CHAPTER 8
“Did you see the new guy?” Rhonda Burns, the honors English teacher, asked Leticia Porter, a math teacher, as they walked into the teachers’ lounge.
“No. What new guy?”
“I don’t know his name but he’s so hot.” Rhonda exaggeratedly mouthed the last two words. “I saw him walking across the quad with Principal Rayburn. He was giving him the ‘speech.’”
Principal Rayburn was known for his welcome speech. In the fifteen years he’d been principal, he’d never deviated from it. It lasted exactly fifteen minutes and thirty-two seconds. Yes, several teachers had used stopwatches to time it. It contained five jokes, only one of which was funny, or at least amusing. He never added to or subtracted from the content, and the entire faculty had it memorized.
“Do you know what he’s teaching?” Leticia’s anticipation was palpable.
“If there is a God,” Rhonda lifted her chin so her face was looking up and put her hands together in a prayer at her chest, “then he’s in the English Department.”
The two women continued hypothesizing on what position he might or might not be taking and Brynn tuned them out. As exciting as “fresh meat” was, she was dealing with her own newcomer. When she’d come home from her walk, Axel was returning from a morning run and she’d practically choked on her tongue. He had a special brand of attraction that seemed to multiply each time she saw him. At this rate, she was going to start passing out when she caught glimpses of him. There was a very distinct possibility that she might need to start carrying smelling salts around with her.
She grinned to herself, playing that “I Love Lucy moment” out in her head.
The first period bell rang and the teachers’ lounge cleared out as everyone headed to their respective classes. Brynn tugged at the edge of her potato chip bag and tilted her head back as she poured the contents of broken chips into her mouth. She brushed crumbs off her shirt as she stood and headed toward her closet-sized office. Chips and a Snickers bar was not a breakfast of champions by any means, but Ryder had finished off all of the frozen waffles this morning so she’d improvised.
Since he’d hit puberty her grocery bill had practically doubled. She was still paying off student loans and her ten-year-old Jeep needed a new transmission. These were all reasons why she’d started counseling online and had just thrown her name in the hat to fill in when Brenda Stein was out for hip surgery. Brenda was the head of the Drama Department. Due to budget cuts, it was a department of one. The position didn’t require Brynn to teach any classes. Her responsibilities would be limited to directing the school play.
Mrs. Stein had been Brynn’s “pageant coach” when her mother had insisted that she participate in them as a child and she’d been the one who suggested that Brynn apply for the job. She had no idea if she’d be selected since she didn’t technically have any experience. But if she was chosen, it would help with the bills.
She’d just sat down at her computer when a message popped up in the corner of her screen from Principal Rayburn.
“Miss Daniels, can I see you please?”
“Be right there.” She typed back.
Getting called to the principal’s office was not a usual occurrence and Brynn felt a little uneasiness in her stomach.
Principal Rayburn was known for being a by-the-book, no-nonsense leader. In the four years she’d worked for the school she’d never had an issue with him, but many of the other faculty members had. It was strange, but there was almost as much drama between the adult staff at the school as there was with the teenage students.
Brynn prided herself on her work ethic. She cared about her job and did her best to live up to the faith that the district had put in her. She wanted to inspire and challenge students to be the best versions of themselves, and it wasn’t always easy. Especially in this day and age.
With all the distractions of technology coupled with the instant-gratification mindset it instilled, getting students to buy into the notion that they needed to work for years to achieve goals was like telling a two year old that they needed to save for retirement. They had no concept of it.
She knocked on the door and heard, “Come in.”
When she walked in, her smile faltered slightly. Axel was sitting across from Principal Rayburn, but he stood when she entered. He was wearing jeans, a long-sleeved Henley T-shirt that molded to his upper body, showcasing his Adonis-like frame.
“Hi,” she said, unsure of what was happening.
“Brynn this is Axel Vaughn, Axel this is Brynn Daniels,” Principal Rayburn said in way of introduction.
“Um, we know each other.” Brynn looked between the two men.
“Oh, that’s right.” Principal Rayburn snapped his fingers. “You mentioned that, didn’t you Mr. Vaughn?”
“I did.” Axel looked at her like he wasn’t sure what to make of the principal.
It was a common reaction.
“Mr. Vaughn is going to be renovating the theater.”
“He is?” Of all the guesses that Jess and Ali had come up with regarding Axel’s line of work, they’d missed that one.
Brynn wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It wasn’t that the old theater didn’t need it. The building had definitely seen better days. But with all of the budget cuts, Brynn was surprised to hear that the city was allocating funds for renovations.
“A grant came through unexpectedly. It is specifically allocated to preserve historical landmarks and The Rose Theater is a historical landmark,” Principal Rayburn explained, as if reading her mind. “Anyway, I was hoping that you could show him around since you’re going to be sharing the space.”
“Sharing the space?” Brynn repeated blankly.
“Yes, you’re filling in for Mrs. Stein while she’s out on medical leave.” Principal Rayburn acted as if that was something she’d known.
“I am?” That was news to her. Good news, but still news.
Principal Rayburn was not a subtle man and lifted his hand in a shooing motion toward the door. “Why don’t you two work out a schedule. I know that you’ll be using the space for rehearsals and I don’t want any kids in the theater unsupervised, especially during the renovations.”
Brynn nodded and turned to leave. She had an odd feeling that something bigger than herself was working to pull her and Axel together. Her mother had always insisted that Brynn had “the gift” but she’d always dismissed her. Brynn didn’t believe that she possessed any extrasensory gifting. She was just perceptive. There was a big difference.
A man that she’d never met before showed up on her doorstep and is now not only going to be living above her garage but also working at the same high school she worked at. Anyone would feel like that’s at least extremely coincidental.
“After you,” Axel grinned as he held the door to the school offices open.
His smile was contagious and she smiled back. As she walked past him a shiver of awareness danced down her spine. Her eyes lingered a little longer than was appropriate on his smooth, perfect lips and she forced herself to look away. Her heels clicked on the tiled hallway as she led the way to the theater. She had a lot of questions racing through her mind but the one at the forefront was, I wonder what it would be like to feel those lips pressed against mine.
Since there was no way she could ask that she went with, “So you’re renovating the theater?” Brynn heard the shakiness in her voice and glanced back over her shoulder.
He was still wearing that same panty-melting grin. “I am. I would’ve mentioned it when you said you worked at the high school, but I didn’t know the theater was part of the high school.”
“Oh,” she giggled.
Giggled.
Why would she laugh at that? It wasn’t a funny statement. What was wrong with her? She was acting the age of someone that attended this school not worked there.
Trying to rein in her racing heart and shallow breaths, she slowed her pace which meant they were walking side by side.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, great!” She said way too loudly. Desperate to get the focus off of her odd behavior, she opted for small talk about him. “So that’s what you do? I mean for your work?”
“It is.”
“When did you start doing that? Was it after the Marines?”
“Actually, before. Stepdad number two, Duke, worked in construction. That’s what paid the bills, but on the side he was a master woodworker. He built and restored furniture and even a couple of buildings. I tagged along and paid attention.”
“Oh, that sounds nice.”
Brynn hoped that he wasn’t picking up on her nervous energy. It was strange to be around someone who both put her immediately at ease and instantly amped her up. Her body wasn’t sure how to deal with all of the sensations he inspired, but she was sure enjoying feeling them.
Axel was doing his level best to keep his mind on the job as he walked beside Brynn, but he was distracted. There was something different about her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Maybe it was just that he’d never seen her in this environment. It could be like the time he saw his seventh-grade science teacher at the movies with her husband. Except this was the opposite, since he’d only seen Brynn outside of school and now he was seeing her in it.
Or maybe it was just that being around Brynn caused his brain to go haywire. It wouldn’t be the only organ in his body that she affected. His damn heart raced like it was a thoroughbred at the Kentucky Derby. And he couldn’t even think about what she did to the organ she’d accidentally copped a feel of.
He shook off his preoccupation with trying to pinpoint what was throwing him and concentrated on the task at hand.
Brynn was obviously questioning the coincidental circumstances that led him here.
When she’d opened the door and saw him in the principal’s office her expression was one of total shock. Now, as they headed down the hallway, her voice was shaky and high-pitched. He sensed the same on-edge energy that he’d felt from her when Max had dropped Ryder off. And when he’d seen her at lunch with her friends.
The only time she’d seemed like herself, or at least the version that she’d shared over dinner, was earlier this morning after her walk around the lake. He’d timed his return perfectly so that they arrived at the house at the same time. They’d only spoken for a moment, but she’d seemed perfectly at ease.
He wanted to put her back at ease now, and sometimes the best way to do that was to point out the elephant in the room. “I’m not stalking you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“What?” She let out a short burst of laughter as she looked up at him with a surprised expression. “That’s not…I don’t think…why would you—” Her hand waved up and down in front of him. “—stalk me?”
The second she asked the question he could see that she wanted to take it back. Her eyes widened and she rushed out, “I mean…I just meant that you look like you wouldn’t have to stalk anyone.”
“Thank you…I think.”
“Not that what you look like matters, I guess. I mean, remember Ted Bundy?”
“The serial killer?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re comparing me to a serial killer?” He knew that wasn’t what she meant, but he was finding that he really enjoyed teasing her. He was trying to stay focused, but he couldn’t help but think that she was so adorable when she was flustered. Like when he told her he thought she was going to ask him to turn and cough. Her reactions were so genuine and unfiltered.
If they’d met under different circumstances, if she wasn’t off-limits, he knew that he’d find great pleasure in pushing her buttons to illicit that reaction as much as possible.
Somehow her eyes grew even wider. “No! I wasn’t…I was just saying…you know what? Never mind.” She shook her head and he realized exactly what was different about her today.
He couldn’t believe it had taken him this long to figure it out. Now that he had, it was like one of those pictures that you stare at and an image appears. Once you see it, it seems so obvious that it was there all along.
“Your hair is straight,” he blurted out as they went through the double doors that led outside.
“Oh, yeah.” She ran her fingers through her silky, golden-red hair that shimmered in the morning rays. “I straightened it. It used to be long and straight but I cut it a few weeks ago. I actually forgot that my hair was curly until I cut it.”
“It looks nice.” The sleek hairstyle highlighted her facial features. Her eyes, lips, and cheekbones were more pronounced. But he also loved how the curls softened those same features. And it didn’t matter, curly or straight, he wanted to run his hands through her hair and feel the satiny strands between his fingers. “It’s beautiful, both ways.”
“Thanks.” Her smile was brighter than the sun shining down on them and it warmed him from the inside out.
It probably wasn’t an appropriate thing to say. But she had just sort of compared him to Ted Bundy. And he had seen her naked and she had grabbed his crotch within their first hour of meeting.
He grinned at both memories.
“Anyway, here we are.” She stopped in front of the building that he’d be spending the next three months in. “This is The Rose Theater. It was built in the vein of Blackfriars Playhouse. It’s not an exact replica like the one in Staunton, Virginia, but it’s Whisper Lake’s version and it’s close.” There was pride in her voice when she talked about her town. “I’m sure you know, it was built in the late eighteen hundreds. It was declared a historical landmark thirty years ago but it was in bad shape. It’s a municipal building since it sits on school property but it’s only been in the last ten years that the high school has been able to use it. When I went to school here, we had to sneak in.” She chuckled. “But after several fundraisers we were able to bring the building up to code so the school could use it for our fall and spring productions. It’s structurally sound but there is a lot of original woodwork that wasn’t touched in an effort to preserve it that has seen better days.”
When he got home from his run this morning, his work detail had come through and he’d actually been excited. It’d been a long time since he’d been able to do any restoration and although the grant was only awarded to the school to give Axel a reason to be there, the woodwork did need it. He’d looked over the proposal that Mrs. Stein had submitted the previous year and he was itching to bring the unique paneling, molding, and beveled details back to their original glory.
A bell sounded and Brynn checked her watch. “Oh, I’ve got to go. Okay, well to be honest, I just found out that I’d be filling in for Mrs. Stein, so I don’t have a rehearsal schedule set. Mrs. Stein ran rehearsal right after school from three to five, but I can see if I can get approval to run it from five to seven if that would be better for you.”
“Three to five is fine.” He understood Principal Rayburn’s hesitation to have the students in during his work hours, but for the real purpose that he was here, sharing the space with Brynn would be ideal. “Like you mentioned, the structure is sound. I’m not doing any construction, just restoration.”
“Oh, okay. Great. Well then, I’ll see you later.” Her voice was high again but in a different way. Her arm rose and she waved her hand awkwardly. “See you later.”
He grinned, wanting nothing more than the chance to get to know her better so he’d be able to tell what the different pitches in her tone meant.
Was she nervous?
Excited?
Embarrassed?
Anxious?
The more time he spent with her, the more time he wanted to spend with her.
But for now, they both had to get to work. He lifted his hand, mirroring her wave. “See you later.”
She turned to leave and didn’t make it two steps before he saw her arms fly up in the air and he knew that she was about to fall, face first, onto the ground.
His reflexes acted before his brain had even processed what he was seeing and he reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. The momentum that she’d managed to achieve in the split second before he had her secured against him almost took him down, too. But thankfully, he managed to right them both so neither of them face-planted on the cement.
Having her body fully pressed against his definitely got his organs’ attention. His brain was haywire. His heart was galloping. And his dick was swelling.
“Thanks,” she whispered breathlessly as she gripped his arm, not making any effort to move away.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, allowing himself to luxuriate in the way her belly was rising and falling against his forearm. He took in the cushioning pressure of her ass as it nuzzled tightly against him, and the velvety softness of her hair brushing against his jaw.
A loud whistle sounded and Axel heard some kids shouting and making kissing noises.
She broke away from his grasp in the blink of an eye, in the most literal sense. He blinked and she was standing in front of him, clearing her throat. He realized that they were no longer alone. Students were walking around them, heading to their classes.
Her face was bright red again. “I’ve gotta go.”
As he watched her walk away, he knew that he might’ve just saved her from falling, but he wasn’t so sure he could do the same for himself.