The moment Nataleigh Brown laid eyes on Keelan Robinson, three words came to mind—tall, gorgeous and egotistical! She had never met a man more insufferable in her entire life. But then Keelan gave her a closer look of the man beneath his cocky exterior.
Keelan might have been born into money, but he chose to live in a low-income neighborhood amongst the inner-city kids he taught and urged to make something of their lives. Keelan was too handsome for his own good, had his pick of women…but he chose to pursue Nataleigh.
Nataleigh wasn’t fooled. Keelan wasn’t a man she could get involved with no matter how good he could kiss. She learned a long time ago that good things didn’t happen to a person like her. Nataleigh didn’t bother to dream that a man like Keelan could be the one for her because she didn’t believe in dreams anymore. But then again, she’d never met a man like Keelan…
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Hard To Resist
Copyright © 2010 Stephanie Morris
ISBN: 978-1-55487-638-9
Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Hard To Resist
Stephanie Morris
Dedication
To my Aunt Chel, Aunt Nikki, Aunt Connie and Aunt Millicent, thank you all for your support!
To my former teachers and classmates at David W. Carter High School, this one is for you!
Chapter One
“He’s got a gun, call the cops. Call the cops.”
Nataleigh Brown rolled her eyes and exhaled heavily as she heard the high-pitched command. “Be quiet, Deon,” Nataleigh demanded, then pressed down on the brake as she came to a stop sign. The ancient van she drove protested with a shudder. “No one has a gun.” She looked around the rundown neighborhood. “Although we might need the cops. Stay alert.”
“Call the cops.” Deon screeched.
“Heaven above,” she muttered, starting off again when she was certain she had the right-of-way. She shot the talkative bird a hard look. It was hard to do considering how beautiful the creature was. Deon had glossy feathers of green and yellow. He sat perched on the swing in his bell-shaped cage, looking around in a very observant fashion. A bad idea since the creature was very opinionated.
At the next stop sign, she shifted in her seat as much as the seatbelt allowed her to, making sure that all of the doors of the vehicle were securely locked. It had taken almost an hour to drive from Plano, Texas to the Oak Cliff suburb nestled in the city of Dallas. Now with each passing street, poverty seemed to greet her from all directions.
Some of the buildings were decorated with graffiti, some of the messages not legible, others she wished weren’t. Some of the windows and doors were boarded up, others were just missing. She frowned in disappointment as she saw several people milling around or set up on the corner as if they had not a care in the world.
Hard to believe she’d grown up in the area, although it seemed to have gotten worse. Oak Cliff always had a reputation of having high crime rate, gangs and drugs. Now that she was back here, she most definitely wished that she wasn’t. Fortunately, her parents lived in a relative safer and nicer part of the Oak Cliff area or she might worry more than she already did.
She sighed as she turned onto a street missing yet another sign off the metal pole. If she hadn’t been from the neighborhood, she would definitely be lost. She tried to remember a time when she didn’t have to maneuver the streets by memory. Unfortunately, she couldn’t. A street sign or two always went missing—if not the entire metal pole.
Exhaling heavily as she came up on the street she needed to be on, she signaled a right turn and travelled the eight blocks she needed to go before arriving at her final destination.
The clouds hung low in the sky, covering the sun, making the neighborhood seem even drearier. The residential neighborhood near the school was well kept while others suffered from a lack of care and screamed to be demolished.
Nataleigh shivered, in part because of the cool temperature of the overcast September day, and partly from the dread and apprehension that seemed to be growing stronger.
“Call the cops,” Deon squawked.
“No, not the cops, Deon,” she responded in a low tone. “In this neighborhood you would need two, maybe, three S.W.A.T teams and an entire platoon of home designers.”
“Hopeful wishing,” Deon replied. “Hopeful wishing.”
“Whatever, Deon,” she mumbled, shooting the parrot an irritated glare. “Why I even bother conversing with you, I don’t know. You have a bad habit of giving your opinion—even when it isn’t wanted.”
“You love me,” Deon said.
“No I don’t. And if you want to eat later I suggest you shut it.” She shook her head when she realized what she was doing. “Why am I holding a conversation with this bird? Just be quiet, Nataleigh Brown.”
“Hush up.” Deon squawked.
She bit back a growl. “Take your own advice Deon before you become soup.”
The bird smartly remained silent. Nataleigh slowed her speed, then turned into the visitor parking lot and began the search for a parking spot. Once she did, she exhaled heavily. “David W. Carter High School,” she murmured. “Never imagined I would be back here in this capacity.”
The three-story building had been around for several decades, but was still in decent shape judging by the outside. She wondered if the inside was still holding up. There had been a new wing added on and portable buildings sat to the side of the building. She guessed they were additional classrooms.
“We are here, Deon.” She checked her reflection in the rearview mirror and stifled a groan. It would be a miracle if the kids didn’t mistake her for one of their fellow classmates today. She was twenty-five years old and still got carded. Nothing she did made her look any older.
Her shoulder length curly black hair and amber eyes did nothing to make her look anywhere near her age. Her café au lait skin complexion was light enough for a person to see a dusting of freckles if they looked closely enough.
She sighed. “Oh, well. There is a bright side to this. There is a possibility I will never look my real age, even when I’m fifty. Right, Deon?”
The parrot emitted a wolf whistle and Nataleigh laughed. “Thanks, Deon. Now let’s get inside. The student’s of David W. Carter are waiting on us.”
“Duty calls,” Deon squawked. “Duty calls.”
She rolled her eyes. There were times when she just wanted to off the bird, but her friends would kill her if she did. For now, she would just have to deal with him.
* * * *
Keelan Robinson stood behind the stage in the high school auditorium with a clipboard in his hand. He hardly noticed the high volume of noise created by six hundred students laughing and chatting. A medical doctor in med
ical scrubs stood in front of Keelan.
“Okay,” Keelan said, making a check mark on the paper attached to the clipboard. “We appreciate you coming to career day, Doctor Miles. Have a seat at the table. We will get started shortly.”
The doctor nodded and walked away.
“How are we doing, Keelan?”
Keelan turned to see the principal of the school. Curtis Griffith was in his late fifties, with salt-and-pepper hair, the only thing truly indicating his age. He was a few inches taller than Keelan’s own six foot one, and Keelan knew from experience that Curtis was physically stronger than he appeared. The two men not only worked together, they respected and liked each other. They were friends. “Everyone is here except Dr. Emmitt Sanders.”
Curtis rubbed the back of his neck. “Did you ever meet Doctor Sanders?”
“No. Our schedule’s never allowed us to meet. However, he comes highly recommended and he was willing to come to this part of town.”
“Good. I can’t blame them. I just hope he shows up.”
“Don’t give up yet. Let’s give him a few more minutes to arrive. If he doesn’t show up by then, we’ll get started without him. The crowd is getting restless.”
Curtis’ gaze drifted out toward the crowded auditorium. “I hope they listen,” he murmured. “I want them to realize there’s a way out of this neighborhood. If they’d just stay out of trouble, focus on their school work, choose a career, want to achieve something…” Curtis exhaled deeply. “This career day program is a great attempt. I wonder how receptive the student’s are going to be.”
“We shall see,” Keelan responded, with a smile. “There’s no telling with these guys, Curtis. That’s just one of the things that makes teaching at Carter so…shall we say…interesting?”
Curtis laughed. “That’s putting it lightly. But you and I sign new contracts every year. We’re either dumb or dedicated.” His smiled dimmed. “Who am I kidding? Where else would we go? We belong here. Both of us believe we might make a difference, reach a few of these disgruntled students who have given up on someone truly caring about them.”
“Exactly,” Keelan replied, with a nod. “I don’t plan on going anywhere. I’m here for as long as Carter will have me.”
“And I’m grateful for that. I would hate to have to do this on my own.”
“Don’t get sentimental on me, Curtis.” Keelan looked toward the doors at the back of the auditorium again. “Well, I guess Doctor Sanders is not going to show. Let’s go ahead and get the wild bunch settled so we can start.”
“Okay. I will quiet down the prisoners, then turn it over to you, since you are the one who put this all together.”
“I’m ready when you are,” Keelan said, then watched the principal walk way.
Curtis was a good man. He’d grown up in a neighborhood like this in West Dallas, understood the backgrounds of these students and what they were up against. He and his family lived in a nice home in Duncanville, a nice suburb on the outskirts of Dallas, but Curtis was committed to helping these kids, would probably stay at Carter until he retired.
Keelan glanced out over the loud crowd.
And Keelan Robinson? He mused. He came from an entirely different upbringing. His family was well-off and during his childhood and teenage years he’d had every materialistic want met and then some. He’d taken it all for granted. He wanted it, he asked for it, he got it, no questions asked, and the image of it all in his mind made him shudder.
Twelve years ago he decided it was time to make a change. He walked away from the world of money, except for the occasional appearance at a megabucks event to appease his parents. He worked in a low-income neighborhood. Lived in the low-income neighborhood. It was the only way for him to be able to relate to these kids, to be the sort of “teach” he wanted to be. He didn’t have Curtis firsthand knowledge of this life, but he was making up for it in the only way he could.
Sacrifices.
Yeah, he’d definitely made sacrifices. The biggest one, he supposed, was the fact that he had no intention to get married and have a family. He would not have a wife and children live in this area. Since he intended to stay in this neighborhood, it was simply out of the question. Still he knew what he gave up willingly was a lot less than what most of his students had to give up unwillingly.
As time went by, he had less understanding, patience or tolerance for the idle jet setters, the wealthy crowd, those who refused to pay attention to anything outside of their selfish pleasures. The one’s who put on blinders and pretended that neighborhoods like this didn’t exist.
Stop it Keelan.
He didn’t have time to mentally wonder down that road. It was time to get this career day assembly started.
* * * *
The short walk from the visitor parking lot to the school seemed to take forever to Nataleigh as the weight of Deon’s cage began to make her shoulder, hand and arm ache. Arriving at the bottom of the steps outside the school, she stopped to catch her breath and calm the sensations that assailed her at the onslaught of memories that flooded her mind. How many countless times had she maneuvered these steps as a student in the four years that she attended the school? Not much about it had changed, that was for certain.
After composing herself, she looked at the bird. “All right, Deon, here we go.” She traveled up the steps, pulled one of the doors open and stepped inside. As she always, had when she was in school, she made it through the metal detector without issue. Yet, there had been times when she wondered if the machine actually really worked.
After receiving a few weird stares, she followed the instructions of heading toward the door that lead to the back of the stage. It would come in handy at a time like this. What had possessed her to bring Deon over some of the other animals at her disposal, she didn’t know. Other than the fact she thought most of these students had never had any interaction with a talking bird—a feisty speaking bird. She definitely hasn’t been in the presence of one before she met the Sanders. Yes, this was going to work out just fine.
She opened the door to the stage just in time to hear a voice say, “…who worked hard and put in several hours to make this career day at Carter possible. Ladies and gentleman show some appreciation for our own Coach Robinson.”
Nataleigh took another step, then stopped dead in her tracks with a gasp of shock as the students appreciation erupted at full volume. They applauded, hooted and hollered, stamped their feet in a rumbling rhythm of the floor and whistled shrilly.
“What have I gotten myself into,” she murmured, then frowned.
Her path behind the stage was blocked due to props and other materials. It meant she would have to walk across the actual stage to get to where the other participant’s and the much-appreciated Coach Robinson. With a mouthy bird in a cage, she was about to walk across in front of several hundred students.
“Thank you,” Keelan Robison responded, raising both hands. “Quiet down now so we can get started.”
Nataleigh started across the stage, hoping she could make it across without being spotted. The student’s quieted down slowly, then complete silence fell. Nataleigh kept walking quietly.
“Now, I hope all of you realize the importance and significance of this career day at Carter,” he continued. “Some of you face dangerous situations—”
“He’s got a gun, call the cops,” Deon squawked, loud and clear.
The student’s erupted with laughter. Nataleigh felt a warm flush stain he cheeks as she quickened her steps, mentally thinking of ways to serve up chatty birds. She wanted to disappear when Keelan turned to look at her. His expression clearly indicated he wasn’t please about the disruption. He took a step toward her, his long legs covering the remaining distance between them.
Nataleigh stopped and looked up at the man she now knew to be Coach Robinson. “Sorry. I…” she began, then forgot what she was about to say.
Have mercy.
While this was definitely one of the most embar
rassing moments in her life, she managed to share it with one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen.
Oh yes, one should definitely show appreciation to Coach Robinson. He was tall, with wide shoulders, his sharp features were breathtaking. Dark chocolate skin, black hair cropped close to his scalp and yummy dark brown eyes made up a gorgeous specimen of a man.
“Sorry, I’m late,” she mumbled, amazed she could get her brain to cooperate long enough for her to form words, not to mention it felt like her lungs had seized up. “There was a little more traffic than I anticipated for this time of day.”
“You’re not Doctor Sanders,” he responded with a frown. “I assume he sent you?”
“Yes. Emmitt had an emergency surgery to perform on a dog hit by a car. His wife, Doctor Janice Sanders, is covering his appointments at the clinic. I’m Nataleigh Brown, one of the veterinary technicians.”
“Okay. Well, that is fine with me.”
She stopped him as he went to walk away. “Wait. I’ve never done anything like this before. I have no idea what you need me to say, Coach Robinson. Emmitt didn’t have time to inform me of what the two of you agreed upon.”
“It’s Keelan…Nataleigh. You aren’t the first on the program, so you will have the opportunity to hear some of the other’s speak before it’s your turn. May I carry the cage for you?”
“What? Oh. Yes, thank you.”
Nataleigh lifted Deon’s cage and Keelan slid his fingers through the brass ring at the top, brushing her fingers as she released her hold. A sudden and shocking explosion of heat exploded from the light touch, darting up her arm. Their gazes collided with matching astonishment telling her he had felt the jolt as well.
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