My heart did a dangerous thing then, fluttering and beating harder, like it wanted to jump out of my chest and splatter itself against Cole’s face. Butterflies erupted in my stomach and I had to take a few deep breaths before I could speak. His support, given in the way he understood, meant too much to me. I knew it but it was too late to pretend like I wasn’t feeling things for him that I shouldn’t. “Okay.”
His eyes crinkled in the corners, the light blue of his irises practically twinkling in the morning light as he smiled. His dimples came out to play and I almost leaned forward and flicked my tongue over them. Clearly, there was something wrong with me.
“That was a lot of time and facial expression for you to just sayokay.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and moved me like a doll so I was straddling him. His tattooed arms flexed as he did and when my eyes tracked the movement, he flexed again on purpose. “You’re drooling.”
I scoffed and leaned back, crossing my arms and scowling. “I do not drool.”
“As the man you used as a pillow last night, I beg to differ.”
“Do you want to get kicked out?”
His grin stretched even wider. “Fine. You don’t drool. You just…orally leak.”
I made a disgusted face and pushed out of his lap. “Gross. Just…gross. I’m ignoring all of that. So, self-defense. Teach me. Please.”
His face turned stern and serious and I suddenly felt weak in the knees. I was pretty sure he was giving me a new kink, one where he bossed me around and punished me when I stepped out of line. Maybe he’d even wear his old uniform… He’d mentioned being in the SEALs before he retired from service and I was suddenlyveryinterested in how he looked in that uniform.
I bit my lip and silently chastised myself. That was probably so disrespectful. I cleared my throat and rubbed my hands together. “Um… Where should we do this?”
Cole moved towards me like a lion closing in on its prey. His large body made no sound as he moved, even somehow avoiding the part of the floor that creaked. “Here. We have maybe an hour before Noah is awake and bouncing off the walls.”
He filled that hour completely, telling me about attack angles and escape methods before getting to the part where I got to break out of his holds. That part of the hour was a lesson in control for both of us. I felt his hardness when he grabbed me from behind and accidentally arched into it a few times before Cole’s big hand landed on my ass in a warning. He took his training seriously. I let him.
I felt turned on to the point of pain, and like I could kick Darren’s ass if he ever got physical with me. The hour ended and we heard the first sound of the boys moving around. I was breathing hard after breaking free from one of Cole’s holds, staring up at him, tracing his tattoos and muscles with hungry eyes. I’d noticed the scratches down his back earlier and thinking about them then had me shifting in place, trying to get even an ounce of relief by squeezing my thighs together.
He suddenly gripped the back of my neck in a fierce hold that allowed no room for argument. “Keep looking at me like that and I’m going to pin you to the wall and do my best to fuck you through it.”
I slapped my hands over my eyes and let out a ridiculous giggle. “The boys are up!”
He tugged me into his chest and waited for me to meet his heated gaze. “Interesting. You know what you didn’t say?”
I sank my teeth into my bottom lip and shook my head.
“That last night was a one-time thing and we weren’t doing it again.” His smirk was cocky but his eyes were warm. “I’ll take that to mean you want me again.”
“Hey!” Before I could tell him that he was wrong he’d gripped the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over my head. It left me bare on top but he simply growled when he saw my breasts and yanked his shirt on. I instantly missed the oversized shirt and the smell of him. “You could’ve just asked.”
“I’ll note that for next time.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my mouth before grabbing the doorknob. “The boys are on the move.”
I found a bra on top of my dresser and dragged a shirt on just as he opened the door and stepped out. He shut the door behind him, giving me more time to calm down before facing the kids. I pressed my forehead to the hollow door and groaned. What the hell was I doing?
I could almost see the path to self-destruction and it terrified me that it didn’t terrify me more. A smart woman would zip up her pants, wear her ugliest panties, and keep her vagina closed for business. Especially when her job depended on it.
“Mom. Did you know Noah’s dad is in our house?”
I barely stopped myself from banging my head into the door.
28
Callie
The auditorium was small and never heated or cooled well enough to make it comfortable. There’d been a constant push to fundraise to get the HVAC system replaced since before I started teaching at the school but Darren and the school board seemed to think there were always better things to spend the money on. They’d clearly never held auditions for a play with parents hovering over their shoulders, breathing in their ears about why their kid would be the perfect fit for this or that part.
I’d never led auditions before and it showed in how long it was taking. I wasn’t blind to the parents checking their watches. It was like asking feral cats to stand in a perfect line to get the kids to stand where they were supposed to and repeat the lines their parents had practiced with them. It didn’t help that after every kid left the stage there was another parent quietly mentioning what was perfect or terrible about it. Everyone had a damn opinion while I had none. I just knew I couldn’t let thekids without jerk parents be pushed aside simply because their parents didn’t feel the need to harass a teacher.
“Okay, Tommy, take your hands out of your pants, please.” I tried to keep my voice light and happy but I’d been sitting in the uncomfortable auditorium for hours. “Do you remember the thing you’re supposed to say?”
His mom twisted around to face me from where she sat in the first row. “He has eczema, Callie. Don’t shame him for trying to scratch an itch. God.”
