“No, we’re great,” he answered. “Everything’s great.”
“But I want to make love. Here. Now.”
“See what I mean?” His lips were running over her neck. “Everything’s great. Perfect. Heaven…”
“No, Isaac. Not here.”
“Right. I know. Just…” He lowered his head to suckle her, and she thought her legs might give out on her.
“Just what?” she managed to ask.
“Trust me for one second.”
Feeling the strength of the arms that held her, she let her eyes drift closed. Five minutes in a dark supply closet with Isaac wasn’t going to hurt anyone. He wouldn’t take it too far. He’d just said she could trust him….
“ISAAC? ISAAC, are you in there?”
Isaac froze, his mouth still on Reenie’s breast, his hands under her skirt, cupping her behind. His shirt was starting to stick to him as a thin sheen of sweat rose on his body from the restraint it had required not to take what they were doing to the next level. “Oh, that’s why we can’t do it in a supply closet,” he whispered in her ear.
Reenie gave a weak laugh. “What do you think Deborah wants?” she asked, her voice barely audible as she drew away.
He grimaced even though she couldn’t see him. “Is that who it is?”
She chuckled. “Yeah,” she whispered. “Your new admirer.”
“Do you think I could tell her to come back in a little bit? That I’m not finished in here yet?”
She slugged him in the arm as she scrambled to right her clothes, and he began to miss, already, the taste of her. It was more than a little jarring to have her panting against him one minute, then torn away the next. “I’ll see what she wants. You wait here, okay?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve got to go. It’s time to pick up the girls.”
“We could have Liz do that.”
“Yeah, right.”
“It was worth a shot,” he said sheepishly.
The doorknob clicked as someone tried to open it. “Isaac?” Deborah sounded frustrated. “What’re you doing in there?”
Waiting for his erection to go away. “Just organizing a few things.”
“Do you know where Reenie is?”
He leaned forward long enough to pull Reenie’s earlobe into his mouth while she finished buttoning her blouse. “Haven’t seen her,” he said when he lifted his head.
“Stop it,” Reenie whispered, muffling a laugh. “You’re going to get us caught.”
“Her car’s still in the lot,” Deborah mused.
“Check the ladies’ room.”
“I did.”
“Bummer,” he muttered to Reenie, and slipped his hand under her skirt again. “I’m sure she’ll turn up,” he said in a louder voice.
Reenie shoved his hands away, fixed her skirt and cracked open the other door. Then Isaac caught her arm so he could peek out to make sure it was safe. He didn’t want to see her suffer any backlash from what had just happened.
The room was empty. But when she tried to slip out, he pulled her back yet again. “What about goodbye?”
She combed her fingers through her long hair. “You’re crazy. Go see what Deborah wants.”
“We’re not finished,” he said. “Not by a long shot.”
Her eyes met his. “I know.”
“I-saac?” Deborah again.
“Go talk to her.” Reenie pushed at him but grabbed his shirt when he turned away. “Wait.”
“What?”
“I—I don’t want my kids to know about you. There isn’t any reason for them to get attached.”
He agreed but, inexplicably, felt his euphoria dim. “What about everyone else?”
“It’s our little secret. You’re leaving, remember?”
“I remember.”
“Considering that, it’s best to…to keep this to ourselves.”
“Got it.” He started to go, then hesitated again. “That means we’ll have to sneak. And we can’t go anywhere together. I hate that.”
“There you are!” Deborah said, marching into Reenie’s room. Evidently, she’d given up on him and decided to go around. “I thought you said you didn’t know where she was!”
Isaac jammed a hand through his own hair, knowing it had to be mussed after his and Reenie’s whirlwind encounter. “I didn’t. I just heard her come in and—”
“Where was she?”
“Did you need something?” Reenie countered.
Curiosity and a touch of suspicion entered Deborah’s eyes as she glanced from him to Reenie. “Guy’s looking for you.”
“Why?”
“He wants to know if you’ll feel better about things if Isaac takes over the computer class you’re teaching for Janet Wolfe.”
Reenie turned to Isaac. “Do you know anything about this?”
“Of course he does. He volunteered,” Deborah piped up before he could answer. “I wanted to confirm with him, since it means he’ll be as busy as the rest of us, but I couldn’t get him to come out of the dumb closet.”
“It’s an incredible mess in there,” Isaac said.
He could tell that Reenie was having a difficult time not smiling at his answer, and couldn’t help grinning himself. He could still smell Reenie, taste her, feel her. He wanted more…a lot more.
“You must like to clean,” Deborah grumbled.
Isaac let his eyes linger briefly on Reenie. “I do. As a matter of fact, I’m anxious to get back to it as soon as possible.”
MICA AND CHRISTOPHER WERE riding bikes out front when Isaac got home. Liz was making dinner.
“How was your first day?” she asked, as he joined her in the kitchen.
He thought of Reenie and the supply closet and felt like whistling. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”
“So you think you’re going to like it at Dundee High?”
“Definitely.” He stuck his head into the refrigerator and pulled out a can of beer while she put the meat loaf she’d made into a pan. He could already smell her homemade rolls. They were cooling beneath a towel on the counter.
“What was so great about it?” she asked.
The can hissed as he popped the top. “It’s just good to be teaching again.”
“Did you see Reenie?”
He remembered the smooth texture of Reenie’s breast. “A couple of times. Her room is right next door to mine.”