"Are you going to tell us how it went?!" Rosemary asked with a smirk on her face. She and Julie had agreed to show tremendous restraint by not asking anything until after Little Jack was asleep. Rosie was already there when they got home. Jack was full of his fishing tales as they ate dinner together. Later as Elizabeth was reading Little Jack his bedtime story, she could hear peals of laughter coming from downstairs. Rosemary and Julie had developed a close friendship through Elizabeth, and the Thatcher's often referred to her as their extra daughter. Extra by name, and by nature.

Elizabeth had barely made it to the bottom of the stairs when Rosie asked her question.

"Girls. It was just fishing"

"I highly doubt anything is just with that man Beth" Rosie countered. Fanning herself like she often did whenever Nathan Grant was the topic of conversation. Knowing it would make her best friend squirm.

"Like when you just kissed do you mean?" Julz added.

"Rosie!"

"Well, we had a lot to catch up on while you were fishing. I thought it best to bring Julz up to speed before you got home so we didn't waste any time"

"It's like being in high school when you two get together, honestly." As if to prove the point the girls broke into giggles like they used to whenever boys were the topic of conversation as teenagers. They both looked at her expectantly.

"It was nice"

"Nice? What kind of an answer is that? We need details Elizabeth Thornton!" her sister ordered.

"It wasn't like it was a romantic date girls" although, thinking of him helping her, his arm around her, the way he spoke in her ear, their looks, their almost kiss and even the way he looked out for Little Jack. It wasn't devoid of romance the resident butterflies reminded her. "There isn't a lot to tell. I had a good time. It was sweet to see Jack with Ally. She really is a gem. Jack had fun. Nathan was patient and thoughtful with him. We fished. We talked"

"Did he kiss you?" Rosie's turn.

"He kissed my cheek when we said goodbye"

"Your cheek? He knows it's not the 1920s anymore, right?" Julie joked

"Julz, come on. The kids were right there when we said goodbye…but…there was a moment earlier when we were so close" and I wanted him to so much she refrained from adding "but Ally caught a fish right at the moment, so we didn't".

Rosemary gave an excited little clap. "So, you'll see him again?"

"We spoke about fishing again sometime."

"I meant the two of you. Alone. Like a date?"

"He doesn't even have my number Rosie"

"Maybe you should pass him a note to him in class via Ally?" Julie suggested giggling.

Elizabeth playfully threw a cushion at Julie. Their night continued with the three of them chatting, Rosie and Julie comparing horror dating stories, which made Elizabeth especially glad she had never tried any of the apps.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Before school started on Friday, Elizabeth spoke with the school administrator.

"Molly, could I please have Mr Grant's number? I'd like to speak to him about the extension mathematics programme for Ally"

"No problem, I'll grab that for you. You can use the phone in small meeting room two"

Elizabeth moved the room to call him. She punched in his number and took a breath as she waited for it to connect. Why did she feel nervous all of a sudden?

"Constable Grant speaking" his voice greeted. She immediately hung up the phone.

What am I doing? As if the teenage behaviour of Rosie and Julie had rubbed off on her last night. She shook her head at herself. What had gotten into her?

As she was taking a few deep breaths, the phone rang beside her giving her a fright. "Hello?"

"Elizabeth, I have Nathan Grant on the line. He said you got cut off"

"Y-yes, thank you Molly"

She cleared her throat as Molly transferred the call.

"Mr Grant, good morning" she answered trying to sound normal, which was very hard to do with the resident butterflies.

"Oh, Mr Grant is it Mrs Thornton?" she could hear the teasing smile in his voice.

"Sorry, I thought because this is a school-related conversation that I should at least start it professionally" she laughed nervously. "How did you know it was me?"

"Oh, I didn't, the school number came up, but the call dropped, so when I rang back Molly said you had asked for my number and just put me through"

"Oh of course…" she was grateful he hadn't realised she just hung up on him "Well I won't keep you, if you're busy with work, but I wanted to see if you could come in some time to see me…to speak about Ally? I'd like to talk to you about an extension programme for her. It won't take long, maybe 10 to 20 minutes but I need to give you paperwork to complete"

"Yes, I can come see you. I could come now actually. I've just finished night shift and I'm 5 minutes away? My parents will be bringing Ally to school today" that invisible string working its magic again with the timing.

"Oh. Yes. Ok" Not expecting to see him right now. "That will work. I'll be in the office; Molly can show you where to come" she checked her outfit wondering if she looked ok enough for him.

"See you soon".

Elizabeth used the time waiting for Nathan to fetch some samples of Ally's work and the information and paperwork for the programme. She laid it out on the table in the meeting room and sat facing the door waiting for him, trying to look at ease, which was hard, because of the butterflies.

A short while later, she heard a little knock and Molly opened the door "Here you go Nathan" giving him an enormous smile, her admiration of him very apparent.

Nathan walked in with a coffee and a brown paper bag in each of his hands "I wasn't sure if you'd had breakfast, I haven't, so I grabbed coffee and banana bread for us both. I figured we could have a breakfast meeting"

She curled her lips in, caught by his thoughtfulness and smiled as she thanked him, taking her first sip of coffee. He, on the other hand, started with the banana bread. "It really is your favourite huh?"

"Sure is. Can never go past it. It's why I run so often" he chuckled patting his belly causing Elizabeth to remember their meeting on the trail and the very obvious evidence that running was working.

"Thanks for coming, like I said, this won't take long…" and she proceeded to gush over Ally's intelligence and natural affinity for mathematics. "She's working well above her age and grade level…" explaining how the extension programme would work so that Ally would be challenged and remain engaged. Nathan noticed her face brightened as she spoke about Ally and he could see how much Elizabeth loved teaching, that she wanted the best for Ally, and it was clear teaching was her passion.

"It doesn't surprise me. Her mother was the same. She could run rings around me with schoolwork... I could out fish her though" amusement in his voice.

"Competitive like your girl when it comes to fishing, I see" she smiled.

He was quiet for a moment, considering all she had told him about the programme. "I'd like to speak with Ally so she understands what it would involve, and she can decide if it's something she wants to do. Can we take some time and give you an answer next week?"

He really is a good dad she reflected. "Yes of course. Let me know if she has any questions. Or if you do" she stood and began collecting the samples of Ally's work to go start her day in the classroom.

"Sure" he joined her standing, picking up the information pack. "It was a nice surprise to get to see you so soon after Wednesday night" he took a step around the table towards the door.

She bit her lower lip, instantly noticing the shift from parent/teacher to man/woman as the butterflies quickened.

"It-it almost doesn't seem fair that you have access to my mobile number" he continued "…and I, I don't have yours...?" a half-smile curling his lips. Hopeful, his heart began to race.

"I see. I mean, I don't have it, the school does" she countered.

"Are there rules about us having each other's number 'Lizbeth?" he took a step towards her.

"Rules?"

"I uh, I got the sense…before…when I asked you about coming for a run, that you were worried about the propriety being Ally's teacher?" she gave a light nod as he resumed "but then, you didn't say no to fishing, so I thought I'd maybe misread the reason for your hesitancy on the trail?"

"No, noooo…you didn't misread it…I did think there were rules…I wasn't sure it would be appropriate…but Abi, Mrs Stanton…she cleared it up for me that night at the Merc"

"She cleared it up?"

"Yep. Yes. She did"

"So…the rules?"

"They um, they don't exist" she gave him a hesitant smile.

"So, you could keep my number?" she nodded as he pulled a pen from his top pocket, stepping closer again, he reached out to grab her hand in his, scribbling his number. He noticed how soft her skin was.

"And would it be ok for me to have yours?" nodding, she took the pen from him and the information pack for the programme and, leaning on the table, wrote her number on the top page. When she stood back up, he was close enough that she could smell his cologne. Her mouth went suddenly dry, much like it had on the running trail.

"So, 'Lizbeth, there aren't rules? And now I-I have your number…that ah, that kiss that we had the night we met?"

"Yesss" she sighed, closing her eyes briefly, remembering, butterflies thumping now.

"It wasn't against the rules either?" His eyes glancing down at her lips. His heart began to thud.

"It wasn't" her eyes glancing at his lips. She moved toward him slightly. He swallowed.

"So, if we were, were to repeat it, would that be…ok?" hand reaching forward to cup her neck.

"Mhmm" lifting her face to him, she gave a slight nod and tilted her head. Her eyes gleaming.

And then, there was nothing between them, nothing stopping them as their lips found each other's, she rest her hands on his chest as he laced his fingers through her hair. It was tender at first but as they began to respond to each other they were transported again like the night at the Queen of Hearts. A small whimper of delight escaped from Elizabeth, causing Nathan to deepen his exploration of her mouth. They marvelled at their hearts racing, butterflies pounding, bodies tingling. Losing sense of where they were, there was only them. Lips and hands and bodies.

They were rudely interrupted as the school bell tolled. Snapping them back to the meeting room, they broke apart, both surprised at the intensity of their second ever kiss.

What the heck just happened? I just made out with him. In school. Like a teenager!

"Woah. Wow. Um…I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry, I couldn't resist"

"I know the feeling" her voice husky, she cleared her throat, wondering if she'd have time to go splash her face with cold water before heading to class. He coyly put his hands in his pockets, hiding the start of his body's response to her. What the heck, am I a teenage boy again?!

"I, uh, I better get going, to class" pulling her lips together, she smiled lightly at him as she took a deep breath trying to regain her composure, opening the door, she stepped into the hallway, and, controlling her voice as best she could, turned her head towards him "Thank you again for coming Mr Grant, I look forward to hearing from you soon".

"Yes, thank you Mrs Thornton. I will be in touch"

He admired her as she walked down the hall, dazed by what had just transpired, until Molly prompted him "Anything I can help you with Mr Grant?"

"Oh." he hoped she hadn't caught him staring "No thank you Molly. You have a lovely day" he smiled at her as he made his way to leave. She blushed. He was ridiculously good looking.

Sitting in his driver's seat, he pulled out his phone and saved Elizabeth's number.

As she reached her classroom, she felt her phone vibrate with a message. Taking it out quickly, a number not stored showed on the screen. Opening the text she read "Is now too soon for you to hear from me?" She smiled with delight that he was still thinking of her.

She quickly text Rosemary "You won't BELIEVE what just happened! See you at lunch" and then warmly greeted her students as she entered her classroom.

Later, in the lunchroom…

"Beth! I'm shook." She teased. "Was it as hot as it sounds?!"

"Sshhh Rosie" her cheeks flushed at the memory "One of the hottest kisses of my life"

"Eeeeeeep, I'm excited for you Elizabeth. You deserve this"

"It's thrown such a curve ball for me today. Rosie! I can't concentrate! I just keep thinking about seeing him again. It's so distracting, I'm almost certain the children must be wondering where my brain is today!" she groaned slightly, thinking of how Opal had asked if she was feeling ok.

Rosie grinned broadly at her friend. Elizabeth was normally so composed. Nathan had obviously made an impact on her.

"Well, lucky it's Friday afternoon. You only have a couple more hours to be responsible and keep it together…and then, well I guess it's up to you and Nathan?"

Elizabeth sighed and put her head in her hands. What was she going to do about Mr Grant?