Page 36 of Reckless Kisses
“I’ll call you after my meeting with the principal.Actually, no, wait.After that, I’ll go back to class.”
He laughed.“Just call me whenever you get the chance, Amy.”
“Will do.”My voice sounded weird.Why was I suddenly nervous?This was my friend Knox, the one I had studied with for four years in college.
“Anything else?”he inquired.
“No.”
“Are you sure?You seem to have something on your mind.”
“You can tell that from my voice?”I asked.
“No, from the awkward pause and the way you keep breathing into the phone like you want to say something but then lose the courage to do it.”
“Knox!”
“Is it about our kiss?”
I groaned.“You’re infuriating today.”
He laughed.“I’m just trying to make things easy for both of us, Amy.”
“Oh.”It was good to know that he was struggling too.But the whole conversation was awkward, and I wanted to end it, so I said, “Right.I’ve got to go.I’m at the principal’s office, and she’s waiting.”
“Very elegant way of dismissing me.I approve.”
I didn’t have a chance to reply because he hung up the next second.
Okay, so judging by this moderately awkward conversation, it was going to take a while for us to go back to the way we were.
I hurried inside, straight to Ms.Adams’s office.She was a lovely woman in her mid-sixties and had been the principal for the past two decades.
I knocked lightly on the door.“Hey, Ms.Adams.Got a few minutes?”
“For you, Amy?Of course, always.Come in and sit down.”
“It’s just for a few minutes before study hall is over and my class begins.I found someone else to come talk to the students about their careers.”
She smiled.“Excellent.Where’s he employed?”
“He owns his own business.”
“What kind of business?”
“Honestly, it’s all a bit of a blur between him and his brothers.There are a lot of them, but Sterling Investments is their flagship company.”
Ms.Adams jerked her head back so quickly that part of her bun came loose.“You know the Sterling brothers?”
“Yes.I went to college with one of them, Knox.We’re good friends.”
Her eyes widened.“Goodness, girl.You’re keeping secrets.The Sterling money could go a long way to help our schools.”
I bit the inside of my cheek.Of course, I’d always known that, but I didn’t want to go around asking Knox for favors.“I didn’t want to approach them about that.Friendship and money don’t mix.But Knox is interested in assisting us with the career day.”
“Of course, that’s your choice.But if the Sterlings want to tell our kids how they got to be where they are today, that’s amazing.Very motivating.Self-made, as far as I know.”
“Yes, they are, completely,” I confirmed.
