3.the horse of glitter

Reese’s P.O.V.

I cleared my throat and straightened my back before I started to speak to him again.

“Hello, sir. What brings you here?” I asked him, my voice trembling slightly, so I was forced to clear my throat, which only made me sound like a total moron.

Damnit!

The man smiled down at me, and I felt my heart flutter even more.

butterflies...

too many butterflies...

“I am here to pick up Dahlia’s arts and crafts project. She told me it was too heavy for her to carry and somehow she got stuck on the playground on our way back over here, so I said I would come and get it for her while she waited for me on the playground, so she could still play with some of her friends. The other teacher at the playground said that it was fine, and showed me which classroom was Dahlia's, which should be this one.” He spoke, his voice sounding a bit hoarse and a whole lot of sexy. I nodded again, trying to keep my eyes from wandering over to his broad shoulders and chiseled chest. So instead, I quickly turned myself around and led him over to where the arts and crafts area inside the classroom was situated, feeling his eyes on me as I walked in front of him. I could sense him staring at me, and I found myself becoming more and more smitten by him with each passing moment.

Thank God I’m dressed pretty OK-ish…

Do I have paint spots somewhere?

Oh God... Is there paint in my hair?!

But I shook my head, remembering that this guy was not the guy for me, so my appearance should not matter. He was an athlete, a professional one at that. I had never seen him before, so I honestly didn't know just how famous he really was, but then again... I had sworn off looking at any sort of sports game after the shit Kevin had put me through... They could place the best player in the world in front of me and I wouldn't have had any idea who it would have been.

“Here, this one is Dahlia’s,” I spoke, pointing toward a massive cardboard horse that she had made in the last couple of art classes.

“A horse… of course, she made a horse.” The man laughed, looking at the project of paint, glue, and lots and lots of glitter. But he didn’t seem to mind all that, as he picked it up and leaned back up to look straight at me, the giant cardboard horse sitting firmly under his muscled arm.

God... now I was envious of a piece of cardboard...

I didn’t say anything but only looked at the playground and the students that hadn’t been picked up yet. I mean... anything was better, and much safer, to look at than the Dreamy Cowboy present in my classroom. The other preschool teacher, Irene, who was now standing on the other side of the playground, was keeping watch over the students who were still present. She was speaking to another mother who had just picked up her son. Dahlia and two other girls were playing on the swings, laughing as all five-year-old girls would do.

“Well, thank you for being such a good teacher, Dahlia loves coming to school this year.” The man spoke as I looked back up at him, seeing how his eyes wandered over me again, stopping to stare at my lips. I mean, of course, kids still loved school right now, school had only begun a couple of weeks ago and other than doing some fun activities for the children to get to know each other and make new friends, we hadn’t done much of the heavy teaching just yet. But I smiled at him because like any other teacher, I was also a person with a heart. I also had my own personality, which also meant that I could connect more with some children than others, and Dahlia absolutely was a girl that I could connect with. She loved arts almost as much as I did, and the fact that she always seemed to pick it up for the kids in need around school, had made my heart melt for her almost immediately.

“Dahlia is a very sweet girl.” I nodded, trying to keep it professional between us.

The hunk of a man cleared his throat, shifting the cardboard horse from one side of his body to the other, not even noticing how much glitter it was leaving on his very manly and plaided shirt.

Dahlia is going to love seeing all that glitter on her uncle.

Shit… I would love to see him with only that glitter…

Reese, shut up already!

“I never saw you around here before, are you new in town?” He asked me all of a sudden, pulling me out of my glitter fantasy.

Wait, what?

Is he only asking me a question?

Or is he actually trying to flirt with me?

Or is this my subconscious, wanting him to flirt with me?

“Uhm, yes. I have been in town for a couple of months now.” I offered the truth without giving out too many details.

“I knew it. If I would have seen you before, I sure as shit would have remembered you.” He told me with a dashing smile as I felt myself blush once again. I mean… I wasn’t that noticeable at all if you asked me. I had dark blonde hair that reached underneath my shoulders and greyish-blue eyes. I wasn’t that big and even though I wasn’t too skinny, I also lacked any curves that girls nowadays seemed to die for. I was a typical all-American girl next door. I was nobody special, so why on earth would a guy like him remember a girl like me?

“Chips… you can’t swear inside a school building,” I answered him in my strict teacher voice, stroking some strands of hair behind my ear because his compliment also made me feel very awkward and lightheaded.

really? Chips?

That was what just came out of my mouth just now?

Out of all the things you could have said... chips...

FUCK, REESE!

I glanced away again, feeling like a total moron at this point and wanting to bang my head against the nearest wall that I could find after he would leave.

“Where did you come from?” He asked me as I noticed how he stuck his hand inside his jeans pocket.

“Washington. I moved here for the job.” I answered him without giving him any more details about my personal life once again. This stranger didn’t need to know about my heartbreak or the fact that I had spent all my money on a plane ticket when I came here and was pretty much broke now. No money and a broken heart. My life had Shakespeare written all over it. A love tragedy. Hah... go figure...

“I am Caleb Johnson.” He told me, holding out his hand. I looked at it for a couple of seconds before I leaned in and shook it because that was just the polite thing to do. The little sparks of electricity that I felt once I touched his skin with mine, made me look up into his eyes again. His hand felt warm and hard and it made me realize just how strong he really was. But of course, he would be strong, he was a professional athlete. He just had to be strong given his profession. And Caleb… the name just seemed to be made for him.

“Reese. My name is Reese.” I answered him, giving him my own name in return.

“Anyone ever told you just how beautiful you really are, Miss Reese?” He asked me in a soft voice, and the words needed a couple of moments in order to really sink into my brain.

OK…

now he really is flirting with me…

“Anyone ever told you that you are too straightforward when talking to a woman?” I answered him in the same tone while I pulled my hand back from his. My colleague, Irene, walked past my classroom window, looking inside as she saw me, her eyes big and very observant as she seemed to notice who I was talking to.

“You know, Miss Reese, since you are new here and all, I was wondering if you would like to let me take you out sometime and show you around town? I'm sure I can find a spot that you like.” The hunk of a man called Caleb asked me as he flashed me a charming smile and made it sound like a dirty promise on his part and the spot I would like was situated somewhere on my body. I blinked at him, because somehow, even though his words made my heart flutter at the thought of spending time alone with this man, his words had also made me wake up from my hot cowboy slash famous hockey player hibernation. Just because he was gorgeous to the eye, didn’t mean that he wasn’t a total prick on the inside like I had found out was a typical trade for famous people. I had played with fire before and I had ended up pretty burned in the end. And that day, when I had gotten myself burned, I had sworn to myself to never ever let such a thing happen to me ever again. Especially not with a professional athlete. The thought alone made me shiver. I also knew that it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go out with the parent of one of my own students, and even though this man wasn’t Dahlia’s father but just her uncle, it still felt wrong and in a way, forbidden even. And I couldn’t risk losing my job here, it was my livelihood. And one that I loved very much.

“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t think that would be necessary,” I answered him, trying to sound as professional as possible. I spotted how the man’s face fell slightly, but he didn’t give up. Clearly, he wasn’t used to getting no for an answer often.

Well then…

today should be his first.

“Come on, Miss Reese, I promise I’ll be on my best behavior around you. I just want to get to know you better.” He spoke again, his voice laced with charm as if that way, a lady had never been able to say no to him.

and shit, the way he was giving me puppy eyes right now…

It really was hard to say no to him!

I couldn’t deny the pull I felt toward this very handsome man, but I knew that I had to be the responsible one here. The things I was feeling were lust, physical, and sexual. It didn't mean anything more, it didn't go deeper than that, hell... I didn't even know the man or anything about him other than his profession and his name. So, I shook my head firmly. I would not cave in and I would not crumble. Not again.

“I am sorry, but no still means no.” I answered him again, my voice sounding firm as I shrugged. Caleb sighed in response, but he didn’t push the matter any further. I was a responsible person and my job was important to me, I couldn’t be standing here, flirting with a man while kids were still playing on the playground. And finally, Caleb seemed to respect my decision, and even though he looked somewhat disappointed, he nodded and turned around, walking out of my classroom. And I did not stop him, I mean, I had been burned before, and that one time had been on me. But no longer. I let Caleb Johnson walk out of my classroom and shook my head. I had done nothing wrong here. I had my eyes wide open this time and I would not fall for his trap. He was the asshole right here anyway. Hell, he wasn't just an asshole, he was a player for trying to flirt with his niece's teacher like he had just done.

I watched the hunk of a man walk away from my classroom, feeling a mix of emotions as I saw the way his ass filled up his jeans so nicely. A part of me wished that I had just said yes to his invitation, just because he was that handsome and I would be doing a favor to any woman in the world. But I knew that I couldn’t risk my job over a man, not even one as handsome as him. So, I forced myself to focus on my job and my students, and my work, trying to put my feelings for Cowboy Steamy Caleb out of my head for once and for all. I mean, I couldn’t deny the way I felt about him. He was charming and dangerously handsome, and he seemed to genuinely care about his little niece, which not only made him handsome but also very sweet. And I just couldn’t help the way my heart had just raced when he had been near me. But somehow, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wouldn’t be the last time that I would be tempted by the charming man who had just entered my life. I had a feeling that maybe, this cowboy would come to hunt me down. It was another trade I had learned fitted professional athletes well, they really did not take no for an answer easily.

Thirty minutes later, when I was walking away from the school and toward my little condo a couple of blocks down the road, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe there could have been a way for me to get to know this Caleb guy better without jeopardizing my job and my heart at the same time. I knew that I needed to be careful here, but I couldn’t shake the feeling as if there was something special between the two of us when we had been standing inside the classroom just now. But I shook my head at myself, I couldn’t possibly be this stupid, again! I mean… I had wasted years of my life already, and right now, I needed to be focusing only on myself, my work, and my life. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to start dating someone again. Not after the shitshow I had had to deal with four months ago.

Kevin, that was the name of the bastard who had been the center of my universe for the last four years. The man who I had loved and who had betrayed me and broken my heart into a million pieces. He was also a star player for the Washington Nationals, known to basically anyone who knew a little bit about Baseball. I had been naïve, thinking that when he would go out of state only to play a game, and after playing that game, he would simply go to his room like a good and faithful boyfriend who loved his girlfriend very much would do. Hell... he even told me he wanted to marry me someday. But no, that was not the way Kevin worked. He would go out, get very very drunk, and pick up multiple cleat chasers to bring back to his hotel room. And the worst thing of all had been that I had had to find out about it through the Goddamn media because one of those girls had claimed that she was pregnant with his child after having had a one-night stand with him. I had to find out by finding photos of him and other girls in a freaking tabloid, photos of them while they had been right on top of him, against him, kissing him, and even worse, checking into his hotel room with him. And once I had confronted him about it, cried to him about it, he had basically told me to 'just suck it up' and 'be a big girl', and how all the other guys from the team were doing it as well, and how it was a part of being a professional athlete and their lifestyle.

I had packed my bags that very same day to move in with a friend.

It had taken me two full days of crying nonstop and feeling sorry for myself and eating Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough, in order to realize that my relationship of four years was over and done with, forever.

It had taken me another week to find this job here, one that was located in a whole other state than where I lived, and to accept it. It had taken me another month, to cut every tie that I had left in Washington, to move down here, and start a whole new life for myself. And the day that I had stepped foot on Florida soil, I had transformed into Reese 2.0. The Reese that would never let her heart get broken again. The Reese that would build her own life without it being centered around a man ever again. The Reese that would be independent and strong and fearless. That was exactly who I had become already, and I was in no way ready to turn that all in, not even for a steamy cowboy slash hockey player slash sexy uncle called Caleb freaking Johnson.