Seb was embarrassed at how cute he found Via’s winter coat. Especially the fact that she was wearing it in the middle of a staff meeting. She was so put together and stylish, he’d figured her for a peacoat kind of gal. But there she was, zipped to the chin in a puffy REI coat he was pretty sure was only used for subzero winter sports.

“Don’t say a word,” she growled as she plunked down into the chair next to him. “Hi, Shell. Hi, Grace.” She accepted the gum he automatically handed around and lifted an eyebrow.

“You said not to say a word.” He grinned and lifted his hands in an I’m unarmed type of gesture. “It’s not my business if you have to wear a polar bear parka when it’s forty-two degrees outside.”

“First of all, that’s saying a word. Second of all, the temp dropped to thirty-nine and there’s a foot and a half of snow on the ground!”

Seb swallowed his smile down. “There was a whopping seven inches that’s been reduced to a measly four in the sun. Matty didn’t even wear mittens today!”

“That child is insane. And this school is insane. Can’t the city of New York afford heating in its public schools?”

“Oh, we’ve got heat,” Grace assured her as she turned around in her chair. “It’s just not evenly distributed. Trust me. Come on down to my classroom and bring your Hawaiian shirt and a piña colada.”

“It’s true,” Shelly admitted. “But the woman who had your office used to complain, too, Via. Maybe your heating is broken.”

“I’ll come take a look after the meeting,” Seb said.

Via furrowed her brow. “You think you can fix the heating in a ninety-year-old building?”

He shrugged. “Not sure until I see it. But I’m pretty handy.”

Seb turned to her, and his breath caught in his throat. Was she...? Yeah. Yup. Yes. She was side-eyeing his hands and blushing. Straight-up blushing.

Via quickly turned away and shuffled through her messenger bag. But when she straightened up a minute later, not having removed a dang thing, Seb was fairly certain she was just attempting to look busy while she got her blush under control. Interesting. Very interesting.

Grim chimed the staff meeting to order, and Sebastian struggled to pay attention to a single word that was said.

It was either his imagination, or Via was especially wiggly today. Usually, she sat completely still, the picture of stoicism. But today she crossed one leg over the other and then switched back. Every time her weight shifted, her shoulder knocked into Seb’s. Frankly, he wasn’t even positive that she could feel it under all that coat, but every touch was kicking his heart into his ribs like the smash of a piñata at a children’s birthday party. Her hands were jumpy, too. She touched her hair, the back of her neck, her fingers dancing over the knee of one leg, tracing the herringbone pattern.