Right With Me - Stacey Lewis Page 0,11

front of him and his blue eyes are so dark they’re almost black. His free hand is fisted at his side and the sight of him starts my heart racing. “What?”

“Her name. It’s Evelyn Anderson, but she prefers Evie.” Mitchell says this like he’s extremely disgruntled about this fact, which only makes me determined to only call her Evie just to irritate him.

Turning my attention back to her, I hold out a hand. “Evie, would you like to see your classroom?” She nods, looking up at me shyly when I stand to my full five-foot-eight and grabs my hand, a toothy smile gracing her pretty face when she sees her name written on a wide white strip covered in butterflies.

Once I’m finished showing her around the classroom, I take her back to where her dad is still standing, eyes on both of us. I’ve been able to feel his stare the whole time and it’s done nothing but make me nervous.

“We need to talk.” He leans in close to say the words in a voice low enough no one else can overhear. I can smell his unique blend of car and cologne, and the scent has me closing my eyes and breathing deeply to savor it before I realize what I’m doing.

I know better than this, I swear I do.

My body sways closer to his without my permission, but then I hear Evie’s voice calling for her mom and feel his body stiffen at the same moment mine goes rigid. It takes everything in me to take a step back from the warmth of his body, but I manage... barely.

“No, Mitchell. We don’t have anything to say to each other.”

He looks like he wants nothing more than to argue, but Evie’s voice is getting closer and the last thing I want is another confrontation with his wife. The last one was more than enough.

Mitchell looks over his shoulder, and I guess he has the same thought I do because he backs off. “This isn’t the time, but we are going to talk, Hailey. A lot has changed since I saw you last.”

With that ominous statement, he leaves my classroom and I shut the door before anyone else comes down the hall. A quick look at my watch reveals the meet and greet is just about over and I slowly sink to the floor in relief.

How am I supposed to do this? How can I be his daughter’s teacher and still keep my distance from him? I don’t know what it is about him, but staying away is a struggle. It shouldn’t be, considering he’s married and I’m not that type of woman, but it’s like my body, maybe even my soul is drawn to him whenever he’s near.

I can’t go to the principal and ask her to remove Evelyn from my class either. That will just give him the irrefutable proof he affects me and I don’t want to give him that kind of power over me. No, I’m stuck. I’ll just have to do whatever I can to keep my walls up around him and not let him get to me.

Easier said than done.

The bell rings, signaling the end of the evening and I rush to get my stuff together so I can go home and cuddle with my son. There are still a few days before school starts, so I’m going to take advantage of this time with him before he goes back to daycare. And use the time to build up any defense I can against Mitchell Anderson.

When I walk out into the parking lot, he’s far enough ahead of me I can study him without him seeing me. Strangely, it’s just him and his daughter, along with a boy who must be his son. Where did his wife go? Evelyn, Evie, was talking to her in the hallway, but she isn’t with them now. Did she go ahead of them to start the car? That doesn’t seem right.

Ugh. I have got to get a handle on this. Thinking about him isn’t going to cause me anything but heartache and I refuse to do to someone else what Seth did to me. Being the person who’s cheated on is the worst, and no matter how hateful she is, his wife deserves better than that… and so do his kids. So, do I.

Chapter 9

Mitchell

What the hell are the chances Hailey would be my daughter’s teacher? I’m not sure if fate is the best fucking thing ever or if