Chapter Ten

Later that afternoon, I had so much on my mind that I wasn't even thinking about Paige when I went to pick up Harley. Lost in my own head, I walked by her classroom and Paige's voice called to me, stopping me in my tracks.

“Elias!” she called. “Can we talk?”

I sighed and walked back, standing in her doorway. She looked at me with an expression of irritation, but I could also see the fear in her eyes. But, I couldn't help her. I coudn't involve her in any of this shit. Especially now, with everything going to hell. I had a bad feeling that things were going to get dangerous and I didn't want her caught in the middle of all that.

“I need to pick up my daughter,” I said, wanting to be out of there quickly and turning to leave.

“The last bell doesn't ring for twenty minutes, and it's another ten or fifteen after that until they're ready to be picked up. You have time,” she said, chasing after me. “And we need to talk.”

She grabbed hold of my arm, looking up at me with an overly pleasant smile on her face.

“I don't want to bother you with it because I know you have so much going on already,” she said. “But I'm seriously freaked out and you seem to know what's going on. Or at least have some sort of idea – ”

“Listen, I really do have a lot going on right now, Paige,” I said. “And I really can't talk about it.”

Her eyes softened and her expression fell. She looked scared and I couldn't help but feel bad for how I was treating her. For what I was putting her through. She was such a sweet woman who had no idea what kind of trouble I could bring her way. She reached out and stroked my arm gently, still gazing into my eyes, searching for some sort of reassurance. She was asking me to tell her that things were going to be okay – but I couldn't in all honesty do that because I didn't know what was going to happen. Especially if she got involved.

“I understand, but can I just have a moment of your time?” she asked. “Please?”

I wanted to say no. Wanted to turn and walk away. But I could see that she needed – something. I didn't know if I could give it to her, but I felt like I owed her at least something. A minute of my time if nothing else.

“Fine,” I said, as I let her drag me back to her classroom. She shut the door behind us, and we were alone.

“My last art class ends at two so the kids can go back and get ready to leave for the day,” she said, pacing the room instead of sitting down.

There was paint all over her desk, as if she'd been working on something. But the canvas on her desk was mostly blank – which made me curious.

“Painting something?”

She nodded, biting her lip. She looked genuinely frightened and I didn't know what to say to ease her mind.

“Thought it might distract me. Help me to stop thinking about last night,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “But I can't focus long enough to get anything on the canvas. I can't stop thinking about the fact that there was someone in my house.”

Without thinking, I pulled her close to me and hugged her, comforting her because I'd never intended to cause anyone this amount of pain or fear. Especially Paige. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and of course, the MC probably checked her out. They probably wanted to see if she could be used against me. Because that's what they did. That's how they operated.

She let me hold her, though her body was stiff. After a few moments, Paige wiped her eyes and looked up at me with a sheepish grin on her face.

“Thanks, I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so emotional right now,” she said. “It's just – I've never been so scared, you know?”

“I know,” I said. “And I'm sorry you feel that way.”

I'm sorry I made you feel that way.

Her breath was warm against my cheek and I had to admit, I liked holding her close to me. It felt nice. It had been so long since I'd held a woman in my arms and I realized for the first time that I missed it. I hadn't held anybody ever since Amy left. And honestly, it was because I couldn't bring myself to introduce another woman into my life, into my child's life. It didn't seem fair to either of us.

But I found myself feeling fiercely protective of Paige for some reason, and I didn't know why. Maybe it was because she seemed to care so much for my daughter and tried to do right by her. It was so rare to see that in a world where I felt like I was the only one who cared for Harley. I mean truly cared. Her grandparents – Amy's folks – claimed to care, but they wanted custody for their own reasons. Not because they truly cared. I could see that a mile off.

But Paige went above and beyond. Regularly. Even if we didn't agree on everything, she actually put effort into getting to know Harley, and that meant a lot to me.

But it was more than that.

Much more.

“Uhh, I should probably – ” she started to say, but without letting myself even think about it, I leaned down and kissed her.

And after a brief moment of hesitation – probably shock – she kissed me back.

Holding her face in my hands, I gently kissed her, our tongues dancing and swirling together in my mouth. She was hesitant and almost seemed afraid to touch me, but when she did, she slowly worked at my shirt as if she wanted to remove it from body.

I knew I wanted to do the same to her, but not there. Not in her classroom. Or at least not in that exact moment. The bell rang, and we both flinched, pulling ourselves apart from each other. We were silent and at each other – her with eyes I was sure were as wide as my own.

“I'm sorry, I - I don't know what got into me – ” she started to argue, but I kissed her again to shut her up.

“Doesn't matter,” I said when I pulled back a moment later. “But I liked it.”

“I - I liked it too,” she whispered, giving me a devious smile.

“And I'd still be kissing you if the bell hadn't gone off,” I said. “But, I need to pick up my daughter.”

“Oh yeah, I understand,” she said, her face bright red. “I'm sorry.”

I shook my head. “Nothing for you to be sorry about. At all.”

The corridor outside her classroom was already filling with kids, their voices loud and excited as the rushed through the hallways to freedom. There was no window on the door, so no one could see inside, but it still felt incredibly weird to be making out with her inside of the classroom with kids filling the hallway.

Weird, but also a little bit hot, I had to admit. And judging by the way she looked at me, I could tell she was thinking the same thing. As much as I didn't want to do it, I knew I had to cut things off right there or risk us being caught. I'd already potentially gotten her into the middle of my shit, the last thing she needed was to lose her job because she got busted making out with me in her classroom too.

“Well, I better get going,” I said, clearing my throat as I stepped away and walked toward the door. “But umm, I'll see you around most likely.”

“Yeah, see you around,” she said softly. “And listen, Elias? Don't be a stranger, okay? Seriously.”

Easier said than done. I may have messed up and kissed her, but the last thing I needed was to continue allowing myself to get close to her. With all the shit going down already, that was the last place she needed for me to be. And that was the last thing I needed.

Even though it was what I wanted.