Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom

by Magda Alexander

  “Oh, Lordy, Jeb. This has nothin’ to do with you,” Charlotte said. “Now, hush up and listen to Vivi. This thing is serious.”

  “Serious? How the hell can it be serious? The kid is in high school, for Christ’s sake.”

  “Regardless of how serious Lane and I are, what Mom is talking about is the seriousness of situation I have now found myself in. If word gets out that we are romantically involved, it would ruin me and damage Lane’s reputation as well. Could hinder his chances for getting into college.”

  “Sugar, what the hell are you talkin’ about? That boy could get kicked out of school tomorrow, take his GED, and be welcome on any college football team in the country. He’s that good.”

  “Jeb. You’re missing the point,” Charlotte said.

  “What?”

  “Your daughter is now, inadvertently, romantically involved with one of her students. If people find out, it’s going to cause an ugly scandal.”

  “Hmm,” Jeb said, leaning back in his chair, thinking.

  Vivi looked over at her mother. “Please tell me my own father is not plotting a way to release this knowledge at just the right time to get Lane kicked out of school before they play Henderson?”

  “Jeb?” her mother queried. When her husband just kept on thinking, she shouted, “Jeb!”

  “Okay, you’re right,” he said. “Wouldn’t be sporting like.”

  “Daddy!”

  “Sugar plum, I’m kidding. Your reputation is just as important as the comeback of Henderson football.”

  When both mother and daughter stared at him, Jeb spread his arms out wide and said, “What?”

  “Have you lost your mind?” her mother asked.

  “I’m just saying-”

  “Stop it, whatever you are saying. You sound like a damn fool.”

  Jeb looked over at his daughter. “I apologize. The Boosters have been all caught up in this football thing. I’m not thinking straight.” He took a hearty swig of wine. “Okay then. You met the running back from hell at the beach. Now you’re his teacher. What’s the problem?”

  When Vivi’s mouth dropped open, her mother said, “I’ll handle this,” and turned her attention to her husband by folding her hands under her chin and addressing him directly.

  “Remember Miss Osmiss?”

  “Miss Osmiss?”

  “Yes, Miss Osmiss. Young, pretty-”

  “The hot English teacher in eleventh grade.”

  “Right.”

  “Who could forget her? There were plenty of rumors that she and a number of guys on the-” Jeb looked at his daughter. “Oh, shit!”

  “I believe we’ve finally got his attention,” Vivi’s mother said to her before she went back to eating.

  “What the hell happened with this Kettering kid in Myrtle Beach?” her father shouted. “Jesus. We need a lawyer.”

  Vivi blinked, startled. “We only need legal advice, Daddy. To figure out where things stand now.”

  “We need a lawyer to force Lane Kettering to sign a nondisclosure agreement.” Jeb’s fist came down on the table. “He’s in high school, Vivian Leigh. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking he was twenty-three. I’m telling you, Daddy, he doesn’t look, act, or speak like a high school student. His vocabulary is equivalent to an English major’s.”

  “Vocabulary. I’ll bet. Do you have any idea the kind of shit guys like him talk about in the locker room?”

  “Lane’s not like that.”

  “I’ve got news for you, sugar. They’re all like that. Now you’re going to need to quit this job before this blows up in your face.”

  “Principal Levendusky isn’t letting me quit. At least not for another week. I signed a contract. He needs me. And he is aware of the situation. Lane and I told him at the end of the day.”

  “What the hell did you do that for?”

  “So he understands our relationship started before I was hired. That it has nothing to do with me being a teacher and Lane being a student. That’s why I’m telling you. That’s why Lane is telling his parents. So all of you will know the truth and can back us up.”

  “Oh, we’re gonna back you up. Your uncles and I will be driving over to Oxford to have a little chat with Mr. Fancy Words and his father.”

  “Daddy, you’re not getting my uncles involved. In fact, you can’t tell anyone. You’re just going to have to trust Lane and me to keep our relationship handled.”

  “Your relationship? There can be no relationship.”

  “There already is a relationship.” Vivi’s heart was racing a mile a minute. She realized right then how hard it was going to be if she had to give up Lane. Even in the middle of this…pickle.

  When her father said nothing, she said, “I want you to meet him. You may think you know the running back, but I want you to meet Lane, the man.”

  “He’s not a man, Vivian Leigh. He’s a kid. Hell, you’re just a kid. Two kids with raging hormones.”

  “Piper Beaumont,” her mother interrupted. “I met her at your Aunt Genevra’s wedding Saturday. She’s dating Vance Evans, and if I remember correctly, she’s a lawyer who defends college students. Call her. She’ll be able to sort this out for you.”

  “Have her draw up a nondisclosure agreement as well,” her father said.

  “And shall I have her draw up one for you too?” Vivi asked her father. “I’m not sure I can trust you with this news around the Boosters.”

  “Aww, Vivi-de-bee, darlin’. I already admitted it wouldn’t be sporting, didn’t I?” Mother and daughter both sipped their wine, eyeing Jeb. “I’m not going to say anything,” he shouted.

  “Okay,” Vivi smiled. “Thank you. Now, tell me. Just how good is this running back from hell?”

  Chapter Eleven

  The conversation at the Kettering table went down a little differently.

  After Lane’s brother Tray laughed his ass off over the phone when Lane called to tell him about Vivi showing up as his statistics teacher, Lane was resigned to getting it all out in the open by telling his parents over dinner. His parents were notoriously conservative, God-fearing people. A little bit prudish maybe, considering their taste in film. Had he brought Vivi home as his girlfriend, Lane didn’t think the age difference between them would raise an eyebrow. She looked younger than he did, for Christ’s sake. But now that she was his teacher, well, he feared that might make it an entirely different story.

  And let’s face it. His parents were the ones who needed to understand how all this went down the most. If his parents were behind his relationship with Vivi, the rest of the world could go fuck itself.

  Yeah. Not exactly the attitude to drag into dinner table conversation.

  He ate his fill quickly because he was starving and wasn’t sure he’d have the stomach for eating after this conversation. Then he jumped in with both feet.

  “This girl I met at the beach with Tray, back in May? Vivi DuVal from Henderson? She’s twenty-one.”

  His father, a well-known property and casualty insurance broker in the area, still had his tie on, although he’d loosened it up a bit. “An older woman,” he said, looking up and smiling at Lane. “Nothing wrong with that. Is she in school?”

  Lane choked on his response and fidgeted in his chair. “She was. She just graduated from Wake Forest. A year early.”

  “A year early? She must be driven,” his mom said.

  “Well, she’s smart,” Lane said, not knowing how to proceed. His parents kept eating. Finally, he said, “Tray met her. He liked her.”

  His parents nodded while continuing to eat.

  “I like her. A lot.”

  Both his parents’ heads popped up. Well, looky there. I’ve got their attention now.

  “Will we get to meet her? Is she living in Henderson now?” his mother asked.

  “Yes,” Lane nodded. “To both of those.”

  “How does she feel about you being in high school?”

  Lane rub
bed his hand along the table, hedging. “She was surprised. When she found out. Today.”

  “She didn’t know?” his father asked.

  Lane shook his head.

  When the silence drew out, his mother prompted, “Lane, darlin’?”

  He sighed and sat back in his chair, picking up his fork and playing with the food left on his plate. “Look. I’m crazy about her. I met her on the beach the first day we were there, and she was sassy and sweet and real, real pretty. We spent the next four days together, even celebrated our birthdays together because hers is the same day as mine.”

  “Interesting.”

  “Uh-huh. So, we sort of jelled. She thought I was older because I was with Tray and his buddies, and I didn’t tell her any differently because she was getting ready to graduate from college and I didn’t want her to run away screaming. Once I found out she was from down the street, I started hoping maybe there was a way we could see each other again. She had a job offer in Atlanta. I figured I’d tell her I was still in high school when she came home for Thanksgiving. By then I’d have one foot in college and hoped that when she discovered our age difference, it wouldn’t much matter.”

  “You said she found out today.”

  “Yeah. She found out when she walked into the Statistics class she’s teaching at Wilson and read my name on her roster.”

  “She’s…a teacher?”

  “Yep. My teacher.”

  His parents looked at one another and then burst out laughing.

  Good Lord, it was like dealing with Tray all over again. “I’m glad y’all find this amusing. I really am. But unfortunately, it puts Vivi and me in an awkward situation.”

  “Oh, Lane,” his mother said, dabbing at the tears of mirth in her eyes. “This must be horrible for you.”

  “Well, I’m sure not laughing my ass off about it like you and Tray. He thinks this is the funniest damn thing to ever happen.”

  “What did…Vivi?…do?” his father asked.

  “She asked to see my license. Ripped me a new one for lying to her. Which I did not do,” he claimed. “I told her there was two years between us. She just…misinterpreted which way.”

  “She kick you to the curb?”

  “Not yet. She got over the age difference pretty quick. But the fact that we are so far apart in school years is probably going to weigh heavily when she has time to stop and think about it. Today she was more worried about her career. She’s been wanting to be a teacher since she was six years old. And for some odd reason, she doesn’t think dating a student is going to look good on her résumé.” Lane smiled. “She insisted we tell Principal Levendusky so he was aware we were already involved before she ever graduated from college. She was also insistent I tell the two of you, so you know that I’m not being seduced by my statistics teacher.”

  That made both his parents sit up.

  “Yeah,” his mother said on a long sigh. “I’m not really wild about my baby boy making out with his teacher.”

  “I don’t know,” his father said, thoughtfully. “I would have loved to have been seduced by any number of my teachers. I sort of had a thing for teachers.”

  His mother reached over and smacked his arm. Then she squinched up her nose, thinking, and said, “You know. I sort of did too. There was this professor in college that I was sort of desperate for-”

  “La, la, la, la, la,” Lane said, holding his hands over his ears. “Waaaay too much information, Mom. And as far as you are concerned, Vivi DuVal is my girlfriend, not my teacher. I’ll get her to come over and meet y’all as soon as we can figure out how to manage the minefields that now surround us. She doesn’t look like a teacher. She looks like a girl. A nice girl. A nice girl from an upstanding Henderson family. So if there’s any seducing going on, you can be sure I’m the one doing it. Which is probably not sitting well with her father right now. She’s telling them all about us too.” Lane stood to leave.

  “Hold on,” his father said. “How serious is this?”

  Lane glanced over at his mom quick, before eyeing his dad. “Serious enough that Principal Levendusky wants to meet with you two, me, and Vivi next week. Since our relationship is preexisting, he’s gotta do some research to see where this puts us regarding all of the student/teacher rules and regulations. Cover his own ass.”

  “So if whatever happened between you two at the beach got out now?”

  “Well, right now I’d be a hero in the locker room and Vivi would lose her job.”

  He watched as his parents digested that information.

  “Okay,” his father said. “We’ll meet with Principal Levendusky and Vivi. Let him know we’ve got your back and hers.”

  “How are you holding up?”

  It was the only thing Lane knew to ask. He’d been sitting on his bed staring at his computer for the past thirty minutes, gathering his courage to Skype Vivi. Because after the chat with his parents, the reality of the situation had started to sink in and he felt defeated.

  Vivi was a smart girl. A college graduate. Had landed the perfect job to start her career. He was probably six years behind her if he was redshirted next year. Which was a possibility. That’s how it worked. And if he was lucky enough to stay healthy, stay good enough to play Division I football while attending college, he may not come out with a degree even then. She’d probably figured all this out by now. Probably realized he wasn’t going to be worth the risk.

  Maybe it was a good thing they’d stuck him back in her Statistics class. At least he’d have a year of face-to-face contact, giving him the opportunity to talk her back into a relationship.

  “Wait,” he said as Vivi started to open her mouth. “Before you say one word, and definitely before I sit in your classroom tomorrow pretending I haven’t had my hands all over your smokin’ hot body, I need you to commit to me one more time. We meet in May back in Myrtle Beach as planned. No matter what happens between now and then.”

  “Okay,” she said, tilting her head and giving him her little Sleeping Beauty smile. Soft, easy, sweet. Her hair was up, her neck was bare, her lips were plump and tempting.

  Yeah. This situation was surely going to kill him.

  “I’d be relieved, except now I’m just thinking about how bad I want to kiss you.”

  She leaned into the screen, whispering, “How bad do you want to kiss me?”

  He growled.

  She laughed. Then she stopped and bit her lip. “Are your parents freaking out? Planning to call the authorities?”

  “S.B., get real. You heard Mr. L. If you were teaching Statistics over at Henderson High, this wouldn’t be a problem. And although I fantasize about pressing a lot of things against you, legal charges is not one of them. We don’t have a problem.”

  “I hope you’re right. I have a call into a lawyer my aunt knows personally. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Seriously, Lane, what did your parents say? You did talk to them, didn’t you?”

  “I said I would, S.B. And after they were done laughing at me, and sharing their own nightmare teacher-crush stories, they came to an understanding about how this affects you and your career. They get it. They’ve got your back. If anything should ever break, they’d be telling the true story, sticking up for the both of us.”

  “I truly appreciate that-because let’s face it, your parents could be having a fit over this…” She stopped. “Are they?”

  “No. No. They are looking forward to meeting you. Which I think should happen sooner rather than later. Under the circumstances.”

  “Yes, and I need you to meet my father and get him to chill out. Little did I know the name Lane Kettering was going to flip him out even before he found out about us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “To hear him talk, you are the devil incarnate. Not because of anything to do with me, but because you have single-handedly defeated the Henderson High football team three years running. They are all talking about you over here. Plotting their revenge.”


  “And here you are ratting them out. I think us secretly dating and you living over there in Henderson is gonna work out well for me after all. You can pass whatever information you hear my way.”

  “It’s not like my dad’s the coach. He just runs the Boosters with my uncles. Who, by the way, he was threatening to rally up and head on over to Oxford to have a chat with you and your father, forcing you to sign a nondisclosure agreement.”

  “Jesus, Viv. He doesn’t need to do that.”

  “I know. I told him so. Once he meets you, the real you, not the high-school-running-back you, he’ll trust you more. Right now, he’s yelling about how our raging hormones will bring down disaster.”

  Lane couldn’t say anything to that. Because he was thinking the same thing. He couldn’t see much of what Vivi had on, but every time she sat back or shifted, he got a glimpse of the pale-pink, low-cut tank top she was wearing, and how it hugged her chest. Which was very obviously braless.

  “S.B., what are you wearing?”

  “My pajamas,” she said, pulling at her top and looking down at herself. “Why?”

  “No reason.” Except seeing you sitting on your bed, wearing next to nothing is making me think with my dick-which is clearly a bad idea. He cleared his throat. “So, let’s talk about the real elephant in the room.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You. Presiding over the Statistics class I’m being forced to take.”

  “Ah. You can’t even say the words, can you?”

  He shook his head.

  “Okay. So, I’m guessing the bossy part of you is having a hard time thinking about the bossy part of me giving you a grade.”

  “I’m acing the damn class. That’s a given. If I’ve got questions, if I’m not following, I will talk to you about them outside of school. You can tutor me all you want one on one. But the thought of being one of your students, I gotta tell you, I have not come to terms with. So, you’re gonna need to cut me some slack for a little bit until we see how this is going to go.”

  “So…what exactly does that mean?”

  “It means if I show up wearing sunglasses, it’s not because I’m being an ass. It’s because I’m trying to distance myself.”