Page 130 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

In all her days, Emma was pretty darned certain she had never seen a more serious look from a man.

“Oh?”

“Oh.”

“Will, this is all sort of weird and confusing.”

He didn’t respond, but what he did do confused her even more. His hands went to her waist and he snaked them around to her back, pulling her snug up against him. She had to admit that felt darned enjoyable, for Will was tall and nicely built, and he had fine broad shoulders that she had never really noticed before, until now, and, the real unsettling thing was, that his gaze had traveled to her lips, and he was watching them move as she spoke.

She couldn’t help it. She licked those lips while he was watching.

“Forget weird,”

he said, and she closed her eyes as he moved in for the kiss.

A kiss that they weren’t supposed to be having since there were “rules.”

A kiss that felt quite possibly like the best kiss she’d ever had in the world. His lips were firm, moist, and all over hers. He tasted like wood smoke and salt, and every time those lips scraped over hers, her tummy turned to jelly and quivered, sending little sparks down to her toes. And all she wanted was to get closer and put her arms around his neck, which she did, and thread her fingers through his hair, which she did, and let him kiss her more and more and more and more and more….

After a moment of feeling as if she were stealing kisses in the barn behind the football field, she moved her hands to his face and pulled away.

“Will,”

she said.

“I need to go.”

She hated the defeated look on his face, and it seemed his stature dropped about four inches at her words.

“Emma, please… I know this kissing thing is new, but we’ve known each other forever, and, please, let’s just…”

This time she placed her fingertips on Will’s lips.

“I need to get over to the school board office before it closes. Today is the last day they are open before the holidays. And if I want to put in that transfer to possibly get into the middle school by January, I need to get moving.”

With a dumbfounded look on his face, Will stepped back and let her pass. Emma went to her desk and retrieved her purse, then ran back into his arms for one last, lingering kiss.

“Just one more…”

she whispered. Then she turned and left.

****

Watching her go was like witnessing a tornado pass through your neighborhood. You weren’t sure in which direction the thing was going to go, whether you should take cover or run, or simply just stand there in fascination unable to take your eyes off what was happening.

Will decided he didn’t have time for any of it. Emma was gone, headed off to the school board office. Asking for a transfer?

He wanted to smile. There was some part of him that wanted to be elated. Her revelation meant that she was interested in him. And he, well, of course, was interested in her.

Wasn’t he?

But shit. She was going to ask for a transfer. In the middle of the school year. And they would ask a reason. And what would she say? Surely, she wouldn’t say it was because they had been kissing in her classroom, would she? Certainly, she would make something up. Right?

Suddenly his nerves made him a little queasy.

What would she make up?

Teachers don’t just leave or ask for transfers in the middle of the year, unless something is really, really wrong with their job, and he didn’t need something like that coming down on him and the school.

He couldn’t afford rumors. And the receptionist at the board office was eager for gossip and could squeeze information out of a turnip if she wanted to….

Oh, hell.

But what worried him even more than all of that, was that it was unfair of him to ask Emma to leave a job she loved—even if she was willing to do so. She was the perfect fourth grade teacher and the children loved her. What he’d asked wasn’t fair to her or the children. Why in the hell had he asked her to give that up?

Will raced out of Emma’s classroom and toward his office. He glanced at this watch. Emma had been gone only a few minutes. If he was quick about it, he could get to the phone in his office before she got to the board office. Racing hell-bent-for-leather, he turned the corner on those newly waxed tile floors, skidded around a water fountain, and made a beeline for his office where he shut the door real quick, ran to his phone, and made the call.

He relaxed when the person on the other end picked up the phone, and he could say.

“Hey, it’s Will, and I need a huge favor.”