Free The Trouble with Bree (Spotlight #1.5) by Kristen Strassel Page B

night.” I threatened. I actually liked the idea. Daisy loved to scrapbook, and I had a pile of pictures that needed a home. “No more pigeon.”
    Landon looked horrified. I’d done it now. “Noooo!” It was hard not to laugh at him. “Can we go now?”
    “Yes.” I couldn’t believe my baby was starting school. Preschool, but this was going to be the longest we’d been apart on a regular basis ever. I groaned as I lifted him and Lucas into their car seats. I’d gone to my first pole dancing class this week. Daisy’s mom found out about it and agreed to watch the kids so I could go. I think she was secretly envious, since she was always at Zumba classes. Muscles that I didn’t even know I had hurt. But I’d had so much fun I couldn’t wait to go back when I could afford another class.
    “Remember what I told you about Josh?” I asked Landon in the parking lot as I put his arms through his backpack. He shook his head. “He’s going to be busy at work and he has to pay attention to all the kids equally. So if he treats you different at school than he does at home, that’s why.”
    I was so nervous about school, for so many reasons. I wanted everything to go well for Landon. Even though he was super smart, he could be a little pushy. I didn’t know how he was going to do in a classroom setting, even something that was more play based. I hadn’t seen Josh since the party, barely even talked to him, since he’d been getting everything ready for the first day of school. And Landon was in love with Josh. Four-year-olds were notorious for saying what was on their mind, and no amount of coaching was going to sway Landon on how he acted when Josh was around and I was not.
    “You must be Landon.” A girl not much older than me crouched down in front of Landon and handed him a bag after I checked us in. He nodded enthusiastically. “I’m Miss Kate. You’re going to be in my class. You can go sit with those kids over there.”
    I watched him go while Miss Kate asked me if I had any questions, I think, but Josh walked into the room. There was no doubt he was in charge, in his dress pants, crisp blue shirt, and tie. The stubble never went anywhere. God, he looked amazing. Our eyes locked and I froze.
    “Josh!” Landon called out, running over to him.
    Busted.
    Miss Kate stopped mid-sentence, confused, and turned around to see Landon hug her boss. “We’re friends.” I bit my lip as I downplayed the situation. The with benefits part was none of her business.
    “Oh.” She frowned, apparently that interfered with whatever she had in mind for Josh.
    Ignoring her as I stepped past, I went over to Josh. I was carrying Lucas, I held my free hand out to him and he squeezed it. “Good luck today.” He had sixty preschoolers showing up to this party. He was going to going to need it.
    He pulled me in slightly, and I gasped, not sure what he was going to do. Miss Kate’s glare burned my back. “I miss you so much,” he whispered in my ear.
    “You know where to find me.” This was all in his hands now. I would never mess with his job, no matter how much I wanted to see him. Instead, I bent down to detach Landon from Josh’s legs. “Be a good boy today, okay? Remember what I said.” I kissed him on the forehead and ran out of there before I lost it.
    **
    Landon wasn’t the only one who was starting school today. My online classes started this week, too. After we dropped Landon off, I brought Lucas to the park and we fed the ducks. It was too quiet there with most of the kids in school, so we didn’t stay long after we’d run out of bread. He was going to miss his brother terribly and I didn’t want him to get lost in the shuffle. Once we got home, I got him a snack and put on a movie for him.
    I opened my new notebook and put on my headphones in anticipation of watching the intro video for my psychology class. My heart thrummed in my chest. Not only was I excited, I was nervous. It had been a long time