Maybe This Time (The Educators Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

same dark pink unfolded adjacent to them. He wouldn’t be able to see the bedroom because it was behind a couple of six foot long oak screens. The small kitchen was similarly blocked from view on the other side of the one big space in which she lived. The piéce de resistánce, though, was the arched ceiling done completely in strips of oak, with two large fans whirling about. She loved to lie in the hammock and watch them—and daydream.
    “Too wild for you?” she asked.
    “No. The place is you. Very much so.”
    That was sweet and unexpected. In the past, she’d dropped Stephanie off at her mother’s house, where Gage had lived, too. Their home was as old and staid as Delaney’s apartment was contemporary. None of that mattered anymore, but it might have if they’d been able to pursue their relationship.
    “Can I get you a drink?” she asked. “I have beer and wine.”
    “No thanks.”
    When she took a seat on one of the couches, he dropped down in close proximity. His nearness made her heart skip a beat.
    “I was going to buy the kind of scotch you ordered in Atlanta, but decided after tonight, I wouldn’t need it.” She didn’t know why she added, “And it would only make me feel bad to see it hanging around unused.”
    “Would you, Delaney? Feel bad?”
    Uh-oh. Had she read the situation wrong? “Yeah, sure. Um, wouldn’t you?”
    “More than I can express.”
    “Why do you think that is, Gage? We’re obviously so different. It makes no sense we’d be this attracted to each other this fast.”
    “You got me. All I know is I was hoping to get to know you better. Much, much better.” His eyes turned more green; she’d discovered that meant he was aroused…or at least interested. He shook his head. “Enough said. What are we going to do about Stephanie?”
    Delaney curled her legs under her. She hadn’t fussed with her appearance. She’d done what she always did when she got home about four--she put on stretchy black pants, a shirt and ballet slippers and did her yoga practice. After she finished, she’d thrown a T-shirt on, which read, Book Club, Reading Between the Wines. “How do you think your relationship with your daughter got so bad?”
    “We were close at one time. But then I got a bigger job, and we didn’t spend much time together. And right from day one, her mother was lenient, even when she was on her meds. She tried to be Stephanie’s friend. As she got older, I had to be the bad cop. When we broke up, aka, when I left, it got worse.”
    “Lots of divorced parents out there in the world. Not all the kids act out like Steph.”
    “It was a bad break up. As I said, her mother is bipolar. The disease was controlled all her adult life by medication, though she had mood swings. In one of the few times we had a decent conversation, Stephanie told me that after the divorce, Andrea would be okay one minute, then rant on Stephanie about me the next. Lord knows what Andrea filled her head with.” He glanced away then met Delaney’s gaze again. “Has she told you?”
    “No, but if she had, I wouldn’t betray any of her confidences unless she was in danger of hurting herself.”
    “I understand. I didn’t read her journal for the same reason when I got it from Speranza, who’s a real peach, by the way.”
    Delaney shared his sarcasm. “I wish she could know that side to you, the guy who marched down to a science teacher and demanded the journal back.”
    “Don’t give me too much credit. I apologized for her behavior, too. But it wasn’t right he had something so personal of hers.”
    “Again, I wish she could know that you.”
    “Feel free to sing my praises to my daughter any time. Meanwhile, how do I keep her in line without coming off as a complete ogre?”
    “My advice would be to keep trying to talk to her. Show your softer side.”
    “She’ll eat me alive if I do that.”
    “Maybe not.” Delaney stared at him for a bit, wondering if she should ask him something