Page 5 of Finding Happily Ever After
The class went by quickly and before he knew it, the bell rang to dismiss the class and signal the end of the day. To Aiden’s surprise, most of the kids didn’t rush for the door the moment the bell sounded.
“Can we stay, Mr. Adams?”
“Just to practice a little bit more?”
“I almost have the perfect sling, Mr. Adams. Look.”
He didn’t even bother hiding his surprise. “I wish I would see some of this enthusiasm when we’re talking about Hamlet,” he joked. “I don’t think any of you volunteered to stay late to discuss if Hamlet had truly gone mad or not.”
He didn’t wait for a response, but crossed the floor to Natalie, who was packing up her bag with all her supplies. “Class was great today, really. Thank you so much.”
She turned and offered him a sweet smile. “You don’t think I bored them too much?”
“Are you kidding?” He waved his arm. “Look at this. They just asked if they could stay a little later andpracticetheir bandaging.” Aiden shook his head. “You must be a miracle worker. I don’t know if you know much about high school students, but theyneverwant to stay late.” He thought he might have seen her smile dim as he spoke, but then it was back. A full, warm, bright smile.
Between that smile and her sparkling blue eyes, Aiden was having trouble looking away from Natalie.
“Well, that’s good,” she said. “I actually get really passionate about first aid.” She laughed. “I know that’s a silly thing to say, but…you know what, I still don’t know your name, Mr. Adams.”
Aiden was taken aback. Had he not introduced himself? It seemed like a terrible oversight, particularly because Natalie was…well…stunning and completely engaging. Her energy drew him in. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I sometimes forget that I’m not just Mr. Adams.” He extended his hand. “Aiden,” he said. “Aiden Adams. I teach English, and well…now Outdoor Ed.”
“Nice to meet you Aiden Adams, English and now Outdoor Ed teacher.”
The moment she took his offered hand, there were sparks between them.
Natalie made a small squeaking sound and jumped back. “Oh my goodness. I’m sorry. These bandages sometimes get staticky and it’s so dry in here…”
Aiden laughed. “I don’t know, some would say there’s electricity between us.”
Did he seriously just say that? “Some would say that?”Who would say that? Not him.He fought the urge to groan and duck his head.
Fortunately, she didn’t laugh at him. Instead, she continued talking about first aid, which, ironically, was a safe subject. “I actually think it’s really great that your school is doing this,” Natalie said. “Everyone should know basic first aid, and then you know…if any of your students were interested, there are more advanced first-aid classes that would be really great for them. It could be a really great complement to your course. There’s a specialty program for wilderness first aid and although I’ve never taught it myself, I’d be happy to do some looking into it if you’re interested.”
“Oh, I’m interested.”
Again, he could smack himself. For a guy who’d never, not one time in his past, lost his composure with a woman, he was not doing a good job playing it cool with Natalie.
“I mean,” he recovered, “I’m sure some of the kids would be interested in that. I still need to take a look at the curriculum that Mr. Ivar laid out and see what I’m in for this semester. But I’m sure whatever it is, it’s going to be challenging for all of us.”
Natalie tucked away a stack of brochures in her bag. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”
“You know, if you want to join us on some of our treks, it might be a good idea to have someone along who knows—”
“OMG! Are you that firefighter lady who delivered the baby!” Simone, a student with a stack of bandages in her hand, interrupted them. “I mean, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier, but my mom said a female firefighter like totally caught Hope’s baby. Was it you?”
Natalie took the bandages from the girl and put them in the bag with the others. She blushed with the attention, her skin pinking around her ears. “It was.”
“I knew it.”
“And, I am the only female in the department, so…” She shrugged.
“You are?” Simone stared at her. “Really? Holy sh—”
“Careful,” Aiden warned the girl. “You’re still on school property.”
“I was going to say, holy sh-mokes.”
Aiden nodded and rolled his eyes, and Natalie laughed. “Holy sh-mokes indeed. It was pretty incredible, but I’m just glad I could be there.”
