Free Breakaway by Kelly Jamieson

What was with him? “Okay,
we all have days where we have a lot on our minds. I’m sure that’s what was
happening today for you. But you have to be able to hold the kids’ attention.”
    “I know that.”
    They stared at each other, the air crackling between them.
    “This was supposed to be fun,” he muttered.
    Her lips parted. Fun? Oh yeah, sure. Fun. His main goal in
life.
    Oh, why was she thinking like such a stick in the mud? Of course it was supposed to be fun. What better way for kids to learn than by having
fun? “I’m sorry if you’re not enjoying it,” she said stiffly.
    “Whatever.” He grabbed his leather jacket and headed for the
door. “See you next week.”
    She stared after him, stomach churning, heart thumping. What
had she said that had made him so angry? She covered her eyes with one hand and
stood there for a moment. Damn, having him in her classroom every week was
becoming torture. She still felt unreasonably attracted to him, going hot every
time she saw him and hotter every time their eyes met. Which happened a lot,
because she kept catching him staring at her. With a frown on his face that
totally confused her. He totally confused her. Dammit.

Chapter Five
     
    Jason made a call from his cell phone once he got to the
car, then headed home to his downtown apartment. He knew he’d been having a
hard time paying attention with the kids, but he couldn’t exactly tell her it
was because he was distracted by her. By her pretty face, sexy mouth, shiny
blonde hair and her breasts so soft and full beneath the silk blouse she wore.
He’d had those breasts in his hands, had tasted those sweet, little pink
nipples…
    Damn, he was getting a hard-on again. He hadn’t been so nuts
over a girl since high school, for Chrissakes. But he kept thinking about her,
fantasizing about all the things they hadn’t had a chance to do in that one
night. And the worst thing was, the more time he spent with her, the more he
actually…liked her. She was gentle but firm with the kids, knew when she could
act silly and make them laugh, knew when she had to rope them all in and get
serious. They all spoke to her respectfully but with a warmth that told him
they liked her. And hey, respect was important too. He knew how important it
was to respect your leader. He’d had coaches that had been the guys’ best
buddy, but couldn’t get shit out of them when it came to performance. He’d had
coaches who’d been assholes on a power trip that had the same result. It was
the coaches who earned his respect that he’d go the distance for, the distance
and beyond.
    And to have a teacher like that…those kids were damn lucky.
    He’d acted like a jerk and he hated it, but when she’d asked
for “a word with him” he’d been sent back through time to his own middle school
years and one of the eighty gazillion times he’d been in trouble with one of
his teachers. All those old feelings of incompetence, inferiority and anger had
surged inside him and he’d taken them out on Remi.
    Even though he could see she was a really great teacher.
    His fingers tightened on the wheel of his Jeep as he drove
home, the sun low in the sky now. But she was still a teacher. Christ. Maybe he
should find someone to take his place. Or switch classes with one of the other
guys. He’d been confident that working with Remi wouldn’t be a problem after
their one night, but clearly he’d been wrong. Maybe that was what was causing
that tension snapping between them like a rubber band. Maybe she was pissed
because of that. But that was giving himself way too much credit and she’d said
herself one night of fun was all she wanted.
    Agh. He knew enough about women to know that what they said
wasn’t always what they meant. Why the fuck couldn’t they just say what they
meant? It would make the world a lot simpler.
    He drove into the underground parking garage beneath the
high-rise building in which he lived, navigating the concrete pillars