Freight Trained (13 page)

She laughed out loud at the very idea, and Lucky thought it his cue to start playing.  "Oh, no you don't.  It's time for all good puppies to lay down and go to sleep."

She reached over the nightstand to clicked off the light and accidentally knocked over her ceramic German Shepherd figurine.  She stared at it a moment after setting it upright, her heart swelling, wondering if Cole noticed such a tiny detail and bought her Lucky because of it.  Sighing, she lay back down on her side, snuggling Lucky's warm, fuzzy body close to her chest.  She needed to keep those kinds of thoughts out of her head and focus on what their relationship was really about.  Sex.  Maybe she would call Maggie and see if she had any good ideas on how to hurry things along.  She closed her eyes and stroked the soft fur on Lucky's belly.  It was nice having a friend to talk to.  She hadn't known how lonely her solitary life had really been.

Abby walked down the eerily quiet hall, the soft flap of her flip-flops, slapping on the polished concrete.  In a little over a week, these halls would be teeming with students and no longer silent.  She stopped in front of the door to her classroom and tested the knob.  Abby hadn't even thought about needing a key and was relieved it was unlocked.  She looked around.  The room was bare of everything but the essentials
—
student desks, teacher's desk, and a dry-erase board that hung on the wall. 

Having been a substitute teacher, she hadn't collected much over the years she'd been working but did have a few things in the car to personalize her new room.  She went to the teacher's desk and opened the drawers.  Other than a few scattered pens, pencils, and paperclips they were empty. 

Movement from the corner of her eye had her turning her head.  A man, medium height, medium build, and with nerdy, good looks stood in her open doorway.  He smiled and held a hand up in a tentative wave, his other hand shoved in the front pocket of his khakis.  "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you.  I'm Chad Daniels.  I teach science a few rooms down."  He pointed down the hall with his thumb.  "I saw your door open.  You must be the new math teacher."

Abby came out from behind her desk, hand outstretched.  "Yes, Abigail O'Neal, but please call me Abby." 

Chad stepped away from the door to take her hand.  "Nice to meet you, Abby."  He issued a low chuckle.  "I must say, you're a far cry from our last math teacher."  At her questioning look, he gave her a shy smile.  "Mrs. Clarkson, she was ninety if she was a day and smelled of mothballs.  You're," he waved his hand up and down, "really pretty."

Abby's brows rose in surprise, taken aback by his candor towards a coworker. 

His cheeks turned red and he stammered, "Wow, that was really inappropriate.  I'm so sorry.  My only excuse is I was taken off guard by your..."  He held up a hand and with a nervous chuckle said, "Nope, that's what got me into this mess in the first place.  Sorry, again, I get a little nervous around new people."

Recognizing a kindred spirit and knowing exactly how he felt made her more comfortable in his presence. Wanting to put him at ease, she uncharacteristically started a conversation.  "No need to apologize.  I completely understand.  I'm a little uncomfortable around new people myself."  She gave him a smile and looking for an easy topic to converse about to break the ice, she asked,  "How long have you worked here?"

"Well, let's see."  He rubbed his chin, deep in thought.  "Going on about eight years now."

That would most likely put him in his early thirties.  A little older than she'd originally thought.  He looked younger.  His light-brown hair was cut short around his ears and neck.  His pale skin was smooth, wrinkle free and unblemished except for a few freckles across the bridge of his nose.  His clothes were neatly pressed, his shirt tucked tidily into his pants, the sleeves rolled precisely to his elbows, and she wondered if he had a wife at home that helped him look so put together.

"Wow, you've been here a while.  You must know all the good gossip, anything I should be warned about?"

* * * * *

He heard her laughter before he entered the room.  His jaw hardened at the sight that greeted him.  Fucking hell, he couldn't leave her alone for two minutes without some dick coming to sniff around.  Abby leaned, ass against her desk, legs crossed at the ankles, hands waving animatedly as she talked.  His eyes automatically did an eye sweep, noting hair piled in a bun atop her head, navy-blue vee-neck tee that showed just a hint of cleavage, dark-blue jeans, and flip-flops that had some sort of sparkly shit on them.  Thank fuck, she wasn't in her sexy librarian outfit or he might not have been able to control the rage.  As it was, his hands tightened into fists.  He shoved them deep into his back pockets to hide his frustration, schooled his features of any deadly intent, and forced himself to turn his driven advance into a slow saunter as he made his way across the room.

The happy smile that made her eyes sparkle when she noticed him went a long way in soothing his anger, but it still didn't stop him from laying his hands on her in a barbaric show of possession.

"Hi," she whispered, on a sigh as he drew near, tilting her head back to keep him in sight.

He clamped his hand around the back of her neck as he leaned above her, grazing her cheek with his lips before sliding them to her ear, murmuring loud enough for Abby's
new friend
to hear, "Mornin', Darlin'."  He lightly kissed her slightly parted lips before turning his attention to the dickhead trying to move in on his territory. 

Keeping his hand around Abby's neck, he reached out with his free hand.  The steel in his voice was unmistakable when he said, "Cole Garrison, Abby's man, and you are?"  Oh, he was pretty sure he knew the little pricks name, Chad something or other.  It was a small town, after all, and after three years, knew most of its players.  From the flash of anger he saw in the guy's eyes, he knew he hit his mark in pretending not to know his name.

"Chad Daniels," the guy said, taking his hand, and Cole showed restraint by not giving it a tight squeeze.

"What are you doing here?"  Abby asked, seemingly oblivious of the testosterone floating through the room.

He gave his full attention back to Abby.  "Had to pick something up in town and knew you'd be here.  Thought I'd stop by, see if you needed any help."

She gave him another dazzling smile that not only reached his dick but seemed to reach his heart, as well, if the stutter he felt between the beats was any indication.  "I do have some things in the car if you want to help me bring them in." 

Unable to keep his hands off her, he tucked a lock of hair, that had escaped the confines atop her head, behind her ear then trailed his fingers down her neck before saying, "Lead the way."

She smiled at Chad
—
a smile not nearly as bright as the smile she'd given him, he noted suppressing a grin
—
and said, "It was nice meeting you, Chad.  I'm sure I'll see you around once school starts."

That was Chad's cue to leave but either he was thick or chose to ignore it because he said, "I have time if you need help setting things up and getting organized."

Cole felt Abby grow stiff beside him and wondered if she felt the same weird vibe coming off the guy as he did.  Already, he didn't like that the guy worked with her, and now his clingy attitude just pissed him off more.  He would need to keep his eye on the pencil dick, make sure he didn't step out of line.

"Oh, no, that's okay.  I don't have much and will have it done in no time.  Thanks for the offer, though."

Cole wasn't as nice.  "Catch ya later, Chet."  He placed his hand at the small of Abby's back, leading her to the door, this time not fighting his grin when he heard a mumbled, "It's Chad," from behind him.

* * * * *

Abby waited until they were out of hearing range before speaking.  "Don't think I don't know what you were up to in there."

Cole didn't try to deny it, in fact, he didn't say anything as they walked down the hall and out the building.  "Where are you parked?" he asked, looking around the nearly deserted parking lot.

Abby stepped away from his side and placed her hands on her hips.  "That's all you've got to say?"

"What do you want me to say?  I don't like the guy and let that be known."

"Have you not liked Chad in the past or is it just now, that you've found him talking to me, that you don't like him?"

He shrugged.  "Never talked to him before."  He pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her waist.  "I will admit, walking in to find you laughing and chatting with the guy probably had an influence on my first impression."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and played her fingers through the loose curls at his nape.  "Well, I'm new to the school and have to work with the guy.  Can you try a little harder to be nice, please?"

He gave her a nod.  "I'm gonna do as you asked for a couple of reasons." 

Abby rewarded him with a big smile for being so reasonable.  "Yeah, and what's that?"

"What you just said, revealed a few important things to me, and I like what they implied.  First, you expect me to run into your new friend so that means you don't mind me visiting you here, and I like that.  Second, you warning me to play nice also tells me you want me here, a fact I also like.  Last, you said please, and I love the sound of that word on your lips."  His head lowered, his lips grazing her ear.  "I'll like the sound of it better when I've got you under me, your legs wrapped around my waist, begging me for more."

His warm breath and suggestive words delivered in his slow, sexy drawl had her pressing herself against him, while at the same time, her fingers tightened in his hair, pushing against his head, trying to bring him closer. Anything to stem the growing need between her thighs. With a low growl, he captured her lips, biting and nipping at the lower one before sucking it into his mouth.  His tongue entangled with hers, and with a soft moan, she fully surrendered to his assault.

As quickly as the kiss started, he ended it, pulling away and taking a large step back.  Beyond turned-on, her mouth burst forth words before her brain could think to contain them.  "Why'd you stop?"

"Because I'm not planning to fuck you in a parking lot and if I had your tits pressed against me and my tongue in your mouth one second longer, that's exactly what would've happened."

Abby felt her cheeks heat.  "Oh, well... Okay then," she stammered.

He took the step back to her but didn't touch her, just hovered over her, so she had to tilt her head back to keep him in sight.  His next words though quiet, were no less powerful when he uttered, "When I fuck you for the first time, it'll be in a bed, and it'll be when we have time 'cause, Darlin', I plan to take you nice and slow.  I'm gonna strip you bare and put my mouth on every inch of your skin.  Then I'm gonna make you beg, make you scream, make you come."  His finger trailed down her body, between her breasts, over her stomach, stopping at the button of her jeans.  His lips grazed her cheek before they found her ear, and he whispered, "Make you come, over," his tongue traced the shell of her ear, "and over," his lip found her lobe, sucking it into his mouth and twirling it with his tongue, "and over again." 

Abby's arms broke out in goose bumps, and she knew it had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with the sexy cowboy whispering dirty things into her ear.  His fingers had somehow found their way into the waistband of her jeans, and the soft edges of his blunt nails lightly scraped across the sensitive skin under her belly button.  The tingles of earlier turned into an ache that she knew could only be sated if his fingers would stray a tad bit lower.  Instinctively, she found herself reaching up on her toes encouraging lower contact.

In a blink, his fingers were gone and again, he took a step away from her.  Slowly he shook his head.  "You make it very difficult to keep my hands off you.  Where are you parked?  Let's get your shit, get it unpacked, then get the hell out of here.  My days of being a gentleman are over.  I want you naked in my bed preferably within the next hour." 

Abby couldn't lead him to her car fast enough.

Chapter Twelve

Things didn't quite go as planned.  They were in Cole's truck after picking up Lucky and dropping Abby's car at her house when he got a phone call.  From the set line of his jaw and clipped responses, she could tell he wasn't a happy camper. 

"Everything okay?" she asked as he hung up the phone.

He sighed, glanced over at her, and gave her a small smile before turning his eyes back to the road.  "Yeah, I need to head up to Albuquerque.  I probably won't be back 'til late."

Abby wanted to know why but felt hesitant to ask.  Their relationship was still too new, and she didn't want to come off as needy or clingy.  If he'd wanted her to know, he would've volunteered the information.  "That's okay.  I have a ton of stuff to do to get ready for school next week if you don't mind dropping me back off at home."  She was trying for nonchalant and hoped she'd pulled it off.  She gave him a sunny smile for good measure.  If possible, the set of his jaw became firmer followed by a slightly noticeable eye twitch.

He made a U-turn, and nothing else was said until they pulled into her drive.  Before she could open the truck door, he stopped her by taking hold of her hand.  She looked over at him, but he wasn't looking at her, his eyes were locked on Lucky bouncing around on the floorboard at her feet.