Page 16 of Her Hidden Smile

I frowned. I looked past him to the gate. Then looked back at him. “You can’t jump it, it’s too high.”

“Jumped up to the top then climbed over, would be more accurate,” he grinned ruefully.

I looked at the gate again. “Nobody else has ever done that.”

“Nobody else has been promised cookies. Do I smell snickerdoodle cookies?”

I nodded. “Chocolate chip and peanut butter, too. My men don’t eat many of the snickerdoodles, so I rarely make many of those, but I saw that half the students were girls, so I made a third of each kind.”

“See, you offered an incentive for me to climb over the gate.”

I scowled at him. “Are you always so impetuous?”

He laughed. “You think I’m impetuous, huh?”

“Absolutely. Impetuousness could get you into big trouble. You should be more careful.”

“The last time I was called impetuous was when my mom and dad caught me dating a college sophomore when I was still a junior in high school.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would a college freshman want to date someone so young?”

“I had a friend who got me into all of his fraternity parties. When Kathy and I met at one of those parties, I convinced her I was a college senior.”

“How were you able to do that?”

“I looked old for my age.”

“That old?”

I loved the way her eyebrows scrunched together as she frowned.

“I was on the football team. I was big for my age.” I grinned.

“How did she find out that you were still in high school?”

“After one of our dates, I was dropping her off at her house in my dad’s car. What I didn’t realize was that her father worked with my dad and he recognized the car. He called my dad.”

I winced. “That must not have gone well.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Dad came over to Kathy’s house and apologized to Kathy’s father. When he got me home, he read me the riot act for drinking and partying with college kids. I felt awful because I’d left Kathy in tears.”

“How long had you been dating?”

“Six weeks. But it seemed so much longer. At that age, you think that six weeks is a lifetime. Later, Mom came to talk to me. I really liked Kathy, and she really liked me. She was the first girl I’d ever kissed, and I was broken up. I felt even worse that I had hurt Kathy. Mom called me impetuous for playing games of the heart. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I learned it.”

“I don’t think climbing a fence is in that category. What happened to Kathy?”

“A week later, she was dating Eric. That was my friend who got me into the fraternity parties. I guess she wasn’t as upset as I was about our break-up.”

“How long did it take before you were dating someone?”

“Seven months.”

“Wow. You really were broken up,” I whispered. I couldn't imagine the powerful man in front of me as a heartbroken boy. It was then I noticed my door was wide open, and I had my hand on the doorjamb and I was leaning forward.

I jerked backward.