by Remi Grey
To the other side were our students. “Mr. Masters,” they whispered to me, giddy with excitement. When it swung open, my breath caught. Her white dress clung to her like the gift she was, the crystal shining brightly as they reflected the light from the sun. It trailed behind her as her father led her down the aisle. When she was finally in front of me, I couldn’t find the words to speak despite the priest leading us into our vows. Tears brimmed my eyes as I thought about how much I loved this girl.
“Chloe,” I began after she had said her vows. “I—” She gazed into my eyes, a smile resting on her soft lips. “You—” Her smile widened when she saw how the words had escaped me. “I love you so much,” I said in a breath. “You may not have known this, but I have strived to be a better version of myself ever since the day we met and even after we’re married, I hope to strive to be a better version of myself for you—for us. You’re all I’ve ever wanted and more. To love you is to treasure you and to respect you and to uphold the values that you believe in. It’s trust and honesty. It’s listening. Because even when I don’t know the right thing to say, I can always count on you to just listen. I pray that I may return the favor every year that we’re married and forever more because I am so in love with you, Chloe, and I will always love you.”
Her eyes brightened as we leaned in to kiss each other.
“Wait, wait, not yet,” the priest intervened with a laugh. As he spoke about marriage and wrapped up his speech, Chloe and I could only focus on each other. “You may now kiss the bride.” I took her into my arms and kissed her long and hard. Applause followed soon afterward. We jumped at the chance to get away from everyone as we were led into the limousine to be taken to the reception.
“Do you remember the Spring Gala?” I asked her when we were alone.
She furrowed her eyebrows. “You mean the biggest success the school has seen? I think I remember a thing or two about it.”
“Do you remember the one thing you really wanted for it?”
“A water fountain but for champagne?”
“You did ask for that, but no not that.”
“Erm, a bigger budget?”
I laughed as the limousine came to a stop. I pulled open the door and led her out. When she saw what I had gotten her she screamed. “No way!” she exclaimed. She turned to me wide eyed, a huge smile shining from ear to ear. “This is crazy!”
“Go ahead,” I said gesturing to it.
She hesitated and then kissed me before running off into the sun where the elephant was gallivanting on the grass of the reception. The lights adorned the scene where the kids were running around in joy. The India she wanted so badly to create for the gala was alive around her, no budget spared. After all, I’d do anything for the love of my life.
Preview: Book Two
Claiming the Teacher
An Alpha Male Second Chance Romance
Corey:
Every day was a learning experience now that it was just me and Caiden.
It was learning routines, getting him up on time, and helping him with his homework.
It was being enough for him now that Kaylee had left us.
When I first met Danielle, the last thing I thought about was jumping into another relationship especially when I had Caiden to think about, but some things just sneak up on you.
I would have to learn how to trust another woman enough to let her into both my and my son’s lives.
Danielle:
I swore to myself that this year would be different.
Without distractions from men, I could make this school year the best one for both me and my students.
It was a new city with new people—something that I had been begging for.
I didn’t plan on letting anyone get in the way of the fresh start I wanted to create for myself until I met Corey.
Claiming the Teacher is a sweet and steamy love story about two people who have to learn how to overcome their past in order to secure a better future. It isn’t as easy as either of them think, but their love for each other forces them to make sacrifices.
Chapter 1
Corey
I never in a million years thought that I’d be sitting across from the person I vowed to love forever with a stack of divorce papers between us. It worked as a barrier almost as well as the distance we created for ourselves every day for the past eight months. Now, my wife, Kaylee, was unrecognizable as she looked up at me with her piercing gray eyes, her blonde hair tossed up into a messy bun. She pulled the papers toward her, pausing briefly as though thinking about her actions for the first time. Then, the pen hit the paper.
As it slid across the lines where the lawyer had denoted for us to sign, it echoed in my mind. It was like a whisper except more sinister, like a hiss. It seemed to go on forever as she flipped through the papers and left her signature. She hesitated at one of the papers, biting her lips and drumming her fingers on the table. Then, she signed her name and sighed. She pushed herself off from the table and stood up after handing the papers to the lawyer.
She turned back and looked at me from the door as I focused my attention on the wooden surface under my hands. I rubbed my finger by instinct, a nervous tick I picked up after being married to her for six years. This time there was no wedding band for me to swirl around. “I’m so sorry, Corey,” she said. She lingered for a beat, surely waiting for me to look up or reply in some way, but I could only wait until I heard the final click of the door to raise my head.
“I will get these filed and then you will officially be divorced,” the lawyer said.
Her voice was a hum in the back of my mind. I thought back to the conditions of our divorce that had been laid out on the papers. I thought back to the house she gave me and the car that she took, a gift from me to her two years ago. Then, I remembered the clause about our eight-year-old son. Caiden. How the most invaluable thing we created, the best thing we ever did as a couple, fell to just a few words on paper was baffling to me. And even more crazy was the fact that she had signed away her rights to custody of our son.
As much as I despised her as a mother now, I couldn’t seem to become at ease with the fact that I didn’t know Caiden would see his mother next. I pondered over what I would tell him. His big brown eyes were inherited from me, but his smile was all her. She took everything from us. Everything that mattered anyway. And worst of all, she took a mother away from Caiden and with that the smile she’d given him to begin with.
***
The alarm rang sharply in my ear. I groaned as I turned over and grabbed a pillow from the side of me, wrapping it around my head to lull the racket. I was getting accustomed to the muffled ringing until a realization propped me up. The thought of it being a full month since the divorce was final suddenly hit my mind. I shut off my alarm and threw myself down the hallway and into Caiden's bedroom which was marked by a blue ‘C’.
“Caiden, rise and shine, buddy,” I said as I shook him lightly. He started to groan, reaching for a pillow and moving it over his head. I pulled open the curtains to let the light shine through which made him toss and turn even more.
“I don’t want to go to school,” he moaned.
“Well, I don’t want to go to work, but I’ve still gotta do that. How would you like it if we stayed home all day and did nothing?” I asked him as I moved toward his bed again.
“I’d like that,” he replied from under the covers.
“And how would you like it if I made no money doing nothing and I couldn’t give you an allowance?” I asked him again.
“I wouldn’t like that,” he mumbled.
“Okay, then, get up and hit the shower before I bring it over here,” I exclaimed as I headed out the door. After seeing him sitting up on his bed, I rushed down the stairs to get a head start on breakfast. The oven clock marked eight AM. With class beginning at eight thirty, I was later than I thought.
“Caiden, I better hear that shower!” I shouted as I stuck my head into the fridge. To myself,
I muttered, “Okay, eggs it is.” I pulled out the carton only to see that it was empty. “Damn it.” I pulled open the pantry and saw some oatmeal. “Caiden!” I reminded him as I tossed some water on the stove to boil.
“I’m going! I’m going!” His voice came out clear. I took a relieved breath, knowing that he was out of his room. The door to the bathroom shut and the shower was turned on. As the water boiled, I whipped up a peanut butter sandwich and threw in some snacks and a water bottle for his lunch for later.
Caiden was down the stairs ten minutes later with his hair drenched. “Erm, is that how you’re going to wear your hair today?” I asked him as I set his bowl of oatmeal on the table.
“Yeah,” he said simply.
I nodded wearily, thinking about the comb and gel I needed to jog upstairs for. Right as I was about to head for it, he called for me. “Dad, I hate oatmeal,” he complained.
“I thought you loved it,” I explained.
“I don’t,” he insisted, poking at it with his spoon.
I sighed as I glanced back at the time. 8:17 a.m. With a five minute drive to the school but three minutes just to get Caiden out the house and in the car, I had only five minutes to get his hair done and breakfast eaten.
“I’ll make you some cereal then.”
“We don’t have any,” Caiden added with an eyebrow raised. I turned to the top of the fridge to find disappointment. “Then I’ll buy you some. Get your backpack on so we can head out.” I zoomed up the stairs and returned with a comb and some gel.
“Not too much,” he said without having to look at it.
“I’m not.”
“No, dad, what are you doing?” he said when I started combing. He picked up the iPad and turned on the camera app, so he could see. “No, mom doesn’t do it like this.” I paused briefly at his words then turned to him and said, “I promise it’ll look good, okay? We just have to do it my way this morning. Don’t wanna be late.”
“Yeah, we can’t be late,” he agreed, letting me mold his hair how I pleased. “I have a field trip.” I finished off his hair and led him to the door. “Did you sign my permission slip?”
“What permission slip Caiden? What field trip?”
“The trip to the museum. It’s today, dad. I can’t be the only one not going. Ms. Parker said it has to be turned in by the morning. I always leave it on the counter, so that you can sign it when I’m getting ready.” I furrowed my eyebrows, prompting him to run off to the bar in the kitchen and snatch the paper off of it. “See?”
I thought back to when Kaylee would be making breakfast for Caiden. I remembered whenever Caiden was asleep or before she’d get started making breakfast, she’d go through the papers on the table and sign them before placing them in his backpack along with the lunch she packed for him. She’d have just enough time to run through his hair with a comb and listen to whatever story he had for her. Then, she’d take his hand and she’d drive him to school. Why was it I never knew he hated oatmeal? Why was it I overlooked the papers on the bar? Then a sour thought surfaced in my mind. Why was it so easy for her to just give up on us? To give up on him?
“I’ve got you buddy,” I said reaching for the pen he was holding up and signing the paper real quick. “Here. Now, let’s go.”
We arrived at the school at 8:40. I had wanted to give Caiden money for breakfast at school, but he insisted he wouldn’t have enough time to eat before he had to board the field trip buses, so we stopped at a restaurant.
“Dad, look, that’s my class!”
As I parked, I noticed a bus in front of the school and a large group of students. I got out of the car and led Caiden out to them. When I got closer, I noticed that along with two other parents, the teacher was in the middle of the group directing all the kids.
“Ms. Parker!” Caiden called out to her. He flung around his permission slip which got her attention. A smile pulled at her lips as she walked up to us. Her dark eyes brightened as she looked from Caiden to me.
“Hi, Caiden,” she said as she accepted his permission slip. “You must be his father.” She held out her hand to me. “My name is Danielle.” The way her gaze held mine as she took me in made it seem like her eyes were smiling.
I took my time as I took her hand and shook it. “Corey, nice to meet you.”
“I was expecting Kaylee, but I am so glad to have you as a chaperone today.”
I was taken aback at the sound of her name. It was still odd to hear it so casually, strange to hear it used as though she were still an active part of our lives.
“Dad, are you coming with us?” Caiden questioned excitedly.
“I have to get to work in less than an hour...” I trailed. I quieted down when I saw the look in Caiden’s eyes. I bit my tongue and sighed. The idea that instead of Kaylee, he’d have no one with him pained me, so I nodded my head before I could even process a valid excuse, I’d give my job. “You know what? I think I am coming with you all.” I shot a smile at Caiden who lit up at the news before turning to Danielle who smiled back, seemingly as happy as Caiden was.
“You can sit up front with me,” she said.
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More Books
Class is in Session Series
Teaching Her a Lesson
Claiming the Teacher
Kissed by the Professor (Coming Soon)
Obsessed with my Professor (Coming Soon)
Claimed by the Professor (Coming Soon)
Trapped with my Professor (Coming Soon)
Rescue Me Series
Reviving Her Heart
Protecting Her Life
Blazing for Her (Coming Soon)
Fighter for Her (Coming Soon)
Claiming Her (Coming Soon)
Love for the Game Series
Wild Pitch
Interception
Out of Bounds
Touchdown
Grand Slam
Standalones
My Counterfeit Fiancé
The Perfect Shot
**ALL BOOKS CAN BE READ AS STAND-ALONE READS WITHIN THESE SERIES**
About the Author
Remi Grey loves to write sweet, steamy, and spicy romances. She is obsessed with all forms of romance with a happily ever after. As an indie author, your support means everything. Thank you so much for reading.
