A Magnolia Friendship - Anne-Marie Meyer Page 0,24
my hand.
Who was she meeting with?
Sure, she was my boss, but we always kept each other in the loop. The fact that she was meeting with someone and I didn’t know who they were or why they were here, intrigued me.
So I finished pouring my mug of coffee, returned the pot, and then slowly walked by her window as I held my mug to my lips, enjoying the warm steam and the smell of the coffee. I tried to look nonchalant and was relieved when Kari’s gaze fell on me and she lifted her hand to wave me in.
“Shari,” she called, her voice muffled through the closed door.
Bingo.
I raised my hand in response and moved to push down on her handle. I stepped into the room, and the smell of familiar cologne hit me. I furrowed my brow as I racked my brain, trying to remember where I’d smelled this scent before. And then recognition dawned on me as the man in front of Kari turned, and I was faced with Danny’s half smile once more.
He stared at me with his brow furrowed and then turned to look back at Kari.
“Danny?” I blurted out and then pinched my lips together when I realized that I’d spoken out loud. Now Kari was going to ask how I knew him. And I was going to have to reveal that I went to a club over the weekend. Call me crazy, but I didn’t want to start having that kind of reputation around town.
I was fairly certain people had a particular impression of me already.
“Shari?” Danny asked as he stood in that sort of way that men in historical movies did. He leaned forward and extended his hand for me to shake. “I didn’t know you lived in Magnolia.”
“How do you two know each other?” Kari asked as she flicked her finger between the two of us.
“We don’t,” I said at the same time Danny said, “A club.”
Heat permeated my cheeks as I peeked over at Kari and saw that she was stifling a smile. “A club?” she asked as she raised her eyebrows and met my gaze.
“It was for the book club,” I murmured.
“You’re part of a book club?” Danny asked.
Realizing that I was having half a conversation with two different people, I gripped my coffee mug like it was a lifeline and took two backward steps toward the door. “I’m so sorry. I interrupted what was going on here. I’ll excuse myself.” But before I could sprint from Kari’s office, she raised her hand to stop me.
“Actually, I asked you to come in for a reason. Daniel is interviewing to be the long-term sub for Mrs. Davis.”
“What?” I squeaked out. Danny was here for a job? Why? “I thought you lived in Newport. Why are you here?”
“He’s—”
“I just heard that there was an opening and applied. I don’t like to think of myself as beholden to any town,” he said, cutting Kari off from what she was going to say.
When I glanced back over at Kari, she just nodded and then offered me a smile.
“It’s wonderful. We’ve been waiting for a qualified sub, and Daniel is more than qualified.” She reached over her desk and offered him her hand. “Shari can show you to Mrs. Davis’ room. You can shadow her for the week to figure out her schedule and what she has planned. Your official start date is next Monday.”
Danny shook her hand and nodded. “Perfect.” Then he turned and offered me his knee-buckling smile.
Grr. I needed to get a grip on these ridiculous reactions that kept happening when I was around him. He was going to be a teacher at my school. Even if I wanted anything to happen between us, having him employed here effectively cut off all of those thoughts. I wasn’t the kind of person who dated the people I worked with.
Geez. Dated. Why the heck was I using that word? I wasn’t dating Danny. Having two conversations did not equal a relationship. I needed to get my head on straight and focus.
Focus on the fact that he was here to take the long-term sub job and not the fact that his wavy hair had fallen across his forehead and my fingers ached to brush it away.
“Are you ready?” he asked, leaning forward and clasping his hands.
I nodded and turned before my traitorous cheeks heated any more. By this point, I was sure someone was going to ask me if I was feeling well. And what