Free Savor (Cottonwood Falls, Book 5) by Aliyah Burke Page A

wasn’t one on some level. I’d love to
get a room with… What the hell is wrong with me that I’m thinking
this way?
    She cleared her throat. “I mean a classroom?”
    His eyes, the color of sea foam, held hers. “You’re
Ms. London Rhymes, so I’d say I’m in the right place.” He touched
his son on the shoulder. “This is Javier.”
    She crouched down before the boy. “Glad to meet you,
Javier.” I didn’t think he was going to be in my class; his name
wasn’t on my list. “I’m looking forward to teaching you this
year.”
    He watched her, brown eyes solemn. “I have a scar on
my arm,” he said as he showed her the old injury.
    She didn’t flinch from it. “So you do. It looks like
it hurt when it happened. Would you like to come inside and see the
classroom?”
    “I like to read.”
    “We’ll do a lot of reading. Go check it out.” She
gave him an encouraging smile and stood. “I’m sorry, I didn’t have
him down on my list of names. I’ll make him a name tag and get him
a seat.”
    Those eyes of his moved over her, marking her. She
did her best to ignore the response it created within her.
    “I moved him to your class.”
    “Okay,” she said. “Come on in.”
    She gestured for him to precede her. Shit. He
had draped his body in solid black, and all of it molded to his
form in a way that sent her tottering perilously close to that
fantasy once more. She walked to her desk and sat before reaching
for a sheet of construction paper and a marker.
    “Dilbert,” she called out. “Can I borrow you for a
moment?”
    The lad skipped up to her desk. “Yes, Ms.
London.”
    She swiftly wrote Javier’s name on the paper and
folded it in half. Adding tape to the bottom, she handed it to
Dilbert. “Can you put this on the desk next to yours? We’re going
to have another student this year, and I know you’re so welcoming
and helpful he’d be great to be next to you.”
    The small head bobbed. “Yes, ma’am. Is it that kid
over there?”
    “His name is Javier. Why don’t you go place the name
tag then go introduce yourself to him, help him find another friend
before school begins?”
    “Okay.” Dilbert ran off.
    “The sheets are over on the small table for the
supplies we’ll be using this year.”
    “Are you going to pretend you’re not curious as to
why I put my son in your room?”
    She looked up at him and was glad she was already
seated. The way he stared at her was unlike anything she’d
witnessed before from a man. For a moment, she debated checking to
ensure she was fully dressed, so much heat poured from his
gaze.
    “No,” she said, grateful the croak wasn’t too
present.
    “Are you sure?”
    Good God, he’d tempt a nun to sin. And I’m way on
the other end of the spectrum from a nun. By no means was she
easy, but she was definitely no nun.
    “I’m fine.”
    “Yes.” He crossed his arms, drawing her gaze again
to the biceps there. “I can see that. I’ve watched you for the past
year.”
    His words did something to her insides she didn’t
have a name for. All she knew was it wasn’t in a creepy way but a
panty-soaking one. Play it cool. While she knew others were
in the room, her own world had zeroed in on him. “Sounds like you
had a reason.”
    She struggled to remain professional. I suppose
lying back on my desk and asking him to fuck me would be considered
unprofessional? So would pushing him under my desk so he could eat
me out.
    It would be a lie to say she’d not noticed him when
he’d come to the school with his son. When a single man of his
looks rolled into town, tongues wagged and people took notice.
    “I’ve watched you this past year. How you are with
the kids. I want you teaching my boy.”
    Momentarily ashamed for thinking he was interested in her other than for a teacher to his son, she
snapped back to complete professionalism. “I love my job and the
children who come through my doors. Even the doors of this
school.”
    He nodded politely at