Teaching Ms. Riggs. Stephanie Beck

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СКАЧАТЬ he didn’t mind the new memory he was making of her. Her thighs were the rounded, strong kind like the women who played catcher on softball teams. They looked muscular and tough but still soft to the touch. When she bent slightly forward he could have groaned at the pretty picture she made. Her thighs and hips led to a waist that was maybe a little chubby, but he’d never really paid enough attention to women to give an honest comparison.

      He just knew he liked what he saw, a healthy, soft woman.

      “Well, hello, Ben.” Mark moved next to her cart to grab the largest tub of vanilla ice cream the store carried. “Sure is nice to see you again so soon.”

      “Oh, hi.” Ben eyed his overflowing cart with a bemused smile. “I bet you have to do this often with a teenage boy at home.”

      “And don’t forget his little sister, who can go pound for pound on most things during a growth spurt.” Mark added a jug of chocolate syrup from the stand beside the freezer case. “And at the end of the day you’ll be hard pressed to find a farm boy who doesn’t like a bowl of ice cream.”

      “I bet. So you have both of the kids?”

      “Yep. You haven’t heard the whole story yet?” he asked, the market quiet in the pre-supper rush. She shook her head and the pretty corkscrew curls that had been locked in a clip slipped free. He wondered if she knew how distracting she was, but forged on to answer her question, “Their mom is my older sister. She’s married to a French scientist. Kimmy is a scientist too, and they work on cancer drugs over in a French lab. She and her husband spend most of their time working, and they wanted the kids to be educated here. I was elected as guardian.”

      Ben paused in front of another case and turned to him. She had freckles. How could he have overlooked them when they met in the classroom? Must have been her eyes, Mark thought as her gaze connected with his again. Her kind of eyes could make a man forget his name.

      “That’s so great of you, Mark. They’re lucky to have such a generous uncle. Do you help coach football? I was invited thirty-seven times today to go to the freshman and b-squad games on Thursday night and was wondering if you might know what time I should be there?”

      “Six if you can. I don’t help coach, but I try to make it to all of Thomas’s games. Kira does too. They usually last an hour tops, so we get back in time for milking.” The reminder made him look at his watch and bite back a curse. Now that he was getting another chance with Ben he wanted to make the most of it, but duty called. “Speaking of chores, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. I better get home.”

      * * * *

      “Yeah, same here. I should get going before my ice cream melts.” Ben laughed and followed Mark with her sparsely filled cart.

      She should have known better, but when she chose checkouts she went with the younger cashier. By the time the girl had rung up ten items, the old pro at the register Mark had gone to was finished. Ben paid and was thrilled to still have money left on the gift card even after splurging. She hefted the two bags and wished she’d driven her car.

      With a sigh she headed for the door. Her apartment was only six blocks away. She could walk, and it would probably do her a lot of good. It wasn’t like she was in a hurry anyway, so the walk would be fine.

      “Ah damn, you aren’t walking home, are you?” Mark appeared out of nowhere and plucked one of her bags from her arms. Her heart raced at the suddenness of his appearance, but she swallowed back the immediate fear. She had to remember she wasn’t in Chicago anymore.

      She cleared her throat and followed him after he put her bag in his cart. “Yes, I’m walking home. It’s only a few blocks away. The Matterhast Apartments.”

      “Come on, I’ll give you a ride. It’s on my way, and your ice cream will melt for sure if you walk in this heat.” He motioned her to a dirty, eighties-style rust bucket that most likely had been a truck at one time.

      She pasted on a smile as she followed him. Being told what to do was one of her least favorite things lately. She counseled herself to be patient with the well-intentioned man. Watching the way Mark’s hips moved as he walked went a long way in soothing her irritation.

      “You don’t have to, Mark. I appreciate the offer but–”

      “How long were you in Chicago?” he broke in without turning back to face her.

      “Ah, almost a decade.”

      “Then you were gone long enough to forget how we do things in small towns. Let me refresh your memory. When someone needs a ride and another person has a vehicle, we share a ride. If someone needs a hose and their neighbor isn’t using theirs, it’s lent so they don’t have to drive thirty miles to Wal-Mart.”

      He tossed bags into the truck’s bed as he spoke. Resigned, Ben stepped closer and helped him load his groceries into the bins in the back.

      When he looked over and grinned, her annoyance slipped away without her permission. He winked again. “It’ll come back to you, I’m sure.”

      She laughed and settled the last bag in the bin.

      “Smartass,” she muttered. “Okay, you might be right about me still being in the Chicago mindset. Thank you for the offer and for the ride. I appreciate it.”

      “There you go, sweetheart, it’s coming back fast.” He was teasing again like he had at the school, and she liked it. Browsing through the bags he looked up when he found her ice cream. “I’ve got a cooler back here. Want me to toss this in? The cab’s gonna be hotter than hell and the AC is broken.”

      Tongue in cheek she gave an over-exaggerated sigh. “Of course it is. A broken AC and a hot running truck are prerequisites for any farm vehicle. Thanks for thinking of my ice cream.”

      She took her remaining bags and jumped into the truck while he corralled the cart. She coughed when the seat let loose a poof of gravel dust. Mark hopped in and the dust flew again.

      “Sorry about that,” he said with a light blush. “I would have brought the car if I thought anyone else would be riding with me. You can open your window if you want. The crank only sticks at first.”

      She turned the sticky manual lever as he started the truck. Belying the rust and age, the engine fired up with no hesitation. Thankfully, he had the truck moving in only a few seconds. The interior was so hot and stagnant that it took a block before fresh air circulated.

      Ben said a small prayer of thankfulness for the tiny but ferocious window air conditioner that kept her apartment cool. She’d forgotten the power of a Missouri heat wave. Usually by September Chicago was cooling down, but Missouri had weeks left until even the nights became bearable.

      The air conditioner at her apartment worked perfectly though, so she already pictured her night. The hum of the truck engine soothed her closer to the sleep her exhausted body craved. She could crank the air full blast, spread her paperwork on her bed and have a bowl of ice cream.

      “I bet you’re wrecked after a long day with all those kids.” Mark’s comment broke her out of her blessedly cool fantasy.

      “Oh, yeah. It was actually my first day ever teaching. I had all the credits and practice semesters, but I’ve never had my own classroom,” she replied.

      “Really? СКАЧАТЬ