Chapter 5
On Wednesday the following week, and after finally finishing the last two days of meetings, none of which Gage or the other coaches attended, Carly along with the rest of the staff were free to prepare classrooms for the first day of school. Carrying the schedule for her classes and the lists of students for each period, she walked down the brightly lit hall to her corner classroom at the back of the building on the second floor. After dropping everything on the plain wooden desk, putting away her purse, and grabbing her car keys, she headed down to her SUV parked in the back lot to start bringing in all the things she’d grabbed out of the back of the garage the night before.
Opening the back hatch, Carly sighed while reaching in to grab one of the many boxes and a large bag of school supplies. It was going to be a long morning of hauling everything to her classroom on the second floor via the stairs rather than using the elevator near the main office.
Turning to the door, she jerked to a stop at the sound of a familiar deep voice shouting “Hold on, Ms. Owens! Let me help you.” She almost lost her grip on the heavy box as she watched Gage run toward her from the practice field. The sight of his tall muscular frame in a pair of loose fitting, gray, athletic shorts and a red T-shirt had Carly’s heart skipping a beat. She froze in her tracks as he came to a stop beside her and took the box out of her grip.
Breathless, she looked up slightly unsettled by the new look he was sporting. The absence of his golden blond locks was a shock, but the longer she took it in the more she liked the new style. Cut short on the sides and left slightly longer on top, the darker blond gave him a more sophisticated aura. Much more suited to a high school football coach than the carefree surfer mop of hair he’d had throughout his career. Finally noticing the smirk on the gorgeous man’s face Carly cleared her throat.
“Th-Thanks, Coach Wilson. But, please, call me, Carly.” Embarrassed by the wobbly sound of her voice, Carly quickly turned and grabbed another box, hoping he couldn’t see her shaking hands. She sucked in a deep breath, reminding herself he was only a man. An incredibly handsome, famous man, but still just a man.
“Okay, Carly, but only if you’ll call me Gage. Say, how much stuff do you have in there?” he rumbled from behind her while peering over her shoulder into the cargo area stuffed full of boxes, a dorm-sized fridge, a rolling desk chair and several large bags of teaching materials.
“Are you moving in?” He teased with a chuckle as he grabbed a smaller box to stack on top of the one he already held. Carly sucked in an unsteady breath as his arm brushed against hers.
His mirth over the packed Acadia soothed Carly’s nerves a little, and she managed to answer, “No, I’ve just accumulated a lot of stuff over the last few years. I’m planning to go through everything and, hopefully get rid of some of it as I unpack.”
“That’s understandable.” His blue eyes flashed in amusement. Her stomach gave a funny little lurch.
Carly watched as he rested the edge of the bottom box against her car and lifted two fingers to his mouth and whistled, motioning to one of the boys on the practice field. The tall, lanky boy grinned and headed over. With the same golden hair and budding muscular frame, he had to be Gage’s son. As he came to a stop in front of her, an identical pair of steel-blue eyes twinkled down.
“Carly, this is my son, Jonathan,” Gage said from her side. “Jonathan, this is Ms. Owens.”
She set the box and bag back down in the back of the SUV. “Nice to meet you, Jonathan.”
“You, too, ma’am,” Jonathan replied as he extended his hand.
Pleasantly surprised at the boy’s politeness and impressed at the obvious strong parenting he’d had, she returned his firm handshake with a grin before letting go and moving to retrieve the box she sat down.
As she turned back around, she heard Gage say, “Jonathan, go over and get a few of the guys to help Ms. Owens carry her things to her classroom.”
“No problem. I’ll be right back,” Jonathan replied as he took off across the asphalt to the practice field.
Thanks to Gage, Jonathan, and the three other boys he’d recruited, it only took a couple of trips to move Carly’s things up the stairs and into her classroom. Looking at the pile of boxes and supplies scattered around on top of the student desks, she handed each of the boys a water bottle from the case she’d brought from home.
“Thanks for the help, guys,” she said as they guzzled the water down.
“No problem, Ms. Owens,’’ Jonathan replied while the others nodded in agreement as they playfully shot the empty bottles into the trash bin near the door.
“Thanks, boys. Go on back to practice,” Gage instructed, herding the boys toward the door and motioning them out.
As Carly waved goodbye, her heart began to race frantically when Gage failed to follow them. A warm fuzzy tingle spread through her body, finding herself alone with the tall, handsome man in her classroom. She tamped down the inappropriate thoughts of Gage pushing her up against one of the walls of her classroom and kissing her senseless. She gulped down the sudden lump in her throat then reached for the closest box. She fumbled to remove the packing tape from the top, trying to keep her eyes from staring at the gorgeous man casually leaning against her desk next to the bank of windows lining the two adjacent walls in the back of her corner classroom.
“You’ve got a nice view,” he commented while he gazed out at the practice field across the parking lot.
Carly’s breath stuttered as he pushed off from the desk. When Gage’s blue eyes connected with hers, her stomach dropped. She wobbled, imagining his rock-hard body pressed close to hers.
“It’s a nice room.” His deep rumbly voice washed over her sending a warm shiver down her spine.
He took a step toward her. Her eyes darted to the floor. The sea of desks and the faint sound of laughter from the hall disappeared.
“The windows let in a lot of natural light,” his voice rasped closer.
Carly’s breath hitched as a pair of red and white Nike shoes came into view next to her sandal-clad feet. Her gaze traveled up two very male legs covered in coarse dark hair, over the loose-fitting shorts, quickly skimming past the considerable bulge to the red T-shirt stretched tight over a broad chest, up to a chiseled jaw and into a pair of hooded steel-blue eyes. Her nipples tightened as his slightly calloused fingers traced slowly up her arm and over her shoulder. Her core pulsed with need when he slid a large hand into her hair. Letting out a soft whoosh of air, she turned.
“I hope I'm not too forward, but I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I saw you,” Gage growled as his oh-so-perfect lips crashed down.
Carly’s knees buckled, but she was saved from hitting the floor when a muscular arm wrapped around her waist. Lips tasting like heaven danced across hers while a warm delicious tingle spread through her body. At the firm insistence of his tongue, she parted her lips and let it slip inside. A long low moan vibrated in Carly’s chest as she slid her arms around his neck and moved closer, chasing his tongue with her own. A hot, hard length jabbed into her stomach as their bodies pressed together. As Gage placed one thigh between her legs, all thought fled. The only coherent thing on her mind was that of Gage laying her down across the wooden surface of her desk as he slid his cock between her legs and into her sex-starved body.
Whimpering, she tightened her grasp trying to draw his mouth back down in a desperate attempt for more when he abruptly broke away.
“We have to stop, sweetheart,” Gage whispered as he untwined her arms from around his neck.
A throat clearing broke the silence hanging in the air. Carly jerked then twisted around. She gasped at Dr. Lucille Crawford standing in the doorway. The disapproving scowl on her thin face had Carly hastily stepping back and smoothing down her rumpled shirt.
The superintendent’s wife and recently appointed assistant principal of Oaktown High School, who had haughtily instructed the school staff to address her by her newly acquired Ph.D. title, pointed her thin nose into the air and walked into the room. As she came to a stop just inside the door, Dr. Crawford pursed her mouth into a sneer. “I certainly hope I won’t see anything of this sort when there are students present. This type of behavior is unacceptable. I would think with both of you being new to the district you would want to set a good example.” With the sour-faced woman’s tinny voice grating against Carly’s nerves, she took another small step away from Gage.
“I’m so sorry, Dr. Crawford. It won’t happen again,” Carly mumbled as she darted an apologetic look Gage’s way, only to find herself stifling a giggle when he winked.
“I apologize, too,” Gage interjected as he discreetly stepped behind the closest pile of boxes to adjust the bulge in his shorts. “You’re right, of course,” he continued. “We shouldn’t have been kissing on campus, but I couldn’t resist. I promise it won’t happen again, at least not on campus.” With his eyes full of promise, Gage looked over to Carly and grinned.
She could only nod, her body still humming from the incredible feel of his lips as he chuckled and stepped away.
When Gage reached the door, Rachel and Sophie appeared from the hall.
“Ladies,” he said, stepping aside to let them come in.
Despite their wide eyes, neither Rachel nor Sophie spoke as they entered, both having noticed Dr. Crawford standing just inside the room. After a few seconds of strained silence, Carly finally found her voice. “Is there something else you wanted, Dr. Crawford?”
“Well, I came to see if there was anything you needed, but apparently you’re just fine. Just remember you’re to set a good example for the students. Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said with a huff, brushing past Rachel and Sophie before storming out the door.
“What was that all about?” Sophie asked as she and Rachel came further into the room.
“Yeah, and what was Gage doing in here?” Rachel added, a huge grin on her face.
Carly blushed, knowing she couldn’t keep it a secret. “Dr. Crawford caught us kissing.”
“I knew it!” Rachel cried as she threw her arms around Carly. “I knew he had a thing for you the first day of orientation.”
“Did he ask you out?” Sophie chirped from Carly’s other side.
“No, Dr. Crawford interrupted before things got that far. But he did hint that he wants to continue what he started, but I’m still not sure it’s a good idea. I can’t get the images of him with all those other women out of my head. I’m not going to lie. I want to go out with him, but I don’t want to be hurt again,” Carly confided as she walked over to her desk.
“You can’t let what your scumbag ex did affect your life forever. I think you’re wrong about Gage,” Sophie said as she came over and hugged Carly.
“You deserve some happiness after everything you’ve been through, and girl, I’m pretty sure Coach Wilson can make you very happy.” Rachel giggled as she flipped her hair behind her shoulder and headed for the door.
Laughing and hoping her friend was right, Carly picked up her purse and keys. “Come on, let’s go to lunch.”