by Laura Moore
Jade managed only a strangled “arggh!” of outrage before Rob, with a tug on her wrist, pulled her off balance. As she teetered, her free hand landed against his chest. He captured it too.
“Looks like I’ve caught you.” Succumbing to the hunger inside him that had been craving a taste of her for the past hour, Rob kissed her.
His kiss was fierce. It took, it plundered, and it demanded she respond in kind.
The touch of his firm lips, the bold sweep of his tongue against hers, rocked her, triggering an explosion of desire within her. Jade succumbed. With a desperate moan, she bit down on his lower lip. Flinging her suddenly liberated arms about his neck, she arched into him.
It shouldn’t be like this, this maddened stampede of need tearing through her the moment they embraced. No sexy music was driving their bodies together, no half-lit room with a king-size bed was awaiting them as their tongues dueled and their hands grasped and stroked. Her second-grade classroom was the un-sexiest room imaginable. And now that she and Rob knew each other’s identity, they should both be repelled, not fused together by raw passion and sweeping desire.
Unable to resist the aching pleasure his knowing caresses aroused, she pulled his dark head closer, kissing him feverishly.
Jade’s kiss, as hungry and carnal as he remembered, pushed him to the brink. Rob no longer cared who she was or wasn’t, he only wanted her. Time and place lost meaning. All that mattered was the need to feel her melting around him, to have her shudder and cry out in exquisite pleasure as she climaxed in his arms. Mindless, his hands streaked down, one circling her waist while the other grabbed fistfuls of her skirt, bunching and hiking it up to touch skin as soft as sun-kissed satin.
Her legs were trembling and, as his hand moved toward her panties, she moaned, the sweetest sound. When his fingers slid under the elastic band, her moan turned into a broken, desperate whimper.
She was as close to the edge as he, he thought with fierce satisfaction.
Then he touched her, brushing her curls, then slipping down her cleft and into her slick heat, and she felt as incredibly, mind-blowingly good as he remembered.
Her body was clenching convulsively around his fingers. The sensation drove him wild. He needed to be deeper inside her, replacing his fingers with his cock, thrusting into her and rocketing them both to a shattering climax. His craving for Jade obliterated all else.
“Do you have a condom?” He barely registered his own roughly whispered words. It took Jade’s forceful shove, sending him stumbling backward in surprise, to make him fully comprehend what he’d said and for sanity to return.
But it was too late.
“Get out!”
Jade’s agonized expression was a swift kick to the gut. “I—Jade—I’m—” he stammered.
Oh, God! she wailed silently. Did he think she was going to talk to him after what he’d just said? She’d never been so mortified in her life, and she’d lived through more than her fair share of embarrassments. Did Rob actually think she went to parents’ night with condoms packed in her laptop case? Maybe he believed she stored Trojans in her desk so she could have quickies during snack time?
He thought she was a slut. Just like your mom was, a cruel voice taunted her.
Rob still hadn’t moved. “I told you to get out, damn it,” she said, aware that tears were beginning to fall down her cheeks but unable to stop them. She was equally unable to control the shrill note in her voice as she demanded, “Just leave.”
Wordlessly, Rob opened the door, and Jade gave silent thanks to the Powells for having shut it after them. Otherwise, any passerby could have seen Rob and her.
“Jade—” Just over the threshold, Rob had turned back. “I’m really—”
He got no further.
With an anguished snarl, Jade slammed the door in his face, sank to the carpeted floor, and wept.
HE’D GONE and screwed up. Royally.
The thought drummed in his head even as Rob reached his car in the school’s lot. His cellphone was in hand, his thumb had already scrolled down to Ted Guerra’s number—he’d seen the school principal through the open door of his office talking to the Harrisons, so Rob figured there was a good chance he’d pick up—to make what was fast disintegrating into a halfhearted attempt to switch Hayley into Mrs. Creighton’s class. Hayley belonged in Jade Radcliffe’s class, no matter what his personal feelings were. No matter how he’d just managed to make Jade loathe him.
But the phone was already ringing and, what the hell, Tricia Creighton was a good teacher. Of course, if Rob’s brain had been functioning, he would have guessed what Guerra’s response to his request would be.
Ted squashed the idea flatter than a bug. “Sorry, Rob, but I’m unwilling to transfer Hayley to Tricia Creighton’s class. Tricia’s a veteran teacher, so I’ve placed a couple of students with her who were disruptive with their first-grade teachers. Even if Tricia didn’t have some behavioral problems in her class to contend with, Hayley is a very sensitive little girl. It would be hard for her to switch classes, and switching into a class where some of the kids are acting out would be especially difficult. I don’t want to put Hayley in a situation that might have a negative impact on her emotionally and academically. There’s no point. Jade Radcliffe and Hayley are a good match, Rob. I’ve been dropping in to observe Jade’s class and see how things are going. Hayley’s flourishing. She participates and she’s clearly comfortable with the class dynamics. Moreover, she already has a number of friends in the class. I hope you’ll soon come to recognize what a good experience she’s having with Jade Radcliffe.”
There, of course, was the crux of the problem. Rob had seen ample proof of Jade’s qualities as a teacher. The evidence was in the homework packets Hayley was assigned, a fun mix of traditional exercises and more-creative assignments, and in the way Hayley raced up the elementary-school steps each morning. Every parent dreamed of a school year beginning like this for his or her child.
He couldn’t bring himself to divulge that there were other aspects that made the classroom situation impossible. Ted wouldn’t know about Rob and Jade’s ancient history, and it went against Rob’s principles to speak of them. She’d been underage, and her case was long since closed. He damned well wasn’t going to discuss their all-too-recent history either.
The conversation concluded and Rob hung up, feeling frustrated and increasingly guilty. As much as he wanted to make the messy situation with Jade disappear, wishing wouldn’t make it happen. Removing Hayley from Jade’s class wasn’t going to make him forget the night he and Jade spent together or the way she’d kissed him minutes ago.
He could taste her on his lips.
There was bitter with the sweet, however. He could still see her tormented expression as she ordered him out of the classroom. He could still hear her ragged sobs as she broke down and cried on the other side of the door. He’d stood in the hallway like an impotent clod, wanting to go back into her room and say something but knowing his presence would only make things worse.
He had to apologize to her. He’d behaved like an ass. He’d sounded like such a dumb fuck. That his brain had been fried by lust was no excuse for his behavior. How could he have ever thought sex with Jade in a classroom a possibility? Asking her for a condom was, without a doubt, the most idiotic question he’d ever uttered.
She must despise him—if not for his ill-timed, moronic question, then for his condemning, holier-than-thou attitude.
She’d called him a prig and a hypocrite. It rankled that he couldn’t dismiss her accusations outright. He’d be the first to admit that he was tough; he was a cop. But he also believed he was ultimately fair-minded.
Yet he’d been anything but concerning that night in Norfolk. He realized now that it had been easier to play the blame game and tell himself that he’d been caught in Jade’s sexual lure than to admit he’d made plenty of the moves that led them to her hotel room. Because to admit that uncomfortable truth would be to acknowledge
that he’d desired a woman who wasn’t Becky—and desired her with desperate intensity.
Acknowledging that he still wanted Jade was even harder, especially now, knowing who she was and what a mistake it would be to get involved with her.
He drove from the elementary school on autopilot. It being a weeknight, Warburg was quiet. Lights shone over front doors and glimmered softly in upstairs windows, giving the houses a snug, sleepy look. Pulling into his own driveway, he saw that the family room at the end of the house was illuminated. His dad and mom would be in there, watching TV as they awaited his return. His gaze traveled to Hayley’s window. It was dark, but he knew she’d still be awake. She’d be too excited, wanting to hear exactly what he thought of Miss Radcliffe.
Unbuckling his seat belt, he remained immobile, staring at the small house he and Becky had bought six months into their marriage and trying to reconcile what he felt for Jade Radcliffe with the life he’d made with Becky in the trim little Colonial, with the love they’d made in there.
From where he sat, it was an impossible task. Whatever it was he felt for Jade—and damned if he could identify it yet—he knew it bore no resemblance to what he’d had with Becky.
But somehow that didn’t lessen the fierce hunger that consumed him whenever Jade entered his thoughts.
Hell. Well, there were a slew of things he craved but didn’t let himself have. Jade Radcliffe was going to enjoy the number-one spot on that particular list, he thought as he climbed out of the car.
He’d apologize to Jade for his actions and he’d keep Hayley in her class, but then he was going to maintain his distance. After all, Jade would only be teaching through the fall semester and then she’d be out of their lives.
Walking up to the front door, he spied one of Hayley’s makeshift horse jumps and bit off a curse. Hayley was going to be disappointed, but there it was. No way was he signing her up for riding lessons at Rosewood.
Because getting any more involved with Jade could only spell trouble.
All Jade wanted was to go back to her cottage, crawl into bed, pull the covers over her, and will the world away, but she’d promised to drop by the big house after parents’ night. She knew her sisters well. If she didn’t show up, they’d come to her place—and they might not leave. The sooner she gave them a highly edited version of the night’s events, the sooner she could forget the true horror of the evening and lock it away with all the other shitty memories she had of Rob Cooper.
Except that not all of the memories she had of him were so very lousy. Had he been drunk that night in Norfolk or had someone slipped him a happy pill? she wondered as she stomped up the front-porch steps, aware that the scowl on her face was probably as heavy as her tread.
Luckily, Rosewood was a huge old house and Georgie and Will’s rooms faced the back, so the noise she was making wasn’t likely to wake them up. As she passed a carved gilt mirror in the parlor, she smoothed the lines of her face, checking, too, that she’d scrubbed all the traces of her tears in the elementary-school bathroom.
She found Miriam in the library, watching a movie. Grace Kelly was on the screen. It took Jade only a second to identify the film; she loved To Catch a Thief.
“Hey, where are the others?”
“Margot ran upstairs to check on the kids, and Jordan’s making popcorn. Travis, Andy, and Owen went to do the barn check.”
“Owen probably wanted to sneak Cosmo some extra bedtime treats.”
Miriam nodded and stretched. “Yeah, Owen’s a soft touch when it comes to Cosmo. The guys were also going to drop by Thistle Cottage and look at Ned’s bathroom. Owen wants to redo it for him and is recruiting Travis and Andy to convince Ned that an update is essential.”
“That’ll take some serious convincing.”
“Yup. So we get to continue with our Grace Kelly fest. It’s in your honor, Jade. Margot told me you brought up Rear Window the other night and how since then Jordan and she have been dying to see her in action. You missed High Society.”
“Bummer.”
“So how’d it go tonight?” Miriam asked. She pressed the PAUSE button, freezing the image of a gorgeous Grace Kelly with her arms around Cary Grant’s neck, her eyes shining with triumph as she told him she’d figured out he was the infamous cat burglar.
What great stuff, Jade thought. Too bad her life wasn’t like that. Instead of Cary Grant, she got a jerk who wanted to know whether she had any spare condoms. What did he think, that she kept them in her teacher’s desk, next to the confiscated chewing gum?
Feeling depressed, she dropped down onto the sofa beside Miriam. “Sorry,” she apologized, when they bumped shoulders. With a groan, she laid her head against the cushion of the deep-green velvet sofa.
“It was that bad, huh?”
“Pretty darned hellish,” Jade admitted with a sigh.
“I’m surprised. You worked so hard putting your presentation together. It was great.”
“That wasn’t the awful part.”
“Oh. Gotcha. It was the doting parents.”
Jade lifted her head to stare moodily at the screen, then wished she hadn’t as Miriam said, “Hey, have you been crying? Your lids are all red.”
Damn. She hadn’t thought anyone would notice. Silly of her. Miriam was as perceptive as her sisters. “It’s not a big deal.”
“What happened tonight? Did Rob Cooper or the Harrisons give you a hard time?”
“Both, but the former took the prize.”
“What did Cooper do? Try to arrest you?”
“Ha. Not funny, Mir.”
“Sorry.”
“Forgiven,” Jade replied. Miriam was her closest friend. She’d stuck with her even when Jade had been at her most self-destructive, about as fun to be around as poison ivy.
“So what happened between you and Rob Cooper?”
Though Miriam was a few years older, she wasn’t that old—Jade could tell her about the night she’d spent with Rob Cooper and not have her faint from shock or completely freak with worried disapproval, which effectively crossed both Jordan and Margot off her Share Latest Stupidity list. “Mir, do you remember when I came home from Florida, how I told you I met a guy in the hotel?”
“The hottie?”
“Yeah.” Jade nodded glumly, remembering how, even hours after rolling between the sheets with Rob, she’d been humming with sexual satisfaction. She’d always thought she had pretty good internal radar when it came to jerks. Clearly it needed a major repair job.
Or maybe the problem was her. She’d known who he was tonight and she’d still let him kiss her. And a lot more besides, her guilty conscience reminded her. Like almost making her come in his arms—in her classroom. Oh, God.
“Sure I remember you mentioning him.” Miriam laughed. “You were looking like my cat, Lulu, after a saucer of cream. Very happy. What’s your Norfolk hottie have to do with how your parents’ night went?”
Jade shifted uncomfortably on the soft velvet cushions. “Well, it turns out that the hottie was Rob Cooper.”
“What?” Miriam shrieked. “He’s—Jade—that’s—oh my God! It’s one thing not to bother getting a guy’s number; I didn’t realize you couldn’t be bothered to find out his name!”
Okay, so maybe Miriam was reacting a little more intensely than Jade had anticipated. It must be the fact that she was getting ready to tie the knot with Andy. “I didn’t really think knowing his name mattered,” she said defensively. “And, FYI, he didn’t seem to think knowing my name was all that essential either—”
“What’s this about not knowing names?” Jordan entered the library, carrying a truly enormous bowl of popcorn. “Did you forget the name tags? How’d it go otherwise, sweetie?”
“Yeah, tell us everything,” Margot added, a few steps behind her.
“Yeah, Jade, tell them everything,” Miriam said, folding her arms across her chest. Her posture reeked of maturity.
Oh, crap. The trouble with Miriam was that she wasn’t onl
y Jade’s friend, she was Jordan’s and Margot’s as well. Mir looked up to them, admired them—which wasn’t to say that Jade didn’t as well, but in addition to worrying just how badly they were going to react to what she told them about Rob, well, it was also kind of weird to be sharing this stuff with her sisters.
But a glance at Miriam’s set expression told Jade it was useless to prevaricate. So much for giving Jordan and Margot a neatly edited version in which all the messy and less-than-stellar moments were carefully deleted.
Shooting her best friend a dirty look, she said with a sigh, “You guys better take a seat. And, Jordan, you’ll definitely want to put the bowl of popcorn down.” No sense in having good popcorn tossed all over the floor when Jordan fainted from shock.
Ten agonizing, embarrassing, heat-crawling-over-her-cheeks minutes passed while she hemmed and hawed her way through her account of meeting a really good-looking sexy guy in Norfolk, spending the night with him, and then discovering to her considerable dismay that the man she’d relegated to a fond (though steamy) memory was very much in her present—because he was none other than Officer Rob Cooper, aka RoboCop, aka Hayley’s dad. Deciding she might as well get the worst of it over, she included her and Rob’s mutual horror at parents’ night when they recognized each other. But she kept to herself the final, truly mortifying bit, when Rob had kissed her and stroked her until she nearly climaxed, and his appalling condom request.
Not only was the story embarrassing as all get-out, but in order to stress that she wasn’t a complete idiot, she’d already mentioned the word condom a few too many times in front of Jordan.
Jordan had her own unpleasant prophylactics memories. Back when she was pregnant with Olivia and married to her first husband, Richard, she’d happened upon a bunch of them in Richard’s suit pocket. Suffice it to say, the condoms weren’t being used by Jordan and Richard.
Jade didn’t want Jordan to have to relive the anguish of that by uttering the word anymore. And revealing that she’d allowed Rob to kiss her again, or that the moment he’d touched her she’d practically come in his arms, was too upsetting to admit aloud. This was RoboCop, after all.
