Riley giggled and pointed toward the ceiling. “Look up.”
Kacey peered toward the ceiling where mistletoe hung above them. She met Drew’s gaze, and her knees wobbled.
Drew’s lip twitched. “I guess we know what we have to do.”
He rested his hands on the sides of her face, then leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, making her lose track of both her surroundings and time. She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of her mouth against his, and a shiver of longing vibrated through her body.
The children began to giggle and hoot, and Kacey came back to earth. She took a step away from him, trying to catch her breath.
She met Drew’s gaze, but his expression was unreadable. And the question that had haunted her since senior year bubbled up in her mind.
“Why didn’t you ask me to prom?” she asked.
He blanched as if her words had struck him. “I thought—Wait... Would you have gone with me?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Oh no!” one of the mothers called. “You spilled it all over, Braxton!”
Kacey pivoted toward where one of the children had dumped his cup of cocoa on the floor. “I’ll get some paper towels.”
She hurried to the kitchen and wondered if she’d ever find out if Drew cared for her.
Chapter10
“So you kissed her?” Garrett grinned at Drew across the table Monday afternoon while they ate lunch in the teacher’s lounge.
Drew nodded and heat roared through his veins at the memory of how it felt to brush his lips against hers. “Yes. Thank goodness her niece noticed the mistletoe.”
“Surely that means you’re finally dating. Good for you.”
Drew shook his head as he swallowed a bite of his ham and cheese sandwich. “No, we still haven’t talked about it. She started to ask me why I didn’t ask her to prom, and we just haven’t had a chance to connect and finish the conversation. She was busy with her family the rest of the weekend.”
“Wait.” Garrett set his bottle of water on the table. “What’s the story with prom?”
Drew frowned. “I was planning to ask her, but my best friend at the time beat me to it. Then they started dating, and Kacey and I grew apart. If I’d mustered up the courage sooner, I could have asked her out myself.”
“You know what you have to do. Tell her how you feel now.”
Drew’s phone buzzed. He flipped it over and found a missed call and a voice mail. He listened to the voice mail and his mouth dropped open.
“What is it?”
“It’s about the teaching job in Charlotte. They want me to come in for an interview next Tuesday.”
“You applied for a job in Charlotte too?”
“Yeah, it was a whim.” Drew took another bite of his sandwich.
Garrett nodded. “Well, I’ll miss you, buddy, but Charlotte could be your future.”
Drew let his friend’s words soak through him, and hope lit in his chest.
Kacey perused her work email Friday morning. She found one from her supervisor and began responding just as her phone started to ring. Her friend Jackie Campbell’s name was on the screen.
“Hey, Jackie. What’s up?” Kacey leaned back in her desk chair.
“I heard you were looking for a roommate. Is that right?”
