Page 16 of Finding Happily Ever After
Had he popped a breath mint for her?
The thought made her smile even more. If it were possible.
Natalie had hardly stopped smiling since their impromptu coffee the weekend before and every time she thought about Aiden, her entire body warmed and the smile couldn’t be stopped. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was falling for him.
But then again, why not? And why shouldn’t she?
“I thought you might need a little help with your stuff,” Aiden said. “We’re going to be using the CPR dummies today, right?”
“You are right.” She cringed inwardly at the thought of babysitting a room full of teenagers with the CPR dummies. But then again, they might surprise her.
“Don’t worry,” Aiden said, reading her thoughts. “The kids are excited for today and they’re really willing to learn. There shouldn’t be too much inappropriate behavior with the dummies. I mean…” He wiggled his hand side to side. “There will definitely be some because…teenage boys.”
She laughed.
“But honestly,” Aiden continued. “They are really looking forward to today’s class. When the hike was cancelled—”
“Which sucks, by the way. I was looking forward to it.”
“So was I.” He nodded slightly. “We’ll definitely have to try for another time.”
“Yes.” Natalie realized belatedly that she’d interrupted him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. You were telling me how excited the kids are to learn first aid because I’m such a great teacher.” She winked and handed him CPR dummies from the back of the truck as they spoke.
“You are.” With both of them loaded up with equipment, they headed into the school. “And I hope that means you’ve looked into those wilderness survival classes, too. Because I think you’d be perfect to teach them.”
She looked over her stack of dummies at him, but he wasn’t watching her. Instead, he was trying to navigate the front door with everything he was holding.
“Besides,” he said a few minutes later, once they were both in the gym and had divested themselves of the loads they were carrying. “It would mean that we could spent a lot more time together.”
Natalie jerked her head up to see him grinning at her. But before she could respond, the bell rang and students poured into the gym, just as Aiden said, eager for class to start. He winked at her and turned to greet the kids.
To say she was inexperienced when it came to flirting was a massive understatement, but even not knowing anything about anything, Natalie knew that wink meant something.
And she was excited to see exactly what that was.
“Mr. Adams, look!”
“Mr. Adams!”
“Check this out, Mr. Adams!”
Aiden loved it when his students were engaged in what they were learning. Even if it meant being pulled in a dozen directions at the same time because they were keen to show him the skills they’d learned. And he couldn’t help but be impressed. The kids had really picked up quite a few first aid skills in only a few short classes. He stopped to survey the room with satisfaction. This was why he’d gotten into teaching. To make a difference and spark the love for learning.
Now if only he could do that with the same success rate in his English classroom, then he’d really be getting somewhere. Maybe he should get Natalie to come and teach a class in there, as well?
It wasn’t a bad idea.
Especially because it would mean spending even more time with her, which was all he really wanted to do. When he wasn’t with her, he was thinking about her.Was she working? Was she having a good day? Would she like to go out with him?
It was ridiculous. Never before had a woman had this kind of effect on him. He hardly knew her, and yet…maybe that was the problem? Maybe he just needed to get to know her better so that he could stop obsessing about her so much.
But even as the thought formulated, he dismissed it. Aiden knew instinctively that the more he learned about Natalie Collins, the more he was going to want to know. It would be a vicious circle. And one he was a thousand percent interested in getting caught up in.
“Thanks again,” Aiden said when the class ended and the last of the straggling students had left. “The kids really respond to you. Are you sure you never wanted to be a high school teacher? It’s like you were born to do this.”
The sound that came out of her mouth was a combination of a laugh and a snort. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry. I don’t mean to laugh.” She shrugged. “Okay, well, maybe I did. The idea of me being a teacher is pretty hilarious.”
“Why is that? You’re genuinely good at it.”
