Love in the Dust: A Cowboy's Second Chance with a City Girl

Two can play this game

The next three classes were simple and easy, seemingly the same.
I headed to the break room to grab my lunch.

There were a few teachers already sitting at the tables.

I open up the refrigerator, and my lunch box is gone.

I stared confused for too long when Chandler said, "What's wrong?" as he sat at the circle table eating a pizza.

"Um, I think someone might have grabbed my lunch by accident." I close the fridge.

"You can have some of my pizza; I was just going to bring the rest home, but if you want any, you are more than welcome to do so," he offers.

"I probably shouldn't; you got the pizza for yourself, so you should be the one eating it. I'll just go grab something," I say with a tight smile.

His captivating eyes stare deep into my soul.
"Well, how about we make it an even trade and give me your number? That, to me, is worth more than this pizza." He says this, arching his brow in question.

I chuckle at him.
"Does that line work on all the girls? Surely not," I say, walking away.

I almost laughed when I noticed that his face changed at the rejection he wasn't used to.

"I wasn't being serious. Come take a slice so you can eat during your lunch break," he says slightly loudly, so I could hear it as I made my exit.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes.
Turning around, I knew he was tight; there was no way I could go grab something and have time to eat. I had been responding to emails for more than half of my lunch.

I sit across from him.
He reaches and hands me a slice.

"Thank you," I say with a small smile.

Chandler smirks and says, "You're welcome; you can't blame me for trying though in the number thing."

"Why would you want my number anyway?" I say to him slightly plainly as I eat the piece of pizza.

He furrowed his brows. "Why wouldn't I?" he asked, confused.

"Were you dating Shelby?" I asked him.

He looked even more confused and startled.
"How do you know Shelby?" he asked me, arching his brow.

"How do you think I knew about your high school sweetheart?" I asked, arching my brow back so we could play dumb.

He smirks suddenly. "Oh, you must have stalked my old Facebook. I'm not sure longer with Shelby; she cheated on me." he says, shrugging.

"Sure, Facebook, that's where I got the information," I say, about to get up.

"Well, thank you again for the pizza," I say, getting up.

"Come on, are you trying to ditch me on our first date?" he says with a chuckle.

"Date, who said anything about a date?" I say with a small laugh. This man had some guys on him; I will give him that.

"Me, Obviously," he says, leaning on the table with his elbows.

"If it were supposed to be a date, you should ask first. I could be dating someone," I say, looking at him sassily.

"You're not, though." He says it smugly.

My mouth gasps open.
"How on earth do you know that?" I ask, bewildered.

"Let's just say some of the students love me. When I asked them to pry, they happily obliged," he says with a cockty smirk on his face that was practically begging to be slapped off.

This statement fills me with anger.
"You shouldn't need children to do your bidding. You're a man, right? Grow some balls and ask me yourself," I say, walking off in anger. Into my classroom, closing the door behind me and closing it.

This jerk!
Who does he think he is?
He is still a child, it seems! I say, rolling my eyes at myself.

As I steady my breathing, I unlock my door. Sitting on my deck.

My door opened, and low and behold, Chandler walked in.

He looks at me.
"Don't you know it's rude to walk away during a conversation?" he asked, slightly agitated and smugly.

"Did you ever hear it was rude to spy on people?" I asked him, snapping.

"Well, I had a feeling you wouldn't tell me," he says, walking step by step into my room.

Making me feel small.
"You're right, I wouldn't have," I say, strong.

"Why is that, Margaret?" he asked, practically leaning over me.

I could smell his earthy cologne from his close proximity. His body heats up close to me.

Making me unconsciously close my legs more tightly.

He smirks at my reaction.

"I think I make you nervous, Maggie," he says to me.

His eyes looked into me, seemingly making my heart thud erratically.

I gulp on my spit.

"You don't make me nervous," I say, trying to keep my voice strong and unwavering to not show my weakness during this moment.

His white teeth are mile long, and his perfectly sculpted jaw and cheekbones are sharp. His eyes were gray and stormy.

He looks at me one more time, leaning slower toward me.

"I think you are lying," he says, his voice husky like silk.

I gulp on my spit.

"I'm not lying," I say as convincingly as possible.

He chuckles before leaning close to my face, feeling his breath close to mine.
"If that's what you have to tell yourself, Margaret, If you want to play this cat-and-mouse game, I'll be happy to participate." He says it in a smug tone, sounding suggestive.
"Ring" the bell signals for the next period.
He smirked one last time before retracting his body from my own.

"Saved by the bell, believe me. I'll be seeing you around, Ms. Talley," he says, no longer leaning into my body.

The room begins to fill quickly as the chatter from the students breaks my racing thoughts of what the hell just happened.

I didn't feel scared by his actions; they just made me nervous, and he knew it.

He's so arrogantly cocky, but now in a different way. I wouldn't be the one to fall for him not if I could help it.

Two can play this game, I think.