Page 54 of Guarded Deputy
Chapter 15
Lizzy
OnSundayIgottogether with Dani and spilled about the kiss between Nate and me, and she squealed like crazy before congratulating me like I won a state championship. We spent hours talking about him, my hesitation because of grad school, and how the entire town is gossiping about us.
I also spent the rest of the weekend dodging questions about Nate from my mom and thinking about what Nate said before he walked away at the festival. I didn’t see him again afterward since things got pretty busy with the kids and talking to parents.
He is an enigma. An enigma that kisses amazingly. But I want to know more about him.
I walk into my classroom, stashing my purse in the bottom drawer of my desk, and plop down on my chair.
“Whoa!” My arms fly out and grip the desk as the wheels slide and almost throw me off this thing.
This is not a good start to my Monday. I need coffee, even if it’s the watered down version in the teacher’s lounge. I should’ve stopped there first so I could hide out here the rest of the day. I don’t want to hear anyone gossiping about the rash.
Thankfully, it’s mostly gone now, and some concealer covers up the remnants of what I now call, Attack of the Face Paint.
Good times in the life of Lizzy.
As soon as I enter the teacher’s lounge, I stop in my tracks and my heart jackhammers. Nate turns his head to see who the newcomer is and lifts his brows when our eyes collide.
Wonderful. I was hoping to avoid him for a bit until I couldnotbe embarrassed about this weekend or prove I’m no longer daydreaming about our kiss. A kiss we never discussed, so I don’t know what it means.
Maybe it was ignited by pity because I was at a weak point. Or he goes around helping girls and then locks lips with them.
You’re standing in the doorway looking like a deer in headlights. Move, Lizzy.
“Good morning,” Nate says.
“Morning.” My tone is flat and bored.
“How are you feeling? You look better.”
“Yup, almost like new. Thankfully.” I press my lips together and head to the coffee maker, grabbing my mug. We all have our mugs in the cupboard here for easy access.
“I brought my hat in case you needed to borrow it.” His tone is teasing, and I cut my eyes his way in an attempt to glare, but when I see his smile, I shake my head and giggle.
“Thanks, but I’m good now.” I point to my forehead as if he didn’t know exactly where the rash was.
“Glad to hear it, though I’ll miss the reptile metamorphosis.” He smiles, stepping back from the coffee maker.
“Thankfully I left my reptile ways behind me.” I serve myself coffee before glancing his way.
“Shame, I like reptiles.”
My eyes widen and face twists in disgust.
“Eeewww. No!” I shiver.
“Oh, come on. Cute little lizards. They eat bugs.” His fingers pinch together to show a tiny size when in reality some of the lizard families are like dragons.
“I rather the bugs than those devil creatures.” I almost gag just thinking about it. At some point in my life I grew a phobia of anything lizard-family related.
“Devil creatures?” He laughs incredulously. “Snakes are devil creatures. Lizards are… I don’t know what, but not a danger to humanity.”
“Except that one time I went to the Dominican Republic on vacation and there were these Hispaniolan curly-tailed lizards that sting with their tail.”
“Are you sure that wasn’t a scorpion?” He bites back his smile.