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  She fisted her hands at her sides and glared at him, unbeknownst to the child between them. “Of course, you’re more than welcome to come,” she said between gritted teeth. “I just don’t want you to feel obligated.”

  “I never do anything because I have to.” He let his eyes travel leisurely over her body, unable to hide a smile when a blush stole over her cheeks. “If I do something…” He licked his lips, enjoying this game of cat and mouse. “It’s because I want to.” He thought back to how much he’d wanted her. How much he still wanted her.

  She turned her back, obviously intent on pretending his blatant perusal hadn’t affected her. He may have believed her if not for the fact that he could see her taut nipples pressing against the thin layer of silk. Just thinking about how she’d responded when he swirled his tongue around those rigid peaks had him suppressing a groan.

  “If you’d like to join us, just fill out the form and Cassidy can return it tomorrow.”

  “I can take care of that right now.” He walked toward her and smiled with satisfaction when he saw the flicker of awareness dilate her pupils. God, she was gorgeous. On the surface, she was the perfect school teacher: warm, kind, attentive, conservative. No one would guess a sexy, sultry woman who responded to him like she was hungering for a taste of the forbidden fruit was hiding behind that facade.

  He knew she’d wrestled with her desires that night, trying to decide whether she was brave enough to step out of her comfort zone to go after what she really wanted: a hot one-night stand with a dominant stranger. He couldn’t help but wonder if she indulged her curiosity with anyone else since him. He hoped not. He didn’t expect her to be abstinent, women who looked like she did rarely were, but if he imagined her with anyone, he preferred a boring banker who favored vanilla sex in the missionary position.

  Cole slipped the pen out from behind her ear. He heard her sharp intake of breath as she stepped back to put a safe distance between them. After bending over, he scribbled his signature on the line and checked off the box indicating he wished to volunteer for the trip. He folded the note and tore along the dotted line, so he would have the details about the departure and return times. Six hours in the lovely teacher’s company… Friday couldn’t come soon enough.

  Chapter Two

  When Charlene’s stomach rumbled, she cursed herself for not forcing a bowl of cereal down that morning. It was all his fault. God, she hated that man. He was so arrogant, so opinionated, so… sexy. She hated that part the most.

  He insisted on walking Cassidy into class every morning and picking her up every afternoon. She tried to hold on to her resentment, but it wasn’t easy when she saw him with his daughter. He was clearly a loving and devoted father. That little girl was the center of his universe, and if seeing the softer side of him weakened her resolve marginally, she told herself any woman with a pulse would feel the same way.

  After doing a head count, she settled in at the front of the bus, as far away from him as possible. After smiling at the bus driver, who peered at her in his rear-view mirror, she pulled some notes out of her bag, hoping for a few spare minutes to work on a lesson plan. Before she could get started, the man across the aisle from her drew her attention by extending his hand.

  “We’ve never actually met. My sitter usually drops Kelsey off. It’s Paul Courtnall.”

  Returning his smile, Charlene accepted his outstretched hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Courtnall. Kelsey’s a lovely little girl, always so attentive in class.”

  He breathed a dramatic sigh of relief and grinned. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that. It’s not easy being a single parent. Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing everything I need to do for her, ya know?”

  “You’re doing an excellent job with her it seems.” Charlene saw an unmistakable spark of interest in his eyes. She didn’t know how she felt about that. He was a nice-looking man, with a medium build and sandy blond hair. His hazel eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. She liked that. Maybe she should invite his advances, see where it might lead. Of course, she couldn’t be overt about it. Although there was no rule about parents and teachers dating, it was likely frowned upon.

  “Thanks, I hope so. It’s not easy, but I do my best.” He shifted in his seat to face her. “We just moved to town last year. Have you lived here all your life?”

  Charlene slipped the papers back in her bag. She’d have time to work on her lesson plan tonight. “Except for the few years I went away to school.”

  “I gotta admit, I wasn’t sure I’d like small town life, but I really love it.”

  “Me too.” She had considered living in a big city when she graduated, but Brant would always be her home. “There’s not a lot to do here, but there’s nothing like the sense of community.”

  “Yeah, the homecoming games at the high school are like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Football’s a pretty big deal around here.” Charlene laughed. “It’s pretty much the only thing we’ve got going on, so…”

  He laughed. “Hey, at least it’s a winning team, right?”

  “Yeah, it wouldn’t be much fun to watch if they lost every game, would it?” He seemed like a nice guy, and she kept hoping to feel butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Something, anything, to let her know that this conversation wasn’t a complete waste of time. She chastised herself for thinking that way. Paul was a nice man and the father of one of her students. That was reason enough to build a friendship with him.

  “Do you ever get out to the games?”

  “I’m gonna try to. I have to admit, this job’s kept me busier than I thought it would. There’s a lot of lesson planning, and I’ve volunteered to help with the holiday activities, you know, Halloween parties, Christmas concerts.” She laughed. “I don’t know who’s going to enjoy it more: me or the kids.”

  He smiled. “Listen, I hope you don’t think I’m overstepping, but I’m a teacher at the high school, so I attend most of the games. Maybe we could go together sometime?”

  He wasn’t asking her to join him for an intimate dinner, just a high school football game. Perfectly innocent. “I’d love to.”

  “Great.” He pointed to her bag. “I left my cell phone in my truck. You got a pen and paper in there?”

  “Sure.” She reached inside and scribbled her full name, email, and home phone number on a piece of paper before handing it to him. “Here you go.”

  He tore the paper in half and wrote down his contact information before handing half back to her. “I’ll call you later, if that’s okay?”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Did you see that?” Kelsey Courtnall said, bouncing up and down in her seat. “My daddy just gave Miss McCoy his phone number.”

  Cole hadn’t missed that either. He wanted to go up there and tear the paper into pieces, but he couldn’t make a spectacle of himself in front of the other parents and students. What the hell was Charlene thinking? Was she just doing this to piss him off, or was she really attracted to that guy? He was as vanilla as a man could get. From his pressed chinos to his button-down plaid shirt, he practically screamed dull and boring. Charlene needed fun, excitement. Hell, what she needed was him, so why was she wasting her time with a guy like Paul Courtnall?

  He knew, even liked the high school teacher, until today. Now Paul was venturing into dangerous territory, whether he realized it or not.

  Cole looked across the aisle to see his daughter crossing her arms, a sullen expression on her face. “You don’t know that’s what they were doin’.”

  “Do to,” Kelsey said. “I was watchin’ ‘em. Did you seem them, talkin’ and laughin’? They like each other.”

  Cole clenched his teeth and tried to pretend he wasn’t eavesdropping on a conversation between two seven-year-old girls.

  “You don’t know that,” Cassidy said, frowning.

  Cole realized that his little girl may be a little jealous to see her new favorite te
acher developing a personal relationship with one of her friends’ parents. Every day when Cassidy came home from school, she gushed about Miss McCoy. No matter what Charlene said or did, she had a fan in Cole’s daughter. He couldn’t say he blamed the little girl; he was a quickly becoming a fan himself. From the way she commanded silence from twenty-five screaming seven year-olds to the polite, but firm way she organized her parent volunteers, the woman was a force to be reckoned with.

  What he wouldn’t give to convince her to relinquish that control in his arms one more time. Who was he kidding? If he got her into his bed, he feared he might never want to let her go.

  “Penny for your thoughts, Cole,” Charlie’s mother, Lynda, said, twisting to face him. She was trying to get his attention, waving a sheet of paper in front of his face. “This is your group for the day.” She laughed. “You’ve got my kid. Good luck with that.”

  Cole smiled as he glanced at the list. He wasn’t worried about his ability to control a little boy. “Don’t worry about him. We’ll be just fine.” Cassidy and Charlie were in the same class last year and he’d developed a casual friendship with Lynda and her husband, Jerry.

  “You like her, don’t you?” Lynda said, inclining her head toward Charlene.

  Cole spared a glance across the aisle, hoping his daughter wasn’t listening in on their conversation. Fortunately, she seemed to be engrossed in a glossy magazine with her friend. “What’re you talkin’ about?”

  If he was smart, he’d try to change the subject, but Charlene and Lynda had obviously known each other a long time. Maybe he could pump her for information about his fantasy girl. Lord knows he couldn’t ask her brother. Jake would use him for target practice if he found out he couldn’t stop thinking about corrupting his baby sister.

  Lynda rolled her eyes. “Gimme a break. I see the way you look at her.” She smirked. “And since when do you come into the school to pick your daughter up? Last year, you’d wait outside with a scowl on your face, glancin’ at your watch every ten seconds if she made you wait. Now you seem only too happy to linger in the classroom, tryin’ to coerce Charlene into talkin’ to you.”

  He hadn’t realized he was so obvious. Maybe that’s why his daughter was upset about the prospect of her teacher dating her friend’s father. Perhaps she suspected Cole wanted Charlene for himself. “You’re lettin’ your imagination run away with you again, Lyn,” he said, pointing at her. “I thought ol’ Jerry was tryin’ to rein you in.”

  “Hell, he’s been tryin’ to do that for years.” She laughed. “Hasn’t done him a damn bit of good, though.” She glanced at Charlene. “Uh oh, looks like someone else has his eye on your girl.”

  Cole scowled as he watched Paul move over to share Charlene’s bench seat. “She’s not my girl.” He knew she didn’t owe him anything. They’d only spent one night together, but he’d be damned if he’d sit by and watch her hook up with some other guy.

  “But you’d like her to be,” Lynda said, grinning. “It’s about time you showed an interest in someone. Hell, all the single moms at school have been tryin’ to get your attention since you showed up in town.”

  Cole would never date the mother of one his daughter’s classmates. He suspected many of the parents already speculated about sexual appetites, but he had no intention of fueling the fire with one of their own. He tried to be discreet, because of his daughter, but one or two of the women he’d dated since he moved to town obviously didn’t appreciate his need for discretion. Before he knew it, he was getting side-long glances all over town.

  He knew the locals thought he was a freak. He didn’t much care what they thought of him, but he didn’t want his choices to make Cassidy the butt of school-yard jokes. He remembered how cruel kids could be, and if he had to take a vow of celibacy to protect his little girl, he would. It would kill him, especially with Charlene back in town, but nothing and no one was more important to him than his daughter.

  “I haven’t had much time for relationships. I’ve been busy with Cassidy and runnin’ the ranch.”

  She glanced across the aisle at the two little girls, giggling and pointing at a picture of some teen pop star. “Every little girl needs a mama, Cole. You oughta know that.”

  He’d heard this too many times from well-meaning friends. Hell, even his own mother was on his case about finding a wife and settling down. He suspected his mother had heard the rumors about him too, but she never worked up the courage to ask him if they were true. Thank God. He never lied to his mama, but he sure as hell wasn’t gonna tell her about his penchant for fur-lined handcuffs and nipple clamps.

  “I appreciate your concern, Lynda. But Cassidy and I are doin’ just fine on our own.”

  Lynda raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what your mama said. I ran into her at the library yesterday and she said she thinks her granddaughter has taken to Charlene so quickly ‘cause she’s just dyin’ to have a mother figure in her life.”

  Cole’s gut twisted. He wished he could deny his mother’s claim, but he knew it was true. He’d seen his daughter with Charlene. She was so desperate to please her, almost as though she was trying to earn her love and affection with good deeds. Cole’s heart broke to see Cassidy working so hard to try to earn a permanent place in Charlene’s life.

  “It’ll happen when and if the time is right. I’m not gettin’ married just to give her a mama. If I ever walk down the aisle again, I need to know she’s the right woman for me.”

  Cole couldn’t deny he got lonely at times, but it would take a special woman to make him happy this time around. Someone who understood and embraced the lifestyle that fulfilled him. His wife had tried, but he knew she was just going through the motions. He needed more this time. He needed to see that spark of excitement in his lover’s eye. He wanted to know that she was desperate for his touch, just like Charlene was that night in his driveway.

  His eyes drifted to her when her husky laughter rang out in the crowded bus. He wasn’t just bothered seeing her with another man; it pained him. Damn, he was losing himself to this woman.

  “So, you’re just gonna let him have her then?” Lynda asked.

  The thought of Paul having Charlene made him want to hit something hard. “What the hell do you expect me to do about it?”

  She grinned. “It just so happens that Jerry is workin’ on some renovations at Paul’s place as we speak. You could go on up there and tell him I need to have a word with him about it.”

  Cole knew if he took her up on the offer, there would be no doubt about his feelings for Charlene. And knowing Lynda, half the parents in the school would know about it by the end of the day. But the alternative was to sit there and watch them get even closer. Anyone could see Paul was already into her, hanging on her every word, and the more time they spent together, the more he would like her. Cole found that out the hard way. Ever since she moved back to town, he’d fallen just a little deeper every damn day.

  “Fine,” he said, getting to his feet. “I’ll tell him.”

  “You’re not supposed to get up when the bus is movin’, Daddy,” Cassidy said, shaking her little finger at him. “Miss McCoy is gonna get mad at you.”

  He would take the risk if it meant breaking up her intimate conversation with the other teacher. “I’ll only be a minute, Princess,” he said, making his way up the aisle. He stopped in front of the seat Paul and Charlene shared, narrowing his eyes at his rival as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  Paul shifted in his seat. “Uh, hey, Cole. Good to see you. It’s been a while.”

  Cole glanced at the space, or lack thereof, between them. It took everything in him not to pull Paul out of the seat by his button-down collar. “Lynda wants to talk you. Somethin’ about the renovation.”

  Paul looked remorseful when he glanced at Charlene. “I’m sorry. I really should talk to her.” He smiled. “You know how renovations can be. I just want to get it over with already.”

  She patted his leg, smiling. “I understa
nd completely. You go on ahead. We can finish this conversation on the way back.”

  His eyes softened when his hand closed over hers. “I’d like that… a lot. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with you, Charlene.”

  Cole cleared his throat. He’d never been accused of being a tolerant man, and this guy was testing his patience beyond the breaking point. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep her company while you’re gone.”

  Charlene glared at him. “That won’t be necessary. I have to work on my lesson plan for tomorrow.”

  Paul got up and made his way to the back of the bus, and Cole didn’t waste any time moving in to the seat he’d vacated.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she whispered, looking around to see if anyone was watching them. “You can’t sit here.”

  “Why the hell not? You didn’t seem to mind when Courtnall was sittin’ here.”

  “That’s different. He doesn’t have your reputation.”

  He felt the force of her words like a punch to the gut. She’d already written him off because of what other people said about him? “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She reached into her bag to withdraw a zippered leather folder. “You know exactly what it means. I don’t want people speculating that we might be a couple.”

  She said the word as though even considering it was too abhorrent, and Cole felt hurt and offended by a woman’s low opinion of him for the first time. “You could do a hell of a lot worse than me, you know.” He was a self-made man. A good father, son, friend. So what if he got off on sex others might consider kinky? Did that make him unworthy of a woman like her? Apparently she thought so.

  She sighed. “I didn’t mean to insult you, Cole. People in this community know me. They trust me to take good care of their children, to be a role model.” She squared her shoulders when he scowled at her. “And that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

  He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “You wanted me as much as I wanted you that night. You can deny it all you want, but the thought of being with me again turns you on.”