by Nina Croft
Was she worried he was going to embarrass her? Ask her how the baby was?
“Come on.” Keira tugged on his hand, dragging him toward the bus and Emily.
He stopped beside her. She looked so cute with her clipboard. “Hey, Teach.”
“I didn’t expect you here,” she said. Her cheeks had that pretty little flush, and she couldn’t meet his gaze.
“I’m standing in for Reese. He got stuck in a meeting in Richmond.”
“Oh. Well, good.” She smiled brightly. “I hope you enjoy the trip, Mr. O’Connor.”
People were crowding behind him, and he had to move, up the steps and into the bus. He stopped at the top, unsure where to go.
“You have to sit in the back with the other mommies,” Keira said.
He did? For a second, he clung to Keira’s hand. She squeezed it, tugged free, and then patted his arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep a look out. Make sure you’re all right.” She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a book—Alice in Wonderland. “Here. You can read this in case no one talks to you. And remember to smile.”
Crap.
He nodded and made his way toward the back of the bus. The women fell silent as he passed, then started talking quickly and quietly. He tried not to listen, because he really didn’t want to hear what they were saying. He had zero doubt that he was the topic of conversation. He found two empty seats and sat down. Staying on the outside so no one would be tempted to sit beside him. Not that he thought there was much risk of that. Then he opened the book at random and stared at words. He’d read it before—it had been in the prison library, though there had been fewer pictures in that copy.
Keira was up at the front, chatting with the other kids. She seemed popular, which was a relief. She caught his gaze—she was keeping an eye on him, as promised—and waggled her fingers. He sat back and turned his attention to Emily. She was standing by the driver, staring fixedly at her clipboard, but then one of the boys said something to her, and she smiled and nodded.
“Everyone sitting down?” she asked.
“Yes, Ms. Towson,” they replied in unison.
“Then we’re ready to go.”
She shifted from foot to foot for a second as if undecided where to sit. Then her shoulders stiffened, her lips tightened, and she headed down the aisle. She stopped beside his seat, and he struggled to keep the shock from his face. “Is this seat taken?”
“Hell no.” She raised an eyebrow. “No, ma’am.”
A smile flashed in her eyes as he shifted along the seat, and she came down beside him as the engine rumbled to life and the bus pulled away from the school.
After a minute, she cleared her throat. “Good book?” she asked, nodding to the paperback clutched in his hand.
“Keira lent it to me.” He smiled. “And it seems apt. ‘“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.’”
“You think we’re mad? And that’s very impressive. Especially as the book’s upside down.”
He glanced down. “So it is. But I’ve read it before. It was in the prison library.”
“And you learned it by heart. I’m even more impressed.”
“Not all of it. But it was a…thing I used to do with Josh—guess the quote. We read the same books—didn’t have much choice.”
They were silent for a few minutes. She craned her neck to look behind her and then back at him. “You know, I think I recognize at least a couple of members of your high school harem here.”
He cast her a narrow-eyed look, but didn’t comment. He hadn’t had a goddamn harem. Not that he could remember.
“You were certainly busy back then,” she added cheerfully.
He shrugged. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.”
She giggled, then looked around almost guiltily, no doubt in case anyone had heard. “I can’t believe you’re quoting poetry about your harem.”
“I never had a harem,” he growled. “I was a perfectly normal eighteen-year-old.”
She patted his thigh. “Of course you were, Tanner.”
“Okay. Well, maybe I was just practicing. So I’d get it right when it mattered.” And there was that flush again, turning her cheeks pink. He loved that she’d seen him naked and yet he could still make her blush with just a few words. He leaned a little closer, and her eyes widened. “Did I get it right, Teach?”
She swallowed, licked her lips, and heat shot through him. Then she sniffed. “I’d give you a B+ at best—there was definitely room for improvement.”
“Hah.” That was why she’d screamed so loud. “You want to help me practice, Ms. Towson? Give me a little extra…tutoring?”
She pursed her lips, but was saved from answering as the bus slowed and then turned into the ranch driveway. “Ah. We’re here.” She rose to her feet, smoothing her skirt. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Mr. O’Connor.”
He was smiling as she walked away. Keira would be proud.
Once they were out of the bus, he stayed at the edge of the group while Emily explained that there was going to be a tour, followed by a picnic, and afterward, her grandmother would give a riding display on her stallion, Frankie. Then the bus would take them all back to school.
“Why don’t you just bring up the rear, Mr. O’Connor?” she said at the end of her speech. “You can make sure there are no stragglers. That no one gets left behind.”
“And eaten by the horses.”
She blinked at him. “Exactly.”
He let the rest of them move away and took up position at the back. Actually, it wasn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon. Emily had a cute ass, and he could follow it around for hours.
They stopped at one of the stalls, where a small black horse stood with its head over the door. “This is my pony, Beauty,” Emily said. “I got her when I was the same age as you are now.”
There were sighs all around at that. Tanner guessed there were going to be a few hassled parents tonight.
Keira put up her hand. “Can I stroke her, Ms. Towson?”
“Of course you can. Just move slowly so you don’t startle her.”
Keira’s eyes were wide, her lower lip clenched in her teeth as she reached up, touched her fingertip to the pony’s black nose.
They moved on, though Keira lingered, glancing back at the black pony longingly. Yup, Reese was in trouble. His brother was going to have to think of some really good reasons why Keira couldn’t have a pony. He could almost feel sorry for his brother. Almost, but not quite.
Emily was so great with the kids, always having two of them clinging to her hands, but changing at regular intervals so everyone got a turn. They clearly loved her, staring up with rapt attention while she introduced the rest of the animals and explained their backgrounds.
Seeing her surrounded by the children, Tanner could understand why she was so desperate to keep her job. She was obviously a brilliant teacher and loved interacting with the kids. And she might lose all that because of him.
Never going to happen.
He turned his attention back to better things. Her ass. That ass had been naked on his workbench. His dick twitched at the memory, and he shoved his hands in his pockets and shifted. It seemed wrong thinking about Emily naked when she was surrounded by six- and seven-year-olds. All the same, he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever get to see her naked again. It seemed unlikely. She wanted to be his friend. She’d given no indication she wanted anything more.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, Mr. O’Connor.” He jumped. Emily’s grandmother had crept up on him while he’d been thinking about Emily’s naked ass. Not good.
“I think it came as a surprise to most people, ma’am.”
“Call me Mimi.” She nodded across to where Emily crouched beside a little girl, whispering something as the child giggled. “She’s a natural teacher. I don’t know where she got it from—I always preferred horses—but working with children was all she ever wanted to do. She’ll be a good mother.”
&nbs
p; Just as well. “Hopefully that might make up for the poor thing’s crappy father.”
She gave a short laugh, then studied him for a moment. “Did Emily tell you about the morality clause in her teaching contract? That she could lose her job?”
“Yes, ma’am.” A wave of anger rippled through him that they might try and take the job she loved from her. It was a travesty. Just the thought that anyone might consider Emily immoral was crazy. And he felt so fucking powerless—he couldn’t get involved, it would only make things worse. And anyway, she didn’t want his help. She wasn’t even ready for anyone to know she was pregnant, and certainly not by him.
“We won’t let that happen, will we, Mr. O’Connor?”
What could he say? “No, ma’am.”
And he wished it was that easy, but nothing ever went smoothly for him.
…
Emily glanced behind her. Mimi was strolling beside Tanner, their heads close together. His hair was loose, almost reaching his shoulders. It made him look sexy as hell and slightly dangerous. She loved his hair; her fingers had itched to touch it while she’d sat next to him on the bus.
Nerves fluttered in her belly. What were they talking about?
In fact, the whole day was making her twitchy, as though at any moment her nice, safe world would come crashing around her ears. Not that her world was particularly safe anymore—it was like she was two different people, but so far, she was keeping them apart. Now with Tanner here, the two separate parts of her life were on a collision course.
She could sense his gaze focused on her. As she walked, as she talked, as she introduced her pony to the children. His attention never wavered.
He’d flirted with her on the bus. Like a real couple. And he’d quoted poetry—Robert Herrick. There was so much more to him than he let on to the world. Why was he so determined to ensure everyone saw the worst in him?
He’d looked so out of place when she’d first seen him—almost scared.
She would have found it funny, except she didn’t.
She’d seen the way the other women watched him. One in particular. Marlene Jackson had been a cheerleader, two years ahead of Emily in school, so she hadn’t known her well. She’d been in the same year as Tanner, and if Emily remembered rightly, she’d been with him for a time. Tall, slim, perfectly groomed, the other woman awoke every insecurity Emily believed she had put behind her when she left high school. She was also the mother of six-year-old twins and should know better. But she was positively drooling. Luckily, Tanner was acting as if he didn’t even know she existed.
Here with the children around her, he was a reminder that she might lose her job. This was the third year she’d organized the field trip to the ranch. The kids loved it. Her chest ached when she realized it might be the last.
She rubbed at the spot between her eyes where a headache was forming. This was the final week of the school year, and the children had all been in a frenzy of excitement. Which at least took her mind off things. Only two more days, and then she could relax. Hide. Decide what her next move should be. Though that would depend on Tanner to a big extent, and how much of a part he wanted to play in their lives. The thought scared her.
While he might have flirted with her on the bus, that didn’t mean he was ready for anything more. And for some reason she wasn’t prepared to articulate, she desperately wanted him to want to be a father to her baby.
The picnic had been set up on the lawn in front of the house, under the shade of the huge oak trees. Everyone was getting tucked in, and there were enough helpers to make sure everything went smoothly. She slipped off, heading to the house. Her throat was dry from too much talking, and she needed the bathroom and a moment alone.
As she came out of the house ten minutes later, she spotted Tanner’s tall figure disappearing into the barn—he was hard to miss. Without thinking, she followed him. She stood for a moment just inside the door as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his broad chest, watching her out of hooded eyes. All her fantasies in one stunning package.
“You following me, Teach?”
His voice was a low, husky drawl, and she nodded, somehow unwilling to lie. She’d never been a good liar, anyway, and she just wanted to put all the subterfuge aside for a few minutes. Actually, what she really wanted was for him to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything was going to work out.
She walked past him, casting him a sideways glance, and into an empty stall, where they’d be hidden if anyone came into the barn. She turned to find he was standing just behind her.
A small smile quirked his lips and crinkled his eyes, and she melted inside. He didn’t smile enough. “You going to give me that extra tutoring now?” he asked.
She took a step closer, so she could breathe in the warm scent of him—soap, and fresh sweat, and a hint of diesel. “I think you know you don’t need any extra tutoring. You were pretty good.” He raised an eyebrow. “Okay, you were very good.”
“We were very good. The best.”
He didn’t mean that. She could never compete with the beautiful women he’d had before. He was just being kind. Except kind wasn’t a word she’d ever have associated with Tanner.
He curled his hand around the back of her neck, his touch sending shivers across her skin, and drew her closer. “You’re thinking too much.” He lowered his head and nipped the skin of her throat, and tingles prickled down her spine. “Way too much.” He placed a soft kiss on her neck. “How long do you think we have before some kid comes looking for teacher?”
“Probably about thirty seconds.”
He nibbled his way up her neck and jaw. “Let’s not waste them, then.”
He touched her lips with his. The kiss was gentle for all of a second, and then his mouth hardened on hers, his tongue sliding inside, and her hands came up to cling to his shoulders. Pressing herself against him, she found him already hard, and her insides melted, a pulse starting between her thighs. He kissed her cheek, her ear, his lips trailing fire down the skin her throat.
“Christ, you make me lose control,” he murmured.
She did? She liked that, but then he was kissing her again, stripping the thoughts from her mind.
“Ms. Towson!”
She went still. Had they been caught in the act? But the voice had come from outside, though she doubted it would stay that way. Tanner pulled back a little, and for a moment, he rested his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged.
“I guess the lesson is over.” He kissed her on the forehead, then stepped away, and she had to bite back her growl of frustration. “It’s probably just as well,” he said. “Right now, I’d like nothing more than to get you naked and fuck every bad thought, every worry, from your head. But I don’t think this is the time or the place.” He urged her gently in the direction of the door. “Off you go. I’ll be out in a minute. When I’ve…” He shrugged and waved a hand down his body, where she could see his erection pressing at his fly.
She blushed. Then turned and walked away. Because what else could she do?
He was right. So right. Her brain was starting to function again.
No doubt it was going to come out about her and Tanner eventually. It was impossible to keep secrets in a town like Saddler Cove, and the last thing she needed was someone spotting her messing about with the father of her illegitimate baby during a school field trip. Not if she wanted any chance of keeping her job.
Besides, until they decided how they were going to move forward—whether Tanner wanted to be part of her baby’s life—a physical relationship was not a good idea. It just complicated things.
Maybe there would never be a right time and place for them.
Chapter Sixteen
“You fancy coming out for a couple of beers tonight?” Tanner asked, fully expecting a negative answer. Though Josh had seemed more relaxed the last couple of weeks. Some of the tenseness had eased out of him.
“Can’t
. I’ve got a book to read.”
“You need to read fewer books and drink more beer.” He thought for a moment, trying to select the perfect quote. “‘Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.’”
Josh snorted. “Don Quixote.”
“Yeah, and your brain is drying up. What do you say? We can drive out to Ben’s place.”
Josh shrugged. “Why not?”
What the hell? It was a first, and Tanner worked to keep the grin from his face.
They’d been setting a display. A pink Harley—trying to up their female custom. It was pretty, though. Maybe he’d get one for Emily after the baby—though maybe not—he’d liked her on the back of his bike.
He was meeting her tomorrow. It was her turn to choose their date, though “date” still didn’t seem the right word. They were hardly dating. They’d had two more since the day of the field trip, and she hadn’t yet seemed inclined to follow up on that interrupted kiss.
She’d taken him to a movie but obviously kept him in mind when she’d picked the film. He’d mentioned to her that he loved the old classics, especially Hitchcock, and they had been doing a run on them at the cinema in Virginia Beach. He’d enjoyed it.
The following Saturday he’d taken her to an open-air rock concert. He’d been tempted to take her dancing, because the fact was, he was fighting a growing urge to have her in his arms again. And he’d been resisting, because that wasn’t what this was about. It was about getting to know each other, so they could be good parents to their baby.
He reckoned they were doing okay, except for his inconvenient need to get in her pants again. So he was keeping his hands to himself, and he’d avoided the bike, as that was a little too much up close and personal.
The doctor’s appointment had gone well. And she’d invited him for the next one in a couple of weeks’ time, so she obviously hadn’t decided to cut him from her life.
Things were going better than expected. Though he knew she was still worried about it all coming out, and maybe losing her job. She loved her job, that had been drummed into him the day of the field trip, and he hated that it might be his fault she lost it.