by Kit Kyndall
Suzanne began immediately and as had become her routine, she practically had Candace stationed at the blackboard. Surely, everyone else had noticed how Suzanne singled her out, and it certainly wasn’t in a good way. No one complained though, probably relieved they didn’t have to be the one to work the problem in front of everyone.
The first three went well, but the fourth one was stumping her. When she got to the third step, she sighed and went back to start over again. After two attempts, she turned to Suzanne and issued words she’d never spoken to her before. “I don’t understand this one.”
Suzanne was grinning gleefully, clearly enjoying Candace’s lack of comprehension. “You should be careful. You’d hate not to graduate.” Suzanne’s tone revealed she’d love to see that happen.
Candace rolled her eyes. “I don’t think I’m in danger of failing because I don’t get this one compared to all the many, many problems you’ve had me work in the past.”
Suzanne’s eyes narrowed. “What are you implying?”
“Nothing,” said Candace, striving to hold her temper. “I’m just pointing out that I’ve done many problems for you, and this is the first one I haven’t been able to solve. I’m sure I’ll pick it up though.”
Suzanne looked like she was on the verge of screaming for a moment, but then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Who can solve this problem?”
“I can,” said Dalton as he lifted a hand.
“Then come up, Mr. Westerly. Sit down, Munroe.” She smirked in satisfaction at Candace, who turned to leave.
Before she could walk away from the blackboard, Dalton stood in front of her. He blocked her path, forcing her to turn back. He stood far too close to her, especially in front of the class, as he started working the problem with her pinned between him and the chalkboard.
She tried to wiggle away, and he pressed a hand firmly to her hip, keeping her against him. She didn’t miss the hard length of his erection poking into her hip as he worked the problem, and she briefly wondered how he had enough blood flow to his brain to comprehend the equation.
“This is where you went wrong,” he said near her ear, breath wafting against her neck. “You forgot to work this step. Exponents before multiplication, right?”
She let out a shaky breath as she nodded. “Of course.” There was a slight stutter to her words that she hoped no one else noticed.
Dalton finished it and stepped back. She breathed a sigh of relief and darted away from him, returning quickly to her desk while Suzanne praised Dalton. She made it sound like he’d solved all the problems in the universe. The woman certainly never praised Candace that way when she got equations correct. Not that she expected her to. Suzanne clearly hated her and was jealous of her, and Candace took a small measure of satisfaction from knowing that jealousy was justified. Kip wanted her, not Suzanne.
She ducked out of class as soon as she could afterward, wanting to avoid the whispers and stares. That he had stood so close to her hadn’t gone unnoticed, and Candace had enough to deal with without gossip. She hoped people interpreted it as he was finally getting over his resentment of having her there, rather than recognizing there was certainly an element of attraction to his interaction.
She rushed to her next class, hoping she could get Lex to sit with her. She took a seat at the table, eyes on the door. She waited eagerly for him to appear, but when he did, he glanced briefly at her before meaningfully sitting on the other side of the room. Her stomach dropped, and she barely noticed when Beth took a seat beside her.
“What’s going on?” asked Beth.
She blinked and looked up. “Huh?”
Beth waved over the table where Lex sat, and the other seat was occupied by a pretty blonde girl whose name Candace had forgotten, if she’d ever known it. “You usually sit with Lex, and I sit with Lauren.”
Candace shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t know. We had a fight, I guess you could say.”
“Is it because of the rumors?”
“What rumors?” asked Candace carefully.
“I just heard in the hallway on my way here that Dalton was all over you in math class. Surely, Lex doesn’t believe that?”
With a groan, Candace laid her head on the table, barely resisting the urge to pound her forehead against it a few times to see if that could bring some clarity. “For goodness sake, it just happened last period. How the hell do people spread stuff so fast?”
Beth gasped. “It’s true?” She looked shocked when Candace turned her head to look up at her. “I thought you and Lex were…” She shrugged. “And doesn’t Dalton hate you?”
“Probably as much as I hate him.” A funny little squiggly feeling in her stomach when she said it told her that wasn’t entirely true. Dalton still wasn’t her favorite person, but she no longer hated him. It was hard to do so when she wanted him and had shared such intimacy with him.
She cleared her throat. “I don’t think that’s the problem. Lex and I argued last night.” Technically, it was about Dalton, but she wasn’t going to share that even with Beth, who was a friend, though not as close a friend as Octavia. She couldn’t even imagine telling Octavia what was going on, and they’d gotten pretty close.
“Well, you know gossip. If there’s no substance to it—”
Candace snorted. “It’ll still circulate if it’s juicy enough. All he did was stand behind me to work a math problem and explain to me where I went wrong. There was nothing suggestive or scandalous about it.” Except when he stood close enough to breathe onto her neck, and he’d been aroused as he stood behind her. Other than that, there was nothing to gossip about. Yeah, right.
“It’ll die down. Once people see there’s no truth, it really will stop circulating. And if that’s not what Lex was upset about, I’m sure you guys will make up. You’re obviously good friends, and I thought you were more.” There was definitely a question in her tone.
Candace chose not to answer, not wanting to discuss her love life with anyone at the moment. When it came to Lex, she wasn’t even certain she could call it a love life anymore. She still cared deeply about him, but she wasn’t sure how much he cared about her. Right now, he was angry and likely fueling feelings of hatred toward her rather than trying to find a way to forgive her and move on. She had to let him have the time he needed, though the thought was heartbreaking—especially if it led to him hating her.
Finally, school ended for the day, and she hid in her dorm room to study. If she hadn’t been starving after having skipped lunch, she would’ve stayed there all evening. Finally, she got brave enough to leave her dorm toward the end of dining hall hours. Fortunately, she was able to slip in and out with only seeing Beth, who was serving some of the hot dishes this evening. She took her tray with her to her room and holed up there.
She woke with an uncomfortable ache in her neck and realized she had fallen asleep while sitting at her desk. She sat up slowly, stretching quietly. A glance at the window revealed it must be late, and she could hear Isis snoring softly across the room. She looked at the clock on her desk and gasped quietly when she saw it was after one a.m.
She’d slept for several hours, likely because she hadn’t been able to sleep well the previous night after her argument with Lex. She stretched again before getting to her feet and realized she wasn’t at all sleepy. It seemed unlikely that she’d get back to sleep at this point. A quick look confirmed she’d finished the rest of her homework before falling asleep, so that offered no way to occupy herself.
She considered working ahead but discarded the idea. Her brain wasn’t into it. Instead, she took a novel and moved to her bed, opening the page to where she’d left off on “Tess Of The d’Urbervilles.” It was a catch-up read for Kip’s class, but it wasn’t holding her attention. With a sigh, she set it aside after a few minutes.
She laid on her back and stared at the ceiling for a bit longer, trying to talk herself out of what she wanted to do. Every cell in her body was urging her to go to Kip’s
place and spend some time with him. She knew that was a bad idea. It was reckless and foolish. If she got caught sneaking out, she’d probably be suspended or expelled. If she got caught in his cottage, he’d be fired, and she’d certainly be expelled.
Telling herself she wasn’t actually going to do it, she sat up and grabbed her shoes. Carrying them in her hand, she tiptoed out of the dorm room after verifying she had her keycard in her pocket. She’d changed into comfortable sweats and a T-shirt after class, so she was able to move unrestricted.
She tiptoed down the hallway, pausing when one of the boards squeaked under her foot. She’d never noticed it doing that before, but that was probably because there was always a low level of noise in the dorms—accept at one a.m., apparently.
After she froze and counted to ten, and there was no sign of Edna’s door opening, she resumed tiptoeing again. Candace swore she held her breath the whole time she slipped past Edna’s door. There were no telltale squeaking boards to reveal her presence, and she managed to get to the landing. At that point, she let out a heavy exhalation as she started down the stairs.
Going down the stairs was a relatively simple matter, since she didn’t get off at the second-floor landing. The first floor proved little challenge for her, since the Resident Advisor’s room was farther down the hallway. She slipped past the main floor rec room, relieved to find no one there, and outside into the night before she paused to put on her shoes.
Glancing around from the alcove of the stairs, she looked out at the grounds and saw no sign of life. She wasn’t certain what she’d been expecting. Armed guards with sniffer dogs? Of course not. This was a respectable establishment that didn’t require constant policing of its well-heeled students. She snorted at the thought, doubting she was the first girl who’d ever sneaked out of her dorm to visit a teacher.
Her stomach clenched with fear and excitement when she started running. She didn’t scamper or dash. She flat-out ran like those imaginary sniffer dogs were chasing her. She didn’t stop until she was far enough away from the school buildings that she didn’t think she’d be seen. Then she rested against a tree for a moment as she caught her breath before heading down the path to the staff cottages.
It was kind of creepy passing under the canopy of trees that provided shade during the daytime. She jumped and barely bit back a scream when an owl hooted behind her. She shot a furtive glare in its direction, muttering a curse as she walked on.
She emerged into the clearing where the cottages were a moment later, and then her detective work began. She knew Suzanne’s, so she just had to figure out to whom the other cottages belonged. Fortunately, there were quaint mailboxes right in front of each cottage, and they were all labeled with the instructors’ last names. Kip’s cottage was kitty-corner to Suzanne’s, and she felt sorry for him having to live so close to the harpy.
Now that she had reached his cottage, it took a surprising amount of courage to walk the rest of the way toward the front door. Was he going to be happy to see her, or would he be angry? Would he let her come in, or would he send her away? There was only one way to find out, but she decided to detour to the back door instead, since his front step provided too good of a view for Suzanne if she happened to look out her patio door.
She slipped around to the back, finding a similar sliding glass patio door set in the antiquated stone like the one at Suzanne’s cottage. With a deep breath for courage, she knocked lightly. Candace held her breath as she waited for a response, but none was forthcoming. With a grimace at the noise, she knocked a little harder. She wanted him to be able to hear her, but she didn’t want other people in other cottages to overhear her knocking.
She was about to give up, knowing she couldn’t knock any louder, when she saw a light flip on. It must’ve been farther in the recesses of the cottage, since it only provided dim illumination, but it was enough for her to see Kip coming. He went straight to his front door and opened it, looking around for a moment and shrugging before closing it.
She knocked lightly again on the patio door, and he stiffened before turning her direction. There wasn’t enough light to read his expression until he reached the door, but when he did, he was clearly upset. “What are you doing here?” he asked softly but with clear censure.
She shrugged. “I wanted to see you.”
Kip rubbed his eyes. “This is a really bad idea.”
She was about to offer to leave, to suggest they forget the whole thing, when he slid the door open wider and stepped back. She held her breath for a moment before she crossed the threshold. She knew he was right. This was a terrible idea, yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself from entering his home, just as she’d been unable to resist the urge to slip out to start with to find him.
Chapter Six
Candace
As soon as she was inside, Kip pulled the vertical blinds that covered his patio door before moving into his living room to ensure the curtains were closed there as well. Then he stood in the middle of his living room staring at her for a moment. With a sigh, he gestured her forward.
Candace hated that he was upset with her, and she bent her head as she reached him. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be here. I can leave now if you want.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “No, what’s the point now? Since you’re here, we might as well have some time alone.”
She lifted her head, struggling to hide her excitement. “Thank you for letting me stay.”
Kip shook his head. “Don’t thank me. I want time with you as well. I just know how dangerous this is for both of us.”
She nodded solemnly, but when he held out his arms to her, she stepped forward without hesitation, hugging him. It was the first time she’d been in his arms, and she reveled in the closeness. He smelled like pine and citrus, and she nuzzled his neck.
He moaned softly when her lips crept up the column of his throat. “We shouldn’t do that. It’s too much temptation.”
Reluctantly, Candace pulled away. “Can we have a real kiss though?”
He seemed to struggle for a moment, and then he closed his eyes before sighing heavily. “Just one.”
She lifted her head as his bent, and their lips touched a fraction of a second later. The kiss started warm and sweet, with him barely moving his lips against hers. It was a nice kiss, but only a portion of what they were capable of, and she couldn’t resist pressing closer as she threaded her fingers through his hair, holding his head close to hers so she could sweep her tongue into his mouth.
With a groan of surrender, Kip’s arms came around her again, holding her body to his. The kiss deepened as they moved as one, without coordination or forethought, to the couch. He sat down first, and she laid across him, almost straddling him. His hands held her hips while his mouth devoured hers.
Candace stroked his hair, wanting to get even closer to him. She rubbed herself against him, moaning at the flash of heat between her thighs. Kip stiffened for a moment, and then he carefully eased her away. “We can’t do anymore, or I’ll lose control.”
She frowned. “Would that be so bad?”
Kip sighed. “It would feel amazing, but it’s too soon. We hardly know each other, and we’ve barely had any time alone. I don’t want to rush you into something you’ll regret later.”
Candace was reasonably certain she wouldn’t regret it, but she was smart enough not to tell him that. She knew his control was hanging by a thread, and he’d already indicated he didn’t want to have sex tonight, so she needed to respect that.
With a groan of disappointment, she pulled away from him and scooted back onto the other cushion. He sat with his back against the one he’d been leaning on, and their feet were touching on the middle cushion.
“Damn, it’s harder to do the right thing than I thought.” As he said that, Kip stroked his bare foot against her ankle.
She turned long enough to kick off her shoes before returning her bare feet to the cushion. They pressed their soles together and just st
ayed like that for a few minutes without speaking.
“How did you find out where I live?” asked Kip after a short time.
“I was taking a walk earlier and saw Suzanne leaving her cottage. I know you live near her, so I just had to find which one was yours. Your last name is on the mailbox.”
“Aren’t you just a little Nancy Drew?” The words could’ve been sarcastic, but the tone indicated he wasn’t angry at her detective work. He sounded more like he admired her than anything, so maybe he wasn’t too angry that she’d found her way to his place. “You know you can’t do this again, right?”
She nodded slowly. “I know, but it’s not fair. We don’t have any time together.”
His lips curved upward. “That’s by design, honey. Schools tend to frown on allowing teachers and students to spend one-on-one time together alone. Bad things happen.”
She wiggled her eyebrows. “How bad are we talking here?” Her gaze drifted to the hallway visible at the edge of the room. “Is your bedroom back there?”
“Along with a small bathroom, but you’re not venturing that far. Of course, you may use the lavatory if needed, but you’re not going to my room.” He lifted a finger and pointed at her in a scolding fashion as he said that with a wink.
She knew he was taking a lighthearted approach, but she could see his sincerity underneath. At least for tonight, there was no way she was going to finesse him into taking this farther or getting him to let her see the inside of his bedroom.
“What’s wrong?” His foot was still stroking against hers.
She stared where his toe rubbed lightly along the top of her toes, not quite meeting his gaze. “Nothing.”
Kip laughed. “I never believe a woman when she tells me nothing’s wrong.”
Candace rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I’ve got some stuff on my mind. I don’t want to waste our time together talking about it though.”