive home like this,” Austin said firmly.

She pinned him with a glare, unreasonably irritated with him. ”If you weren't here, I'd have to drive myself home.” Since it had been raining this morning, she had driven for once, instead of walking.

”Your point is moot because I am here, and there are enough volunteers to take care of every kid in your cla.s.sroom, twice over. I'm taking you home, Harper, and that's final. You can kick me out afterward.”

He grabbed her arm and led her out of her cla.s.sroom. Without her permission, her body leaned against his for support. ”I don't need your help.”

”I'm not arguing with you.”

”Fine,” she snapped. Allowing him to lead her to his truck, it was all she could do to stay upright. Somehow, he managed to get her in the cab and then, into her house without much help from her.

”How did you get my keys?” she asked as he helped her undress and put on pajamas. ”Why am I letting you do this?”

Austin scooped her up and placed her under the covers of her bed. ”Your keys were in your purse. As for the other, you're letting me do this because you trust me to take care of you.”