“Oh.” Hallie was breathless. Her vision had gone blurry. “This was so kind of you. Thank you. That doesn’t feel like a big enough word but I really don’t know what else to say.”
“Don’t cry, honey. Just get better and get back to school. Those kids need you.” She placed the bags on the floor inside the door, just as Asa walked up. He was wearing his uniform.
“What’s the matter? Why are you crying, Hallie?”
“The parents at my school are very kind. Thank you, Mrs. Nieves.”
“You’re welcome. Just get some rest. I’m glad you have someone here to take care of you.”
“But...”
Mrs. Nieves walked away before Hallie could clarify things. Asa was standing there, looking extremely handsome and slightly concerned. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I am. Come inside. My students had their parents send me a care package.”
“Is that what smells good?”
She nodded. “Can you grab the bags? My head feels like it’s going to explode when I bend over.”
“Yeah, of course.” But instead of turning away he took a step toward her and placed his hand on her cheek. “How are you feeling?” he asked her, studying her face closely. Part of her wanted to close her eyes and savor the feeling of his touch on her skin, but a bigger part of her wanted to remove his hand from her face and push her body closer to his.
But she did neither. She just looked into his concerned dark eyes. “I’m feeling better.” She was, really. Better now than she had been feeling all day. There was something about Asa... She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something about him that made her feel like she was having an out-of-body experience.
“Good. I’ve been thinking about you all day.” His thumb briefly stroked along her cheek, and Hallie swallowed hard as tingles ran down her spine. How could one simple touch be so affecting? “My mother called and asked about you. I promised her I would see how you were.” He took a step backward and stripped off his jacket, revealing his powerful arms and chest. As he turned to pick up the bags, she saw how his muscles worked beneath his uniform shirt. She wanted to fan herself. She wasn’t used to being around a man with Asa’s kind of body. Her ex was much, much different.
“Your mother is very kind to ask about me. I thought you weren’t working today.” She hadn’t meant to say that. But thoughts of him had been on her mind all day, wondering if and when he might show up at her door.
She had told him that she just wanted to be friends but her thoughts about him today hadn’t been exactly friendly.
“I got asked to switch shifts.” He unloaded the bag on the counter. There was fried chicken, beef patties, a rice dish, and some homemade macaroni-and-cheese among the staples that the parents included. “I now see why you were crying. This food looks amazing.”
“Stay with me and have some.” She paused. Asa might have kissed her last night, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have plans with someone else tonight. He was a beautiful man. She would be surprised if he didn’t have some woman waiting in the wings. “That is, if you want to, or don’t have any other plans.”
“I don’t.” He looked through her cabinets, pulling out plates and glasses. “If you think you’re getting rid of me after I smelled this food, you’re crazy.”
A little bit of pleasure flowed through her. “How was work today? Did you run into any other slip-and-fall victims?”
He grinned. “One this week is enough.” He piled the plates high with food and motioned for her to go sit on her couch. “Go sit, I’ll bring your food over.”
“I can carry a plate.” She reached to take one from him.
He gave her a look and shook his head once firmly. “Go sit. I’ll bring it over. But tell me what you want to drink first.”
“I’ve got cranberry juice in there. I wish I could offer you something fancier.”
He gave her a small smile. “I don’t need anything fancy. I’ll be there soon.”
A few minutes later he had brought their food over and sat next to her on her love seat, his body completely pressed against hers. Suddenly she felt shy. Like she was in high school again, sitting next to the most handsome boy in school. “Were you popular in high school?” she asked as she took her first bite of the rice and pigeon peas.
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“You just seem like you were. I wasn’t. I always had my nose in a book.”
“I played football. In my hometown, being on the varsity football team was a very big deal.”
“My town was so small we didn’t even have a football team. Did you love the game or did you do it just because you knew it would get you girls?”
“A little of both,” he admitted with a smile. “I didn’t love it as much as my best friend, Marcus. Or at least I thought he loved it. I was sure he was going to go pro but he turned down a few full football scholarships.”
“College is so expensive. What made him do that?”
“I’m still not sure. I thought he was crazy. It had something to do with my sister’s best friend. They had been secretly in love all through school and broke up right before we graduated.”
“So he gave up his scholarship because of that?”
Asa nodded. “He had put the game before her. I guess he was trying to prove something. He worked in public relations in DC until he gave all that up to become a teacher.”
“Did they get back together then?”
“Yes, but last year. They met again at my sister’s wedding in Costa Rica. They’re expecting their first baby.”
“Do you see him a lot?” she asked, knowing she was full of questions.
“He lives in New York now, but I don’t get to see him as much as I should. He’s got a wife and a baby on the way. His life is a lot different than it used to be. We used to catch a plane to Vegas on a whim. Now when I see him, he’s planning out how they are going to do their nursery.”
“It must be tough, having your friendship change like that.” Hallie could identify. Her best friend had had a baby a few months ago, a baby Hallie had never met, but even before that she had been seeing less and less of her friend. Marriage and family often did that.
“It’s the way things are supposed to be, though. I would be a selfish bastard if I blamed him for not hanging out with me as much. He’s happier now than I have ever seen him. Plus, I love his wife. We grew up together. They’re like my family.”
“It’s nice to have friends like that,” she said softly, missing home tremendously then.
“It is.” He picked up his glass and took a long drink before he smiled at it.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I was just thinking. Cranberry juice reminds me of Christmas.”
“Really? Why? I would think Thanksgiving. Ugh. I was just reminded that I didn’t get to have any cranberry sauce this year. Plopping that stuff out of that can is my favorite thing about the holiday.”
“My mother hates the stuff from the can and refuses to serve it, but I love it. But cranberries remind me of Christmas because my mother used to make us string them for garland every year.”
“That seems like a lot of work,” she said, but she could tell by his smile that it was a good memory.
“It