HOLLY LIMPED TO HER DESK AND TOOK her seat with a groan as the last of her students left. Her leg was bothering her badly today, but she just had to suck it up like she so often did. She injured it years ago, and it would never be perfect, but she’d learned to live with it. Opening her planner, she looked over tomorrow’s lesson plan before she started grading. She’d stay late today, like she had since she sent the letter home with Shelby, in the hopes her father would finally come in for the meeting she requested.
What kind of father was he? She couldn’t believe he still hadn’t come in. First letting his daughter be exposed to the kind of fighting lifestyle he had, and then he didn’t show up to talk to her teacher. Even a phone call would have gone a long way to making this right, but she’d heard nothing from him.
Smiling over a remark one of her students wrote on their homework, she glanced up as a knock came on the doorframe. Eyes widening as she saw the behemoth in the doorway, she ran her eyes up and down the man’s frame. He was built like a mack truck, tall enough that his head almost brushed the top of the door, and his muscles strained his black shirt. His black jeans were snug, with a silver chain looping from his belt loop and disappearing into his back pocket.
Raising a thickly muscled arm, decorated with various tattoos, he ran his fingers through his longish light brown hair. So many muscles, so many tattoos. Even his hands and knuckles were tattooed. He had the face of a model, with reddish dark blonde stubble highlighting his jaw, and surprisingly full lips for a man. His ears had two gauged piercings in each, and those, combined with the tattoos, gave him a rough edge. He looked familiar, but it wasn’t until she looked into his bright blue eyes that she realized who he was.
This was Ian Gallagher, Shelby’s father. The eyes gave him away, the same as his daughter’s. Holly knew who he was, but she’d never seen him in person before. There was no way she’d have missed him, as huge and imposing as he was.
And handsome.
Ignoring the thought whispering through her head, Holly cleared her throat. “So you finally decided to show up.”
Frowning at her, he replied, “I’m looking for Mrs. White.”
“That’s me.”
Frown deepening, he muttered softly enough she almost missed it. “You’re not old.”
She raised an eyebrow. “No, I’m not old.”
She couldn’t stop staring at him. He averted his gaze and cleared his throat, a flush creeping up his neck. She waited expectantly to see what he’d do next.
Taking a few steps forward, he said, “I’m here for the meeting you requested. I’m Ian Gallagher, Shelby’s dad.”
“I gathered that. Thank you for finally coming in,” she replied, adding a slight emphasis on ‘finally’.
His frown deepened as he stopped in front of her desk. “Shelby just gave me the note last night. I came in right away.”
Craning her head to look up at him, she replied, “I thought you were ignoring my request.”
“I’d never do that.” The frown edged toward a scowl. “Shelby said this is about her hitting that little shit the other day?”
Doing some frowning of her own, Holly glared at him. “Mr. Gallagher, that is beyond inappropriate. You don’t call a child names like that.”
“I do when they’ve been making fun of my daughter,” he replied hotly. “And call me Ian. Mr. Gallagher is my dad.”
“What do you mean, making fun of her?”
“You didn’t know?” he asked, expression easing. “He’s been pulling her hair, chasing her, trying to scare her. Things like that. The day she hit him, he was making fun of her birthmark. That’s unacceptable.”
“I agree, it is unacceptable,” she replied, mind racing. “I didn’t know. Shelby never told me any of this.”
He nodded. “Well, now you know. I assume we’re done here?”
Watching in disbelief as he started turning away, she said, “Wait! No, we’re not done here. I’ll talk to Bobby, get to the bottom of this, and I’ll put a stop to the teasing. But we still haven’t discussed Shelby responding by punching him.”
“What’s to discuss? She had a problem and she put an end to it. She took action, which is more than I can say about anyone else.”
Holly stiffened as indignation filled her. “Now wait just a minute. I couldn’t put an end to it, because I didn’t know it was happening. Nothing like what you described ever happened in front of me. But the way Shelby responded to it wasn’t appropriate.”
“You sure are big on what’s appropriate and what’s not, aren’t you?” he asked with a smirk.
“I have to be. I’m a teacher, and it’s my job to teach them how to react in different situations,” she snapped.
“No, your job is to teach them math and English and shit. Teaching my daughter how to respond to stuff like that is my job.” His glare was as lethal as his fists.
Holly glared back, her blood pressure rising. The way he looked right now would be enough to have a grown man backing down, but she wasn’t intimidated, and she had no plans to start.
“You’re teaching her wrong. Violence isn’t the answer.”
Face darkening, he leaned in and said, “And who are you to tell me I’m doing it wrong?”
Swallowing hard, Holly shook her head and took another deep breath. They were getting way off track. He was a jerk, true, but she never got into arguments with her student’s parents, and she shouldn’t start now. One of them had to be an adult in this discussion, and clearly, it wasn’t going to be him.
“I apologize if I offended you,” she said softly, swallowing her instinctive reply along with her pride. “I was wrong to say that. I just got caught up in the heat of the moment, because violence isn’t the answer in the classroom. But it won’t happen again.”
He had the nerve to grin. “I’m sure the last part was true, but you don’t believe you’re wrong any more than you believe the sky is green.”
She hadn’t expected him to be so perceptive. “It doesn’t matter what I believe. Shelby is what matters. Look, Mr. Gallagher, I understand you have your own lifestyle, and violence is a large part of that. It’s not my place to judge, but it is my place to point it out if it’s affecting Shelby. Teaching her that violence is the answer is only going to make things difficult for her as she grows up. She’s a very sweet child, and I’d hate to see her lose that.”
“You’re right, it’s not your place to judge how I live my life. It’s not your place to judge how I raise my daughter or what I teach her. But for the sake of ending this discussion, I will tell you I never taught her to hit. Sure, she’s seen me and my friends train, but I don’t allow her anywhere around the actual fights. I’ve never talked to her about how to respond, and I’ve sure as hell never taught her how to fight.”
He was telling the truth. She knew it.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. I’ve talked to Shelby about how what she did was wrong, but I think it’ll go a long way if you tell her the same, if you haven’t already.”
“I said I haven’t taught her to hit, but I didn’t say I thought it was wrong. That kid had it coming, in my opinion.”
“Excuse me?” she asked in disbelief. “How can you not see that her hitting another kid is wrong? It’s completely—”
“Let me guess. Unacceptable, right? Mrs. White, that kid was making fun of her birthmark. Something she has no control over, and something she’s been tormented enough over. Her whole life, she’s been made to feel less than because of a mark on her face. How much of that is she expected to endure before it damages her self-esteem permanently? She shouldn’t be expected to take it.”
“And she doesn’t have to,” Holly shot back. “But there are other ways of dealing with it.”
He shook his head in disgust, and she’d swear he growled. “You can’t know what it’s like. You sit there, all perfect and beautiful, talking about how she should deal with everything, but you don’t know. Don’t know what it’s like to be mocked for your physical appearance. Don’t judge my daughter for something you know nothing about.”
Holly stared at him, surprised. Perfect and beautiful? Hardly. Grabbing her cane, she pushed herself up and limped around her desk, taking satisfaction in the way his eyes widened when he saw her bad leg.
“As you can see, I’m far from perfect. The skirt covers my leg, and I never wear anything that reveals it, but the cane and the limp are enough, don’t you think? Don’t talk to me about not understanding. I understand all too well. Kids can be harsh, that’s a fact. But I never resorted to punching one when I was made fun of, and Shelby doesn’t have to, either.”
IAN STOOD FROZEN, STARING AT THE BEAUTIFUL woman before him. Mrs. White was defiant, and he liked the sparkle of satisfaction in her gaze. And he couldn’t begrudge her that. She’d just made her point, a thousand times over.
Still unable to speak, he ran his gaze over her, taking her in again. She had blonde hair that fell to just below her shoulders, and her face was that of a classic beauty, reminding him of an actress from an old black and white film. Large blue eyes, creamy skin, high cheekbones, perfect lips. She was flawless. Tall for a woman, the top of her head came up past his jaw. That was unusual, since he stood a few inches over six feet.
She wore a clingy pink sweater that hugged generous breasts, and an ankle length black skirt with pink and yellow flowers. He never thought he was a fan of the buttoned-up teacher look, but then, he’d never seen a teacher who looked like this. The whole package that made up Mrs. White was gorgeous.
Shifting his weight as his tiger stirred in his chest, Ian dragged his eyes back up her body to her face, pausing and lingering on her long, elegant fingers. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but there was a thin pale line where one should rest.
Of course she was married. Her name was Mrs. White, after all. Disappointment flowed through him and he frowned. Why the hell he should care was beyond him. After the disaster that was Farrah, he vowed he was done with women, and he meant it.
Realizing he’d been silent longer than was polite, and that she could take it the wrong way, he cleared his throat. Gesturing to her leg, he said, “I’m sorry.”
Her lips curled. “Sorry for what? That my leg is messed up, or that you assumed I could never know how Shelby feels?”
“Both, I guess. Look, I’ll admit I’m new to this day to day parenting thing. And maybe not getting onto Shelby for punching someone who made fun of her was wrong, I don’t know. All I know is I can’t stand to see her hurt anymore. She’s had more than enough of that. If reacting like that, reacting in any way, helps her or makes it end, I can’t see discouraging her from it. And I wouldn’t tell her to hit someone, but I wouldn’t know the first thing about what to tell her to do differently.”
Her blue eyes softened, and for the first time, he noticed the hints of green in her gaze. They were gorgeous. Scolding himself for noticing another attractive attribute about her, he reminded himself that she was married.
“I won’t ask what she’s been through, but I know first hand that kids are cruel when it comes to someone who’s physically different,” she replied softly. “You need to tell her to walk away and find a grownup who can help. Tell her that reacting in an obvious way, like she did, is just giving the other person power over her. Think of it this way—there are some kids, teenagers, people, who would see her react as she did, and then deliberately mock and tease her, even if they previously hadn’t, just to get that kind of reaction.”
Ian absorbed the truth of what she said. He hadn’t thought of it like that, but he could see it happening, and that was the last thing he wanted. “I’ll talk with her. But I’m not going to deny that I’m proud of her for standing up for herself and not just allowing it to happen.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. I don’t care for the way she did it, but I’m proud of her, as well. You have an incredibly sweet, adorable little girl, Mr. Gallagher. And she’s slowly coming out of her shell. If I’m being honest, I was on the verge of calling you in for a meeting because of how timid she was. I love that she’s coming into her own, I just don’t love how she went about doing it with that whole situation.”
“I’ll talk with her,” he promised again. “I made assumptions a minute ago. I judged you without knowing what you’d been through.”
She softened. “Let’s call it even. I was judging you, too. I thought you were teaching her to react as she did. The fact that you fight—for fun, money, whatever—colored my judgment on the matter.”
Not a lot of people would admit to that, and despite wanting to hold onto his initial dislike of her, he could feel it slipping away. “We’re even, then. Guess that’ll teach us both a lesson on judging. I better get out of here. Shelby’s waiting in the truck for me.”
Turning to go, he paused when she said his name, looking back at her. God, she was so beautiful, it almost hurt to look at her.
“I’m not sure if Shelby gave you the flyer, or even mentioned it, but there’s a father daughter dance next week. It’s a school-wide thing. It would be nice to see you there with her.”
“No, she didn’t mention that.” Looked like Shelby was beginning a bad habit of not telling him things, and he was going to have to nip that in the bud. “A dance, huh? I’m not sure I’m a dance kind of guy.”
“I can see that,” she acknowledged, eyes twinkling. “But maybe you could be one for just one night. I think Shelby would love it.”
She probably would. “I’ll ask her if she wants to go. She might not have mentioned it because it doesn’t interest her.”
“Fair enough. Let me get you a flyer.”
Watching as she turned, grimacing and leaning heavily on her cane, he was overcome with a foreign urge to sweep her off her feet and carry her so she didn’t have to walk. Frowning, he shook his head once hard. He didn’t know where the hell that thought came from, but he didn’t like it.
“Here you go,” she said, handing him a bright pink paper. “Ask her about it. And I really am glad you came in today, Mr. Gallagher. If you have questions, or need help with anything at all, please come to me. I’d love to help in any way I can.”
Uncomfortable with the way his mind jumped to just how she could help him, he nodded and forced out, “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Mrs. White.”
He didn’t wait on a reply. He had to get out of there. He was lusting after a married woman, and he was disgusted with himself. He’d never wanted a woman as intensely as he found himself wanting Shelby’s teacher, and the fact that she was married didn’t seem to be registering to his body, his mind, or even his tiger. This wasn’t good, wasn’t good at all.
He’d go to the dance if Shelby wanted to, but other than that, he needed to stay far, far away from this damned school. Hopefully, his daughter would be a model student from here on out. Because while he prided himself on his strength and willpower, he had to admit that if anyone could shake those and make him weak, it was Mrs. White.