Chapter One
Dominic
Dominic stopped dead in his tracks when he saw an unfamiliar car pull up, then something shifted in the air around him. Like the light spring breeze changed directions. A woman climbed out of the newer-model SUV and stretched her arms above her head, revealing a strip of tight, toned stomach. She arched her back and inhaled deeply. A small smile lit up her beautiful face, like clean mountain air made her happy.
She was absolutely breathtaking.
Literally, looking at her stole the air from his lungs.
Whoa. What? Stole the air from his lungs? Who was he, John Legend? Nope. Looking at her made his dick hard. There, that was more like it, and he nodded to himself.
The woman had parked in front of the administration building, but Dominic was sure he’d never seen her on campus before. He definitely would have remembered her. There weren’t many chicks his age roaming the grounds of St. Leasing. She couldn’t be the new guidance counselor. Nah. Dean McCormick would never hire such a young gorgeous woman to take on that job. The boys would be way too hard for her to handle, what with their hormones in a constant state of overdrive.
Dominic wouldn’t blame them. He was a grown-ass man and he was having trouble controlling himself. As it was, he’d been staring at her for a socially unacceptable amount of time. He watched as her eyes took in the architecture around campus. He knew what she was seeing, knew the feeling of tradition and history the old stone buildings and ancient trees inspired. Maybe he should go over and ask if she needed help. She didn’t really look lost, but it was getting close to dusk and she needed to get inside.
He crossed the street, coming up beside her. “Excuse me, ma’am? Could I point you in the right direction?”
The woman whirled around, almost tripping in surprise. “Oh, wow. You scared me.” She laughed a little at herself, and the sound went straight to his heart. “Actually I was looking for the dean’s office.”
Dominic’s smile grew. She was even more beautiful up close. She was so petite her head barely came up to his chest. She had long reddish-brown hair, stunning emerald green eyes, and there were freckles wildly scattered on her nose. She appeared younger than him, but those eyes? Those gorgeous green eyes held some depth. “The dean’s office? Are you here for the counselor position?” He hoped like hell her answer was no.
“I am. I have an interview in about ten minutes.” She looked down at her watch, checking the time and pulling her bottom lip between her straight white teeth.
Damn. She’d never get the job. Which meant he’d never get a taste of that sweet little mouth of hers. Dominic gave himself a mental shake. This girl was messing with his brain. He didn’t need her sweet little mouth. He had plenty of willing and able mouths at his beck and call. But still, he couldn’t deny that the thought of her disappearing from his life as quickly as she had appeared upset him.
She cleared her throat. Shit, he was staring again, lost in confused thought. “I drove into town, and was hoping to get here early enough to explore the campus a little, but I got so turned around trying to find this place. It’s almost completely hidden from the road.” She flailed her arms toward the big, gated entrance.
That’s cute. She’s so animated and friendly. Cute? Motherfucker, his brain needed to rein in those sweet thoughts. “Yeah, we like it that way. It’s better for the boys, better for all of us really.” Where the hell had that come from? He couldn’t let things like that start slipping out. St. Leasing’s secrets were none of her business. She was frying his brain with her dazzling smile. Luckily, she chose to ignore his odd comment. “If you want, I can walk you over to the dean’s office. I was kind of headed that direction anyway.” Total lie, he had been headed to his truck in the opposite direction. He was due at practice in like two seconds.
“Really? That’d be great. Thank you so much. I’m Corey by the way, Corey Cooper.”
Dominic turned and took her outstretched hand. It felt small inside of his, but her handshake was firm. Good, he loathed a weak handshake, even from a woman. “I’m Dominic Hardy.”
They walked in silence for a ways, it wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was definitely charged. Dominic could feel that she was attracted to him, even if she wasn’t admitting it to herself or acknowledging it. He could feel it coming off her in subtle waves, and smirked to himself. Perfect. Maybe he could get her to meet him for a drink before she headed out of town. And she would be leaving soon. There was no way she’d get that job. Not here. Not at a school like this.
“So, Mr. Hardy, I take it you work here at St. Leasing?”
He nodded. “I do. I coach varsity baseball. And please, call me Dominic.”
“Have you been coaching long?”
“This was actually the first place I coached right out of college. Playing pro ball was my dream, but that didn’t pan out. I was good enough to get me my job here though. What about you? What brings you to an all-boys boarding school?”
Corey took a deep breath. “I grew up in Louisiana. It’s the only place I’ve ever lived. I needed a change and I came across this job online. I’ve been emailing back and forth with Dean McCormick for a couple weeks now.”
Dominic nodded, realization dawning on him. They had been emailing. They hadn’t even talked on the phone yet. He’d bet that the dean thought Corey was a dude. As soon as McCormick got one look at her, he wouldn’t give her the job. Women were rarely hired to work on this campus, and for good reason.
He stopped in front of a large mansion. It had a circular tower on the right side and was built with weathered stone. It was one of the oldest buildings on campus. “Here we are, the dean’s office is on the third floor.” She turned and smiled up at him, causing his heart to skip a beat. Stupid heart, what the hell was it thinking? He was used to thinking with his dick. His dick seemed smarter.
“Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help.” Corey reached for the large brass door handle.
“Wait.” Dominic groaned at the desperation he heard in his voice. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder, smiling again. Why did she keep grinning at him like that? “Would you like to meet me for a drink later? After your interview? There is a small bar in town, well, it’s the only bar in town. But it’s got cold beer and no students. You had to have passed it on your way in, it’s called Moon Bar.”
Corey nodded. “I would like that. I can meet you there in about two hours?”
Dominic doubted her interview would take longer than two seconds, but he had to get through practice so a couple hours would work for him. “Sounds great, I’ll see you later, good luck.” She smiled at him one more time before she disappeared into the building.
He glanced at his watch; he was so late for practice. Hopefully his assistant coaches had started the boys on their warm-ups. The team tended to get antsy and reckless without direction and something to occupy their minds.
Did he really ask that girl out? Dominic doubted Corey would be good company after she got turned down for a job she had driven days to interview for. But then again maybe he could send her on her way with a fond memory of Colorado.