Darren finished up for the day and glanced at his watch. It was ten minutes to three, and the last teacher had just picked up the last third grade class for the day. Laredo had just sent Darren a text that he would be picking up Bella on time. As unusual as that seemed, it was a bit of welcome news. Now Darren was free to go knock on Maggie’s office door and ask her out for the evening.

He strode into the main office at the school and realized that, this close to the end of school, there were moms milling about on the pretext of picking up their kids. As soon as Darren walked into the office, he felt as though there was some weird kind of target painted on his forehead. Something along the lines of HEY! I’M SINGLE!

“Mr. Hernandez!” The school secretary was waving him down with both hands to get his attention. “You can go on back to Ms. Brown’s office. I think she would be glad to talk to you and see how it went.” The secretary flashed a brilliant smile his way and then shooed him toward the hallway that led to Ms. Brown’s office.

Darren was glad to slip past all of the gawking moms and into the quiet of the administrative offices. Of course, that lasted until he passed a door that was marked PRINCIPAL OLIVIA WITHERSPOON.

“Oh, Mr. Hernandez!” The principal jumped up from behind her desk, which was probably ten feet from the doorway. She bounced over to the open door and grabbed Darren’s arm. “I’m so glad I caught you. We need to sign a few employment documents and discuss compensation.”

“Can that wait?” Darren wondered out loud. He realized that he seemed unpleasant and tried to smile to cover up his distaste at being accosted like this.

“Not really.” Ms. Witherspoon was already shoving a clipboard full of papers at him. “These are just the standard employment documents. I’ll need a copy of your driver’s license of course. I’m sure you know the drill.”

Darren murmured something, but the truth was that he didn’t know the drill because he had never actually had a job outside the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company, and sports contracts didn’t work the same way as standard employment crap.

With a deep sigh, he took a seat in Olivia Witherspoon’s office and started scribbling his name on the signature lines of everything that looked like it needed one. From the corner of his eye, he watched Ms. Witherspoon. She had a bare spot around her left ring finger that suggested she was recently divorced or something of the sort. It was an odd thing, but Darren had been around enough women to be able to tell when they were used to wearing a ring or not. This woman had a pale spot around her finger and looked like a lioness on the prowl for her next mate.

Olivia Witherspoon wasn’t an unattractive woman. Darren was momentarily distracted by that thought because in the past it would have meant something entirely different than it did right now. In the past, Darren would have considered her open invitation welcome. Olivia was attractive. She took care of herself. She was probably not unintelligent. And at least she was employed and taking care of herself, unlike Carly and those of her ilk who looked for a man to trap into a financial arrangement.

So, why were the looks Olivia was giving him such an anathema to him? The only thing that Darren could come up with was that Darren had already found a woman he was interested in. He had spoken with Maggie. He had been intrigued by the way her mind worked and by her smiles. He had kissed her. He had experienced that rare and strange chemistry that seemed to sizzle beneath the surface whenever they interacted. And right now that meant Darren was officially off the market. What a strange set of circumstances that was for him.

“Are you busy this evening?” Olivia Witherspoon asked suddenly.

Darren scribbled what he hoped was the final signature verifying that he was a US Citizen. “Excuse me?”

“I wondered if you were busy this evening.” Olivia leaned forward over her desktop. “I was thinking that we could have a celebratory dinner somewhere nearby. We’re just so appreciative of your willingness to step into the gap here at our school that I would love to treat you this evening.”

Treat him? Well, that was just a little disturbing. There was something in her dark gaze that made him think that she was willing to do a whole lot more than buy him dinner. It was distinctly creepy. She was the principal of the school, however, and he couldn’t just give her the brush-off as he would have in any other situation.

Interesting. This employment crap was far more complicated than Darren ever would have thought it to be. He totally had the hots for the school counselor, but the principal had the hots for him. His brother didn’t want him to work here even though Laredo’s daughter, Bella, was a student. And secretly Darren was beginning to think that this gym teacher gig was a far better fit for him than being a schmoozer over at the Hernandez Land & Cattle Company even though he had been an employee of that business pretty much his entire life. They all had been. It was sort of a given. Even poor Jesse had been an employee when she should have been her own boss.

“You know,” Darren told Olivia. “I really appreciate the offer, but I couldn’t impose. And honestly, I have another engagement this evening.”

“For your family’s company?” Olivia asked eagerly. “You know, I realize you’re new in town, but I want you to know that I would be absolutely fine going along with you to any company functions that you need me to. That way you aren’t taking anyone with you who might have expectations.”

“Oh, really? Thank you.” Expectations? Like Olivia Witherspoon didn’t have expectations? The woman practically reeked of expectations. She was completely transparent about it too. “I’m sure if I ever find myself in need of an escort for a business function, you’ll be the first person I’ll contact.”

“Thank you!” Olivia gushed. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked down at her hands before glancing back up at him from beneath her lashes.

Damn. Darren had just made a major mistake in the negotiating, and now he was likely to pay for it. That wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all. Olivia was now looking as though he had propositioned her. Why did women do that? Why did they assume that because a man did not give them the smack down, that it meant he was interested? It was a really self-defeating behavior.

“Thank you for filling these out.” Olivia gently plucked the clipboard from his hands and spoke in a breathy voice. She kept tossing out these glances from under her lashes every few seconds. “It’s really helpful. I think we’ll be paying you just the standard substitute salary. That was detailed on page three. Did you have any questions?”

“No. None at all.” Of course, that was probably because Darren hadn’t actually read any of that. He’d just signed.

“If you can just give me a canceled check from your checking account, we’ll arrange direct deposit.” Olivia was looking at him with such expectancy that Darren actually felt at a loss.

Checking account? He had a bank account. That’s how he paid his bills. Of course, mostly the state plucked the money from his account and then gave it all to Carly to care for Jaeger. So, Darren rarely purchased much for himself. Just the basics. Even his car belonged to the company. They were the ones who had been paying his bills all these years. As Laredo loved to point out to him, even though Darren didn’t lift a finger, the company paid him a salary based on his shares in the company itself. That was when it paid to be a Hernandez. Literally. Unfortunately, the only one who managed to benefit from this was Carly.

“If you could just pay me in hard copy checks, that would be better,” Darren said uncomfortably. “I don’t carry around a checkbook. I don’t even think I have one.”

“Right.” Olivia’s expression went from open and excited to speculative. “I suppose trust funds make things easy enough not to have a checking account like a regular person.”

That was unexpected. Was she being hostile? Darren pursed his lips and tried to decide where to go from here. This was the school principal. Even if she was only pissed off at him, he didn’t want this to reflect badly on Maggie. That meant he needed to be circumspect. Did he even know the meaning of that word?

“Actually, it’s just complicated,” Darren said, trying to be low-key. “We don’t have trust funds. We have shares in the company. But most of my personal income has come from sports contracts. Like I said, it’s just complicated.”

“Sports contracts?” Olivia’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Are you still playing for the Broncos?”

“Not anymore.” He decided that was the most politic way to answer that question. Ugh. He really wanted to be free of this. Standing quickly, he offered Olivia a smile and a handshake. “It was so wonderful to meet you, Ms. Witherspoon, really. I’m looking forward to working with your students. They’re a great bunch of kids. I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding a person to permanently hold this teaching position. But until then, I’m glad to be on board.”

“We’re just so lucky to have you!” Olivia ran around her desk and threw her arms around Darren’s shoulders.

He stumbled back a step in surprise. What. The. Hell? It was a little bold and extremely forward of the woman to be hugging him. He wasn’t absolutely sure how it worked in an employment situation but was reasonably sure that contact or getting in someone’s personal space was frowned upon.

“Oh. Hello, Maggie.”

That was when Darren realized that he had been used by Olivia Witherspoon in one of those petty little feminine games of power. Obviously, Olivia wanted to warn Maggie off of a man that she considered to be hers. Of course, Olivia did not realize that Darren was already more Maggie’s than he would ever be Olivia’s. Wow. This personal relationship/workplace stuff was absolutely nuts to navigate.

Darren reached up and very gently disentangled Olivia’s arms from his neck. “I appreciate you letting me stay on and fill out that paperwork for you. I’m sure I’ll see you around the school. If you need anything else from me”—Darren decided he needed to be extremely specific here—“regarding the gym classes, of course, then please feel free to contact me or to just come down and meet with me in the gym.”

Olivia kept staring over Darren’s left shoulder. He knew that Maggie was standing back there. He could feel the heat of her glare, but for now, it didn’t feel as though she were trying to scorch him with it personally. It was more that she was trying to incinerate Olivia. That was good, right? Darren had no idea how these things worked. Olivia was technically Maggie’s boss. That put them at odds already. Was he just making things worse for Maggie?

Darren sighed and turned around. “Oh, hello, Maggie.” He tried not to sound too exaggerated. “I didn’t realize you were standing there. I’m glad to see you though. I wanted to speak with you about a few things I noticed with the kids today. I know you were having issues with those third graders and them bullying other students.”

“Right.” Maggie’s voice did not sound normal to him. It sounded forced. Then she turned and headed down the hallway to her office. “You might as well just come on in and chat for a moment before you go home, then.”

Okay. That was something. Right? Chatting for a moment instead of being told to send her an email or something else equally impersonal.