Free Learning the Ropes by Remy Richard Page B

here and I took a pizza home to eat by myself. Not exactly a tragedy and what I usually do anyway.” He moved to the counter and opened the pizza box so that the scent of fresh bread and melted cheese wafted out. “Got any plates?”
    Rory sighed and moved into the kitchenette to open cabinets and pull out everything they needed for dinner. Noah let out a breath. He’d been banking on the hope that, once he was in her apartment, she wouldn’t send him away.
    He grabbed the stuff she’d placed on the counter and set the small table in the corner of her apartment, trying to remember the last time he’d actually bothered to eat someplace other than in front of the television. It all just seemed like too much trouble for one person and especially for the fast food and microwave fare that he lived on. But he had fond memories of eating with his family at the dinner table and hoped to do the same with his own family one day.
    Not that he was actively planning on it yet. That was part of the insanity that Rory inspired in him though. She was a home and hearth kind of woman when he had always gone for a fun for the weekend type of girl. Maybe he’d have been able to put her out of his mind if the chemistry between them wasn’t so overwhelming.
    He shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled engagingly at her as she rounded the bar to sit at the table across from him. If he was going to convince Rory to let him help with her sex education lectures in a more hands-on way, he needed to be level-headed and focused.
    He waited until she had taken her first bite to jump in. “So how have things been at work since the last time I saw you?”
    “You mean since I almost had a nervous breakdown over talking about sex with teenagers? Oh, just peachy.” Noah took a big bite of his own slice to keep his mouth full. Rory sighed and concentrated on pulling the pepperoni off her pizza. “Actually the school board decided that giving a few teachers free rein with such a touchy subject was a bad idea. So they’ve got a group working on a specific curriculum that they’re going to test this summer. I’ll have predesigned lesson plans and power point presentations for a couple of weeks. They’re doing everything from tests to in-class materials. All I have to do is get up there and read it pretty basically.”
    “I take it you’re on board with that plan?”
    Rory shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “It’s certainly not my favorite way to teach, but it’s school board mandated. I couldn’t do anything differently if I wanted to. And I have to admit that it’s a load off my mind not to have to worry about it.”
    “You don’t think you’ll still be embarrassed talking about it in front of the students?”
    “Probably. But some of my irrational fear is gone now.” Rory paused and made a project out of selecting her next piece of pizza to keep her eyes focused on something else. “And I have you to thank for some of that. You really helped me out when I was losing it the other day.”
    Noah couldn’t help puffing up a little at her gratitude. He’d never wanted to be the guy a woman came to when she needed comfort, but he was glad he’d been there for Rory that day. As grateful as she was now however, he knew that they still had a long way to go before she would get over their past and begin to lean on him more. They had to sort out what had happened between them.
    Noah cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair to look her fully in the eyes. “It was my pleasure. I know your ‘losing it’ only comes from your desire to do the best for your students. How could I not like that about you?”
    Rory opened and closed her mouth a few times but no sound came out. “I’ve always liked you,” he continued.
    “Well that is just not true. We fight all of the time,” Rory pointed out.
    “Yeah, because fighting and sniping with you seemed to be the only way to get you to talk to me.”
    Rory threw her hands up. “If