The Back-Up Plan Read Free Page B

the room be that sexy?
    She really had lost it…her sister had been warning her that this was coming. You can’t ignore your needs forever, little sis.
    “Have a seat, Ms. Jacobs.” He indicated a chair near the desk he now leaned against.
    “I’m kind of in a hurry this morning.” She squared her shoulders. “Since I arrived so late last night, I haven’t had the opportunity to speak with Melissa about the discipline slip.” A stiff smile pushed the corners of her lips upward. “Thanks again for coming to my rescue.”
    He nodded an acknowledgement. No ring, she noted as her eyes darted down to his hands resting on the desk on either side of him. He didn’t wear any jewelry at all. But that didn’t mean anything; lots of married men for one reason or another chose not to wear their wedding rings.
    She cleared her mind of the ridiculous distraction and took a deep breath before continuing. “I realize I should have made an appointment, but I thought it best to take care of this right away.”
    He said nothing. He merely waited for her to continue. A long ago learned, but never forgotten, psych class reminded Donna to precede the bad with something good. “Patty and Melissa have sung your praises since day one, by the way.” She arched a speculative brow. “Although, they did fail to mention that you were a mister.”
    He gave her another of those nods that told her nothing at all.
    “Anyway,” she muddled on. “I only came by to clear up the misunderstanding.”
    “Misunderstanding? I’m not sure I follow you.” He cocked his handsome head and studied her more closely.
    Donna wet her lips and forged on. “Melissa is a quiet, reserved child. Disrupting the class and displaying violence are completely out of character. I thought that perhaps you might have her confused with another student.”
    He straightened and crossed his arms over his broad chest. A full foot or two stood between them, yet her skin tingled as if he were touching her. This was ridiculous!
    “Ms. Jacobs, I’d never send home a discipline slip unless I was certain of who needed the discipline.” His voice had taken on a more formal tone, but remained warm and amiable.
    “I didn’t mean to imply that you’re incompetent,” she said quickly. She needed him cooperative, not defensive. “With so many new faces to learn, surely there’s room for error.”
    “I understand your concern about your daughter’s behavior.”
    “Melissa has never behaved in a violent manner. It’s hard for me to believe that she would.”
    “I wouldn’t call Melissa’s behavior violent, but shoving her classmates for no apparent reason is just not acceptable behavior. I let it go the first couple of times, but a pattern’s been developing and I think it’s important that we take care of it before it becomes a real problem.”
    Indignation pushed aside her apprehension. This man could not possibly be talking about her child. The idea was ludicrous. Melissa was not now, nor had she ever been, a discipline problem. Donna had to make him understand how wrong he was. “But she’s never behaved this way before. There’s no reason, just out of the blue, for her to behave that way now.”
    “Moving to a new town is tough. Melissa was thrust into a new environment, one which you were absent from for the last couple of weeks. And that made it even tougher.” He shrugged one massive shoulder. “According to your registration information, you’re a single parent. Problems in your personal life could have set off this type of behavior. It’s not uncommon for kids to act out their frustrations this way.”
    Donna lifted her chin and glared at the man. All emotion, except one, vanished. Who did he think he was, judging her by his own preconceived notion of single parenthood? “Our relocation to Huntley may have had some ill effects on Melissa, but your assumption that there are problems in our home life is absurd. And furthermore, I do not appreciate