Don't Tempt Me

Working Together

DAMIEN

"Hey Ella! How was your first day back?" Hank asked her.

"It was good Mr. Vanner. You know you're the only one who gave me homework though, right?" She joked.

"I gave everyone homework."

She laughed. "What can I get you guys?"

The entire time she'd been here, she never once glanced my way. It was like my chair was empty. She was still in her clothes from school, but her hair was now thrown into a ponytail, showing off her face. She really was such a natural beauty.

And I need to stop thinking like that.

"You know what we want Ella. We always get the same." John said with a smile.

"I know. But it's part of the job to ask." She slowly turned to me. "What can I get for you, Mr. Black?" Her friendly toned was forced, I could tell.

"Uh... I don't know. It's my first time here." I looked at the guys for help.

"We always get a pizza to share." Ian said.

"That sounds good. How about one large, and one medium?" I asked. Everyone nodded.

"Toppings?" Ella asked.

"Whatever they usually get. I'm not picky." I told her. She scribbled the order down on her notepad.

"Alright. I'll be back shortly with that." She smiled at the group, ignoring me, and walked away.

"I heard Ella was taking your woodshop class this year." Ian said to me.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, she is."

"Those boys better treat her right." John grumbled, taking a sip of beer.

"I gave them a lecture on that at the start of class." And then probably made her feel worse than any of them did. "I'll keep an eye on it."

"Poor girl. She doesn't deserve the crap she puts up with." Hank sighed.

"Mr. O'Shea gave me her file this morning. She's really smart." I said nonchalantly.

"She's worked hard these last few years. She's definitely top of her class." Hank said.

"Her file said that her parents passed away?" I hoped it wasn't too obvious that I was digging for information. Which I shouldn't be anyways.

"Yeah. They lived somewhere else. I think it was a car crash." Ian replied. He leaned forward, placing his hands under his chin.

Jesus. I was feeling worse by the second.

"How'd she end up here?"

"Her Aunt took her in. Kinda. She lives up north year round, except holidays. Ella grew up with nannies."

What the f**k? Why take her in if she wasn't going to look after her? Before I could comment, Ella came back with two trays of steaming hot pizzas.

"Here you go guys. Let me know if you need anything else." She smiled and the way that smile affected me was so inappropriate.

"Thanks Ella. You're the best." Hank said, digging in.

"Yeah, thanks Ella." Ian chimed in.

"Thank you." I said. She caught my gaze, locking her eyes with mine.

"You're welcome." She replied, before walking away again.

"So, Damien, have you found a place to live yet?" John asked around a bite of pizza. I took one for myself, taking a big bite. Holy hell. This was the best pizza I'd ever had.

"Yeah, I found a nice little house actually. Not too far from the school." I smiled. I really did like the house I bought. It was the picture of small town, white picket fence living. I loved it.

"Oh yeah? Maybe we can come over sometime, watch the game. Have a little house warming party." Ian said.

"That sounds cool." I replied.

"Don't even need to search for it. Just look for the flashy car in the driveway." John snickered.

"Hey, don't diss the car man. She's my baby." He rolled his eyes.

We talked and laughed and hassled each other for about half an hour before John signaled for the cheque. I paid for the beer, and the guys paid for the pizza. I left a twenty dollar tip for Ella too.

"We get together at least once a week after school. You good next Saturday?" John asked me on the way out.

"Yeah, man. Thanks. I liked hanging out with you guys."

"You might change your mind about that come Saturday. Ian gets loud when he's drunk, and Hank likes to tell stories. Long stories."

"And what about you?"

"Oh, I'm the normal one. I just get really f*****g horny."

I laughed. "Good to know. I'll see you tomorrow John."

"Have a good one Damien." He waved before walking to his car. I got into mine and backed out. I still had a s**t ton of unpacking to do. I put my address into into the GPS on my phone, paying strict attention so I would remember. In retrospect, I should have done that while trying to find the restaurant.

When I got home, I immediately kicked my shoes off in the doorway. Tomorrow I was wearing sneakers; I hated my work shoes. I walked into the living room and was assaulted by three pounds of fluff.

"Hey girl! I missed you!" I lifted Bubble up, my adorable chihuahua/Chitzu mix. I'd had her for two years now, after finding her as a stray puppy. She was white and light brown.

"You want to go outside girl?"

She wagged her tail, turning in circles. The back door already had a doggy door, which was perfect. But she loved to run around outside with me. She followed me, darting out as soon as I opened the door. I spent the next hour throwing random sticks I found. She never brought them back after I threw them.

"This weekend I'll get you some new toys." I told her while we were walking back in the house. She ignored me, going to her water dish.

I decided it was time to start unpacking. I'd finished unpacking the kitchen already, and I wanted to start with the living room. But my furniture wasn't coming until tomorrow afternoon; Currently I was sleeping on a blowup mattress.

Bubble came wandering into the living room, sniffing the boxes.

"Hmm. We could go meet some of the neighbour's. Maybe someone will have a dog for you to play with."

She looked at me, her tongue hanging out. I chuckled.

"Alright. Let's go." I grabbed her leash, one of the few things I didn't have packed up, and walked out of the house. She sniffed every available inch of grass, darting around the sidewalk. Suddenly, she lifted her head, growling. Then she sprang forward, and I lost my grip on the leash.

"s**t! Bubble! Come back!" I ran after her. I saw what had her so riled up. A damn squirrel. She ran across the road, chasing it to a tree in the neighbour's yard. It ran up, sitting on a branch, staring down at her while she barked and ran in circles.

"You're not going to catch him girl. Just give this one up." I said finally reaching her. I swear she pouted.

"Mr. Black?"

I turned at the sound of my name. Ella was standing in the driveway, giving me a wierd look. God. She was just f*****g everywhere.

"Ella, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Uhm, I live here." She crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"

She lived here? Across the street from me?

"My dog ran away." I said.

"Huh?"

I held up Bubble. "She saw a squirrel, and chased it up a tree." Bubble squirmed so I put her down. She instantly ran over to Ella, who uncrossed her arms and bent down.

"Hey there. You're pretty f*****g adorable aren't you?" She scratched Bubble behind the ear.

"I didn't know you lived here." I said. She glanced back up at me.

"Same to you."

"I just moved in." Way to state the obvious.

Neither of us said anything for few minutes. I figured now was as good a time as any to apologize.

"Uh, Ella... I'm sorry about earlier. In class. I didn't know about your parents. I'm sorry." I rubbed the back of neck.

She sighed. "It's okay. I don't make it a point to tell people. Sorry I was a bitch."

I laughed lightly, and she smiled at me. She scooped up Bubble, who had proceeded to lay on her back for belly scratches, and handed her to me.

"What's her name?" She asked.

"Bubble."

"Bubble?"

"She used to eat my soap." I explained. Ella laughed, her face lighting up. My stomach did a flip.

"Well, she's adorable. If you ever need a dog sitter, I'd love to watch her." She scratched Bubble again, her hand grazing against my chest.

"I'll let you know." I replied.

"Have a good evening Mr. Black. Oh, I'm going to be working in the backyard, let me know if the noise bothers you." She turned to leave.

"What are you working on?" I asked. She turned back to me.

"I'm putting together a deck around the above ground pool. It was the cheaper option than getting an inground pool." She shrugged.

I raised my brows. "By yourself?"

"Yeah. I mean, sometimes Megan comes over, but she doesn't know anything about woodwork, so I work and she watches."

"How far along is it?"

"About three quarters of the way done."

"I can help if you want." I offered. Immediately, I regretted it. I shouldn't be hanging out with my students outside of school. I shouldn't be hanging out with them at all.

She hesitated, clearly thinking the same thing. "Uhm..."

"It's cool. Sorry I asked."

"No I- Sure. If you have time." She looked away, not meeting my eyes.

"I have time. My house is full of boxes I can't unpack because my furniture doesn't get here till tomorrow." I explained.

She c****d her head to the side. "What are you sleeping on then?"

"A blowup mattress."

She snickered. "Come on in." I followed her to her door. She unlocked it, stepping inside. "You can keep your shoes on." She told me. I nodded.

The house was big. It was mostly neutral whites and browns, with some decorative wallpaper here and there. It was nice, and clean. Ella led me through the entrance hall into the living room. It was open concept, leading into the kitchen, with a sliding patio door going out to the backyard. The furniture matched the color scheme, a large brown sectional and two matching chairs facing the television, and wood flooring.

"This is a nice house." I commented.

"Thanks. I did some renovations over the years."

"You did?"

"Yeah. The kitchen used to be separated by a wall and a door. I opened it up." She shrugged.

Damn. This girl had talent for someone so young.

"All by-"

"Not by myself." She interrupted me. "My Aunt hired someone to help with the wall." She slid open the door and we stepped out onto a low deck facing a wide backyard. I noted a lot of lumber off to the side, on a tarp. Putting Bubble down, I walked over. I analyzed the work she'd done so far, the foundation, the layout. I could see what she envisioned for the deck.

"You've done a really good job so far." I told her.

"Thanks. I'm trying to get it done before winter."

"How far do you want it to come out?"

She pointed to a line in the grass, made with spray paint. My eyes followed it and I nodded. Not too big then.

"If you want, I can start marking and cutting the wood." I looked at her.

"Sure. It's already marked though." She grabbed a drill off the deck and a box of deck screws. "I have about ten over here already. I've been cutting and drilling, but if you cut for me, it should go faster."

"No problem." I grabbed a piece of lumber and got to work.

We chatted as we worked, but I could tell she was in the zone. When I asked her if she had any other plans for the yard or house, she launched into her plans with great detail. She was so passionate about it, it made me smile. Everything she wanted to do, I could see in this yard. It would look fantastic. Ella was confident too. She ordered me around like I was the novice. When I accidentally cut a board too short, she gave me a death glare so cold, I almost pulled out my wallet to replace the wood.

"Don't worry about it." She sighed. I bought extra, just in case."

Smart girl. We worked well into the evening, and I worried the neighbour's would complain, but Ella told me they were use to her drilling and hammering. She told me about the small repairs she'd done around the neighborhood, so nobody really complained when she was doing a project. Over the course of the time we were working, she relaxed in my company, and I got her laughing, which did things to my insides.

She asked me how old I was, looking just as shocked as the guys when I told her. I explained that I'd skipped two grades, and graduated early.

I tried to avoid staring at her, but it was hard. She'd changed into a tank top a while ago, and the vision of her bent over, drilling screws, had me hard in no time. I was definitely going to Hell.

"I think we can quit for tonight. It's getting dark." Ella said.

"Alright." I unplugged the electric saw, setting it on the deck. Ella stretched her arms, flexing her fingers. Jesus, was she trying to torture me?

"I can make you something for dinner." She offered.

"Thanks, but that's alright. I have some food at home." I didn't, really. I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet.

"Okay. Well... thanks for helping. Really." She smiled appreciatively.

"No problem Ella. Let me know if you want me to come help again." I called Bubble, who had spent the majority of the time glued to Ella, begging for petting.

"Sure. Have a good night Mr. Black."

"Damien."

"What?"

"My name is Damien. You don't have to call me Mr. Black outside of school."

"Oh. Have a good night then, Damien." The way she said my name had all sorts of images coasting through my head. I needed to leave.

"Night Ella." I picked up Bubble and made my way to the front door. Once I was outside, I took a deep breath. I shouldn't have offered to come back. This was inappropriate, she was my student. I shouldn't have been over here in the first place. I shook my head, making my way home. I'd have to tell her no if she asked for my help again. The thought made me frown, I had fun today. Which proved I needed to keep my distance.