“Um…I just…” she looked out the window, fighting the desire to throw herself into his arms and thank him for doing this. For being close by.
Thankfully, the bell rang at that moment and she straightened. Her moment of weakness dissolving as she realized that students would be filtering in for class in a few moments.
“Well, that’s…um…” she stood and looked around. “Thank you,” was all she could say, but perhaps the vehemence in her tone was a bit much so she kept her eyes away from him, not wanting him to know how vulnerable she felt at the moment. Her eyes drifted to his chest, to his arms that strained the fabric of his cotton shirt. Detective Kurt Anderson looked very fine today.
Emily shook her head and backed up a step. She’d just been told that someone she knew, possibly a student or another teacher, had invaded her house and she was admiring a man’s physical assets?
“Good grief,” she muttered.
“What’s that?” he asked, taking their trash up to the garbage can and tossing everything away.
“Nothing,” she replied, smoothing her hands down over her skirt. “Um…I should…Uh…” what was she supposed to be doing? Looking around, her eyes took in the desk and chairs. Class! She had class in…glancing at the clock, she realized that she had class in less than five minutes.
“I should get ready for my next class.”
“Is it okay if I sit back here and work on my laptop? I might need to leave at times if some new information comes in. But I won’t disturb your class,” he promised.
“Yes. Yes,” she replied, flustered at the thought of having him close by for so long. She’d been able to ignore her fascination with him for the shorter time periods when they’d been together. But with him sitting in the back of her classroom…ho boy!
One of her students opened the door. “Is it okay to come in?” she asked, then the girl’s eyes widened as she took in Kurt standing beside her. “Oh!”
“Yes!” Emily called out, worried about where the girl’s mind might go if she didn’t act fast. “Please, come in. We were just discussing an issue.”
The students wandered to their desks and Kurt moved to the back of the room. When the bell rang, indicating the start of the class period, Emily struggled to get into her teaching groove. It was hard with Kurt sitting in the back of the room. But eventually, the students and the subject matter captured her attention and she was able to focus on the students.
The rest of the day went better and Emily was only marginally aware of Kurt in the back of the room.
Chapter 6
Kurt watched, impressed with Emily’s teaching skills. She engaged the students with her energy, getting them to pay attention to the subject matter through interesting facts and a lively, conversational approach. But repeatedly, Kurt had to force his eyes away from Emily so that he could do his job – which was to observe the students. He had no proof, but his gut was telling him that the break-in and subsequent acts of vandalism were perpetrated by one of her students. The acts were too…immature, was the word that kept popping to his mind. They weren’t thought out.
Granted, most criminals got caught because they made a mistake, an error that might have been avoided if the idiot had thought through his or her crime more carefully.
Sitting back, he watched and observed, trying to keep his eyes off of the soft swells of Emily’s breasts as she walked back and forth in front of her class. Or the cute butt when she turned and wrote something on the white board. Looking around, Kurt noticed that several of the other teenage boys had also noticed Emily’s…impressive attributes.
He had to restrain himself from standing up and walking over to the boys, smacking them on the back of the head and growling into their ear, “Pay Attention!” His role here was to observe and maybe find a teenager that was a bit too fascinated by Emily, or maybe a student who disliked her. He made a mental note to ask her for the students who weren’t doing well in her class, or students who hadn’t done well with her last year. Or the year before. How far back should he dig on that front? Two years? Three? He’d have to brainstorm with Keith. What if it wasn’t someone who was currently in her class?
His eyes roamed over the boys, looking at each of them. But all he saw was adoration. Complete adoration. And lust. Yeah, he remembered being a teenage boy. Add in a gorgeous, lively teacher and he would have been completely smitten as well.
Smitten? He repeated that word in his mind, shaking his head. Kurt hadn’t ever been “smitten”, so why in the hell had that word popped into his mind? Ridiculous.
The final bell for the day sounded and the students breathed a sigh of relief as they shuffled out of the classroom. Emily looked up at him and…there was that spark. An electric current that shot from him to her and he could feel it. Knew that she could feel it as well.
“Do you usually stick around after school?” he asked, focusing on his job and trying to get a sense of her schedule.
“Yes. Normally, I stick around to get ready for the next day, post the assignments on the student’s message boards and send out reminders….” She stopped and looked up at him. “You don’t need to know all of this.”
“Yes, I do. I think it’s interesting. Also, it helps me understand your routines. When I know more, I can figure out who is trying to…” he stopped, suddenly realizing that she was terrified. She’d hidden it well over the past few hours, but he could see it in her eyes now and it killed him. “Damn it,” and he pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly as he realized that she was trembling.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled against his chest, but she didn’t push him away. “I’m perfectly fine!”
He tightened his arms. “You’re not fine, Emily,” he growled, furious that someone was doing this to her. Which was ridiculous because people were victims of crimes all the time. What was it about Emily that got to him so deeply?
His hand smoothed down her back in a non-sexual way, even as his mind registered her soft breasts pressed against his chest. “Why don’t I get you out of here? Can you do your work from a different location?”
He loosened his arms, but kept her close. She didn’t seem to be pulling away either, which was a good thing because he was starting to realize that he didn’t want to let her go. Not ever!
That thought should scare the hell out of him because Kurt hadn’t ever thought about settling down with one woman. But then again, he hadn’t met Emily yet. There was something about her, an innate strength coupled with that intriguing tenderness and vitality, that called to him.
“Let’s get out of here and talk, okay? I have some thoughts. We’ll head to the station and run them by my partner.”
She sighed, pressed her cheek against his chest and Kurt wondered what it would be like when she pressed her face against him like that when they were both naked.
No, he couldn’t think like that. Not right at the moment. He wanted her too painfully and, if they were going over to the station, he didn’t want to be in an aroused state when he walked in and talked with Keith.
“That sounds like a good idea,” she said and sighed, pulling out of his arms. With trembling fingers, she pushed her hair back, smoothing her hands down the front of her skirt and sweater set. “I’m sorry for that,” she told him, not looking him in the eye.
“Sorry for what?”
“For…” she waved her hand at his chest, “for throwing myself at you. I’m usually much more in control of myself.”
He laughed softly, shaking his head. “Emily, even I would struggle if someone broke into my place and was trying to do it again.”
She seemed to brighten with those words, but quickly turned away, hiding her reaction as she headed to her desk so that she could gather up her papers. But after a moment, he heard her whispered, “Thank you.”
Not looking at him again, Emily packed up her computer and some papers, stuffing everything into a big tote bag. “I’m ready,” she told him, then turned to face him.
Kurt loo
ked at her, noticed everything about her including the firm set of her full lips and the determination in her brown eyes. Cute. Sexy. And his. He was going to protect Emily and figure out who was terrorizing her.
Chapter 7
Emily walked beside Kurt through the lobby of the police station, feeling more than slightly self-conscious when so many of the other officers turned to watch their progress. The lobby had been almost completely empty, but once she stepped through the security doors to the back room, there was what seemed like chaos. Officers were talking and typing, some were walking through another door in the back and others were going out. There were offices along one wall and some doors lining the other wall, but she didn’t know what was behind them. It wasn’t like anything she’d read about in her books. It was…more energetic, she thought as she took it all in. There was an energy in the air that wasn’t easy to convey in words. One had to be in it. She doubted that even a television show could convey this kind of energy.
And lots of people turned to stare at her.
“Keith!” Kurt called out.
Instantly, a dark head popped up from behind a computer monitor. As soon as Kurt’s partner recognized Emily, he smiled and waved to her. “Got your message. Let’s talk in the conference room.”
The three of them moved towards one of the mystery doors and they all stepped inside. She was surprised to find that it really was a conference room. She’d wanted those mystery doors to be hiding interrogation rooms. Scary interrogation rooms! Her imagination was running rampant and this conference room was just…ordinary!
Kurt pulled out a chair for her, then sat down next to her with Keith on the other side of the table. “Okay, what did you see today?” Keith asked.
Kurt opened his laptop and skimmed through his notes. He read off several names, and Emily thought about the students. All of them were male students and she gave Keith and Kurt her impressions of the students.
“None of them sound very promising,” Keith offered.
Emily tilted her head slightly. “What about the female students?” she asked Kurt.
He looked at her with a stunned look. “What about them?”
She smiled slightly. “Did any of them strike you as being a bit off? You only listed the male students.”
Keith chuckled as Kurt shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Honestly, I didn’t think about the girls in your classes.”
She rolled her eyes slightly. “That’s typical. Women tend to be dismissed. But trust me, women are just as capable of crimes as men.”
Keith blew out a breath. “But the crimes are different,” he added.
Kurt looked at her with renewed interest, a spark in his eyes that hadn’t been there moments before. “Women are more likely to commit…”
“Property crimes,” Keith finished. Both men leaned back in their chairs, Kurt tossing his pen onto the table. “Damn!”
Emily crossed her arms over her stomach, smiling triumphantly at the two men. “Yes, women don’t have the same tendency towards violence, but they commit crimes as well as men.”
Keith looked at Kurt. “Maybe all of the break-ins were done by a female.”
For the next hour, the three of them brainstormed on the possibilities of women doing the break-ins, but also about a woman being angry with Emily instead of a male. For some reason, the possibility eased Emily’s stress. She didn’t understand the male mind and she’d already survived violence done by a man. But she “got” women’s psyches.
While Keith and Kurt pulled up a new list of suspects on their computers and tossed around ideas, Emily started packing up.
“What are you doing?” Kurt asked when she stood up.
“I have work to do,” she told him. “I was going to let you boys do your thing and…”
Both men stood up as well. “I’m coming with you,” Kurt told her.
“With me?” she asked as he closed down his laptop and gathered up his papers, stuffing all of it into a file folder.
“Yeah. We’re posting a guard in your parking lot. Tonight, it’s me.”
“Tomorrow,” Keith announced, “we’ll have plain-clothed officers in your parking lot and Kurt will go back to your classroom to take a look at the ladies in your classes.”
Emily was already shaking her head. Not at the idea of Kurt being in her classroom again tomorrow, but she didn’t like the idea of him sitting in her parking lot. “No. You don’t need to do that.”
“How about checking into a hotel?” he offered.
“I’m a teacher,” she laughed. “I can’t afford to stay in a hotel for the next week or two. I have savings, but not that much.”
He shrugged one of his big, mighty-nice shoulders at her reply. “Fine, then I’m watching your parking lot. And you’ll have me on your phone’s speed dial so you can reach me if anything happens inside your apartment.”
Chapter 8
Emily had turned off her apartment lights an hour ago, but she couldn’t sleep. Not when she knew that Kurt was down in his truck, parked in the parking lot and trying to stay awake all night. It just didn’t seem fair. Not to mention, it was weird that he was down there, uncomfortable and probably sipping gallons of coffee. Coffee would tear up his stomach, plus…well, she didn’t like him being in his truck. It was a big truck, but he was a big man and she didn’t like the idea of him being uncomfortable.
“This is ridiculous!” she snapped and pushed the sheets off of her legs. Standing up, she changed back into leggings and a sweatshirt, not bothering with a bra because she didn’t want to take the time to completely re-dress.
Grabbing her keys, Emily slipped her feet into her sneakers and stomped out of her apartment. When she found Kurt, he was sitting in his truck, sipping coffee in the dark.
He saw her as soon as she walked down the stairs to the parking lot and was at the bottom of the stairs before she reached it. “What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“You!” she hissed, trying to be quiet but she was exhausted and furious with him.
She couldn’t see him clearly in the dim lighting from the parking lot, but she could sense that her reply had startled him.
“Me? I’m just sitting out here watching the parking lot and your apartment,” he told her, his hands moving along her arms.
Emily loved the feel of his hands on her arms, but…shouldn’t she tell him to stop? Emily didn’t say anything to him, enjoying his touch…more than she should. But…darn it, his hands felt really good!
Pushing aside the tingling in her arms, she focused on her mission. “Unfortunately, I can’t sleep with you down here watching the parking lot and my apartment. It’s just…wrong!”
He sighed. “Emily, I don’t like you being out here exposed like this. Let’s talk about this up in your apartment.” And he didn’t wait for her reply. Instead, he spun her around and put a hand to the small of her back as he marched her back up the stairs, his head swiveling right and left as he watched for danger.
Once inside her apartment, she spun around and pointed at his chest. “Go home!”
“Not gonna happen, honey,” he told her, his eyes moving up and down her figure. “Are you wearing a bra?” he demanded.
Emily heard the husky quality in his voice and shivered. Not because she was afraid of what his husky tone implied, but because she felt it as well.
“Emily!” he snapped and her eyes darted up from his chest to his eyes as he moved closer to her. “Are you wearing a bra?” he demanded again.
She blinked, not exactly sure how to answer him. In the end, she couldn’t give him anything but total honesty. “No. No bra.”
He moved closer to her, pinning her against the wall, not with his body, but by the force of his personality. “Why aren’t you wearing a bra, Emily?” he asked, his voice going even lower.
She licked her lips as her nostrils pulled in his masculine scent. By this time of the night, he shouldn’t smell this good. He should be sweaty and manly, two scents that she’d never li
ked. But not Kurt. He smelled…amazing! She couldn’t quite put her finger on what he smelled like, but she leaned forward slightly, letting her nose fill up on the scent.
“Because I’d already gotten ready for bed.”
“And?”
Honesty wasn’t always comfortable, but with Kurt, she owed him complete honesty. “And I was thinking about you. I didn’t like you being down in your truck all night.”
“You were thinking about me?” he asked, his hand moved from the wall beside her head to her neck, his fingers sliding against her skin. “What were you thinking about?”
She trembled as his fingers moved against her, but she tilted her head, silently begging for more of his touch. One of his thumbs moved over her lips and she resisted the urge to suck that thumb into her mouth, to discover the taste of him. “I was…”
Emily stopped, her eyes popping open as she realized how close he was. Fear…metallic fear hit her and she stared up at him as she fought that panic. Unfortunately, he was too close and she pressed her hands against his chest. “I can’t…!” She closed her eyes and shivered. “Please, Kurt.”
He stopped, his touch freezing against her skin. But he immediately pulled back. “Emily,” he groaned, then pulled her against him. With strong arms, he lifted her up and carried her over to the big chair, sitting down with her on his lap. “Will you tell me about it?”
Emily rested her hands against his big shoulders, feeling hugely relieved now that she wasn’t trapped by his body and the wall. Like this, with more freedom to move and…well, an escape route, she felt better. How could he know that?
Her eyes moved over his strong features, noting the concern in his eyes. Thankfully, it wasn’t pity. Emily hated pity! It was one of the reasons she’d moved here to Nashville instead of accepting a teaching position closer to home. She simply couldn’t stand the pity she’d see in everyone’s eyes. Everyone at home knew what had happened to her and they all looked at her with pity and concern.
Endearing Seduction (The Diamond Club Book 12) Page 5
