Page 3 of Schooling Lucy (Off Limits #1)

R OMAN

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.

Before her .

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.

"I've decided to allocate seats this year, yes. Get over it. Find your names, and let's get started."

The only desk I considered was the one front and center. That desk was the only one I took care to lovingly write Lucy's name on a blank placard before smoothing it over the surface.

For the rest of my students, I quickly wrote their names down and placed them randomly around the room, except for the seat next to Lucy's. I made sure a female name was placed there.

As everyone begrudgingly shifted to their new seats, I sat behind my desk and watched Lucy find hers and sit down.

I somehow managed to push my lust aside as I started our lesson plan.

Lucy was not only beautiful but intelligent as fuck.

I wasn't surprised, considering I looked up her previous school results.

My girl was an overachiever. I wondered if she'd be the same in our bedroom. My cock leaked at the thought.

Yesterday after soccer practice, I went straight to the address listed on Michael Thomas' teacher details.

I couldn't help myself. I needed to be near her, or I would go insane.

I parked across the street from their quaint two-story house.

The kitchen lights were on before a bedroom light upstairs flicked on.

I just knew it was Lucy. In her room. On her bed.

Was she thinking about me? Was she touching herself to the thought of me sinking my big dick into her tight pussy? Uncaring whether I was caught, I released my aching dick and jerked off to her bedroom light. To what was bathing under that warm glow.

"Yeah, baby, spread those legs wider while I rail you," I groaned into the dark confines of my vehicle before coming all over my stomach.

This morning I came to school early and made an effort to chat with the other teachers before the bell rang.

If they were surprised, they didn't show it.

My plan worked because Michael was there.

I introduced myself, and now I had a dinner invite to his house on Friday.

Was it shitty that I was befriending this guy with the plan to seduce his daughter?

Yes. But I didn't care. I didn't know my plan, but I just had to be with her.

When the bell rang for lunch, I cleared my throat. "Lucy Thomas, please stay behind. I need to go over your transfer papers."

The other students were too preoccupied, scrambling for lunch, to notice my words. As the last student left, I sauntered to Lucy, who was watching my approach with wide eyes.

"I-is there a problem with my transfer notes?"

"No." I spread my hands on the table, my fingers inches from hers. I stopped when my stomach hit the high desk.

"Your notes say that you were top of your class in Chemistry."

She licked her lips, and I itched to do that for her. "Yes. Although only five people were in my class, so that wasn't hard to do."

My lips lifted at her joke. "I don't know. I think you'd get an A plus in whatever subject you do. You're a good girl. Aren't you? You'll be a good girl for me."

Her mouth dropped as her chest rose and fell. It was a risky comment to make. But having Lucy close, breathing in her unique scent... was causing the wires to come loose on what was appropriate.

"Whaa..?"

"You heard me, Lucy." I reached out and stroked her finger with mine. "Are you going to be my good girl?"

She squirmed in her seat, her face coloring. "I don't think...I think..." She licked her lips as her eyes clouded with a hazy film. "Why are you wording it like that?"

Someone knocked on my door before I could answer or lean in to kiss her. I turned in frustration, glad that my back had covered her up.

It was my fellow biology teacher, James Simpson. "Hey, Roman. Wanna go now?"

Fuck. In my haste to be social this morning, I forgot that I had made plans with James for lunch.

I straightened and flashed him an easygoing smile. "Yeah, man. Thanks for waiting." I turned to Lucy.

"Thanks for your help, Miss Thomas. Enjoy your lunch."

She searched my face briefly before hurriedly gathering her things and scurrying out the door. It took everything in me not to watch her little ass bounce away in that skirt.

My face clouded in anger as I observed James turn to watch her exit. His eyes stayed on the open door a fraction longer than necessary, even after Lucy had vanished.

"Is there a problem?" My voice was harsh, but I couldn't have this pervert staring at my girl.

Yes, I knew I was hypocritical, but I didn't care.

She was my soul mate. That meant all other males were off-limits.

That meant she should be immune to their disgusting antics, just like I was turned off by anything to do with the opposite sex now that I'd met my girl.

James turned back to me with a shake of his head, unaware I was moments away from ripping his head off.

"She's in my biology class," he explained. "Has the boys all in a tizzy. Fresh meat, I guess." He shrugged as if he hadn't just lit a fuse and turned casually away while it sizzled at my feet.

This was why I needed to be near her twenty-four-seven. Friday night couldn't come soon enough.