6. Baker

CHAPTER 6

BAKER

I laughand point in the different directions of the four-way hallway. “Which way to your classroom?”

She points to the left, and I walk by her side, my hand on her hip. “I didn’t do anything to her, by the way. Mrs. Daniels has always liked me.”

“And you decided today is the day you wanted to come and talk to her about the dunking booth?”

My hand tightens. “No, I came today to clear up any misunderstandings about last night.”

“You mean she called you?”

I shake my head. “No, I called her.”

She stops outside a classroom. “Is that the only misunderstanding you wanted to clear up?”

I peer down at her, and my heart constricts in my chest. I thought about her all night, trying to figure out this obsessive attraction I have for her. Even now, I can’t explain it, but I know I can’t just let her go. “You mean last night… with me and you?”

She nods, holding her breath. She looks worried and tense, and that’s not how I want her to feel when she’s with me. I want her to feel safe above all else.

“This you?” I ask, pointing at her door.

She nods, and I put my hand on her lower back. “Yeah, let’s talk about last night’s misunderstandings.”

We walk into my classroom, and she stops abruptly. “Colby! What are you doing in here?”

He jumps out of his seat and stands facing us. His face goes white when he sees me standing next to Cassie. “Miss Waters! I thought you left already.”

Cassie pulls away from me and walks toward him. “What are you doing here, Colby?”

He shrugs. “My mom was late picking me up, so I thought I’d sleep a little until she got here.” He pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be in here. I’ll go… my mom… She should be here soon. I’ll go wait by the front doors.”

Cassie stops him from leaving. I’m watching them closely, trying to figure out the situation. I know Colby. For the most part, he’s a good kid. But there are issues at home. Cassie is speaking to him softly. “Colby, it’s okay. I’m fine if you’re in here, you just have to let me know. You can wait here.”

The kid looks at me again and shakes his head. “No, that’s okay. I’m going to go. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Something is not right. I know Colby’s been having trouble at home, but there’s obviously more to it. Cassie must realize it too. “I’m going to leave soon, and if you’re still here, I’ll run you home, okay?”

He nods his head. “Okay, bye, Miss Waters. Bye, Officer Johnson.”

“See you, Colby,” I call after him.

Cassie looks worried, and I ask her, “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”

She nods immediately. “Yeah, I understand it’s just him and his mom, but there’s more to it. I just don’t know what I can do to help him.”

I can’t tell her everything I know about the mom. If Cassie is worried now, she’d be even more worried then. I try to reassure her. “I’ll check on him when I leave here before I go to the station.”

“Okay, thank you.” She moves to the other side of her classroom and leans against her desk. I hate that she’s putting distance between us, and that’s obviously what she’s trying to do. She tilts her head to the side. “Can I ask you something?”

I tell myself I should stay where I’m at, but I can’t help it. I walk over to her, stopping just a couple of feet away. “You can ask me anything.”

She nods, crossing her arms over her chest. “When did you realize I was your stepsister? Is this some kind of game? You want to mess with your dad or my mom or something?”

My jaw tightens. “You think I’m messing with you?”

She shrugs, but her eyes remain on me. “I don’t know what to think.”

I take a step toward her and then another. When I’m standing right in front of her, I reach for her arms and gently unwrap them from across her chest. I let my hand trail down her arms and then thread our fingers together so I’m holding her hands between us. “I knew the first moment you saw me. Do you remember it?”

She laughs with a little snort and then stops suddenly, embarrassed. “Yes, I remember. I wasn’t drinking, and it was just last night.”

“Did your heart start to race?”

She rolls her eyes. “I just got body-slammed to the floor. My heart was racing.”

I smile knowingly. “Did you feel a tremble start at your neck and then it rolled through your whole body?”

Her eyes widen, but she shrugs. “I was holding ice to my head. Of course I was trembling.”

I’m not stopping. “Did your nipples pebble? Was there a tug in your lower belly that you didn’t quite know how to deal with? When you were sitting in front of me, your knees between mine, were you thinking about having my hands on you?”

She gasps, and her voice trembles when she asks me, “How did you? I mean—”

She doesn’t finish her sentence, so I lean down and am so close it’s a fight within myself to not just kiss her. “How did I know what you were feeling? Because I was feeling it too. Every bit of it and probably more graphic than you imagined.”

I pause and take a deep breath. “Cass, when I first saw you, I didn’t know who you were. I just knew that I wanted to know more. When Chloe called you Cassie, I put two and two together and knew that you were my dad’s new wife’s daughter.”

She laughs at my wording. “Your stepsister… I’m your stepsister.”

I shake my head. “You can put whatever name you want on it. All I want to hear is, you’re mine.”

She pulls a hand from mine and slaps me gently on the chest. “Stop. You have to stop this. Nothing can come of me and you. We can be friends, and we’ll see each other at family events and around town, but that’s all we can be.”

I cover her hand with my own, pressing it to my heart. I know she can feel my heart racing. “Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t feel anything for me?”

“Baker, I just met you last night.”

I bring up my other hand and wrap it around the base of her neck. “I know we just met. I’m asking you if you feel anything for me.”

She’s speechless as she blinks up at me. My voice softens, and I lean in, pressing my forehead against hers. “Tell me you don’t feel anything for me and I’ll walk away, Cass.”

I can see her mind whirling. I’m sure she’s thinking about her mom, my dad, her sister, family gatherings… everything. That’s who she is. She wants to take care of everyone. “Baker.”

I groan, and my hands tighten. “Say it again.”

“Baker… we can’t. I want to, but I can’t.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“No…” she says and then quickly changes her mind. “Yes.”

I want to devour her. “Cass, baby, I need you to give me an answer. Can I kiss you?”

She clenches her eyes together, and I forget to breathe. When she opens them, I can see the answer in her big green eyes. “Yes.”

I don’t hesitate. My lips are on hers in an instant. First just small kisses and then I run my tongue along her seam with a moan. “Open for me, Cass. Let me in.’

When she opens her mouth, I take full advantage. I tilt her head to the side, deepening the kiss. My whole body reacts to having her in my arms, flush against my body and her lips captured by mine. The kiss is everything.

There’s a slam of a door from somewhere down the hallway that jerks us apart. She pulls out of my arms and is panting, trying to catch her breath. She’s looking at me, and I see the shock on her face. I’m just as affected by it, and I reach down to adjust my hard manhood. Her eyes watch my every move, and when she licks her lips, I feel it as if she’s touching me instead.

She moves away from me, her eyes panicked. “I need to go, Baker. I have to go.”

I go after her, but she holds both her hands up, palms out, to stop me. “Don’t you dare. If you come over here, we’re going to kiss again, and we can’t.”

I mimic her and walk toward her slowly. “We are going to kiss again, Cass. There’s no way after I’ve tasted you that I won’t do it again.”

I see her tremble from my words. “Baker—”

I groan and start patting my chest, right over my heart. “Fuck, I don’t know what it is, but when you say it, it hits me right here, baby.”

She whimpers. Fuckin’ whimpers, and for just a second, I think she’s going to give in, but she shakes her head, backing away from me. “I’m leaving, Baker. This is crazy, and it’s all happening too fast. I need to go.”

I physically deflate, but I force a smile to my face. I’m not giving up, but I can give her time. “Okay. I’ll walk you out.”

She picks up her bag and purse, and before she can sling it over her shoulder, I tuck it over mine. “I’m ready when you are.”

She snickers. “Uh, I don’t know if it matches, Baker.”

I put a hand at the small of her back. “Har, har. Funny.”

We walk through the school. There are a few teachers we pass, and they say hello, and it’s obvious they’re curious about me walking with Cassie.

When we get outside, Cassie is looking up and down the parking lot. “Colby’s not here.”

I try to reassure her. “Maybe his mom picked him up. I’ll go check on him before my shift.”

When we get next to her car, she holds her hand out for her stuff. When she grabs it, I don’t let it go. “I want to kiss you again, Cass.”

She wants to. That much is obvious, but she’s still fighting it. “I can’t, Baker. I need to think about this and figure it out.”

“I’m not giving up, Cass. You need to know that.”

Instead of answering me, she tugs on her bag. I release it and open her door for her. She tosses the bag over to the passenger’s seat and then sits down. She looks at me, and I realize I could get lost in the green with gold flecks of her eyes. “Thank you for helping me with Mrs. Daniels. And well, everything.”

I lean over. “I’ll see you soon, baby.”

I shut the door and watch as she drives away. The whole time, I’m trying to figure out when I’m going to see her again and what I’m going to do to win her over.