leftovers when she got home.
“Hey, save a slice or two for me,” she told him as the microwave beeped in the kitchen that again smelled like pizza.
“I left the plain cheese slices for you,” he replied. “There are three of them and two garlic knots for you. I thought that would be enough.”
“It’s plenty, thanks. I’ll go grocery shopping tomorrow.”
Thomas shrugged. “I’ll eat pizza every day. I don’t mind.”
She laughed and then changed into her most comfortable sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Reheating the pizza in the oven took longer than the microwave, but she liked it better that way.
“My homework is done. I’ll be in my room,” Thomas told her.
“Nice talking to you,” she teased.
“Did we need to talk?”
“Not at all. You go. I assume you’ll be playing on your computer for the rest of the night.”
“Ed has a new server set up for one of the games we both play. I want to get on there and start building.”
“Have fun.”
She ate her pizza and garlic bread, washing it all down with a glass of leftover soda. “Thanks for dinner again, Lucas,” she muttered as she cleared up after herself.
She was curled up on the couch, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, grading papers, when the doorbell rang. Sighing, she pushed back the blanket and crossed to the door. Cookies? Popcorn? Magazine subscriptions? She wondered who would be selling what as she reached for the doorknob.
“Good evening,” Lucas said. He was wearing a black tuxedo and he looked amused as he looked up and down her sweatsuit-clad body.
Chapter 5
“Hi,” Terri said, wincing at how stupid the word sounded to her ears.
“We need to talk,” he told her. “May I come in?”
“I suppose,” she replied reluctantly. She took a step backward and then pushed the door shut behind the man. “Thomas is upstairs.”
“You were working,” he said, nodding toward the pile of papers on the couch.
“I grade papers nearly every night. That’s what teachers do.”
“At least you get summers off,” he suggested.
“Except for all of the grading and reporting we have to do at the end of every year and all of the planning and preparing we have to do for the next year.”
“So why do it?”
She stared at him for a minute. “Are you just making conversation or do you truly want an answer?”
“I’d truly like an answer. I’d also really like to sit down, if you don’t mind.”
“Sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a guest in my house who didn’t simply assume he or she could sit anywhere,” she laughed and then glanced around the room. Her papers and blanket were spread across the couch and Thomas’s backpack was on one of the chairs. That meant Lucas’s only choice was the old recliner that had clearly seen better days. Harold had loved that chair and now it was Thomas’s favorite place to sit, but Terri found herself blushing as she looked at its tattered condition.
“Here, let me move Thomas’s bag,” she said quickly, grabbing the bag and almost throwing it into the recliner. The old chair shuddered and then slowly began to recline.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. “I thought those things had levers or something.”
“It does have a lever, but it’s been used so much that it slips,” she explained, giving the chair’s footrest a firm push. The chair returned to its upright position, groaning slightly as it went.
“This chair doesn’t recline?” Lucas asked as he slowly lowered himself into the other chair.
“No, and it’s much nicer and newer than the recliner. I only keep the recliner because Thomas loves it.”
“So, tell me about teaching.”
She shrugged. “Do you want a drink?”
“I’d love a drink. What do you have?”
“Lots of leftover soda from last night. I can make tea or coffee. Orange juice or apple juice, probably, although I haven’t been grocery shopping in a few days so we might be out of one or both of those.”
“Nothing alcoholic?”
“I don’t really drink, not often, anyway, and never at home.”
“Soda, then,” he said. “Next time I’ll bring a bottle of wine.”
Next time, she repeated in her head as she walked into the kitchen. Why would the man assume there was going to be a next time? Why was he even here, for that matter? Surely, he hadn’t come over to ask her why she’d become a teacher. Presumably, he wanted to know what she’d decided about his proposition. If that was the case, he was going to have to be patient. She wasn’t ready to make a decision yet.
“Here we