Two Week Seduction (4 page)

Charlie looked at them. A beat. A second. And then right there in front of them, he gave up on his dreams. The boy’s shoulders deflated, his gaze canted down, and he just shrugged as if it was no big deal. Jesus, that was hard to see and in someone so young. Alea must have noticed, too, because her voice softened.

“Come on Charlie, you can do this. I’ll help—”

“Nah, I got this,” the kid answered, except everyone in the room knew he was lying.

“Charlie—”

“Bye, Miss Heling.” He skated around Alea, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid John, who caught his arm.

“Just listen to her, Charlie.”

“Get off me!”

Damn, the anger was back. A familiar defiance that was as sad as it was bravado. Some people just insisted on being stupid. But apparently Alea never got that memo. She was stepping up, coming close to the kid without actually touching him.

“I can tutor you, Charlie. I can help you because I know you’re smart enough to be a pilot. But you can’t give up now. How will you ever face down an enemy fighter?”

“Or a drill sergeant?” John put in. It was meant to be a joke, a light note to ease under the kid’s walls. And maybe it worked because the tension in the kid’s arm eased slightly as John kept speaking. “Thought I was going to die my first day in basic.”

“Yeah? They hard on you security people?”

John shrugged, refusing to be baited into arguing with someone who wasn’t even shaving yet. “They’re hard on everyone. But Miss Heling is right. You got the stuff if you stick with it.”

Charlie snorted, but his expression had a note of vulnerability. “And how you know that, big guy?”

“Because you nearly got out of my hold,” he lied. “You on the wrestling team?”

“Nah. They don’t let kids like me on that shit.”

John looked at Alea and mouthed “kids like me?” She answered calmly.

“He’s failing geometry. Can’t be on a team if you’re failing.”

John nodded. “And you can’t graduate or become a fighter pilot if you don’t pass geometry.”

“Got it in one,” Alea said.

“So Charlie’s got a decision. He can either slink home like a wuss and play pilot on a video game or he can man up and do what it takes to get in the cockpit for real.”

“Fuck you,” Charlie said as he jerked his arm free. John could have held on, but there was no point. The message had been delivered. So he let the kid stomp out while John remained at the ready. He didn’t expect that Charlie would suddenly whirl around and attack, but he didn’t relax until the door clicked shut and he and Alea were alone. Which is what made it all the more startling when he finally turned his attention to her. She was practically vibrating with fury.

Fury?

“John O’Donnell, you’re a stupid idiot and I ought to punch you in the face!”

He blinked. “What?”

“And if you ever do that to me again, I will. I swear to God, I will.”

God, he so needed to be back in Afghanistan where everything made sense.

Chapter Four

Alea’s emotions were spinning out of control and that pissed her off.

For the first time that day, she’d finally been able to push thoughts of John out of her mind. Charlie had been just the distraction she’d needed, then who had flattened the kid, but John. He was big and efficient, and yeah, the primitive part of her brain had really liked seeing someone stop a kid from mouthing off to her. But this was John and he had put Charlie on the
floor
.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she said, anger making her voice vibrate.

“What? I was helping.”

“Helping?” she all but squeaked. “Let’s set aside the fact that you can’t touch a kid. Damn it, John, you could be brought up on charges.”

“But I didn’t touch him. Not…you know, in a bad way.”

She gaped at him. Didn’t he understand anything? “This isn’t a military installation. You’re not an MP here.”

John stared at her like she’d lost her mind, and maybe she had. God, he was a powerful man. Tall, broad, and with muscles to spare, all nicely revealed by his tight Air Force tee. Light brown hair cropped close, intense brown eyes, an angular jaw just like on every dark superhero, and all of it added up to—sexy-as-hell. And damn it, she couldn’t think with him standing there like that.

“Alea, I was just trying to help.”

“By bursting in? By not trusting me to handle the situation on my own?”

His hands rolled open in a WTF motion. “Charlie was threatening you.”

“He was not.” She took a deep breath. “Well, okay, maybe he was but only technically.”

“And he could technically split open your gut.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you even hear yourself? Split open my gut? This isn’t a war zone. It’s high school.”

“So no kid carries a switchblade.” Before she could answer, he pulled out a blade and flicked the switch. A very long, very lethal-looking knife appeared. God, the
snick
even sounded evil.

“Where did you get that?”

“Charlie’s back pocket.”

She stared at him, her mind reeling. Charlie had been carrying a blade? That blade? She sighed. Well, of course Charlie carried a weapon. She didn’t like it, but most of these kids felt the need to arm themselves. They didn’t live in the safest neighborhoods.

“He wasn’t going to use that on me,” she said, and it sounded lame even to her own ears.

“No one carries a weapon unless they intend to use it.”

“Tons of kids carry weapons they never use. And it doesn’t matter. Charlie wasn’t going to attack me.”

“You know that how?” His every cell seemed to challenge her statement. Then he made it worse by crossing his arms. He was standing there with his legs spread, his expression irritatingly calm. By crossing his arms, his muscles bulged, his eyes flattened, and she imagined him chewing out a raw recruit with just that kind of look.

She was almost intimidated. Almost. But she wasn’t a raw recruit, and he was standing in her classroom.

“Because I’ve been doing this job for years. Because I know these kids, Charlie especially. They have their pride and the boys need to posture a bit before they get to where they need to be.”

“And if he postured while using his knife?”

God, she wanted to shake him. “He wasn’t going to use it,” she said firmly. Loudly. “And even if he did, I can defend myself.”

She should have known what he was going to do. He was a guy, after all, and it didn’t matter what the age, they all needed to prove themselves. Why use words when actions were so much more effective?

But she didn’t see it coming and she wasn’t prepared. He leaped on her as if by magic. He spun her around, pinned her backside against his front and caught her throat with his forearm. He didn’t choke her. Hell, he wasn’t even pressing hard, but against his six foot three frame and all those muscles? She couldn’t move an inch.

“I could have stabbed you a dozen times by now, each one lethal.”

His breath was hot against her ear and her whole backside felt like it was going up in flame. He was so big, and she just went liquid. She had visions of him bending her over her desk right now, and that was only the first of the graphic thoughts spinning through her brain. She wasn’t going to die from any military maneuver here. She was going to combust from lust.

She swallowed, struggling for a way through the desire. There were reasons he was off limits to her, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what they were. Especially since she’d been imagining scenarios like this since she was sixteen years old.

Her knees went soft and her head dropped back against his shoulder. Her breasts were aching and his forearm was so close to her nipples that if she just arched a little bit…

She knew the moment he realized what she was feeling. One moment, she was bounded by a wall of hot male. The next second it all turned to frozen steel. He went rigid, and not in a nice way. His breath caught and his body jerked to a stop.

“John,” she whispered. And in that one word was all her pent-up frustration and longing, the well of need that had been building since the day he’d taken her best friend to the prom.

Then she felt him relax. Not a lot, just a low groan as his breath dipped from her ear to her neck. She felt his mouth on her skin and her whole body shivered as he nuzzled her. A single, slow caress with his lips just below her ear.

Then just as abruptly, he was gone. He moved back so quickly, she stumbled and had to catch herself on her desk. And when she finally put some strength into her legs and turned to face him, he was pulling open the door.

“Don’t you dare,” she hissed out.

He stiffened. And damn it, he wouldn’t even look at her.

“Ten years ago, I threw myself at you and you…” She gulped. She really didn’t want to go there, not out loud and not in her memories, but she couldn’t stop herself. “You made it clear I wasn’t the girl for you. But last night, we kissed. We had a moment that I can’t stop thinking about. And then just now—” Was she really saying this? Was she really about to bare her soul to this man when he was obviously running for the door?

“Don’t read anything into it. I was trying to show you that Charlie could have hurt you. He could have killed you.” His voice was thick and raw and gave her the hope that he was just as messed up as she was feeling. Then again, given that he had straightened up and crossed his arms, maybe she was just imagining things.

“I wouldn’t dare walk onto a military base and tell you how to do your job. Don’t you dare walk into my classroom and think—”

“He could have hurt you!”

“He wasn’t going to!” She had no reason for her assurance. She walked a fine line with these kids, reaching out to them only to get her hand snapped off half the time. But Charlie hadn’t been about to hurt her. And John was an idiot to blunder in when he didn’t know what was going on.

She watched his face. He’d turned back to look at her now. And though his arms didn’t uncross, uncertainty flashed through his expression. Then he sighed. “Your turf, huh?”

“It’s not about turf.” She looked at him squarely. “It’s about trusting me to know my job.” She wasn’t really arguing with him. Honestly, she’d been fighting to prove herself from day one. Of course the kids challenged her, but so did the administration, the parents, and most especially her own family. All anyone saw was how tiny she was. Five foot four with delicate features and a wealthy background. She’d established herself with the kids after the first week. Adults took longer, and her family longest of all.

So when she dug in her heels and glared at John, she was doing it from long practice—staring down yet another person who judged her externals and not the woman inside.

“I know what I’m doing,” she said firmly.

“I see that.”

His answer was so quick and clear that for a moment she was stunned. Had he really just agreed with her?

“And I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have interfered without knowing more of the situation. A rookie move.”

She had to pinch herself to make sure this was real. That big bad John was apologizing to her. “Um…well, you were trying to protect me.”

“Intentions don’t matter. Actions do.”

She almost laughed at that. Wasn’t that something she said to her kids all the time? How odd to have her own words echo back to her from someone who had never heard her say them.

She relaxed back against her desk and tried to find something neutral to say. “So, um, was there a reason—”

A knock interrupted her. Then before she could say anything, the doorknob turned and in walked Brad, the ninth-grade social studies teacher and her date for tonight. “Hey, did you know there are two broken platters outside your door?” He pulled up short when he saw John. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t know you were with a…parent?”

John turned to look at the newcomer, his gaze flat and his lips curved in a slight sneer. He looked every inch the intimidating cop even if he was Air Force Security. Part of her was tempted to wait, see what John would say at being asked if he was a parent. But the greater part of her was embarrassed for her date to meet the man she’d lusted after for ten years.

“Um, Brad, this is my friend John. He’s Sam’s friend from the Air Force. In fact, he and Sam were on the football team here ages back.”

Brad’s expression shifted slightly, moving from curious to guarded, but he still held out his hand. “Oh yeah, the MP. You just had a welcome home party.”

John was slow to take Brad’s hand and when he did, Alea watched her fellow teacher wince. John must be doing the crush-the-other-guy’s-hand thing. “Air Force Security.”

Brad nodded slowly, obviously unsure. Alea filled in the details.

“Cops aren’t called MPs in the Air Force. They’re security.”

“Oh, okay. Cool.” Then he smiled and pulled back his hand. That was Brad. Friendly to everyone, though from the way he was flexing his fingers, John hadn’t been nice. Neanderthal. She made sure her expression emphasized her thoughts. Then she turned her most brilliant smile on Brad.

“You were saying?”

“What? Oh right. Actually, I was coming here to ask Italian or Chinese for tonight.”

“Chinese.” She was in the mood for some sweet and sour tonight. Apparently her body was all for contradictions these days—Neanderthal guys who kissed hot enough to make her body tingle for hours afterwards. An old friend who tackled kids and yet still made her knees weak because he was trying to protect her. Why couldn’t she go for simple guys with nice smiles?

Oh wait, she was. Date tonight with Brad. “How about I meet you there?” She didn’t have to ask where. She and Brad had been friends long enough that she knew his favorite restaurants all over Jacksonville.

“I don’t mind picking you up. I’ll bring you flowers and candy. It is a real date, after all.”

Yes, she knew it was a real date even though they’d been friends for the last two years. Which meant his words were aimed at John, who was standing there like a glowering security officer. God save her from testosterone wars. Though a tiny, evil part of her couldn’t resist poking at John. Let him see that other guys wanted her. Other guys treated her with flowers and candy.