He leaned back in the chair. Yeah, I’m not fooling me, either.
Chapter Four
Vanessa stuck a fork into her salad, lifting it to her mouth and crunching down. She had never been a fan of salad dressing, until she discovered the creamy off-brand caesar dressing that coated her lettuce. That dressing? She couldn’t get enough of.
“I don’t know,” said Jessica between bites of her sandwich. “He seems like a way bigger ass on television than he does here.” She took another bite.
“I think he’s putting on a show,” Vanessa agreed, dropping her fork and bringing a napkin to her lips. “I mean, he’s been working with us for a week, and the assholery has been minimal.”
Jessica snorted with laughter and covered her mouth.
She smiled and tucked her empty salad container back into her lunch bag.
Jared was across the room, talking with a group of students about his friends from overseas. Apparently, he liked to tell all their crazy stories, but never went into his own.
Either way, the students were mesmerized by him. She even caught Josh Spaulding glancing over, keeping pace with the story from his desk.
As Vanessa looked over her most difficult student, she wondered if she was the only one a bit confused about his involvement. “J. S.,” she said to Jessica, not using his full name, a habit she’d learned during her first year teaching, “isn’t it weird he’s willingly volunteering? On a Saturday, no less?”
“Mm,” Jessica mused. “Very. Maybe he has family in the military.”
Vanessa shook her head. “I don’t think so. Last I heard, mom was in and out of rehab and dad’s not in the picture. No other family that we know of except for three younger siblings.”
Jessica shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe he wants to make an ass of himself on camera like Mr. Walker over there.”
She laughed and shook her head. “Hey,” she muttered, “he’s been doing better!”
Jessica squinted her eyes at her, and Vanessa suddenly felt hyper aware of herself. “You like him, don’t you?”
“No!” Vanessa quickly asserted. Probably too quickly. Whoops. “No, I just know that he does a lot of good. And he’s trying to clean up his image after a few bad run-ins with the press.”
“A few? Girl, I haven’t gone a week without hearing about a Jared Walker scandal this past year.”
Vanessa bit her lip. “You’ve gone this week.”
Jessica stared right through her, then smiled smugly. “Knew you liked him.”
“I don’t like him-”
“It’s okay. He’s sexy as hell.”
Vanessa sighed. “He’s insanely sexy, but-”
“Who’s insanely sexy?” Jared’s voice rumbled from behind her. She jumped half a foot from her seat, her heart winding up somewhere in her throat instead of her chest.
Jessica was doing all she could to hold back her laughs, but failing.
Vanessa wanted to crawl into a ball and disappear. “How did you sneak up on me?” Her voice sounded angry. Reign it in, she told herself. “I’m a high school teacher.” Part of her job description was hearing everything, seeing everything, never being caught off guard. And she liked to think she was good at it.
“I was a SEAL,” he scoffed. She almost laughed at the obvious answer. Instead, she hid her face in her hands. “Oh, and by the way,” he said, his voice lower now as it washed over her ear. “I think you’re insanely sexy, too.”
He stood and walked away as heat rushed to her cheeks .
Jessica’s eyes were wide as they stared at her, amusement playing across all of her features.
“Don’t even say it,” Vanessa ordered.
Jessica lifted her hands in surrender and shrugged her shoulders, same smug look still painted on her face.
Vanessa huffed out in frustration and buried her face in her hands.
This man would be her undoing.
✽ ✽ ✽
Jared watched the last of the students leave the building and hop into their cars. He was sitting at his usual spot by the window sill, looking outside as the day came to a close.
He turned and looked to Vanessa, who was tidying up her room in the tight little dress she wore. The dress was modest, going down to her knees and having a square neckline. But it conformed to her body perfectly, outline every single curve, and had been driving him crazy all day.
“Can’t you clean all this up on Monday?” he said, pushing from his spot on the window sill and taking a few slow steps toward her.
She looked up, then quickly returned her attention to the mess of papers on the desk she was leaning over. “No. I don’t like to leave a mess.”
“You didn’t.” He stepped closer. “Your students did.”
She chuckled, but kept at it. “My students are my responsibility. My classroom is my responsibility.”
“Why not have them clean, then?” There were far more of them as compared to one Vanessa.
She lifted the papers, finally in order, and carried them over to the back counter of her room. Then she walked to the front row of desks and began to straighten them out. “On a normal day I do, but they gave up their Saturday to do this. I wanted them to have all the time they needed to get their work done.”
He noticed that she lined up desks with squares of tape on the floor. The front left leg of the desk fit perfectly into the tape square. He began to move desks in the back of the room. “But you gave up your Saturday, too.”
She smiled, and her glasses fell further down her nose. She quickly pushed them back up with her pointer finger. “It’s my job.”
“It isn’t.” He knew she wasn’t getting paid to be there on a Saturday.
She sighed and leaned onto the desk in front of her. “Those kids are most definitely my job, Jared.”
He wanted to smile at her using his first name, finally, but he didn’t. If he pointed it out, he’d ruin it. “Why do you discount yourself like that?”
She furrowed her eyebrows.
He walked to the front of the room. “You go above and beyond and then act like it’s nothing special. You’re discounting yourself. Acting like you’re not the most valuable asset this school has when it’s clear as day that you are.”
She sucked in a hard breath, then looked to the side. Thoughtlessly, he lifted his hand to her cheek, gently turning her back toward him. Her eyes were big and brown, absolutely stunning. Loose curls had sprang free from her bun and fell around her face.
“I’m not doing anything but what’s expected of me.”
He brushed the skin of her cheek with his thumb, enamored by how soft it was. “We both know that isn’t true.” He kept touching her face, desire pounding through him as he yearned to move closer. “I see it now.” The careful planning, the organization, the structure, the cleaning. “You’re a bit of a perfectionist.”
“I am not-” she stopped when Jared pulled away from her.
He stepped toward the desk beside them and shoved, pushing it out of its spot and throwing off the rest of the row. “So that’s fine, then. Right? You can fix that Monday?”
He wanted to chuckle at the pain on her face as she fought between proving him wrong and satisfying her need to fix everything. Then she groaned and strutted to the desk, straightening it back into its proper position.
Jared grinned. “C’mon, Vanessa. Have a little fun.”
She turned to him and put her hands on her hips. “How is letting you mess up my classroom fun?”
He shrugged. “I mean, it’s not not fun.”
She let out a cynical laugh, then her gaze caught back onto his, the corners of her mouth still turned up. “What’s your idea of fun for me, Mr. Walker?” She stepped closer to him, her hips swaying widely with each step. “Take my hair down, toss aside the glasses.” She placed a hand on his chest. “Fuck on my desk like wild animals, not even so much as bothering to close the blinds or take our clothes off?”
Jared swallowed. Hard. She leaned against him, an
d he had no doubt that she could feel his hard length fighting to break right through his zipper. “I mean, I’d leave your glasses on. Adds to the whole sexy teacher thing.”
She choked on a laugh and moved away from him. “It’s not happening.” His chest iced over at the loss of her touch. “Maybe if you had less fun and a little more structure, you wouldn’t be in the mess you’re in now.”
Okay, she wasn’t wrong. But that didn’t mean he had to get rid of all fun.
Jared walked up behind her and spun her by the shoulder. He grabbed her ass and pulled her against him. If she hadn’t felt his cock before, she certainly did now.
She gasped and stared up at him, eyes wide, lips parted. He wanted to taste those lips. Then he wanted to taste the rest of her.
“Tell me you don’t want to know what it feels like.” To let loose. To have fun. To have his cock buried deep inside of her as he made her come over and over again.
Her breath hitched. Her lashes lowered. Her back arched.
“It doesn’t matter what I want.” Her voice was so husky, so sexy. “I have a job to do.” She pushed away from him and went back to straightening her classroom. “And so do you.”
He turned to walk away, but she called to him. He spun to see her standing there, hands knotted together in front of her.
“I should make something clear.” She stepped forward, then paused. “I want you. I’ve never wanted another man like I want you. I didn’t even think it was possible. I used to think all this talk of sparks and passion and magnet-like attraction was bull and now here I am, actually experiencing it.”
Every nerve in his body was alive and hanging on her words.
“That’s dangerous to me. I like structure. I like normal. I like order. I don’t like things that make me feel crazy or unpredictable or wild.” She licked her lip. “You make me feel all those things and then some.”
He felt the same damn way. Models, movie stars, any woman he wanted… he’d never felt as wildly attracted to any of them as he did to Vanessa.
“Which is why I’m going to need you to stop with the comments. Stop with the glances and the touches. Stop driving me crazy so I can go back to being me again.”
Jared stepped toward her. “Baby, why are you so convinced this isn’t you?”
Her eyes were wide and sparkling. He could see the lust in them, and knew his were filled with the same. “Structure is safe. It means I’m in control. It’s boring, yes, but that’s who I am.”
He stepped forward once more. There was barely an inch between them. “There’s a whole lot more to you than that.” He leaned his head down, and she angled hers up, lashes fluttering closed. “Maybe this is you, too,” he whispered against her lips.
Chapter Five
Vanessa pulled away from him at the very last second and took five big steps backwards. Her hand rose to her lips, fingers tracing over the trail of fire his had left. Every part of her was alive and tingling.
If just nearness could do that… what would’ve happened if she’d really kissed him? Not barely a touch, but a full on kiss? She shivered.
“I need to go,” she quickly announced.
Jared stood in the same spot, same position. He’d barely moved an inch.
“I can’t leave you here alone, so, you should go, too.”
His back straightened, shoulders stiffened. “Right.”
He walked over to the front of the room and grabbed his jacket, which had been resting on the back of her chair. Then he walked over to her, nodding in the direction of the door. “Ready?”
She bit her lip. “Jared, I’m sorry, it’s just-”
“Sorry?” He scoffed. “Baby, you come to me when you want a good time. Until then,” he shrugged, “I’ll keep my hands to myself.”
Vanessa didn’t want that. She didn’t want to think about him never touching her again. But— it’s what she needed. Because her disappointment at his saying that was proof enough that he was dangerous to her. He’d upset her careful existence and she couldn’t have that.
“Thank you.” She walked to her desk and grabbed her things, stuffing them into her tote and throwing it over her shoulder. Her heels clicked against the floor as she walked just a bit too quickly to the door.
Jared went out first, and she pulled her classroom door shut behind her, making sure it was locked, and then following him out the side door.
He walked several feet ahead of her, and it seemed like every time she tried to pick up her pace to catch up to him, he walked faster. She had no intentions of running, but…
“Y’know, we don’t have to be enemies or lovers.” Her words came out breathlessly. Had she been working that hard to keep up with him? Vanessa needed to get back to the gym. “There’s another option.” She waited for him to turn around, which he did, very, very, slowly. “We could be friends.”
His stare went right through her. “I’m not all that friendly.” His half-smile was wicked. And absolutely sexy.
“You have your moments.” She smiled right back.
He took a step forward. “How do you feel about friends who regularly fantasize about ripping your clothes off?”
Vanessa swallowed. Then her lips curled even wider. “Fine, so long as it can go both ways.” There was nothing wrong with a little flirting between friends, right?
Jared chuckled, and the sound was as sexy as he was. “Miss Adams, you continue to surprise me.”
She moved closer to him and extended her hand. “Friends?” They’d be working together for another eight weeks. If they could drop the sexual tension and intermittent animosity, well… those eight weeks might just go by a whole lot faster.
He took her hand. “On one condition. You have to call me Jared from now on.” He gave her hand a small squeeze, and she bit her lip. “You call me Mr. Walker one more time, and all bets are off.”
She giggled. “Deal.”
“Alright. Then friends.”
They shook on it.
Just as things were starting to feel better, Vanessa caught sight of smoke. She tried to focus on where it was coming from, and finally made out Josh Spaulding.
She groaned and released Jared’s hand. “Wait here,” she muttered as she marched over to the side of the building where Josh stood. He was quite a ways from her and saw her coming, dropping whatever he’d been smoking to the floor and stepping on it.
“Mr. Spaulding,” she said as she approached. “What exactly are you doing over here?” She placed her hands on her hips and waited.
“Waiting for my ride.” His unkempt hair fell over his features. He’d had acne, as most teen boys did, and the hair that always fell over his face likely didn’t help.
“Pickup time was nearly an hour ago.”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued to lean against the building, refusing to meet her eyes. “I’ll walk then, I guess.”
He pushed off the building, but Vanessa stepped in his path. She heard footsteps behind her and cursed internally. “Josh, did I see you doing drugs on school property? You understand I can’t just let you walk away, right?”
She’d worked so hard with that child. Gave him extra days on assignments, excused rude classroom behavior, welcomed him back with open arms after every suspension (and there’d been many). She’d gone above and beyond, but some people just didn’t want to be saved.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She sighed. Before she could speak, Jared’s voice came from behind her. “You’re a smart kid. Smart enough to wait until the other kids left, smart enough to choose the only side of the entire building without a camera on it…”
Vanessa’s eyes shot up and— yes. Jared was right. There was no camera facing them. Every other spot on the building had one— how did Jared know that?
He walked forward and approached Josh. “How is it that a smart kid like yourself wasn’t smart enough to see two adults standing barely a hundred yards away in the parking lot?”
Vanessa stepped back and pulled out her phone. “I’m calling the police.”
“No!” they both said at once.
Vanessa’s eyes widened. “You can’t assault people, Josh. I’ve done everything I can to work with you, but you have just more than crossed the line.” She started dialing.
Jared grabbed her phone. He turned to Josh. “Sit. Don’t move.” His voice was harsh and commanding, and shockingly enough, Josh slunked to the ground and sat there. Jared’s stare shot to her. “We need to talk.”
He pulled her a few feet away from Josh, who was sitting slumped over himself, head in his hands. “You’re not calling the police.”
“Like hell I’m not.” She squared her shoulders. “He just punched you, Jared.”
“I provoked him.”
“He broke the law.”
“He’s a kid.”
“He-” Vanessa paused. She lowered her voice. “He has been given every chance to turn his life around. What he needs is to understand the consequences of his actions.” Something Jared Walker clearly didn’t get.
“No, what he needs is somebody to see him screaming and tell him hey, I hear you.” Jared stepped closer to her. There were only a few inches of space between them. “I know you’re miss-law-and-order, but you need to let this go. If you have any desire to help that kid, you need to let this go.”
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. “I’ve tried to help him. He knows how hard I’ve tried.” Vanessa had always made herself present, done whatever she could to show she was there for him, for all her students.
“Like you said earlier. It’s your job.” Jared flexed his jaw. “In his mind, you have to deal with him.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to help.” She chose her job, chose how she approached situations like his.
“I get it. You chose the job because you want to help people.” It was like Jared could read her mind. Maybe he could. “Let me choose him, because I want to help him. He needs somebody to do that.”
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