Page 15 of A Novel Seduction

7

The three pitchers who had told Drake they didn’t think that he could get “boring Miss Staab” to dance Saturday night had been so confident in their assessment of the situation they had agreed to do whatever Drake came up with if they lost. He knew it wasn’t fair to bet with his team like this, since he was essentially setting them up for failure, but he couldn’t resist. They had been so cocky and so sure of themselves in how well they “knew” their English teacher that Drake felt it was only fair to teach them a lesson. Of course there was always the off chance that Evie would have refused a dance with him, but he had been pretty confident that wasn’t what would happen.

It had taken him a couple of days to think up what he was going to have them do to hold up their end of the bargain. Since it wasn’t technically baseball season, and two out of the three played other sports, there was only so much he could ask of them from a physical conditioning standpoint. The thought occurred to him to have them dress up in the cheerleading uniforms for the next pep rally, but then he thought better of it. Embarrassment was not the route he wanted to take. When he’d finally decided that the three of them got the honor of cleaning and reorganizing the athletic equipment cabinet—which looked like it hadn’t been touched in the ten years since Drake was in high school—he was prepared for some pushback. But the guys realized that they didn’t have a leg to stand on and went without an argument.

“Hey,” Evie said, poking her head in the office at the end of the day. “Are you still thinking you’re going to be here late?”

Drake spun around in his office chair to take in her sinfully sweet, petite frame. Even though she was dressed professionally in slacks and a turtleneck, he couldn’t help but picture what he knew to be underneath. Everything about her small frame was so damn sexy, and he loved having that as a secret only he knew.

“Pitman, Robson, and Brewer just started that equipment cabinet. So, yeah…probably gonna be two hours.”

“Want me to stay and keep you company? I have papers I could grade, or…” she responded, stepping fully into the office, dragging out the last word. She had a coy look on her face and Drake wondered what she was up to.

“Or…” he repeated, dragging it out the same way she had.

“You could read to me.”

“That just so happens to be my favorite thing to do.”

Drake rolled forward slightly in his chair and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into his lap. She let out a giggle, surprised by his quick movements, and dropped her large tote bag. She wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on as she lowered her forehead to rest against his. It was such a loving gesture, yet Drake couldn’t help but feel a rush knowing his office door was still open and anyone could walk by and see them.

“You get the door, I’ll get the book,” he said, lightly kissing her lips.

Drake’s office wasn’t large by any means, but it was big enough to house his desk, a couple of filing cabinets, and an old love seat that his players liked to hang out on when they came to visit. While the door to his office was mostly solid, it did have a long rectangular window—about a foot long and three inches wide with mesh built into the glass—that was positioned right above the door handle. Not that one could see a whole lot peering through that window, but Drake figured the school wasn’t allowed fully solid doors for decency’s sake.

Grabbing their latest book from his messenger bag, he plopped down on the loveseat, waiting for Evie to join him. Untowards by Rachelle Stevensen was another historical romance, and while those weren’t exactly Drake’s favorites, he had to admit this one wasn’t bad. Evie seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit as well, and more than anything, that was what mattered to him.

Evie slipped off her shoes and sat down next to Drake, bringing her legs up under her as she cuddled into his side. Wrapping an arm around her, he began to read.

Rebekah looked over at Abbot as they sat silently in the carriage. She wanted so much for him to reach over and grab her hand. No one else was here in the carriage with them to see such an advance and even if they were, not much harm could be done to a reputation from hand holding. It could easily be explained away. Only, she didn’t want it explained away, and she didn’t want to just hold his hand. She wanted him to ravish her like she knew he had his many lovers before. She wanted to know what it felt like to be in his arms, his mouth on hers, as they explored each other’s bodies.

Evie cuddled into him even more as she reached over and started to run her hand up and down his thigh. He was instantly hard from the contact and had to remind himself to keep it under control. As much as he would love the thrill of fooling around in his office, he didn’t want to push Evie into something she probably wouldn’t be comfortable with. He couldn’t imagine that his sweet, shy girl had a secret fantasy of being caught. If anything, he was pretty sure it was something she lived in fear of.

As if reading his thoughts, though, her hand slowly moved from the inside of his thigh to the growing bulge in his track pants. Glancing down at Evie’s head on his shoulder, he could see the start of a smile tugging at the sides of her lips.

“Why Miss Staab, are you coming on to me?” he asked teasingly.

“It just seems the book was starting to get to you, Coach Harkins,” she responded. She shrugged her shoulder slightly, as if she were simply stating an observation, before giving his package a little squeeze.

“I can assure you, it’s not the book.” Drake tried to stifle a moan as Evie continued to play with him through the thin fabric of his pants. If she kept this up much longer, he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself.

“Drake?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I…um…I want…” she trailed off.

Drake reached for her and pulled her into his lap so she was straddling him. He wrapped his arms all the way around her, pulling her close, so their foreheads were touching. He could feel her racing pulse as he held her this close and he wanted her to feel safe in whatever it was that she wanted to tell him.

“What, Evie? What do you want?”

She was silent for another moment. Finally, she drew in a deep breath and whispered, “You. I want you.”

Drake’s heart about exploded hearing her say that. The only thing better than that would have been the other three little words. Drake knew he was there—he loved Evie. He’d loved her since she was his tutor. But he didn’t dare utter the words, not quite yet.

“Here?” Evie nodded. “Well, aren’t you the naughty schoolteacher?”

“It’s always the quiet ones, right?” she giggled.