Yours Seductively

Chapter 2.3 (Part 1)

He couldn't quite read her expression now. Satisfied that he'd made his point , he added, "Tomorrow, I'll make sure that sorry excuse for a lifeguard loses his job, as well."

"I hope you don't do that. He's young. The pool's only been open for a couple of weeks. He was completely shaken by what happened today. I'm sure he'll be more vigilant from now on."

"Not at the pool where my children swim, he won't."

Jane's eyes narrowed. "Funny," she said, her voice soft. "I remembered you being stuffy and arrogant, but I never thought of you as a complete jerk."

"Jane, he almost let my son drown!"

"He made a mistake. A huge one, I'll admit, but I think he deserves a second chance. Do you expect me to believe that you have never in your life made a mistake, Tyler Hamilton?"

"No." His voice was grim. "I don't expect you to believe that."

"Give the boy another chance. Have him reprimanded, if you like—or do it yourself—but don't make him lose his job."

Even when they'd been young, even when Tyler had known Jane would only bring him trouble, she'd always been able to seat him. He sighed. "All right. I won't have him fired. But I hope you're right that he'll do a better job in the future. Lived literally depend on it."

"I know. And I wouldn't risk them recklessly," she assured him.

"I'll take your word for it." He watched as she shifted on the couch, folding her long, bare legs into a more comfortable position. Her baggy shorts gapped at the tops of her legs, revealing intriguing glimpse of smooth thighs. His reaction to those glimpses made him scowl and abruptly raise his gaze to her face again. "I heard you'd moved back here," he said. "I have to admit I was surprised."

"I came back in March," she acknowledged. "My aunt, who still teaches at the elementary school, called me about an opening for a drama teacher at the high school for the remainder of the second semester. The former teacher hadn't planned to leave for a couple of years, but when her husband was diagnosed with cancer, she retired to take care of him. They needed someone on very short notice, and I just happened to be available."

"I didn't even know you had teaching credentials."

"My college degree was in secondary education with a theater minor. I've always believed in having a back-up plan, and teaching was mine. I worked as a sub in New York schools between acting gigs. This job's a piece of cake compared to that experience."

"I can imagine. So, are you staying on now that the school year's finished, or are you headed back to Broadway?"

"I spent much more time off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway," she corrected him with a wrinkle of her short nose. "I was ready for a change. I've signed for another year at Honoria High. The kids want to put on a production of Grease in the spring, and I promised to help them."

"Sounds like a big job."

"It should take most of the school year to put it together. We're going to do a smaller production in December—A Christmas Carol, maybe, or The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I'll also be teaching speech classes."

"So you're giving up acting?"

"I didn't say that. I'm just taking a break for a couple of years."

Tyler knee what a two-year "break" could do to an acting career—especially for a woman nearing thirty. There was more to Jane's story that she had told him—not that it was any of his business, of course. But he wondered how long she would be content to live in Honoria after her years in New York.

He wondered how many people were speculating about him in much the same way.