Chapter 12:

 Another week of sneaking around, stealing glances and secret smiles passes by surprisingly quickly and before I know it I'm in the parking lot of Callie's apartment complex that Friday morning securing her luggage next to mine in the back of my truck.

We climb in, and I settle on a radio station before we begin the drive east. I really wish this was more of a trip for pleasure than business because there are so many places that I'd like to stop and show Callie along the way but hopefully there will be another chance.

The normally draining drive seems to fly with Callie there in the passenger seat chatting with me about random things and occasionally singing along with the radio. Nearly six hours later we arrive in Knoxville and she picks up piece of paper with the directions to the hotel on it. We find our way through the city pretty quickly.

Pulling into the parking lot of a Crowne Plaza hotel I double check just to make sure we're at the right place. Because, to be honest it's a little nicer then any place I've ever been before for something like this. But, when my eyes scan over the directions again it confirms that this is in fact, where we belong. The exterior of the building itself isn't all that spectacular, but when passing by the windows I could see the rich color scheme and grand staircase and can only imagine what the rest or the place will look like.

"Finally." Callie says, when I pull the truck into a space and put it in park, turning off the engine. "Six hours in the car with you, is a long time." She laughs.

I shake my head and open up the door and she follows suit. "I could say the same for you Miss Stop-at-every-rest-stop-so-I-can-pee."

"Well, I drink a lot." She playfully defends herself, "At least I don't change the radio station every five seconds."

"They play too many commercials." The banter is comfortable, not biting as I pull the bags from the back of the truck and we start to walk inside.

"Good Afternoon." I say approaching the desk and greeting the woman standing there at her computer. "We're checking in. There should be two rooms booked under Sherry Piper."

I glance at Callie, who is leaning her luggage up against her knee and digging through her purse for something. I imagine just briefly that we are there together checking into a bed and breakfast or something. Just on a weekend outing completely of our own choosing. The background noise of random people moving about the hotel lobby as well as the tapping of the women's fingertips against the keys of her computer keep me somewhat grounded.

"I'm sorry sir. Did you say two rooms?" My head snaps in her direction and I nod.

"Yes. We're here for the teaming conference. There should be two rooms booked."

She bites her lip and her eyes flit over the screen hoping to find information that apparently isn't there.

"We're only showing one room booked. Are there more than two teachers coming from your district? Maybe they have been booked under a different name?" She questions me.

"No Ma'am." I shake my head.

"I'm sorry sir, but unless it was specifically mentioned that it was a necessity to have more then one room booked in order to allow more schools to attend we based our rooms on double occupancy." She politely explains and my stomach tightens into knots. I just can't fathom that Sherry would have let this slip by.

"Um, alright. I'll just pay for it myself then. Do you have another room available?" I force out quickly, not taking a chance on looking to Callie for any input. I would love nothing more then to spend a night with Callie. However, we're supposed to be working this weekend and being alone with her in a hotel room; I'm not sure I can control myself.

The woman behind the desk doesn't even blink before replying, "No sir, I'm afraid we are completely booked." She says. I look to Callie and start to say something about finding another hotel close by and she looks at me as if I am crazy.

"Don't be silly." She cuts me off. "It's really not a big deal." She pats my arm and then smiles at the clerk. "We'll be fine." Within minutes we're being handed key cards and pointed towards the elevators.

I wait until we're safely inside before reaching for Callie's hand. We've been sneaking around for the last week and its become a natural instinct already. "I uh... just didn't want you to think that..."

She squeezes my hand and interrupts me yet again. "I don't. But, even if I did, I'd be okay with that." Does that mean what I think it means?

The elevator lurches to a stop on the fifth floor and the doors slide open. I drop her hand to reach for the handle on my suitcase and she does the same, leading the way out the door and I swear she's got just the slightest bit more of a sway to her walk as she heads down the hall.

She comes to a stop at room 525 and swiftly opens the door.

"So, I've been thinking..." I catch her attention once we're inside, and she's unpacking just a few things from her suitcase.

Before she can make the smart ass comment that I know she's got on the tip of her tongue when she looks right at me with a smirk and a sparkle in her eyes I continue. "Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?"

Her smile softens and she clasps her hands together. Her head tilting to the side in a silent question.

And I just nod slightly, letting her know that yes, I mean on an official date.

"Justin." She walks towards me and I hold out my hands palms up and she places her hands in mine. "I would love to." She finished and I close my thumbs down across the backs of her hands and pull them up around my shoulders. That's just the answer I was hoping for. I finally get to treat her to the magic she deserves. She doesn't have to know that I've already found the perfect restaurant and made a reservation. I simply wrap my arms around her and envelop her in a hug and tell her that I will call down to the front desk and have them recommend somewhere while she gets ready.

She pulls back and her hands come to my cheeks and I find yet another spectacular smile that I've never seen before. "Okay." She says and then rises up to kiss me. I can't help but lift one hand to the back of her head and hold onto the moment for much much longer then she probably anticipated. The hand at her back pulling her against me and I trace her bottom lip with my tongue. I can't really predict how this night will go but now that I have the chance I'm going to show her just what I'm made of. Her eyes are closed as I pull away and place one more kiss to her forehead.

"I hope you packed something nice." I mumble, my lips still caressing her skin and I feel her swat my chest.

"You're one lucky guy. My mom always taught me to be prepared for anything. Even spur of the moment romantic dinner dates with a guy you're secretly dating." She laughs lightly and steps back. I get the feeling that she suspected I might take the opportunity to take her out right, or that if I hadn't suggested going to a nice dinner she would have mentioned it herself.

About twenty minutes later I've changed into a pair of nice tan slacks and a deep blue button down shirt. I'm straightening a tie when the bathroom door clicks open and the light shuts off. I turn my head and see Callie coming back into the room in a stunning black dress that falls just below her knees, and a deep purple wrap draped around her shoulders. I'm thankful for the mild temperatures that we're getting this year because she looks gorgeous. Her hair is curled and I really want to sink my fingers into it because it looks so damn soft and she smiles at me with that smile that I'm constantly deciding I can't get enough of.

"Are you ready to go?" I ask her softly.

"I just need to find my shoes." She replies and searches through her things to find a pair of flats and slips them on her feet. I grab the jacket that I have already laid out on one of the beds and check to make sure that my wallet is definitely in my pocket. She fumbles through her purse and pulls out some kind of lip gloss and leans into the mirror on the vanity to put it on and then tucks it back into her purse.

"Alright." She finally says as I'm pulling the jacket on. "Where are we going?" She asks.

"You'll just have to wait and see." I grin and wink at her while extending my hand and feeling a chill run up and down my spine when she takes it. I pull open the door and we exit the room. For the first time together and not worrying about who sees us.

We take the elevator down to the lobby and as we're walking outside Callie starts towards the car but I tug on her hand and she stops. "It's not that far away, why don't we walk?"

She nods and I lead her in the direction of the restaurant. A few blocks later we stop walking. "Here we are."

"The Melting Pot?" She says out loud reading the bright florescent sign lit up above the entrance. And for a moment her tone makes me nervous.

"Yea, is that alright? Have you ever been to one before?"

"No, what is it?"

"It's like fondue, I thought it might be fun." I say.

"Okay." She replies, not a hint of hesitation in her voice and I sigh and relax.

"Alright." Once inside I give my name to the hostess and she brings us to our table; a booth in a back corner with a small red candle flickering in the center of the table.

A waitress soon arrives to take our drink orders and after checking the wine list I order for the both of us and then we're left alone to glance over the menu.

"So how does this work exactly?" She asks, her voice low as if she feel silly asking that question.

"Its actually pretty neat, built like a 3 course dinner." I lean over the table to point to things on the menu as I explain it. "For the appetizers you just pick which kind of cheese fondue you want and they give you all sorts of vegetables and bread and fruit. Then for dinner you cook your food at the table yourself and for dessert they have a couple different kinds of chocolate fondue and bring out fruit and other things. It's supposed to be really great."

"You've never been here before?"

"Nope, I thought we could try it out together." I answer, and she seems surprised.

She smiles, "Alright. So what should we choose?"

"Anything you want." I reply instantly, she's got to know that tonights all for her.

Once the waitress takes the order a few minutes later, our appetizer set-up arrives shortly and we both sip our wine and drift into a comfortable conversation.

"So, I have to let you know that Sherry tried to tell me yet again that I didn't need to come this weekend." I say with a laugh.

"Really? What a surprise." She responds sarcastically.

"Yea, I just told her that I had already made plans to meet up with a friend of mine out here anyway so if she asks I met a guy named Steve Prindle for lunch."

She laughs lightly. "You know, I'm very thankful that she hired me, even if it was kind of forced on her, but this is a little ridiculous. Apparently we aren't able to adhere to her stupid policies."

"Well, we kind of aren't." I chuckle, earning a hard look from Callie.

"She has no reason to believe that though. She just automatically thinks that we're clawing to get at each other."

"She's kind of always been on that stuff though. I think something happened with a couple of teachers before. I don't really know. Harriet tried to tell me about it one day but that woman babbles on about anything and everything and I learned pretty quick that it wasn't usually something important. But the no employee relationships thing wasn't really made such a big deal to me then as it has been since you came along." Then a memory strikes me and I really let out a laugh, drawing a confused smile out of her.

"Although I just remembered that during my first year here she sat in on a couple of my parent-teacher conferences. But now that I think of it, it was actually just the same mother twice. I was still with Jennifer at the time so I didn't really pay attention to it but I'm pretty sure it was a single mother. She's just all about preventing the scandals that small towns are famous for I guess."

"So what happened after you broke up?" Callie asks and for the first time in a long time I don't feel uncomfortable talking about it.

"To be honest I don't really remember. I wasn't really in the best of places then. I'm not even sure I enjoyed being around myself so I'm pretty sure she didn't think anyone else would want to." I reply, finishing with a nervous laugh.

"I can't imagine you that way." She states. "What happened?" Her eyebrows furrow together and I know she's asking, not to be nosy but just because she's interested in my past.

And while I don't really like to think about it, I kind of feel like she deserves to know. After all, she'd told me all about her ex. I take a breath and give her my story.

"The shorter version is that we'd been together through most of high school and while while we were in college too, kind of following what everyone seems to do around this place. You've met my friends. I guess I just expected that we'd get married and start a family like everyone else." I look up from focusing on my hands not really sure what kind of look I expect to see on her face but she's just listening to me intently. A look in her eyes urging me on.

"Um then she thought she was pregnant and I don't know I guess she got scared and when we found out that she wasn't she just kind of decided everything was over. She said she didn't want to be here anymore and that she was basically bored."

"Bored?" Callie asks.

"Yea." I shrug because I didn't really understand it all at the time either. "Bored with me, or with the idea that she could be growing up and ready to start a career and a family and she just had to leave."

"And then she went to California?"

"Yes."

"And you went after her?"

I pause and look at her curiously because I don't remember ever telling her that before. "Um yea... I didn't think I told you that."

"No." She sighs and her shoulders slump a little and she looks nervous. "Harriet said something to me a few weeks ago."

"That woman needs to get a life." I shake my head, Callie relaxes and I finish up my little story. "Yea, I did. Not one of my shining moments. But, once I found her she was already living with some guy and she told me that she didn't think she ever really loved me, she was just 'comfortable.'" I provide air quotes an a roll of my eyes for effect.

"I'm sorry Justin." Callie says and my eyes meet hers and I know that even though she has no reason to say that, she just understands how it feels to have your heart broken.

"I used to be sorry about it too. But I'm not anymore." I reply, reaching across the table for her hand. Hopefully the motion on its own was enough to show her why.

She gives me that smile that I was hoping for and I slide my thumb back and forth across her hand. "It's okay now."

She nods and I squeeze her hand before letting it go and we both seem to silently agree that the subjects of Sherry and school and Jennifer are to be dropped. And we focus on the night unfolding ahead of us; just for us.

Over an hour later we leave the restaurant; with my arm around her shoulders I feel chill bumps rise on her skin when the cooler night air hits us. I stop to slide my jacket off and place it on her shoulders before wrapping my arm around her again.

"Now we can take the long way back." I say and she tilts her head and smiles up at me. I can't resist the opportunity to lean down to give her a peck on the lips. "How do you feel about a little walk through Market Square?"

"It sounds lovely." She responds and her tongue slides across her lips and she leans against me as we walk.

As we walk other couples pass by, the quiet whispers they share just barely audible among the other sounds that surround us. We don't speak, just meander along past booths that are being deconstructed and others that appear to be just set up. A sign on the window of one of the shops advertises the Farmers Market that will be there tomorrow.

We pass by a man with a guitar and his open case laid out in front of him as he plays just outside a bar. His folksy music gets drowned out by the louder bass and the voices from inside when the door swings open and an older man walks outside to pull out a cigarette.

I nod at the man as I reach into my pocket and toss some change into his case. He doesn't appear to be a penniless street bum, judging by his suit and expensive guitar; just a man who wanted to play, and so I don't feel like I'm patronizing him with a handful of quarters and dimes.

Slowly but surely we see the hotel coming into view and once we're back inside the building and waiting for the elevator to reach the ground floor I hear a soft sigh and feel her head rest in the crock of my arm. I sigh too.

I couldn't have imagined the night going any better. And as I turn my head and stare down at Callie, I can't help but kiss the top of her head and decide that there is no other woman I would have rather spent that evening with.

Finally the elevator arrives and I nudge her softly with my elbow and she walks ahead of me and pushes the button for our floor. A few moments later I'm unlocking the door to our hotel room, and pushing it open for her to walk in.

"I've had a wonderful evening Justin." She says as she slides my jacket off her shoulders and folding it over her arm. I let the door shut behind me after following her into the room.

"I'm glad." I reply. "I just wish that it hadn't taken so long for me to be able to take you out. It's something I should have done right from the start." A concerned gaze focuses on me and she tosses the jacket onto a bed and walks towards me.

"You know I don't really care about that." My arms are folded across my chest but as she steps nearer I loosen them and she reaches for my hands. "I just love spending time with you."

I smile because it's a corny line and we both know it, but it's true. "I know."

"I know, you know, so cut it out and kiss me." She works her way into my arms and leans her chin against my chest smiling innocently up at me. My weak smile turns instantly into a wide grin before I oblige her request and tighten my arms around her.

As her mouth meets mine again and again the feeling from before climbs back into my brain and I can't help but think that tonight might lead somewhere we've never gone before. And the more I think about it, the more the idea starts sinking into other parts of my body. And at this point with the intensity of the situation and the feelings I have for this woman, mixing with the wine we had at dinner those body parts are becoming increasingly difficult to control.

I will thoughts of puppies and my grandmothers pecan pie into my head because I don't want to push her but it's been a long time since I've been involved with a woman and I just want her so much and in so many ways. I'm a man, not a machine.

I feel her tense when she moves and her thigh brushes against my crotch. And I'm sure she finding something there she didn't expect.

"I'm sorry." I mumble quickly and lick my lips in habit, looking at her as she looks up at me. She doesn't say anything in response and I don't really know what to say or do.

"I uh, I just..." I stumble over a few words and she bites her bottom lip and her hands slide around my neck and shakes her head, the look in her eyes tells me that she doesn't care.

"You just what?" she smirks, a devilish gleam in her eyes, and she leans forward, pressing her lips to the side of my neck and then nipping lightly at the soft skin below my ear.

"God." I mutter when her tongue slides over the same spot. "I want you."

"Can I tell you a secret?" She asks softly as she moves and my eyelids flutter closed when she repeats the same tender motions to the other side of my neck.

"Mmhmm." This time I lick my lips in anticipation of what I pretty much know is coming.

"I want you too." She whispers, her mouth against my ear, and I swear my knees almost give out.

I groan and my eyes open wide enough for me to mark my target before I dip my head down to catch her mouth with mine, not wasting any time finding her tongue with mine and filling this kiss with purpose.

For a few minutes the only sounds I hear are our breaths and my own heartbeat. Then my hands roaming her back, stumble upon the zipper to her dress and fumble with it but I can't bring myself to actually tug it down even just a bit.

Then one of her hands slides from around my neck and pulls on my tie, loosening it and I take that as the last sign I needed to get in order to be sure this was truly happening.

"I haven't done this in a while." The words come out, barely in a whisper against her ear as she pulls the tie off over my head and begins undoing the buttons of my shirt.

A soft giggle escapes her lips and she kisses my adams apple, her hands running underneath the shirt and onto my shoulders to push it off. "You're doing just fine." She says and I realize what she thought I meant wasn't my point at all.

I loosen my arms around her and lean my head back a little bit.

I shake my head, "That's not what I meant."

She looks up at me, her eyebrows furrowed. "Then what?"

"I meant, falling in love." I say after contemplating the words for a split second. "Callie, I really think I'm falling for you." For the first time in a long time I put myself out there without thinking and what follows isn't panic, but relief because I don't fear her response at all.

And a soft sigh escapes her before I slide my hand to the back of her head and lower my lips to hers.

So come on, get higher, loosen my lips
Faith and desire and the swing of your hips
Just pull me down hard, and drown me in love
Cuz everything works, Love, everything works in your arms