Luisa was proud of herself for reaching her first Christmas break as a teacher. It had been more difficult than she had expected. Nothing she had done before, not her classes nor her student teaching, had prepared her for being in front of her own classroom. She very quickly found out that her cheerfulness and enthusiasm did not make eighth-graders any more interested in English grammar than if she'd stood in front of the class tired and resentful.

Her assigned mentor, a fifteen-year veteran teacher by the name of Augusta O'Neill, had told her to tone down her eagerness, and Luisa wasn't sure if she'd said that as a joke or in seriousness. Still, despite the rough patches, she felt she'd made the right choice.

She pushed her shopping cart around a corner and heard someone call her name. She looked up from her list and saw one of her students waving at her.

"Miss Cruz!" the girl said loudly. She skipped toward Luisa's cart. "How are you?" She shifted her weight from foot to foot.

Luisa smiled. "Hello, Sandra. I'm fine, and you?"

"Oh, I'm good, miss. I told my mom how much I love your class. You're the best teacher in the whole school," the girl gushed.

"Thank you. Are you with your mom?"

"She's not here. I just came to buy some stuff to make Christmas cookies. Rosie and Debra are with me." The girl glanced behind her. "They're staring at some hot older guy in a suit."

"Oh? Well, let's go get them, then. I wouldn't want them to get in trouble." Luisa smiled, but she was alarmed about having a couple of thirteen-year-olds ogling a grown man.

Sandra skipped ahead of her to the far end of the aisle. "Hey, guys! Look who I found. Look!"

The two girls spun around, their faces a cross between shock and embarrassment.

"Oh, Miss Cruz. Hi."

Luisa was just about to speak when a familiar voice broke in.

"Miss Cruz. Fancy meeting you here. It's so good to see you." Kim Seokjin stood before her. She noticed all three girls went wide-eyed and silent.

"Hello," Luisa said softly. So, he was the hot older guy in a suit. Her eyes took in the tailored jacket he was wearing, which perfectly accentuated his broad shoulders. His dark hair was cut shorter and his bangs fell endearingly onto his chiseled face. Dear God, he looked incredible. No wonder the girls were awestruck. "I-I thought you'd moved to Houston."

He smiled, and she heard the girls sigh in unison.

"I did. I'm just here for a few days on business."

"Oh? What do you do?"

"Print advertising. For magazines and such." He tilted his head to one side. "I was going to pick up a few things to take back to my hotel room, but now that I've run into you, maybe I can convince you to have dinner with me."

"Aww," one of the girls cooed.

Luisa glanced nervously at her students. It wouldn't look good for her to make plans with a man in front of these impressionable girls. She hated to think what would get back to their parents.

"Uh, well..."

"You should definitely go, Miss C," Sandra said.

"Yeah, this is like a Hallmark movie," Debra added. "He's like a prince."

"You're so lucky," Rosie whispered.

Seokjin's eyebrow went up as he flashed her a smile.

Luisa shook her head. "Girls, he is not some random stranger. I've known him for many years. This is Mr. Kim Seokjin, a friend of mine from college. Seokjin, these are some of my students. Sandra, Debra, and that's Rosie over there."

"Hiiiii," the girls said in unison.They were clearly enamored.

"Nice to meet you, ladies," he directed his attention to them. "I am a very, very good friend of Miss Cruz." He leaned closer to them. "And I'd very much appreciate it if you'd convince her to have dinner with me."

"Oh, yes, miss!"

"You should go!"

Luisa's eyes took in Seokjin's amused face. "Girls, you should finish your shopping and get home before it gets dark. Go on." She indicated for the girls to start walking. "And Merry Christmas."

They gave her a half-hearted Merry Christmas, probably upset that they'd be missing whatever else would be said.

"Why'd you do that?" Luisa asked. She tried to sound stern, but the corner of her mouth lifted up in the hint of a smile. "Who knows what story those girls will tell everyone at school."

Seokjin chuckled. "Oh, they'll forget about it by the time the day is over. So, what do you say? Dinner?"

She hesitated only briefly. "Okay. But don't look at me like that. It's only dinner."

"Scout's honor," he said primly. He looked down at the basket he was holding. "I guess I won't need all this junk food anymore. Maybe the wine. I hope after dinner you might consider drinking this wine with me."

Luisa pursed her lips. "After dinner I plan to go home to my own place."

"Fine. I'm still going to buy it. I may have to drink it all just to get over your abandonment." He flashed her his patented bright smile.