Sinfully Sexy Alphas Box Set(14)

The school served the children up through the sixth grade. After that  they had to drive almost an hour to go to the big high school on the  other side of the county. That's why Ashley was here. She was the town's  new school teacher. She'd just graduated when the offer had come  through. They paid for her housing and even given her a discount at the  general store. It had sounded fantastic and she'd jumped at the chance.  Now she was starting to wonder if she'd made a mistake.

It was desolate out here. The tiny house they'd given her was just  behind the school, on a ledge that sat at the foot of the mountain. The  house was fine. Charming even. It was certainly nicer than anything  she'd lived in as a student. It was just so quiet at night. Ashley was a  city girl. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to it.

And forget about meeting a guy out here. Not that she was on the market.  She'd sworn off men halfway through her senior year when her then  boyfriend Brad had cheated on her. With everyone. Brad. What an asshole.

Guys had lined up to take his place once she'd ejected Brad from their  shared apartment off campus. Ashley was a catch. She knew it. With her  easy going attitude, long light brown hair and big blue eyes, she was  pretty in a wholesome way. Her body however, was more of the porn star  variety. Big boobs, narrow waist and legs for days. That's what Brad had  said anyway. It was fantastic hearing that her boyfriend talk about her  that way. Not.

Ashley sighed and picked up a box of dried pasta from the shelf. She  shook it, wondering how long it had been sitting there. There was hardly  anything here. She wandered over to the freezer section in the back. At  least they had frozen broccoli. Fantastic.

"Old man Keats has a farm stand."

Ashley spun around. A man was watching her. And what a man he was. Tall  and muscular, but lithe. He had piercing blue eyes and a face that was  sculpted like a statue. If statues had bedroom eyes. Those eyes sent a  quiver straight to her core. She shook herself. This was ridiculous. He  had said something to her, hadn't he?         

     



 

"Excuse me?"

He smiled at her disarmingly and walked forward, plucking the frozen vegetables from her hand.

"Old Man Keats. Farm stand. Fresh fruits and-"

He held the bag up, then chucked it back in the freezer.

"Vegetables."

"Hey!"

"You don't want to eat that."

"I- excuse me?"

He leaned in, grinning at her outraged face.

"Do you litter?"

"What?"

"If you were outside, having a picnic, would you just chuck your refuse into a field of flowers?"

"I- no, of course not!"

"Exactly. You can't pollute something so beautiful with this garbage."

He slammed the freezer door shut, grinning at her. She pulled herself up  straight and gave him her best disappointed school teacher look.

"Thank you for your opinion but I am, in fact, a grown woman. I can decide what to eat for myself."

She could have sworn his eyes shifted down to her breasts when she'd  said she was a grown woman. Ugh! He just leaned against the freezer,  grinning at her in that smug way. She tossed her hair peevishly and  walked to the front of the store to pay. She was outside before she  realized that she had never bought the broccoli.

The door opened behind her. She didn't even turn around as she felt him come to stand next to her.

"It's that way."

She closed her eyes in annoyance.

"What is?"

"Old Man Keat's farm stand. You better hurry though, he closes around dusk."

She turned to face him.

"Now you listen to me, mister-"

"Alvans."

"What?"

"It's Mr. Alvans. But you can call me Hank."

"How kind of you."

He grinned at her, clearly enjoying himself.

"I aim to please."

"I can take care of myself thank you very much."

His eyes crinkled as his smile deepened. Jesus, his eyes were even bluer  in this light. She felt her cheeks growing warm. She turned and  unlocked her car.

"I can see that you can, Ashley."

She turned around to stare at him, her mouth gaping.

"How did you know my name?"

He just grinned and walked over to his truck.

"It's a small town. Everybody knows everybody around here. Welcome to Split Rock."

Ashley closed her eyes as she bit into the fresh steamed veggies she'd  picked up at the farm stand. Old Man Keats had in fact, been about to  close up shop. She'd waited until Mr. Hank Alvans was well out of sight  and then driven quickly in the direction he'd indicated. She was glad  she had.

Delicious.

She hated to say it but Hank had been right. She chewed her food  thoughtfully, unable to resist remembering their exchange. He had been  cocksure, arrogant, irritatingly familiar. And heart poundingly  gorgeous. She rolled her eyes at herself.

Get a grip Ashley!

The man was obviously more than aware of his charms. Now that she was  alone, she had to admit that she'd been drawn to him. Really, really  drawn to him. If only he'd been a little less of a- ugh - what was the  word?

She finished her dinner and cleaned up. The little house felt empty  suddenly. She decided to go to bed early. School started tomorrow and  she wanted to be at her best. She changed into her nightgown and climbed  into her bed, leaving the curtains drawn so she could stare at the sky.

She didn't see the eyes watching her from the darkness.

Running. She was running. Something was chasing her. She ran through the  woods haphazardly. The ground rose before her as she was forced up the  mountain by her pursuer. She looked up. Sharp talons reached for her.  She screamed as she crashed into something solid. She stared up into  bright blue eyes as strong arms closed around her.

Ashley sat up in her bed soaked in sweat. She'd been dreaming. About him.

She cursed and glanced at her alarm clock. 5 am. She was wide awake. The  dream was still fresh in her mind. It was so vivid, it felt like she  had actually been there... She couldn't remember ever having a dream  like that.

Ah, to hell with it.

She stood up, deciding not to bother trying for another hour of sleep.  She could tell she was up for the day. Why fight it? She had time to go  for a run and review her lesson plan. She made a pot of coffee and  slipped into her sweats and running shoes.

She sniffed appreciatively as she stretched her hamstrings. Hmmm, well  at least she'd brought her fancy grind from the city. She sipped a cup  and looked over her notes before heading out the door.

She hit the ground running, as usual. Most people liked to start slow  but she'd always been too impatient for that. It felt so good to be  outside, breathing fresh air. It had been almost a week since her last  run. Obviously that's what had her so wound up and irritable. Hopefully  it would help her get him off her mind. She felt goosebumps break out  over her body as she remembered the look in his beautiful eyes. It  looked like he was about to kiss her... And in the dream, she'd wanted  him to.         

     



 

Ashely picked up the pace, running harder than usual. She wanted to stop  thinking about him. To think about something else. Anything else. She  had this strange feeling that he had a hold on her. That the kiss was  inevitable. That it would happen soon...

Ugh, stop it! It was only a dream!

She ran up the mountain path for a while, curling back towards town.  There were lights up ahead. She paused, catching her breath. Through the  trees she could see an enormous house perched high on the mountain top.  It was a mansion of sorts. Almost Victorian, with a wrap around porch.

The view must be incredible from up there. I wonder who-

She stopped the thought before she finished it. She knew who lived there without having to ask.

He did.

The children were filing out of the one room school house. Ashley  sighed, rubbing her neck. It was Friday. The end of her first week  teaching. She thought it had gone well, all things considered. The  situation was unusual. With so few children in the region, she taught  multiple grades at once. Any kid from first to eight grade, she got  them. It meant that she rarely had to stand in front of the chalk board  and make announcements. It also quadrupled her work.

She was looking forward to relaxing in a hot tub and sleeping as much as  she wanted to. All weekend. She definitely needed the rest. Every night  all week she'd woken up in a state, completely unable to fall back  asleep. The weird dreams she was having made her hot and bothered to say  the least.

Who was she kidding? Not dreams. Dream.

The same damn one every night this week. The dream about him.

Ugh, why couldn't she dream about a movie star? An exboyfriend? A  mystery man she'd never have to run into at the post office? That would  be vastly preferable. Though to be fair, Hank Alvans was pretty  mysterious. Nobody seemed to know him very well from what she could  glean. In fact, the locals she'd come into contact with him mentioned  him often, and with a large dose of awe. His family history was some  sort of legend around here. Old money. Lots of it. Charitable donations  to almost anything you think of in a small town like this. They'd paid  for the small health clinic up the road. In fact, the Alvans were the  ones who had built the school and the very house she lived in. They were  very civic minded people apparently. If only he'd get out of her head!