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At least, I did until the bell rang and the laughter of students finally infiltrated my brain. I yanked back, horrified that I could have been caught by my students at any moment. And thankfully, it wasn’t until there was a good five feet between us that my first student walked through the door, barely acknowledging the newcomer in the room.
I flushed red, hurrying behind my desk as a way of putting distance between me and the man who had the power to shred every ounce of my control with the snap of his fingers.
With a smirk on his face, he sauntered over to me, resting the tips of his fingers on my desk. “I’m taking a rain check on that kiss,” he whispered in a low voice that sent shivers down my spine.
“You need to leave,” I hissed, feeling myself turn even more red than I was a few moments ago.
A devilish smirk tilted his lips. “Are you afraid they’ll know?”
“This is school!” I hissed. “I can’t be seen…doingthatin front ofthem.”
He glanced over his shoulder, then slid easily around the desk, standing right by my side. I felt his hand on my hip, gripping me hard, though from his position, none of the students could see the action. “Tonight…”
“What’s tonight?” I asked breathlessly.
“You’ll find out when you get home.”
I couldn’t think, let alone swallow at the promise in his voice. I clenched my legs together, hearing his low chuckle at the movement. God, what I wouldn’t give to call in sick right this minute and go home with him.
He stepped back, his eyes practically molten as he stared at me with so much intensity that I nearly fainted. Man, I needed a freezer to cool off in. Or at the very least, an ice pack. I could feign a headache.
“I’ll see you?—”
Loud pops sounded from somewhere in the building, jerking his attention away from me. In a flash, he was at the door, pulling it closed. When his eyes locked on mine, I knew what I heard wasn’t my imagination. Those were gunshots.
39
DASH
The soundof gunfire sent chills racing down my spine as soon as the first pop sounded. I ran to the door, motioning for the few students in the hallway to get inside. As soon as they were, I pulled the door shut and locked it until I could make everyone in the classroom as safe as possible. Turning, my eyes briefly connected with Laura’s startled gaze. In that instant, I knew I would do anything to keep her safe.
“Girls, in the corner! Guys, start dragging the desks over there. We’re going to create a barrier!”
I didn’t wait for the shock to wear off. I grabbed my phone and called it in. Hopefully, they would get a few more phone calls and be able to narrow down where the gunman was located in the building.
To my surprise, not a single student screamed. I think they were all in too much shock that this was actually happening. Or maybe they didn’t think it was real. But as I ran to the metal cabinet against the wall, the guys instantly got to work pulling the desks over to the corner of the room. I toppled the cabinet, then started pushing it over as a barrier. One of the boys quickly ran over and helped me slide it across the room.
Laura was shoving things off her desk, taking a page out of my book. Two other girls jumped in, helping her tip it over to make a wall.It wouldn’t stop a bullet, but it might deflect or slow one down. That was all we could do right now.
“Alright, if you’ve ever seen how the Romans used to fight, let’s take from their strategy. The desks need to be stacked and use the tops of them to cover any holes!”
The boys immediately understood what I was saying, stacking the desks sideways on top of each other. In a matter of minutes, we had a shield created to keep the kids safe, along with an additional barrier from the metal cabinet. That was all I could do to protect them.
“Everyone behind the barrier!”
I grabbed Laura’s hand and pulled her against me, cupping her face in my hand. “You stay behind that barrier and don’t come out until I come back to get you.”
I turned to leave, but she grabbed my arm, her eyes wide and frightened. “You can’t go out there! You have to wait for the police!”
I winced, feeling bad about bringing this up at such a time. “I can’t explain now, but…I’m in security. This is sort of what I do.”
And then I turned and pulled the gun from the holster at my waist. I had permission to carry on school grounds given that I worked for OPS. In case of a situation like this, OPS would be called in first since we had the most tactical training.
I peeked through the window on the door, and when I didn’t see anyone outside, I slowly opened the door. Slipping into the small alcove just outside the door, I kept myself tight to the wall as I slipped my hand into my pocket and grabbed the earpiece I kept on me at all times. With one press of the emergency button on my phone, I was in contact with Rae.
“We’re in the middle of an active shooter situation, Dash.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’m on site.”