Page 6

ROMAN

I felt curious eyes as my students walked around me to find their seats. I didn't blame them for their curiosity. I wasn't usually standing still as a statue by the door with eagle eyes, shrewdly watching each face that came through.

Usually, I was writing notes on the board, impatiently waiting for each student to be seated before I began my lesson.

But that was before yesterday.

Beforeher.

Lucy Thomas. Soon to be Lucy Drake.

After watching her leave with that male yesterday, I couldn't relax. Rationally I knew that he wasn't her boyfriend. He wouldn't be allowed to teach at the school if he was, which was funny considering that I was going to cross that line with her myself.

The idea of losing my job never entered my mind. If the board found out I was involved with one of my students, I would most likely be barred from teaching. It wasn't illegal, given her age. But it would be heavily frowned upon, and word would spread. I'd be blacklisted from every school in the Tri-state area.

After making the boys on my soccer team run some piss-easy drills, I took off to the main office. Yolanda Peterson was still typing away at her desk. Usually, I would do anything to avoid the flirtatious woman, but these were desperate times. Besides the Principal, she was the next best member of faculty to ask. I put up with her excruciatingly tedious questions and dodged her attempts for dinner before finally getting what I was after.

Michael Thomas. Forty-two with an eighteen-year-old daughter. Lucy.

Widowed at twenty-six. Deceased wife's name was Gina. My chest warmed when I realized what the initial on her necklace stood for. My poor baby. Luckily, her Dad seemed like a good father. I would still need to confirm that, though.

He was an English high school teacher originally from Koby Plains—population three hundred and eighty. The school recently shut down, so Michael had to seek work elsewhere.

My heart shuttered at the thought of never meeting Lucy. She had been five hours away from me. There would have been no reason for me to visit her small town, and by all accounts, it appeared that she had never left hers. Until now.

God, the thought of her being out there in the world...me never realizing that my fucking other half was out there, unprotected. Mingling with frat boys.

Snap.

The pen I held broke in half, and I quickly stuffed it into my pocket. I needed to keep it together.

Just when I was about to lose patience and storm out into the hallway to hunt Lucy down, in she walked.

The breath that I was unaware I was holding shuddered out of me. She paused in the doorway as her eyes startled to mine. A red hue painted her cheeks, and I longed to discover whether the same shade would appear in the throes of ecstasy.

"Lucy." Her name sounded like a benediction on my lips. All other noise faded away as I zeroed in on her. "How was your first day at school?"

From the outside, I was a friendly teacher, enquiring about the well-being of one of my students. Except, any of my students would testify that that wasn't my personality. I'm not the kind of "pat on the back" teacher who cares about my student's feelings. I expected them to come to my class, listen, take notes, and pass their exams.

I didn't sit there and make pleasant talk with them. Asking about their day or their mental health. I didn't care.

But I wanted to know everything about Lucy. Right down to the brand of toothpaste she used.

Lucy's full, wide mouth lifted into a shy smile. She pushed a curtain of hair behind her ear, showing off the delicate shell and small gold studs. "It was fine."

Our eyes met and held. I could see the exact moment her breath hitched as my eyes seared into hers. My heart was pounding. My palms were starting to sweat. Jesus, how did I survive the last twenty-four-plus hours without her?

Today she was wearing a denim skirt - modest by today's standards - but still too fucking short for my liking. Her T-shirt was conservative, too. A simple black v-neck with sleeves that fell just above her elbows. But all I could see was how low the V dipped. The shadow of her cleavage teased me. And I knew that they would tease adolescent boys. Their small dicks would come in their boxers if they saw my Lucy. None of them would know how to please her.

I didn't realize I was standing there like an idiot, trapped in her presence until a commotion interrupted my thoughts.

"Mr. Drake, why are our names on these desks?"

"Are you allocating our seats?"

"But I always sit in the front!"

I tore my gaze from Lucy's as I observed my students' distress.