Page 4 of A Christmas Bargain

“Please, no. No. No. No.” I slunk lower in the driver’s seat, feeling like a fugitive or a man on the run. Down I slid, scooting my butt further across the leather. My wallet dug into my ass, too big to be comfortable in its usual spot in my back pocket, but if I tried to shift too much, if I made a big movement, she might be able to tell that I was awake.

“Just keep walking. Walk away. Nothing to see here,” I whispered without moving my lips much.

I’d already relied on my sunglasses to hide my eyes. And slouching in the seat while I waited for Naomi to make her way through the dismissal line was already uncomfortable. I chose this SUV to accommodate my long legs, but sitting for forty-four minutes just wasn’t cozy for someone as large as me.

This wasn’t a damn stake-out. I wasn’t stalking anyone.

Nope.

This was just the hellish experience of an after-school pickup line.

I’d learned quickly that this wasn’t a drive-by-and-open-the-door sort of arrangement. No way. This required strategy, patience, and a cunning ability to adapt to changes.

If I wasn’t in this line by 2:10, I would be stuck waiting at least thirty more minutes as vehicles bottlenecked at the main road leading to the school. If I came too early, though, I’d be subjected to all the school staff loitering and wanting to chat.

Like Mackenzie Ford. She wasn’t my daughter’s teacher. She didn’t teach the same grade that Naomi was in. I didn’t care what Mackenzie’s job was at Preston Elementary. All I knew was that I had no obligatory reason to have to suffer a conversation with her. Naomi’s first grade teachers didn’t pester me too badly. They were all engaged, married, or saddled with a newborn. Those younger grade teachers all seemed taken, thank God.

Mackenzie, though, whatever she did at the school, was too available, a status she wanted to remind me about every time she detected my presence. Maybe she had a radar, constantly scoping for single men. But she unfortunately seemed to target me with an annoying dedication because of my sister-in-law.

She smiled as she walked, holding her coat tight against her body but not stopping her school ID tag from flapping at the end of the lanyard. As she passed each car in the pickup line, she smiled and made eye contact with the drivers.

Sure, I was happy they had ample staff on hand for security. And yes, it was nice to have pleasant people working at my kid’s school. But she took it too far.

Dammit!

I watched in the mirror as she approached my SUV. I had no decals or logos to make it more identifiable, but she must have memorized my freaking license plate. Her face lit up into a huge smile, and she hurried toward my driver’s window.

No. No. No.

I didn’t move. With measured, steady breaths, I tried to act like I was napping. Plenty of parents did it. Some brought work with them, laptops open and calls being held. Others ate a latelunch or snacked. Most scrolled on their phones and whiled away the time it took to collect their kids.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I didn’t react. I couldn’t. If she thought I was awake, I’d be suckered into talking to her, and quite frankly, I was sick of it.

All I wanted was peace and quiet. All I had to do here was wait like everyone else until I could be reunited with the light of my life. Naomi was the only thing I had to live for these days. She was the apple of my eye. The brightest ray through the darkness.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

I gritted my teeth, realizing that this woman wouldnotbe giving up today. She was that persistent. That stubborn. That eager to talk to me that even if she saw that I was napping, she’d damn well make it her business to wake me up.

For fuck’s sake.I sighed, sitting upright more. My time of playing dead like a sleeping dog was over. I moved my arm toward the door and pushed the button to lower the window halfway. Cold air breezed into the car, competing with the warm current pushed out of the vents.

“Hey,” I said dryly, not even trying to pretend that I’d just woken up. Why bother? She wouldn’t care if I was napping. She wouldn’t have tried to wake me up if she cared about not bugging me.

“Derek! How are you?”

I sighed, rolling my head on the back of my head rest to face her and lower my sunglasses. My parents didn’t raise me to be an asshole, but what would it take for her to back off already?

“I’m fine. You?”

“Oh, I’m just getting so excited for the big recital,” she gushed. “Aren’t you?”

Am I getting excited to have to donate upwards of three hundred bucks toward “production costs” just so I can join the dozens of other tired parents as we all sit through a two-hour performance with our kids only actively participating for thirty seconds? No.

“Yep,” I lied. I didn’t have to come across as a total Grinch. Naomi would be adorable. She’d already perfected her small lines and parts. If only I could shave off the rest of it, it’d be endurable.

“Naomi is going to be such a star,” Mackenzie praised.