Chapter 29
Pulling the key from the lock in her classroom door, Carly slung her workout bag over her shoulder and turned to the sound of a voice across the hall.
“Oh, is there a place to work out at school?” Vicky asked coyly as she walked over. Carly gritted her teeth reminding herself to be nice to the bleached blonde and her obviously enhanced chest bouncing in her much too thin for the weather skin-tight top. She was determined to give Mrs. Taylor’s replacement the benefit of the doubt until she could get to know the young, inexperienced teacher better.
“Yes. Coach Wilson has a workout program set up for teachers and staff. You’re welcome to try it out anytime,” Carly answered, forcing a smile on her face as they both headed to the stairs.
“I might just do that,” Vicky replied, opening the door to the stairs. “So, I’ve heard that you and Coach Wilson are dating. Is it true?”
“Yes, we’ve been together for a while,” Carly said while wishing she could tell the irritating woman to mind her own business. She couldn’t though since she would be working with her for the foreseeable future, and she didn’t want to add another problem on top of the one with Dr. Crawford.
“Well, I must say you’re one lucky girl. I bet he knows his way around the bedroom. Let me know if you get tired of him,” the perky blonde said, smiling a little too brightly, making Carly’s stomach clench.
Before Carly could think of a response, Vicky wiggled two fingers and called out, “See you tomorrow,” as they stepped out the door into the parking lot.
Giving her a wave back, Carly walked across to the athletic building, wondering what the heck just happened. Vicky had seemed nice enough at first, but after that weird conversation she was beginning to wonder if she should be worried about her. However, all thoughts about the blonde flew out of her mind as Carly entered the workout room to see Gage helping someone at a workout station. Her body came alive watching his biceps flex as he helped lift the heavy bar back onto the rack. Looking up, he broke out into a huge smile, his eyes meeting hers across the room. Her body began humming as he made his way over to her. They hadn’t had a chance to be alone since before Christmas, and she was missing his touch immensely.
“Hey, beautiful. How was your day?” Her nipples tightened at the sound of his deep, velvety voice. Carly knew he’d seen the tight peaks through her sports bra when she caught his eyes flick down then back up to smirk at her. With the tips of her ears burning, she resisted the urge to cover them up, and she sat down on the padded seat of a machine.
“What are you doing here? Don’t you have some boys to coach?” Carly joked as she pushed the bars of the butterfly machine together.
Crossing his deliciously corded arms over his massive chest, Gage grinned. “With football season over, I have a little extra time on my hands. I thought I’d help in here to make sure everyone is using the equipment correctly. Besides the view’s not bad since you came in,” he said under his breath as his eyes roamed over her chest once again.
“I agree. The view’s not bad,” Carly teased, quietly raking her eyes up and down the length of Gage’s body, slowly perusing his bulging muscles through the tight T-shirt. She laughed as he growled at her with a heated look.
“Come get me when you’ve finished, and I’ll walk you out,” he rumbled as he leaned in close almost kissing her forehead before he caught himself and stepped back just as the tone to switch workout stations sounded. Carly nodded then walked over to the next weight machine with her body on fire.
For once, Carly enjoyed her workout, watching Gage as he walked around checking on everyone and was more than a little sad when she got to the pulldown bar and had to turn her back to the room. Starting her repetitions, she felt a warm body standing very close behind her. Immediately, she knew who it was. A low voice sending shivers down her spine spoke in her ear.
“You need to add more weight,” Gage’s low voice breathed into her ear, sending a warm shiver down her spine. “You’re pulling the bar down way too fast and easy. Here let me help you.”
Worried about the others in the room, Carly almost jerked away as he placed his hands next to hers on the bar, but quickly relaxed when he kept his body at a respectable distance. As he reached around to move the pin to a higher weight and his arm brushed against the side of her aching breast, Carly gulped, stifling the moan that tried to escape her throat. She glanced around and then relaxed when she saw no one was paying any attention to them.
Settling his hand back next to hers, Gage leaned in close and rumbled, “Now try it.”
As his thumbs rubbed over the tops of her hands as she pulled down on the bar, Carly stopped and hissed, “Gage! We have to be careful at school.”
“I know. I just felt like teasing you a little.” He chuckled as he let go and stepped back. “You do need to increase the weight on each station as it gets easier. When you push your muscles, it will increase your metabolism and will help drop pounds, although I don’t think you need to lose any,” he said before stepping to the side.
“Thanks, but I did gain way too much over the holidays.” Carly frowned, holding onto the bar with one hand while reaching down with the other to rub her stomach.
“Carly,” he growled, piercing her with an intense look before he stepped away. As she watched him walk over to help someone else, Carly’s heart sped up as she thanked her lucky stars she was falling in love with such a wonderful man.
A little while later, as she rounded the corner outside the workout room, Carly’s breath caught, and a shiver went down her back at the sight of Gage leaning back against the wall looking down one foot propped up behind him, his forehead scrunched in concentration, as he talked to someone on his phone. Carly wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to the sight of him without her lady parts tingling every time.
“I’m ready,” Carly breathed out, coming to a stop next to him. Pushing off the wall, she gasped as he reached over and snagged her bag out of her hand and slung it over his shoulder.
“Got some great news,” he grinned and took her hand in his. “That was Jonathan’s maternal grandparents. They want him to come over and spend some time with them this weekend.”
“That’s great!” Carly squeezed his hand, her body tingling in anticipation of not having to wait much longer to be alone with him again.
“I’ll take him over Friday after school. I’ll pick you up on my way back, so be ready and have a bag packed. Bring Max if you want,” he said as he let go of her hand to open the door.
“That sounds wonderful. Max and I’ll be ready when you get there,” she answered as they reached her car. Taking her bag from him, Carly fished her keys out and unlocked the door then slid into the driver’s seat. Before she could pull the door shut, Gage leaned in and kissed her quickly on the lips.
“Stop! We shouldn’t be doing that here,” she giggled, quickly scanning her gaze around the empty parking lot.
“I know, but I can’t help myself. Can’t wait until Friday,” he whispered, kissing her one more time before shutting her door. Carly waved as she drove away wishing Friday would hurry up and get here.
***
Opening the door to her classroom the next morning, Carly was surprised to see Dr. Crawford coming out of Vicky’s room. Dr. Crawford didn’t speak except to give her a short “good morning” before she clipped down the hall in her high heels. Worried the assistant principal might be harassing the new teacher already, Carly quickly put her things away then went back across the hall to knock on her open door.
At Vicky’s wave, Carly stepped inside. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s great. Why do you ask?” Vicky smiled, her face lacking any sign of concern.
“I saw Dr. Crawford coming out of your room and was wondering,” Carly replied.
“Oh, Dr. Crawford was checking in with me to make sure everything’s going smoothly. She’s so sweet and helpful. Everyone’s been so nice to me so far, and I’m going to love teaching here,” Vicky gushed then stood up and walked around her desk to stand in front of Carly. “Will you be working out today?”
Carly blinked. Her mind not comprehending Vicky’s quick change of subject. “Uh, yeah. I’m planning on it. Why?” she managed to get out, still stuck on the fact that she’d stated Dr. Crawford was sweet and nice.
“I thought I would try it out, but I’m not sure where the weight room is. Would you mind if I tag along with you this afternoon?” Vicky replied, blinking her heavily mascaraed eyes and flipping her bleach damaged hair behind her shoulders.
“Sure. No problem. I’ll let you know when I head over there,” Carly answered absently as they both walked to the door still stuck on Vicky’s statement about their uptight assistant principal.
“Thanks, I’ll be ready when you are,” Vicky cooed, smiling a little too sweetly for Carly’s comfort.
Carly nodded then walked over to stand by her door, her mind swirling with troubling thoughts.
During her third-period class and having forgotten their earlier encounter, Carly was surprised when Dr. Crawford walked into her class with her electronic tablet signaling she was doing a walk-through observation. Normally, Carly wouldn’t be nervous with administrator walk-throughs and her once a year formal observation, but with the animosity Dr. Crawford had displayed earlier in the year toward Gage and her, she was a little on edge. Stumbling over a word or two, Carly took a deep breath and got herself together and continued her lesson as Dr. Crawford walked around the room with the usual sour look on her face. Finally, after a few minutes and much to Carly’s relief, Dr. Crawford quickly typed something into her tablet and left. Knowing she’d get an e-mail later with a link to the notes, Carly took another deep breath and continued her lesson.
Sitting down at her computer that afternoon, Carly logged into the teacher evaluation program and pulled up the notes on her earlier walk-through. She was seething by the time she finished. In just a few short sentences, it was obvious Dr. Crawford still had something against her.
Lately, she’d been leaving Carly and Gage alone about their relationship, but it looked like she found another way to harass Carly. Although, technically, there was nothing too damaging in the notes, Dr. Crawford nevertheless marked Carly down for stumbling over her words and not catching two students who were passing a note. She hadn’t seen the note from where she’d been standing. Carly knew neither of those things should matter, and most administrators would have overlooked them and focused on the content of her lesson instead.
Carly still didn’t understand the assistant principal’s dislike toward her and knew she was going to have to make an extra effort to get on her good side. Fuming, Carly gathered up her things then headed over to see if Vicky was ready to go work out.
After introducing Vicky to Gage and watching him walk away with her to explain how to use each station, Carly jerked on the handles of the pull-down bar to start her work out. Even though she saw the longing looks Vicky gave Gage a couple of times, Carly chalked it up to her being infatuated with him as most women were and didn’t pay much attention, too busy worrying about what Dr. Crawford was up to, but she should have.