by Rhian Cahill
“No worries, Mr. Moreland.” Jim Landry, Huntington’s star five-eighth, bent to pick up his backpack. Straightening, he added, “It’s the least we could do after you helped us with our English essays.”
“Yeah. Thanks sir.” Andy Sturgis shouldered his bag. “I’d never pass if you didn’t take the time to walk me through it.”
Toby smiled. “You’d do fine. You just need to stop thinking it’s too hard. Half the time you talk yourself out of doing well.”
Andy ducked his head and shuffled his feet with a mumbled, “Thanks.”
For a senior, the kid was a little lacking in self-confidence, except on the football field. There, Andy overflowed with confidence.
Toby clapped them both on the back to nudge them on their way. “Go on. Get out of here. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Toby watched them head across the field towards the school’s rear gate. At this time of day the entrance would be locked, but both boys knew the code to open the gate after hours. Being on the school’s League team meant they were on school grounds outside normal operating times in the mornings and early evenings during the footy season.
Speaking of the time…
He glanced at his watch. Ten to seven.
“Fuck.”
He was supposed to meet Madison twenty minutes ago. Racing around the shed, he bypassed the most direct route—through the building—for the fastest. The school should be deserted by now but there was a chance one or two people were still inside and he wasn’t about to get caught running in the halls. He’d done enough of that as a teenager.
Sprinting the length of the gym, he took the corner wide in an effort to lose as little speed as possible and pumped his legs harder.
Dammit. She was going to be pissed.
His runners lost traction as he flung himself around the final corner and out into the car park. Small pieces of gravel shot out from under his feet as he fought to stay on them and keep moving forward. The school’s bus was at the far end, near the admin building, and at least a hundred meters away yet. There were only a couple of cars left in the lot so Toby had an unobstructed view of the bus.
And Madison Keibler, trying to load one of the school’s large lockboxes into the rear luggage compartment.
“Hey!” She didn’t hear his shout—or chose to ignore it—and continued to struggle with the thing. “Dammit.” He dug deeper and gained a bit more speed.
From ten meters out, he saw it happen. The side of the box clipped the edge of the doorframe and rebounded into Madison. Instead of letting go and jumping out of the way, she tried to control the oversized load.
“Jesus.” The word exploded on a rush of air as Toby collided with Madison’s back. He flung his arms around her and groped for the box.
“What—?” Smashed between him and their precariously tilting cargo, Madison yelped in pain.
“Hang on.” He tried to get a better grip so he could shove the lockbox into the back of the bus. Angling to the left, he cleared the doorframe and propelled the box inside.
Although his efforts to keep them from falling were useless, because Madison took exception to being pressed against him and threw her arms out as she spun around.
He tightened his hold as he lost his balance and in the next heartbeat, Toby found himself flat on his back, gasping for breath, with a flailing Madison in his arms.
“Let me go,” she screeched in his ear.
Her elbow connected with his ribs knocking the last of the air from his lungs. Knees and feet bashed into his legs, the former coming perilously close to unmanning him, and the latter delivering sharp pain to both his shins. He’d be wearing bruises tomorrow.
“Easy.” He tried to grab her arms, pin her legs with his, but she was like the Tasmanian Devil, whirling around frantically. If she kept it up she’d hurt herself. It was too late to stop her from hurting him. “Madison!”
She stopped. Sucked in a breath. Her breasts pressed into him and one thigh rested against his cock, which in spite of the recent scuffle and narrow escape from injury, was showing interest in the womanly curves cradled in his arms. “Tobias?”
“Yeah.” He breathed in and out slowly, willing his body to behave.
“Oh.” She sagged against him, sending all sorts of interesting ideas through his head—the one on his shoulders and the one in his pants. “I thought…”
“What?” He frowned. “That I was attacking you?”
“Yes. No. Not you.” Madison palmed his shoulders and pushed up, causing her leg to press into his groin with more pressure. There was no way she could miss his reaction to holding her close. She looked down at him with wide eyes for long seconds before saying in a wobbly voice, “I didn’t know who’d grabbed me.”
“But you thought someone was attacking you?” Toby shook his head clear of lustful thoughts and focused on the conversation. “Jesus, woman, you’re in a secure parking lot.”
“I…well…” She licked her lips, drawing his gaze, and Toby felt that small action in his balls.
Her face was flushed red and strands of hair floated around her head where they’d come loose from her bun. It was the most disheveled he’d seen her. Toby imagined she’d look similar after an orgasm. His body tightened in response to the new images playing through his mind. Definitely no way she was missing the hard ridge poking her leg now.
“Um…” She caught the right side of her bottom lip in her teeth and sent his blood pressure soring. Blinking slowly several times as if she were in a trance, Madison stared at him with confusion swirling in her gaze. “I…”
“Do you need help getting up?” Not that he wanted her to get up. Toby would be happy to lie here with her spread over him all damn day but he figured once she got her wits about her, she’d be in a hurry to move.
“Oh!” Her eyes opened comically wide and the dark brown color made him think of melted chocolate. “Sorry.” With exaggerated care, she untangled herself and climbed to her feet.
Trying to drag his mind out of the gutter and force his body to behave, he rolled to the side and stood. Brushing the gravel and dirt from his clothes, he resolutely ignored the hard-on in his shorts. With Madison no longer in his arms, the lust fog cleared from his brain enough for him to remember the small cry of pain she’d emitted as they’d collided. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.
She glanced around, her hands twisting together in front of her.
“Madison?” He took a step closer. “Are you hurt?”
“Oh. No.” Her hands broke apart and smoothed down the sides of her skirt, bringing his attention to the way the material had rucked up her legs to reveal slender thighs.
Her skin looked silky-smooth and his fingers twitched with the need to reach out and touch. Heat washed over him. Shit. He really needed to rein in his desire for this woman. It was becoming more potent by the second. Swallowing, he ran his tongue over his lips then cleared his throat. “Ah, okay. Good.” He nodded.
She gave him a tight smile and turned away.
It didn’t take a genius to work out she was dismissing him. She had this way about her; she wasn’t rude or aggressive, but she conveyed her feelings perfectly without saying a word. For someone who used an economy of words, Madison spoke nonstop with her body and expressions.
When she tried to move the box again, Toby darted forward. “Here. Let me do that.”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Her prim tone, the clipped words, shouldn’t get him hot. Actually, nothing about her should get him hot. She was the opposite of his type. He went for warm, outgoing, confident, independent… Okay; in some ways she was his type, she definitely had the confident and independent down pat.
“I know you’re fine but I’m offering to help anyway.”
“Suit yourself.” She stepped out of the way and crossed her arms over her chest.
Lord, even the haughty way she held herself got his engine revving.
He wanted her. More than he’d wanted any woman si
nce he’d been an adolescent teeming with hormones.
He’d have to be careful though. This woman wouldn’t be easy to win over. She had walls surrounding her. Walls on top of her walls. Except Toby had a feeling they weren’t of her making. Since she’d joined the faculty, he’d caught fleeting glimpses of yearning, sadness in her eyes. He may have imagined them but he didn’t think so. There were emotions lurking in her gaze he wanted to explore.
She’d barely given him the time of day and he possibly bordered on stalkerville with the way he’d watched her in the last few months, but there was this pull he couldn’t seem to ignore. It was sick and probably made him a masochist or something, but the more she telegraphed her dislike, the closer to her he wanted to get.
Toby didn’t doubt scaling her barriers would be hard work, except when he looked at her, with her starched blouse askew and scraped-back hair slightly mussed from their tumble, he couldn’t deny he wanted to get beneath her stay-away veneer no matter what it took.
Why he thought there was something worth discovering under Madison’s façade, he didn’t know. He should take her at face value. Except the saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ kept rolling though his head. And every second he spent with her made him more determined to unearth the real Madison.
***
Madison shivered. She wasn’t cold. There wasn’t a breeze. The early autumn evening was actually quite balmy. No. Her body had gone into some sort of…well, she didn’t know what it was doing precisely except she’d never experienced it before.
The only thing that was undisputable was the fact that Tobias Moreland was responsible.
She’d gone all hot and shivery lying in his arms. He was hard. Everywhere. Muscled but not obscenely so, and the hardness in his pants confused her. Did holding her arouse him? The thought had left her fumbling to understand what was happening, and the urge she’d had to rub against him shocked her. Then angered her.
He had no right to make her feel all soft and melty.
And brainless.
Whatever he’d done, it had short-circuited her brain. Even now, several feet away, she could feel the heat radiating off him like the shimmer on a hot summer day rising from a long stretch of black tarmac. It took an extreme amount of control to remain where she was—to not walk up behind him and press herself against his back to soak up all that warmth.
What on earth was that?
“Pull yourself together, Madison,” she muttered.
“Huh?” Tobias looked over his shoulder. “Did you say something?”
“Uh, no.” She forced a smile. A thin stretch of her lips, no teeth.
He raised an eyebrow in a way that gave her the impression he knew she was lying.
She scrambled for a distraction and hit on what she’d been thinking right before his notable arrival. “You’re late.” Madison didn’t even attempt to keep the censure from her voice.
“Sorry. I was—”
“Don’t let it happen tomorrow. We need to leave here at eight. Sharp.” She didn’t need—or want—excuses. She needed someone she could rely on, who could perform his task on time and properly.
Tobias frowned at her. “Look—”
“No.” She pointed her finger at him. “You look. This is an important component in the curriculum for these students. If you aren’t able to fulfill your obligation and arrive on time, I need to know now.”
The man infuriated her.
She didn’t understand the level of irritation he inspired or the rude way she dealt with all these foreign emotions and sensations. Contrary to her recent conduct, she wasn’t an ill-mannered person. Or driven to aggravation easily.
Madison knew her current behavior was an overreaction but couldn’t seem to stop. She lowered her eyelids and drew in a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, she opened her eyes and focused on the man in front of her.
Had he moved closer?
Striving to keep her voice even and nonthreatening, she said, “Please be on time in the morning. We have to allow for traffic and I don’t want to be late for our first guided session.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Yes, but will you be on time?”
He was grinning at her now. Why was he grinning?
“I fail to see the amusement…”
Reaching over, he brushed lose hair away from her forehead. “It’s curly.”
“What?”
“Your hair.” Tobias picked up a strand near her chin. Twirled it around his finger. “It’s curly.”
“Stop that.” Madison slapped his hand away and stepped back as a shiver racked her.
He flustered her. Made her thoughts splinter, shoot off in every direction.
He tipped his head toward the bus. “Anything else need to go in?”
In an effort to clear her thoughts, as well as answer him, she shook her head. “No.”
“Right. Let’s lock up and grab dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“Yes.” He slammed the doors and made sure the lock engaged. “You know, food?”
“Oh.” Madison shook her head again. “That won’t be necessary.”
“You don’t want to go over the program?”
“No. I have it under control.” Madison pushed the alarm button on the bus key.
“Never thought you didn’t, but I would like to know the details of the excursion before we’re there.” Tobias gripped her elbow and steered her toward the admin building.
She yanked her arm from his grasp and turned to face him. “Tobias—”
“Toby.”
“What?”
“Everyone calls me Toby. Well, except my mom, but she gets a pass on account of the fact she gave birth to me.” He flashed straight white teeth.
Madison was momentarily stunned by his dazzling smile. Shaking her head—again—she continued, “Fine. Toby. There’s no need to go over the program. Everything is summarized in the file Mr. Richardson gave you. As long as you show up—on time—you’ll be doing what’s required.”
“I’ll feel better if you go over it with me. You have to eat, right? So do I. May as well do it together and go over the plan. Kill three birds with one stone. Plus you want me to be prepared for tomorrow, yes?” He gripped her elbow and moved them forward once more.
“Tobias.” His fingers tightened, moved across her skin a fraction, and she sucked in a breath as heat traveled up her arm and flooded into her chest like warm caramel syrup.
“Toby.” Reaching out, he opened the door and ushered inside. “And don’t bother with another argument. We’re getting dinner and going over what you’ve got planned.”
She opened her mouth but snapped it shut when she caught the look he gave her.
He released her. “Go get whatever it is you need from your staffroom. I’ll wait here.”
“I don’t need anything. I packed my car earlier.”
“Right. Let’s go then.”
Opening the door they’d just come through, Tobias propelled her outside with a hand to her lower back. A shudder ricocheted up her spine. Madison wasn’t sure if it was frustration, resignation or anticipation. Whatever it was, she didn’t have the first clue how to deal with it—or him.
Chapter Three
Toby ground his teeth and tried to pretend the woman next to him didn’t set them on edge. Or get his blood boiling. This morning she’d been waiting for him, arms crossed, one foot tapping the ground, a scowl on her face. A scowl she reserved exclusively for him.
Everyone else got her smiles.
Like now. They sat in a loose circle with their students, discussing the day so far. And she was smiling. Big. Wide. Natural.
Not the forced stretch of lips she occasionally graced him with.
He’d missed a lot of the historic site around them because he’d spent most of his day studying Madison. She was in her element with the students. It was as though she had a split personality—the cold, aloof, sometimes abrasive woman he interacted with and the warm
, engaging woman the kids got.
He found himself jealous of a bunch of teenagers.
He wanted this Madison.
It didn’t take a genius to work out it came down to comfort and confidence. For some reason, she felt at ease with her students, relaxed enough to let down those walls she hid behind. He’d watched her interact with their guide too, and she seemed as standoffish with him as she was with Toby.
From the corner of his eye, he watched Kim and Rick attempt to sneak off behind their backs and was about to speak when Madison beat him to it.
“Park your behinds back down, you two.” She didn’t even look at them. “If you’re going to attempt to slip away to find a secluded spot to engage in kissing, at least wait until we’re all a little more distracted and it’s dark.”
“Miss…” Kim hissed as she flopped down on the grass where they were all enjoying the last of the sun’s rays while they ate dinner and waited for their night tour to begin.
“What? You think I don’t know you two are dating?” Madison aimed an eyebrow-arched look the young girl’s way. “Although I would have thought all the information available on communicable diseases would have turned the two of you off swapping body fluids.”
A couple of gasps, a few yucks and even a gagging sound reverberated around the group. Everyone protested Madison’s comment in some way except Rick. The kid was grinning for ear to ear.
Toby smiled.
He’d had little to do with these particular students, none of them were in his PDHPE classes or on any of Huntington’s sports teams, but he’d found them to be an exceptional group of individuals. He had no clue why they’d been given full-ride scholarships; some no doubt for their genius IQs, others for being classified underprivileged or disadvantaged. What he did know was that each of them took their education seriously, enthusiastically. They were like sponges soaking up every molecule of information.
And they loved Madison Keibler.
The connection between this group of teenagers and Madison was tangible. If he didn’t know better, he’d say they’d known her for years. It was a rare teacher who could connect with students that well, never mind that quickly. He’d known she was good at her job. Hard to miss the talk of the ‘excellent new teacher’ in the staffrooms, hallways and schoolyard, even if he hadn’t been hungry for any little detail about her.
