by Laura Ann
Ms. Frogg’s Hidden Prince
By Laura Ann
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
MS. FROGG'S HIDDEN PRINCE
First edition. October 2, 2018.
Copyright © 2018 Laura Ann.
Written by Laura Ann.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
PROLOGUE
THE END
Author Note
Middleton Prep Series Order
NEWSLETTER
A HOME FOR THE UGLY DUCKLING
KEEP READING
DEDICATION
To the little fairy who devours
Words as if they were air.
May your wonder always
Take you on adventures.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A BIG thanks to my Beta Group
For their help and insights.
And as always, to Victorine,
Whose covers are beautiful.
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“A Home for the Ugly Duckling”
HERE
CHAPTER 1
Tia Frogg wanted to cry. She stood staring into the porcelain sink, but her eyes weren’t registering the scene in front of her. Only moments ago, she had been washing her hands when a fly buzzed by her ear. Jerking involuntarily, she had rubbed her ear against her shoulder and that movement had caused her beloved gold earring to slip out, fall into the sink and subsequently disappear down the drain with the running water.
She felt a sob working its way up her chest and did her best to hold it at bay. A small squeak escaped, but it proved enough to let loose the tears waiting in her eyes. What am I going to do? That was the only thing Noni left me.
Fanning her face, Tia gulped in a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down enough to think clearly. Running out of the bathroom, she grabbed a spare rubber band out of her desk drawer and quickly wadded her long, dark braids up in a wild knot on top of her head.
“Okay.” She took another cleansing breath. “I can solve this. There has to be a way to get my earring back.”
Walking purposefully back towards the bathroom, she let her mind flip through different scenarios; none of which seemed viable. As she continued sifting through plan after plan, she felt her panic begin to rise again.
“No!” Tia scolded herself. “I will not panic. Nothing gets done if you panic.”
As she stared at the sink, she heard the sound of a squeaky wheel go past her classroom door. Janitor Gruff!
Taking off like a rabbit being chased, Tia raced towards the classroom door. Whipping it open she darted into the hallway. “JANITOR GRUFF!” Her screech echoed in the linoleum-lined space.
A large, broad man with long wild hair and a beard to match, stopped his movement. Turning around, he raised an eyebrow at Tia’s shout.
“I need your help! Please!” She waved her arm at him. “Come on, it’s in the bathroom.”
Janitor Gruff looked up and down the hallway as if to find an excuse not to follow the crazy lady into her room, but nothing presented itself.
“Please.” Tia’s voice dropped. It was small and pleading. “I really do need your help.”
With a nod, Janitor Gruff pushed his cleaning cart to the side of the hall and followed her into the room.
Tia’s movements were edgy and frantic. She ushered Janitor Gruff in as quickly as she could, practically shoving him into the bathroom. “It’s in here.”
Janitor Gruff planted his feet and refused to be moved any further. Crossing his arms, he turned around and stared at Tia. “The bathroom?” His voice was dark and rough, it sent a tingle down her spine, but she was too panicked to notice the sensation.
“Yes!” Tia waved her arms toward the sink. “My earring went down the sink. I-I-I rubbed it against my shoulder and just POOF! It dropped down the sink before I could stop it.” She grabbed onto his bicep, ignoring the bulge and strength of it, and shook it to make her point. “Please. It was my Noni’s.”
That eyebrow rose again, but otherwise, Janitor Gruff’s stalwart body stood still.
“Noni was my grandmother. She left me her earrings. It’s all I have of hers.” Tears filled Tia’s large brown eyes, as she pleaded her case.
Janitor Gruff’s face softened and he turned around to eye the sink. “Was the water running when it dropped?”
“Yes. But I stopped it immediately.”
Janitor Gruff nodded. “It’s probably stuck in the trap.” He turned around.
“Where are you going?” Tia’s voice started to rise again.
“I need a wrench and a few other tools. They’re in the landscape shed. Can I do that?” His eyes flickered down and Tia realized she was holding onto his wrist.
She let go as if she had been burned. “Yes. Sorry. Thank you. I mean ... “ She took a deep breath. “I would really appreciate it. Thank you.” She wrung her fingers together, trying to work out the tingles running through them.
With a grunt, Janitor Gruff turned and stomped out the door.
BRODY GRUFF CALLED himself twenty kinds of a fool as he walked to the garden shed. He rubbed his wrist where she had been holding it. Her touch had sent a warmth through him that he hadn’t felt in ages. A warmth that he hadn’t planned to ever feel again.
“She’s just a woman, you idiot.” A woman you have been watching for months. His inner voice reminded him. Shaking his head, he focused on the task ahead.
Unlocking the shed, he turned on the overhead light and found the wrench and bucket he needed.
“Would it be so bad if something happened between you and the home ec teacher?” He murmured to himself as he walked. He thought of her long, black braids, just begging to be touched. Her large, brown eyes, like the finest chocolate. His fingers itched as he thought of her figure. She wasn’t the skinniest of women, she had healthy curves in all the right places; just perfect for a man like him.
His tall, broad stature caused him to tower over most females and he had never been drawn to the tiny, petite ones. They only made him feel like even more of a giant oaf. She’s the perfect size ... and I hear she can cook to make a man beg.
He’d been janitoring these halls for a couple of years, which was long enough to hear what the kids talked about, not to mention long enough to get a good whiff of the smells emanating from her wing of the school. More than once he had found himself stopping and taking a deep breath, wishing he could grab whatever she had concocted that day and take a huge bite.
He hadn’t had good cooking in months. Back before he had become Janitor Gruff, he had eaten only the best foods and enjoyed the services of a cleaning lady and a cook on a daily basis. Now he was the cleaning lady and most of his meals came from a school cafeteria.
Brody tugged on his beard as he walked. Not to mention, I’m homeless and I’m pretty sure everybody here thinks I’m twenty years older than I am. What woman would want to date that? He shook his head.
&
nbsp; As he arrived back at the classroom, he found Tia pacing the room; her anxiety obvious. She rushed toward him as he walked in. “Oh good, you’re back. Do you think you can find it?”
“Won’t know ‘til I look.” With a firm nod, he headed into the bathroom and got down on the floor. Ten minutes later he had a bucket full of water with a gold earring in the bottom. Fishing it out, he wiped it on his shirt to dry it off and stood up, admiring the pretty glow of it in the fluorescent lighting.
“You found it!” Tia yelled and lunged to take it from him.
Without conscious thought, Brody found himself holding it out of her reach.
“What the—” Tia pulled back and put her hands on her hips. She scowled, scrunching together her perfectly shaped eyebrows and pursing her lovely lips.
Brody gulped, wishing he could stop noticing all those things about her. He cleared his throat. “I, uh, I think maybe I should get something for it? Don’t you?”
Tia’s face cleared. “Oh. What would you like?”
A sudden idea ran through Brody and before he could think better of it, he blurted out “Five favors.”
Her eyes went wide. “Five? Are you kidding me? That’s a whole lot of favors for such a small job.” She waved her arm toward the bucket of water. “You only needed two tools and a few minutes. How in the world is that worth five favors?”
Brody smirked. “How tough the job was doesn’t matter as much as how much the object is worth.” He twirled the earring in front of her, jerking it back when she tried to grab it. “Is this earring from your ... Noni was it? Worth five favors?”
Tia’s shoulders fell. “Fine.” Her voice was defeated and for a split second Brody felt bad, but he shoved the feeling aside. “What are the favors?”
Brody tilted his head from side to side, thinking. “I don’t know, yet.”
Tia scoffed. “You just expect me to grant you a bunch of favors when I don’t even know what you want? What kind of an idiot do you think I am? How do I know you won’t ask for something completely inappropriate?” She narrowed her eyes at him.
Brody put up his hands in a surrender motion. “I solemnly swear not to ask for anything like that. I’m not that type of guy.” At least not anymore.
“Solemnly swear?” Tia’s lips quirked, holding back laughter and Brody couldn’t help the smile that broke out across his face as she caught his movie reference. In response to his smile, all playfulness dropped from Tia’s face and she blinked at him rapidly.
Geez. Is it that rusty? He dropped the smile and tugged at his long, bushy beard. Surprised she could even see the smile through this thing.
“Okay.”
Brody’s eyes shot to hers. “Okay?”
Tia kept her eyes narrowed but nodded. “Okay.” She held out her hand for the earring and breathed a sigh of relief when it was finally safe in her palm. “Thank you,” she said as a brilliant smile lit up her face.
Brody felt his breath stop at the sight of it and had to force a head nod of acknowledgment. “Anytime.” He choked out. What is wrong with you? He shouted internally at himself. In seconds, the situation grew awkward. Brody stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, unsure what else to do.
Tia raised an eyebrow. “Are you gonna put the sink back together?”
“Oh! Yeah.” Feeling heat crawl up his neck, Brody turned and began putting pieces back and eventually draining the bucket. By the time he finished, Tia had gone back to cleaning up her classroom. Not knowing what else to say, he quietly headed toward the classroom door, eager to escape the gorgeous teacher and the feelings she evoked in him
“All done?” Her voice stopped him as his hand landed on the doorknob.
“Yep.” The answer came out rougher than he meant it to and he cleared his throat. He hadn’t turned around, but he could hear her soft footsteps coming up behind him and the heavenly smell of vanilla and sugar invaded his nose.
Spinning around, he realized the smell came from her, not from another source in the room.
“So ... are you going to tell me what those favors are?” Her voice was edged with annoyance and Brody had to fight a grin at her feistiness.
“I’ll let you know as soon as I figure them out, Ms. Frog.”
Tia rolled her eyes. “It’s froh-g. Honestly, I would have thought you would know that by now.”
His eyebrows shot up.
A sheepish look crossed her face and she dropped her chin, staring at her shoes. “Sorry. That name has been a lifelong curse, I guess I’m kinda sensitive about it.”
Brody nodded, then pulled the door open and ducked out, grabbing his cleaning cart and shoving it down the hallway. He couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at his lips as he walked. “Five favors ... “ he mused. “The lovely Ms. Froooooh-g owes me five favors.”
CHAPTER 2
For the next several days, Tia did her best to ignore the homeless man who posed as a janitor. There’s something funny about him. She thought back to his teasing demeanor; it didn’t fit with the persona he gave off. Tia had been teaching at Middleton Prep for several years and Janitor Gruff had come on only the year before. This was his second year as janitor, but it was the first time Tia had spoken to him.
Normally he just stomped down the hallways; his face stoic and hidden behind that mess he called a beard. “Beard isn’t the right word for that monstrosity,” she murmured. It hung all the way down his chest and was a mixture of about six different colors. It made it impossible to see his facial expressions well or even his age. It was obvious it hadn’t ever been combed or oiled and the sight of it made Tia want to grab her favorite kitchen shears and go to town.
“Of course, the hair on his head isn’t much better.” Tia clucked her tongue. She was elbow deep in suds as she washed dishes from her classes that day. Teaching home ec might mean she had a wonderful smelling classroom, but it also meant she had to do more dishes than any one person should.
Overall, Janitor Gruff looked like he hadn’t seen a mirror in ages and his personality was enough to curdle dairy. Until my earring fell down the sink. That one incident had shown Tia that not only could Janitor Gruff tease, but he could smile. And appears to be attractive under all that hair. Who’d have thought?
In fact, he could smile in a way that sent warmth to her chest. And grabbing his wrist had sent electricity up her arm. Tia shook her head. “You are not attracted to that bear of a man, Tia Frogg,” she scolded. “He could be sixty years old for all you know.”
Her head snapped to the side as her classroom door opened. Tia grinned, expecting it to be one of her friends, coming to grab leftovers. However, she was proved wrong when the man who had been dominating her thoughts for the past few days walked in.
“Janitor Gruff,” she said as politely as possible. I don’t even know his first name. Her cheeks flushed as she realized that tidbit. “Uh,” she ducked her head as she washed. “I just realized I don’t know your name.” She cleared her throat. “Your first name.”
Janitor Gruff stood at the door, not moving or speaking for a couple of moments. “Brody.” The gravelly depth of his voice sent a tremor through her.
“Brody.” She tested the name out. “Brody Gruff.”
He nodded.
“Hmm. It suits you.” Tia shrugged and let her eyes flitter back to her dishes. “Is there something I can do for you?”
There was silence for several more heartbeats before he spoke. “I came to collect one of my favors.”
Tia felt anger surge through her. This is so ridiculous. He shouldn’t be creating any feelings in me and he definitely shouldn’t be getting a bunch of favors for almost nothing. Tia did her best to keep those thoughts to herself, but there was a definite edge to her voice when she responded. “Oh yeah? And just what is it you want?”
“A cheesecake.”
She paused, then turned to look at the man still standing at the door. Holding her hands out to the side so she didn’t get her clothes wet,
she cocked her hip and stared him down. “A cheesecake.”
He nodded.
“Do you realize how much work those things are? They take several hours to make.”
A sly smile crept across the janitor’s face. “Lemon cheesecake is my favorite.”
“Of course, you want lemon.” Tia rolled her eyes and went back to the sink. It’ll go along with your sour personality. A prick of guilt hit her at the thought. You’re one being prickly, the poor guy probably doesn’t get good food very often. Tia took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. “I’m going to need to go shopping for ingredients. I can bring it to school Friday. Is that okay?” She looked over her shoulder and nearly gasped.
The giant man had let another one of those fabulous smiles escape. His teeth were straight and white. Tiny lines were formed at the corner of his eyes, giving him a gentler look and bringing attention to the stunning grey color they exhibited. How did I not notice he has grey eyes? How unusual.
“Friday is great,” he rumbled. “But I can buy the groceries if you’ll tell me what you need.”
“Are you serious? Have you ever even stepped in a grocery store before?” She looked him up and down as if that should answer the question for her.
Janitor Gruff’s eyebrows shot up, getting lost in his long, hanging hair. “Believe it or not, even I eat.”
Tia hung her head, shame swelling through her again. “Sorry. Of course, you’ve been to the grocery store. I just ... never mind. Thank you for the offer, but I will take care of the groceries, it’ll just be easier that way.”
Brody nodded sagely, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels.
“Alrighty then.” Tia put her full focus back on the dishes, effectively dismissing him. After a moment she heard the door slam shut and she found her tense muscles dropping with fatigue. Shaking her head, Tia refused to entertain why that man’s very presence had her in knots.
