Starstruck

Chapter Eight

By the next evening as he was prepping the steaks for dinner, Jason still didn’t have a clue what was going on with Ruby and school.

He had tried to talk to his daughter about it a dozen times, but she had been acting strangely ever since she found out Miss Barnes was coming to dinner. She was popping out of her skin with an odd kind of excitement and every time he tried to bring up school, she made some excuse to escape.

He hadn’t pushed it, though he knew he should. He didn’t really have a good handle on the extent of the problem, and he thought maybe it would be better if he waited until the teacher was there.

Kasi hadn’t been much help, either. When he talked to her the night before, he found his sister  was firmly of the opinion that Kendyl was only misbehaving as a coping mechanism to adjust to school. She wasn’t used to being around other children all the time, everything was new and she had the added complication of being the daughter of the town’s only celebrity, which automatically set her apart, Kasi thought.

She had talked to Kendyl several times and the girl had promised she would do better. Kasi wanted to give her a little more time to adjust and she hadn’t wanted to bother Jason with it, especially as they had agreed she would be the liaison with the school.

She had nothing but praise for the teacher, though. Justin had had just about enough of hearing about all of Ashley Barnes’s wonderful qualities.

He sighed. He already had enough trouble with the females in his life. Why did he even think for a moment he needed to add more? Still, he hadn’t been able to get the teacher out of his mind. He had dreamed of her last night and had awoken aroused and embarrassed and with an intense hunger for cream puffs.

He jerked his mind away from those unruly images. "Kendyl, you need to set the table," he called. "Your teacher will be here any minute now."

"Coming, Daddy," she called from the other room and a moment later she bounced into the room.  she was wearing the ruffly girly dress she and Kasi had bought the day before when they went into town.

She was all taffeta and lace, with mismatched ankle socks and her favorite sparkly sneakers.

He hid a smile. "Honey, you can’t wear that. You’ll ruin the pretty dress you and Aunt Kasi bought to wear to Sierra’s mom’s wedding next month."

"I want Miss Barnes to see it. She’ll like the way it twirls. See, Daddy?" She spun in a circle, eyes wide with delight, and a lump rose in his throat. He loved this crazy, funny little thing so much it was a physical ache in his chest sometimes.

"You’re having a hotdog, though, and you know how messy those can be. You wouldn’t want to spill mustard on your dress, would you?"

Her brow furrowed as she considered and he pushed his advantage while he had it. "Set the table out on the deck and then go up and change into something else. After dinner maybe you can change into your new dress to show Miss Barnes."

He knew before too much longer, he wouldn’t be able to convince her of anything so easily, but for now his logic could still sway her.

"Okay." She ran to the cupboard for the plates then stopped and gave him a considering look. "You should wear your blue shirt, Daddy. The one that’s soft and silky. Aunt Kasi said you turn all the ladies to mush when you wear it."

Before he could ask why she might want him to turn her kindergarten teacher to mush — a task he doubted he had the ability to perform, much as he and his libidinous dreams might like to — she rushed outside with an armload of plates and silverware.

She had just returned for glasses when the buzzer on the front gates rang. Kendyl shrieked with excitement. "She’s here! She’s here! She’s really here!"