Christmas Nights

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Danny! Sit down. Now,” Janie called, her tone edged with a gentle warning.

Danny Rivers immediately sat down. From the front of her first-grade classroom, Janie could see him practically vibrating in his seat. Danny tested her patience every day, but his saving grace was he was a sweet little boy. He had way too much energy and the classroom was an obstacle course for him. In her years of teaching, Janie had learned that the current world of education, one of testing and more testing, wasn’t for every child. Danny loved to learn, but he was a tactile learner and needed to move around a lot more than she could allow for the most part. It was too distracting to the other kids. She tried to be as creative as she could with children like him, but some days, he just had to sit down and listen. Like today when someone from the fire station was coming to do their yearly talk about fire safety for the kids.

Janie scanned her small classroom—fifteen first graders, a hodgepodge of personalities who brought her so much joy. Danny was wiggling madly, but he was staying in his seat, so she took that as a win. “Okay kids! Our visitor today is a fireman, and we need to listen and ask good questions. Can we do that?”

Fifteen heads bobbed up and down. Janie smiled widely. “Awesome! Hold tight while I see if our visitor is here yet.”

She stepped to the classroom doorway and glanced out, only to see Travis Wilkes striding down the hall beside the principal. Her breath hitched, her pulse rocketed, and her hand flew to her chest. Every year, the fire department sent someone here for these talks, but they never knew who it would be. She hadn’t even considered it might be Travis. Oh my God. Stop it. He’s just a man. A really sexy man, but just a man. You’re all weird because he kind of saved your life. It’s like some weird bonding thing. It’ll pass. Her little pep talk didn’t do much good when Travis and Principal Turner reached her.

“Janie, we have Travis Wilkes here today for the fire safety presentations. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind being his guide for the day. I’ve asked one of our subs to sit in with your class after he’s done here,” Principal Turner said with a smile.

Janie knew she didn’t have any choice in the matter. She liked her boss, she really did. Nancy Turner had been a teacher in Diamond Creek for twenty years before she became the principal. She navigated the political waters of running the school, while trying her best to advocate for funding and policies that supported the students and teachers. But right now, Janie really didn’t want to be the gracious host for Travis. He made her pulse run wild and unsettled her inside. Yet, she knew it would seem odd if she tried to avoid it. She normally had no trouble behaving like a polite human, but Travis tongue-tied her. Like now, all she could do was nod. When Nancy’s eyes narrowed, Janie realized she must seem off. With a mental shake, she nodded more firmly. “I’ve met Travis before. Nice to see you again,” she said, catching his eyes, those damn gorgeous blue eyes. “I’d be happy to take him from class to class today.”

“I’d love a guide. I’m solid on fire safety, but can’t say I’ve ever known what to do with more than a few kids at a time,” he said with a wry grin.

Nancy stepped back. “You’re in good hands with Janie. I’ve got a meeting to get to. Thank you both.” She spun on her heel and walked briskly down the hall.

Janie looked up at Travis. The moment his eyes locked with hers, her breath hitched and her pulse, which she’d barely gotten under control after the initial shock of seeing him, lunged again. She took a shaky breath and gestured to the door. “My class is one of the smallest, but you’re starting with fifteen. That’s five times more than a few.”

Travis’s mouth stretched in a slow grin. “I gotta admit, I’m damn glad you’ll be with me. I had visions of kids running circles around me all day.”

His uncertainty somehow eased her own wild anxiety. “How’d you end up doing this if kids make you nervous?” she asked.

“I lost the coin toss,” he said with a shrug.

A laugh bubbled up. His rueful honesty was endearing. When she looked over, Travis’s shoulders were shaking, his eyes glinting with mirth. “Laugh all you want. Little kids are a mystery to me.”

“Come on. We’ll start you off easy.”

Without thinking, she slipped her hand in the crook of his elbow, which she instantly realized was a mistake. She could feel the corded muscles of his arm under her hand. His warmth and strength were like a pulsing power. Her entire body tightened. She knew it would seem strange if she yanked her hand away, so she decided to bluster through the moment. She tugged him through the door into her classroom. Just as they stepped inside, Danny sprung up from his seat. “Watch! I can run to Ms. Stevens’ desk and…”

She released Travis’ arm. “Danny! Back in your seat. We all know you can race to my desk and back super fast.”

Danny froze and spun in her direction. He looked so tempted to finish what he’d set out to do. She could practically see the little wheels turning in his brain. His eyes landed on Travis. “Hey! Are you a firefighter?”

Travis glanced to Janie. While Danny might not have cued in to her warning, Travis did. He kept silent, his lips quirking when she looked to Danny again.

“Danny, of course he’s a firefighter. You already knew that. You have two choices: sit down right now and get to stay for his talk, or take a time out for three minutes in the back.”

Danny scurried to his desk, his brown hair flopping over his forehead when he sat down and wiggled his bottom in place for emphasis.

* * *

Travis followed Janie to the next classroom of wild children, marveling at her ease with them. She accompanied him to ten classrooms by the end of the day. Danny, the little boy who could barely sit still in her class, remained the most amusing highlight of the day with his antics. He’d asked question upon question, ending with another offer to show Travis how fast he could run to Janie’s desk. Janie adroitly managed all of the children throughout the day with a mixture of warmth and firm guidance.

He was at the end of the last presentation in a second grade class. He’d moved on to questions with Janie calling on various children whose hands flew up.

“You’re up, Nate,” Janie called, gesturing to a little boy who almost matched Danny with his wiggling in his seat.

Nate smiled and looked from Janie to Travis. “How many fires do you put out a week?” he asked.

Travis tapped his index finger on his chin and shrugged. “It’s different every week. Sometimes the fire station goes weeks without responding to an actual fire. Remember, we’re emergency responders too, so we get called to all kinds of emergencies, not just fires.”

Nate nodded solemnly and bit the inside of his cheek. His eyes bounced from Travis to Janie and back again. “Do you like Ms. Stevens?”

His next question startled Travis, both that Nate asked such a question and that he was so prescient. Because the truth was spending a whole day with Janie was testing the limits of his control. It was safe to say Travis liked Janie… a lot. An elementary school was a decidedly not good place to have the hots for anyone, but Travis’s body had been on notice all day around Janie. Her dark hair was pushed back behind a headband with her hazel eyes bright. She was dressed practically in jeans and a button down blouse. Her curvy body filled out her jeans. He had to remind himself to keep his eyes away from the shadowed valley between her generous breasts. By no means were they on display, but there wasn’t much she could do unless she wore a giant bag to hide her lush curves. He felt heat rise within, the whip of l**t lashing at him, and tried to ignore it.

He could feel Janie’s gaze on him. He gathered himself and met Nate’s gaze, which held a small gleam. “Of course I like Ms. Stevens. Don’t you?” he countered, aiming for a casual tone in his response.

Nate nodded emphatically. “She was my favorite teacher last year!”

Janie chuckled and arched a brow. “I bet you love Mrs. Davis this year too, right?”

Another emphatic nod from Nate, and Janie promptly called on the last hand held high. Not much later, she walked Travis down the hall. “Do you need to check in with Principal Turner before you go?” she asked.

“Don’t think so. She said she’d be in meetings the rest of the day.”

Janie nodded and kept walking until they reached the main entrance to the school. “Well, you’re done. You’d better get going before the last bell rings. Between the buses and the stampede of kids, you might get trapped.”

She looked up at him when she spoke. He heard her words, but didn’t quite absorb them. All he could think about was what it might be like to kiss her bright pink lips. Her lips were as lush as the rest of her. She had a small dimple in the center of her bottom lip, and he wanted… Holy hell. He wanted all kinds of things, every single one of them absolutely naughty given where they were. He looked down into her hazel eyes and his question surprised him.

“Don’t suppose I could take you out to dinner?”

Her breath hitched, her lips parting just slightly, and her eyes widened. For a few beats, she didn’t speak. She gave her head a little shake. “Um, I…” Another shake of her head. “I suppose…yes.” Her last word came out with force, and she looked startled once she spoke.

He didn’t care to ponder her hesitation at the moment. “Okay, how about tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow?” Her eyes were still wide and surprise lingered in them.

“For dinner.”

She held still for another long moment before nodding slowly. “Okay. Um, I don’t…” She paused and took a deep breath, a look of resignation passing over her face. “I don’t really date much. Should I give you my number or something? Should I meet you somewhere?”

“How about you give me your number, and I’ll pick you up?”

Her creamy cheeks went pink. “Okay.” She quickly recited her number, which he punched into his phone. He sensed she might back out, so he didn’t want to give her time to do so.

“Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon.” The bell rang, and he gave a wave. “I’d better run.”

Once he was outside, he jogged down the stairs and to his truck. He turned to look at the entrance and saw Janie standing there, looking out through the glass doors.