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I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “You know, all that sweat and dirt…it’s sort of sexy.”
He stepped back, his eyes wide. “I knew it!”
“What? What did I say?”
“It’s the sweat and the dirt. You really were attracted to Andrew!”
My mouth gaped as I stared at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about. “No, I was never attracted to him.”
“He had the sweat and the grease and the muscles,” he said, ticking each one off on his fingers. “It’s the trifecta!”
I bit my lip as I looked around, wondering if anyone else was seeing the crazy man in front of me. Thankfully, no one was watching anymore. And then it hit me. I cocked my head at him, smirking at what was clearly a figment of his imagination.
“You’re jealous. You think I liked you because of the sweat and…whatever else you said?”
“Didn’t you?”
I nodded at him solemnly. “Yes, and now that all that’s gone, I’m afraid the appeal is gone. It was a nice fantasy while it lasted.”
I turned on my heel to go, but didn’t get far. His hand wrapped around my bicep and he spun me back into his arms. “You don’t get to leave me that easily,” he murmured before crashing his lips down on mine.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him like it was the first time. Well, technically, it was only the second, but who was counting?
A throat cleared, breaking the connection between us. But even as I turned to face Brock, Dash kept me tucked into his side like he would never let me leave again.
“Glad to see you’re safe,” Brock said, his eyes twinkling with mirth.
“I suppose you’re part of this…group too.”
“Group?” he glanced at Dash, then back to me. “I think you need to bring her back to the office and let her see exactly what we do.”
“Not tonight. Tonight, she’s all mine.”
Brock groaned. “I think I’ll find someplace else to stay tonight. The last thing I need to hear is?—”
I slammed my hand over his mouth, then glanced around, afraid little ears would overhear whatever he was about to say.
“Sweetheart, I’m pretty sure whatever he was thinking, these students have already done,” Dash whispered in my ear.
“That doesn’t matter. As long as I don’t know about it, I can think of them as naive students who don’t know anything about S-E-X.”
“And apparently, they can’t spell either,” he smirked. “Are you ready to go home?”
“I’m not sure if I can leave. I need to talk to the principal first. And I should probably put my room back together,” I answered, frowning slightly as I looked back at the school. I wasn’t sure I was ready to go back inside. I wasn’t ever in real danger since the shooter was at the opposite end of the school, but I would never forget the terror I felt when I realized what was happening. Barricading myself in the corner with my students was a new experience, one that I wouldn’t easily forget.
“Hey,” Dash said, forcing me to look at him. “We’ll get through it.”
Somehow, without even knowing what I was thinking, Dash could read me well enough to know about the chaos going on in my head. We might not have known we were in love with each other, but our minds were always on the same page. We couldn’t live without each other. And now I’d never have to again.
“You do what?”I shrieked.
Okay, that thought I had earlier about never having to live without Dash again was quickly shrinking in the rearview mirror. Apparently, he was more than just in security. Like, he got shot at and everything. Maybe I should have realized that when he told me he had the situation handled at the school, but some part of my brain really thought that was just something he said.
Now I knew that was wishful thinking.
“I mostly stay at OPS,” he hurried on. “I’m hardly ever in the field. Except…when I am in the field.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as he drove us back to his house. “And how often is that?”