Chapter 5

“Who is this?” a male voice asked. Liam had a sexy voice, deep and rich.

Jenny’s heart was pounding. It was late at night, when she finally gathered the courage to call Liam.

“Umm ... Jenny.”

“Who?”

“Scrabble girl...” Jenny said, and quickly added. “Not sure if you remember me, we played...”

“I do remember you,” he interrupted her. “The exotic dancer in glittering work boots. Getting ready to strip for strangers?” Liam laughed, and his laugh made Jenny feel warm inside.

“Actually, I work as a teacher,” she said, blushing.

“What a coincidence! I’m a teacher, too; a music teacher. You took me by surprise. I was expecting a call from my principal. You’re not Mr. Fullerton, are you?”

“Do I sound like a Mr. Fullerton to you?”

He chuckled, and Jenny felt it all over her body. “No. You sound much cuter than him.”

“So you think Mr. Fullerton is somewhat cute?”

“Ah, a sense of humor, too. I can get on board with that.”

Something dawned on Jenny: Liam was flirting with her again, and she liked it.

“Oh, you bad boy! You got called to the principal’s office!”

“I was a very good student. He’s calling me because he invited me to anchor a school function. I am not much interested in anchoring, so my guess is that Mr. Fullerton thinks that if he bugs me when I’m home on a Friday night I might say yes.”

“My principal, Mr. Livingston, is much nicer than him, but just as relentless. For the record, I was a good student, too. I called you because I wanted to thank you for the other night. I was feeling kind of down and you cheered me up.”

“You’re welcome. May I ask why you were feeling down, Jenny?”

That was it. Her chance to come clean and disclose her disability with Liam. But Jenny wasn’t ready to face the potential end of their growing friendship. She liked too much the way Liam flirted with her and made her feel like a woman again.

“Are we getting personal now, Liam?”

“Is that a personal question?”

“Depends on my answer, doesn’t it?”

“I suppose it does.”

They were quiet, a long silence.

“Liam?” Jenny checked to see if he was still on the line.

“Yes?”

“I like talking with you.”

“Good, because I like talking with you, too.”

Liam already felt like an old friend.

“I have a question for you,” he said.

“Oh, we are in the asking-questions stage of our relationship now?” she teased him.

“I didn’t know we were in any kind of relationship?” he answered back.

“Shit!” she muttered, she couldn’t let her guard down like this.

“We shared a virtual kiss. Did our pixel kiss mean anything to you?” she shot back, pretending to be hurt.

“You’re right. We did. It meant a lot to me. I can still feel your pixels on my virtual lips. Back to my question, how come when I order a large pizza for myself I receive one of ‘those’ looks from the delivery guy?”

“Well, I imagine you’re answering the door in your pajamas with uncombed hair, so you appear all sad and heartsick ... Or a creeper ... Or as a fat nerd...,” she suggested, curious about how he looked.

“I would take offense, but you’re probably right.”

“Probably?”

“Except for the fat part. I’ll show you.”

Jenny’s phone pinged, and she opened up the message to see a pic of Liam’s tummy.

He didn’t have a six-pack, but he wasn’t fat either.

“OH MY GOSH! I can’t believe you sent me that,” she squealed. Her laughter was evident in her voice.

“You were fishing for information about my tummy so I obliged,” he explained. “What do you think? Am I fat or not?”

“You’re not. Just to be clear, I didn’t say you were fat. I suggested it as an option. But you’re definitely a creeper,” she snorted.

“I am not a creeper.”

“Yeah, well, that’s exactly what a creeper would say.”

“You have a point there. I’ll guess you’ll have to take the risk.”

“So far, you’ve been worth the risk.”

“Aww! How sweet of you to say that. Are you trying to make my tummy blush, Jenny?”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Jenny replied.

“It’s blushing right now,”

“I won’t apologize for that.”

“Look, Jenny, I’d love to keep creeping you out, but I’m still waiting for a call from Mr. Fullerton and I have to come up with a good excuse to say no. By the way, I think you’re very brave because I’d never strike up a conversation with a stranger.”

“We’re not strangers anymore, are we?”

“No, we are not.”

“Now the ball is in your court, Liam.”

“Noted. Sweet dreams, Jenny.”

“Sweet dreams, Liam.”

Jenny stood on the line for several beats, until he finally disconnected the call.

A tiny hope sparked inside her.