Part 4 (2/2)

”Stop doing that,” I tell him, laughing. ”You know I hate that.”

”But you're very cute when you sleep.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. ”Last night was quite a night.”

I smile at him. ”You know what's ironic and a little funny?”

”What?” he asks, one brow perked up.

”All night long, you were telling me how you were going to rip my dress off,” I remind him, smiling coyly, ”...and here I am the next morning, still wearing it.”

He laughs a little. ”But I still showed you a pretty good time, didn't I?”

”Definitely,” I say, biting my lip.

”I can take it off now if you want,” he offers with that look in his eyes-the man is insatiable.

I'm almost tempted, but giggling and the sweet voices of my girls are in the distance. It won't be long until we see their faces.

We take the girls to the park and go for lunch. Chloe asks me about our night.

”Did you have fun?”

I smile. ”We did. We met some nice people and saw a show.” I almost tell her about Weston and Bridget, but decide not to-they're already ancient history.

I love spending quality time with my family on Sundays-it's one of my favorite things to do. But today, I'm not quite there-my head isn't anyway. I can't get Weston out of my mind, and I still can't believe how affected I was by him. I barely know him-he hardly gave me anything-didn't talk about himself at all.

Then a light bulb goes off.

That's what it is, I tell myself-he's still a mystery. If I could just know a little more about him, maybe I could finally get him out of my system.

I start typing his name in the search box. I get as far as ”Weston H,” and his name pops up, and I suddenly feel panicked.

And a little creepy.

I am a stalker after all-a cyber-stalker.

I tell myself I'm being ridiculous and close the browser. As I slam my laptop shut, I vow to stop thinking about the guy-he's just a good looking man I met at a restaurant, for heaven's sake.

That's all he is.

A good looking man with the most incredible eyes I have ever seen.

It's Monday, and I'm so happy to be back at work. I can't wait to talk to Gwen. Gwen's my best friend, and a fellow teacher at my school. She teaches sixth grade. She has to deal with att.i.tude and burgeoning hormones, and she still has a smile on her face every minute of the day-she's fantastic.

My kids seem happy to see me. Lilly, a sweetheart of a girl, with golden curls and bright green eyes, hugs my leg when she sees me.

”Good morning, Lilly. How was your weekend?”

”Great. How was your weekend, Mrs. Mirella?”

”Fantastic,” I say with a smile. And that's an understatement, I almost want to add.

”I like your earrings today.”

”Why, thank you.” The fun thing about kids is they notice everything-a new haircut, a new dress, a new necklace. I could be wearing a whole new outfit, and Gabe probably wouldn't notice.

Lilly is so sweet, and she speaks like she's just leaped off the pages of a Jane Austen novel-I think it has something to do with her British nanny. But anyway, she's my favorite.

Today, we're learning about the four food groups. I've brought some grocery store flyers from home, and we're cutting out various foods and gluing them onto paper plates. The activity teaches them about nutrition and lets them practice their dexterity. Even at this age, kids today don't get enough manual play-all they seem to do at home is play video games and watch television.

My hands are on the task in front of me, but my brain is full of Weston.

This is getting d.a.m.n annoying.

I'll never see you again. Please get out of my head.

When the bell finally rings for lunch, I let Wanda take over. Wanda is great. She's one of my kids' moms who volunteers to help out every day for lunch. There was a rumor a while back about her and the princ.i.p.al being a little too friendly, but who am I to judge?

I run over to Gwen as soon as I spot her. She looks fabulous, as always, her dark complexion striking against a pale yellow sheath dress. I hug her tightly, my face full of her thick black tresses.

”How was your weekend, sweetie,” she asks, all smiles.

”Mind-blowing,” I gush, my face lit up like a fourth of July display. I can't wait to dish.

”That good, huh,” she says, a coy smile on her lips.

”It's really warm today. You wanna eat on the bench outside?” There is no privacy in the lunch room-twenty or so teachers huddled together at small round tables-conversations usually start to mix.

”Sure,” she says as I grab her by the arm-she really has no choice.

I'm thankful it's a wonderful sunny day...I love the month of May.

As we eat our very bland sandwiches, I tell her all about Sat.u.r.day night-the restaurant, the fabulous couple we met, and the even more amazing s.e.x. Gwen and I are very close. We share almost everything.

”So was it love at first sight with this man?” she teases, her eyes curious.

”Well, I don't know about that, Gwen. Let's just call it l.u.s.t at first sight. And besides, we are all married, you know...”

She throws a playful, little jab at my shoulder. ”Yep. You might want to be careful.”

I smile. ”You don't have to worry. It was a one-time encounter. We'll never see them again.”

”That's probably a good thing. Temptation can be tricky, and you wouldn't want to mess things up with Gabe.”

We sit in silence for a beat, both biting into our sandwiches.

”But...you can't help how your mind and body react to someone,” she adds knowingly. ”Don't feel guilty about it. It's cupid's fault.”

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