And then he officially graduated from the class of douche bag and proved he belonged in the league of nasty son of a bitch.
“Not just in you, but your school,” Porter said snidely. “I wonder if it might be more beneficial for Cat if she worked with an instructor who had more than just ‘Las Vegas showgirl’ on her resume.”
Miranda decided not to mention that Catherine wasn’t even her student. She also decided slapping this man in public wasn’t the brightest of ideas.
“I’ll have to discuss it with Cat’s mother,” Porter added. “See how she feels about the situation.”
“You do that,” Miranda said coldly.
A gust of anger, annoyance and disbelief followed her outside like a black cloud over her head. Un-fucking-believable. She couldn’t believe she’d wasted an entire hour with that jerk.
Curling her hands into fists, she marched down the sidewalk toward the end of the block and headed for the parking lot behind the school. She didn’t bother going inside to tell Elsa about the unpleasant encounter with Porter, but she did send a quick text saying she’d fill her in tomorrow.
All she wanted to do at the moment was go home and see how Seth was faring with the kids. She hadn’t received any SOS texts this past hour, so she assumed he was holding his own, but she was still incredibly curious about what she’d find when she walked through the door.
Just as she started the car, her phone rang. A Nevada area code flashed on the screen, bringing a wry smile to her lips. It wasn’t quite a call from Seth, but close enough.
“Hey, Missy,” she said after she switched the call to speakerphone.
“Hey, sugar pie! How’s my favorite birthday girl doing?” With the way Missy Masterson chain-smoked, you’d think she’d sound perpetually hoarse, but Seth’s mother had one of those breathy, Marilyn Monroe voices that only added to her sexpot status.
“I’m doing good. I got the voice mail you left yesterday. I wanted to call you back during my break—” but I spent it with your son’s tongue between my legs, “—but I didn’t get a chance. Thanks for the birthday message. It was sweet of you.”
“I can’t believe you worked on your birthday. Shame on you.”
“Hey, as I recall, you were at the theater until three in the morning last year on your birthday.”
“I’m the choreographer. Where else would I be? Now, tell me everything you’ve been up to. We haven’t spoken in ages. How’s business?”
“Pretty good. Enrollment has doubled, and we’re expecting a full house for the recital at the end of July. All the parents are super excited.” She rolled her eyes to herself. “Except for maybe one. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if his daughter doesn’t end up dancing in the recital at all.”
She quickly told Missy about the awful “date” with Porter, and when she finished, the older woman sounded utterly disgusted. “What a slimeball! Send my son to beat him up, pronto.”
Laughing, Miranda set the phone in the cup holder and drove away from the school. “I totally should. Seth would be happy to do it—he already kicked the ass of one man who had the audacity to bother me.”
Seth’s mother was not perturbed in the slightest. “My boy has always been a hothead. And too big and strong for his own good.” Missy sounded suspicious now. “Is he giving you any trouble? Because he definitely has the tendency to bulldoze people in order to get his way. He gets his bossy, overbearing side from his father.”
“Seth has a father?”
The second she asked it, she felt like a total moron, and Missy made it worse by snorting. “No, Miranda, my son was born via immaculate conception.”
Okay, she deserved that. “I mean, neither of you talk about Seth’s father. I didn’t realize he was ever in the picture.”
“Oh, he was. Not for long, though. He bailed when Seth was five. But good riddance, because that man was nothin’ but trouble. Anyway, I wanted to make sure Seth isn’t being his usual jackass self and causing you any grief. Is he hitting on you left and right?”
For a second she almost confessed that she and Seth were kind of dating, but she wasn’t sure if he wanted his mother to know about them. And depending on what happened tonight, dating might not even be in the cards.
So she opted for a casual response. “No, he isn’t causing me grief. Why would he?”
“Because he’s been panting over you for more than a year.”
“What?” Astonishment shot through her.
“Don’t you remember when he came to visit that time? He’d just gotten back from wherever the hell they sent him and he showed up at the theater?”
With flowers for his mother. Right. She did remember.
And didn’t that just floor her, knowing that Seth had lusted over her from way back then.