Chapter Four - Chemistry

"Mum, can we get this?!" Aria races up to me with a pack of chocolates.

"No Aria. I said no chocolate either remember?"

She pouts and widens her eyes but I shake my head in response. The grey in her eyes turns stormy with anger before she huffs and whirls around to put the chocolate back. I smirk at her fire before grabbing two packs of bread and putting them in the shopping cart.

Aria's teacher had called me into the classroom on Friday yesterday evening to inform me that my troublemaker of a child had kicked a boy. The boy, Jack, had provoked her first with nasty comments before attempting to throw her lunch away but I was still not happy that she thought violence would be the right answer. Of course, Jack's parents made him apologize as I did the same with Aria but I'm being a bit strict with her now so she doesn't think that what she did was right.

"Why did I have to come here? You're not getting my favorite food." She sulks as she follows behind me throughout the grocery store. "I wanted to stay with grams!"

"Grams would have fed you with chocolate and let you watch your favorite cartoons until I came back. I know her well enough!" I scoff as I tell her to grab me the tomato sauce.

"I like grams more!" She sticks her tongue out at me.

"Me too."

"Mum!" She whines and latches herself to my leg. "You said I will always be your favorite!"

"Not when you kick someone Ari." I mutter distractedly as I pick a pasta before moving down the aisle. "Go find the tuna."

"Ugh!" She makes a face before dragging her feet towards the shelves where the canned products are.

We get our weekly shopping done quickly before checking out and loading everything into the car. By the time we reach home and put everything away Aria is begging to go for a walk and it doesn't take much to convince me. We've been here a month now but I'm still not as familiar with the city as I'd like to be. So, I take her hand in mine and we leave the house to walk around aimlessly.

We make our way past her school, a park, some stores that we pop into for a few minutes before I notice the sun beginning to drop from its afternoon peak. Just as I'm about to tell her that we should head back she gasps loudly before letting go of my hand. I chase after her as she runs up to a man and throws herself at him which makes my eyes widen worriedly.

I'm about to apologize and pull her off him when she turns to me. "Mum, this is Bear!"

The man looks up and I'm a goner. He has light brown hair with the lightest green eyes. His skin is golden tan with a muscular build. Appearance wise he looks quite rugged and strong which is very attractive to me. My heart races when he smiles widely and holds out his hand. I shake it and feel the numerous callouses etched into his skin which indicate that he's worked a lot.

"Hi, I'm Theodore Jackson but please call me Theo."

Oh god, his voice is just as alluring as he is. It's rich, warm, and comforting all at the same time. I find myself wishing he would talk more. Swallowing harshly and begging my poor heart to stop beating in overdrive I shake his hand in return.

"I'm Charlotte Davidson, Aria's mom. It's nice to meet you and sorry about –"

"That's okay, I love a warm welcome." He chuckles and I smile shakily as I tug Aria towards me. He then narrows his eyes at my baby playfully. "Bear?"

"Yes! You're like my mister bear that I have at home!" She giggles and I bite my lip to stop an amused chuckle myself.

"Hmm, I think I like it." He tickles her a little which elicits a high-pitched squeal from her lips.

"Can we go see Crystal?!" She asks excitedly and my eyes widen when I remember her horse riding classes on the Jackson ranch. I've heard my grandmother talk about it sometimes.

"Sure!" Theo replies at the same time I say, "No!"

"But mum!" She turns to me and whines.

"Aria, I said no and you know why."

She immediately becomes upset and looks down. I sigh when her bottom lip trembles and she sniffles lightly. But Theo surprises me by crouching down and rubbing her back soothingly. He wipes her tear-stained cheeks with his thumb before winking at her.

"Your mom's just joking, of course you can come meet Crystal. Right?" He turns to stare at me with a half expectant and half pleading look.

"Right." I sigh and shake my head in amusement when Aria cheers up instantly.

I follow Theo as we get into his car and drive to his ranch. Aria chatters away about how much she loves Crystal and wants a pony. I smile at the sight of him listening intently to every word and replying to every question she has.

He punches in a code to get inside the gates and we make our way to the pen. There's no animal in there but Theo tells us to wait before walking away to a stable and bringing out Crystal. I take in the vast land as he helps her with her gear and settles her on the beautiful pony.

By the time she's ready to go, Noah who is Theo's youngest sibling at sixteen years old, joins us. He has the same light green eyes as Theo's but with blonde hair. Noah all but begs his older brother to let him teach Aria and I nod when Theo asks if I'm okay with it. He reassures me that Noah's helped with classes a lot of times so I don't need to worry.

I rest my arms against the wood of the pen as I watch the boy take Crystal's reins and guide her around slowly. Both him and Aria quickly relax around each other and are blabbering away about random things in no time. Which leaves Theo and I to stand in silence as he comes up beside me.

"Aria told me you're an art teacher at the bigger school?"

"Yes, but she calls the University of Dallas the bigger school." I smile and he chuckles when he realizes.

"I've never seen you around here before. Did you recently move into the neighborhood?" He asks curiously while his gaze flickers from me to Aria and Noah.

"Yeah we moved around a month ago from London, UK."

"That makes more sense!" He chuckles and the comforting sound makes me smile. "What does your husband do?"

I stiffen before smiling weakly at Theo. "I'm not married. My boyfriend didn't want the commitment."

"I'm so sorry." He bites his lip and I wave him off. "But you had your family's support right?"

I shake my head with a sad smile and his eyes widen before a heavy breath escapes him. "Don't feel sorry, it's just the way life works out sometime."

He nods with a deep frown. "Does Aria know him?"

"She's seen a picture and can recognize him but I don't really talk about him much. He doesn't want to be involved in her life so there's no point."

His eyes snap to meet mine and I catch a flicker of anger which is surprising because mostly all I see is pity. "Well, she's a lovely girl so his loss."

It makes me smile and I nod in agreement before turning back to the pen. But this time when he stands next to me his arm presses against mine and I fight so hard not to let my breath hitch loudly. His warmth seeps into me and I feel an excited shiver run through my body over the contact. Theo smells like the earth after a rainfall, as if he had walked through a forest floor with a subtle hint of sweat from working. It's intoxicating.

"So, how are you liking Dallas so far?" He asks with a small smile as he instructs Noah here and there.

"It's really great. Everyone's so lovely too which makes me feel very welcomed."

"Yeah the people here are really friendly and will give you a hand with anything, even if it's the smallest thing." He chuckles fondly as we watch Aria cheer on Crystal.

"Where do you work?"

"This ranch is mine so I make sure we're doing business all the time with horse riding classes, selling produce and animals, helping other farmers, constructing furniture from the forest we own and much more." He nods to the woods at the end of the land. "I'm also the creative director and founder of my own graphic design company. Have you seen a colorful building in the city between the zoo and museum?"

"Oh yeah! That's yours? Wow, that's amazing Theo!" I smile widely as I remember Aria pointing it out when we were on our way to the zoo about two weeks ago.

"Thanks." He grins with a tinge of red at the tips of his ears. "Anyone that needs something to be designed we do it for them."

"You must be a very busy man then huh?" I tease with a playful nudge to his side.

"Barely have time to rest but it's a good life so can't complain." He shrugs with a content smile.

We talk for ages after that, the time flies by quickly but we hardly notice. I find out that he was born in Dallas but studied graphic design in the UK. He has five other brothers with him being the third son and Noah being the youngest.

He also tells me about his three sisters in laws, Ella, Zoe, and Elena with the sweetest smile on his lips. Elena is married to the oldest brother called Roman, Ella is married to Ryder who is the second oldest and Zoe is with Hunter who was born after Theo.

I catch him staring at me sometimes throughout our conversation before he'll hastily look away. The action makes me blush whenever I meet his heavenly green eyes. I've never seen a lighter shade like them before and they're so captivating.

As the evening sun makes its descent the wind seems to pick up and I struggle to tame my hair which causes him to chuckle. He tucks away many flying strands behind my ear as we talk and it only serves to make my poor heart race in both nervousness and delight.

"So, after Hunter it's Judah who lives in the UK and then it's Noah right?"

"Right. You have good memory." He laughs lightly as his shoulders shake. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Older brother and two younger sisters. We've drifted apart sadly so I don't talk to them much." I shrug and sigh when I realize that all I have is a sob story to tell.

I know he can tell I don't want to talk about my family so thankfully he lets it go. But then he looks up and notices the dark clouds above us. I shudder when a loud rumbling of thunder echoes before my gaze snaps to Aria in worry. I hope the thunder doesn't startle the pony but Theo seems like he doesn't want to take a chance and steps inside the pen.

"Alright Aria, let's get Crystal inside before it starts storming yeah?" He picks her up and places her on the ground so that I can help take off her gear.

"Time to head home, okay? Let's get this off you." I help her take the helmet off before following Theo to the stables.

"Charlotte, it's going to storm soon. Let me drive you both home." He insists as he glances out at the darkening sky.

"Uh okay..." I nod when I see the weather quickly taking a dreadful turn for the worst. "Thank you Theo."

"Of course." He nods before we follow him to his car and I get in after ensuring that Aria is all buckled up.

We drive across town and I give Theo directions to the house. The soft sound of some pop song fills the car as Aria rambles on from the backseat. I notice how patient and gentle Theo is with her. It makes me happy that for once we're not regarded with pitiful or judgmental eyes.

Eventually he pulls into the driveway and I thank him before opening the door. Aria clicks the seatbelt off and hops out of the car before running around to Theo. He chuckles at her eagerness to hug him and kneels before her at the back of the car. After unlocking the door to the house I walk back to them and coo mentally when he wraps his big arms around her, holding her gently with a smile.

"Can I see you again tomorrow Theo?" She asks excitedly which makes him throw his head back with a husky yet rich laugh.

"You can come meet me at the ranch anytime. Just promise me you'll tell your mom first. We wouldn't want her to be angry at me too now would we?" He winks which makes Aria giggle and I roll my eyes.

"I will! Goodnight Theo!" She pecks his cheek before running inside.

I watch her with a smile before turning to him. He steps a bit closer and I feel my heart skip a beat at the proximity. "I honestly don't mind when Aria comes over, I know how happy it makes her. Rest assured that she'll always be safe at the ranch."

"Thank you Theo, that's very sweet. But the reason I was being strict earlier is because she kicked a boy in class on Friday. I was trying to punish her but the little devil got away with it like always." I chuckle and watch his light green eyes glint with humor.

"What did the boy do?"

"Taunted her and tried to throw her lunch on the ground but –"

"Then it's fine, no punishment needed." He shrugs and I shake my head.

"She shouldn't have gone so far as kicking someone. Honestly sometimes I don't know what to do with her."

"Don't worry, she'll be okay. I used to be much worse in school." He grins cheekily which piques my curiosity.

"Really? How so?"

He smiles knowingly as he steps even closer and I inhale sharply when his hand brushes against mine. A delicious shiver shoots up my spine over the contact and I fight to stay still. "It'll take too long to explain."

"I have time." I reply before mentally groaning at what he must think of me. Did I just say that? Ugh how embarrassing! I wonder to myself.

Once again he grins and it lights up his features oh so handsomely. "How about I tell you all about it next Saturday...over dinner?"

"L-Like a date?" I stammer and feel my cheeks heat.

"Like a date Charlotte." He whispers with a nod of confirmation. He reaches out to twirl a strand of my strawberry blonde hair, as if he can't resist, while waiting for my answer.

I bite my lip when I hear my name roll off his lips so enticingly. It makes me want to hear him say it repeatedly. I feel excited and nervous at the same time as I nod in agreement. He grins widely before taking my hand and brushing his lips against my knuckles softly.

"Then it's a date."

Update schedule is: once a week whenever I find time!

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