Free Maid for Hire & Educating Australia by Capri Montgomery Page B

sat beside her, pulling her into his arms.
    "I can't go back in there. I can't face them."
    He took her hand in his. "How about if we face them together?"
    She shook her head no. "I can't."
    "Yes you can," he gave a gentle squeeze to her hand before picking up her bag. "I'll even lock this in my office so you won't have to come back in here."
    He watched her bite her bottom lip and he knew she was considering the option. Slowly she shook her head yes. He felt pride mixed with relief that she had trusted him. She would face this with him, not alone.
    She had been right about one thing, none of the students looked condemningly at him as they had at her. Kyle dropped her bag in his office and then walked over and joined the class. "Thanks, Rick," he knew Rick still needed to get ready for his class. His students were already starting to file in.
    "I'll assist," Steve offered. He wasn't in uniform, but that didn't stop him from helping with instruction. Kyle nodded in agreement.
    "Partner up," he said dryly.
    One by one they found partners. All the women avoided Australia. The one guy she almost partnered with ended up siding with Tony instead.
    "She's not very good anyway," he heard Tony say.
    "Hey, I'll partner with you," Steve offered. Kyle was relieved when she accepted.
    "Come one, come all," Grace said and the women giggled. There was no mistaking the meaning behind the words.
    "I can't do this," she looked to Kyle before returning her attention to Steve. "I'm sorry." She briskly walked towards Kyle's office.
    "Cover me," he said as he jogged to catch up with her.
    She pulled on the locked door.
    "Australia..."
    "Open," she said. He complied and watched her grab her bag. "I just can't."
    "I understand."
    "Call me tomorrow?"
    "Of course."
    He watched her leave. Tomorrow he would call in some favors and try to find out who had switched the discs. He was angry. Having his naked behind shown to his class wasn't his ideal either, but what pissed him off was seeing Australia suffer.
    Finishing off his class had taken effort—effort and self control. Once they were all gone he didn't bother to shower and change clothes. He just wanted to get home. No, he wanted to get to Australia, to hold her while she cried because he was sure she was crying. He was also sure she wanted to be alone from the way she had emphasized "tomorrow" when she asked him to call her.
    "I know this isn't the best time," Rick professed, "but I'm glad it was her."
    "Amen to that," Steve chimed in. "I hate what happened here tonight but if you were going to fall for anybody she was our number one pick."
    "Don't go picking out the china pattern," he quipped.
    "Oh please, big brother. You don't have sex with women for the sake of a few minutes of pleasure."
    "Yeah, that's Rick's job," Steve added and Rick rolled his eyes.
    "It's been over a year since Penelope and even though we set you up on dates you never bedded any of them."
    "More importantly," Steve added; "you never looked at any of them the way you look at her."
    They were right. He loved her. He knew he was in trouble the moment he started looking forward to her over analytical conversations. Fridays suddenly became his favorite day because he knew he would see her in class. He loved her. He loved her and he was going to show her, but not tonight. Tonight he would give her the space she had silently asked for.
    As for her lessons, well he would just have to do private instruction. There was no way he was leaving her vulnerable, especially not when some psycho was stalking her. Any man bold enough to send proof of his actions was stable enough to be considered smart, and unstable enough to be considered dangerous. He would suggest moving in with him, but it was too soon and he didn't want to scare her away. He also knew she wouldn't want to sell that sweet spread of hers for a downtown Seattle condo no matter how great the view was. Maybe he could just stay overnight at her place until he figured out who