Jessica’s gaze darted one foot to the right. The man squeezed partway into the doorway next to him was about an inch or two shorter, but no less stunning. Blond hair, cut shorter than his friend’s, stood at all angles as though he’d just run his hands through it. His eyes were the deepest blue she’d ever seen, like the ocean.
This friend of Charles, whose name she didn’t even know yet, gripped one of Charles’ arms at the biceps, his fingers turning white from the effort. Charles didn’t even seem to notice.
A long moan forced all of them to turn toward Miranda, just before she hurled for the third time in the last half hour, this time right on the floor beside the cot.
“Excuse me,” came a muffled voice from outside the room.
When Jess glanced back at the door, Charles and his friend had separated and entered the room, allowing the nurse to get through. The poor woman had been down the hall tending to a youngster who’d fallen in the cafeteria. Since she’d returned empty handed, a Band-Aid must have done the trick.
“Oh, you poor, poor child,” she sang in the sweetest voice, perfect for a school nurse. Without batting an eye, the woman grabbed a cloth, wiped Miranda’s face, and then got on her hands and knees to clean the mess on the floor.
“Uncle Charles? Will you take me home?”
Finally, Charles acknowledged Miranda. “Of course, munchkin. I just need to sign a few papers up front and we’ll be on our way.” That voice, deep and gravelly, made Jessica nearly faint. Oh my God.
Lust slammed into her like a freight train. As if it could get any worse than the last five minutes had been.
Charles backed toward the door, but his gaze didn’t leave Jessica’s.
For the first time in her life, she thanked God for the smell of vomit masking the tantalizing scent of her two burly mates. It was probably the only thing keeping her from melting into a sexual frenzy right there in the school.
Finally, Charles turned and left the room to sign the release papers in the adjoining office. His friend did not. He stood as though on guard, watching Jessica until her skin pimpled with goose bumps and a chill made her shake. It wasn’t cold. Nope. Nothing that simple. First the smell of throw-up disappeared, replaced by the smell of lemon Pine-Sol. And then that quickly faded when the nurse walked out of the room, leaving Jessica alone with the scent of this unnamed mate of hers.
Well, perhaps those other smells hadn’t really faded but instead were just overshadowed by the pheromones emitting from the blue-eyed stalker, who was now inching toward her as though she were prey. With each step, she got a stronger whiff of him, and she had to squeeze her legs together to keep from trembling. Or maybe trembling wasn’t really her primary difficulty right then. All her blood ran to her core, sending a new shiver down her spine. Her sex tightened with the strongest need she’d ever experienced.
Moisture pooled between her legs. Thank God it was casual Friday, and she’d worn jeans. If she’d been sitting there in just a skirt or thin dress pants, she’d have been visibly leaking through the material.
Get a grip, Jess. She shook her head to clear her mind and turned back to Miranda. “I’ll carry her out.”
She needed fresh air, and she needed the opportunity to at least exchange pleasantries with these men before she went back to class.
How the hell was she going to go back in and finish this day? Lesson plans? She suddenly had no idea what first graders needed to learn. Maybe she could pop in some sort of educational video until she could pull herself together. Three hours. That’s all she needed, and then it would be Christmas vacation, and she could sort this bizarre, unintended mess.
Jessica scooped up the girl, who was almost asleep now. She stood just as Charles returned to the door. “All set?”
“Yep. Let’s get her in the car.” He turned and high-tailed it toward the entrance to the school as though his pants were on fire.
Jessica followed. Mr. Blond brought up the rear. Right on her heels. Without turning around, she knew only inches separated them.
At the entrance, Charles held the tall glass door open and waited for Jessica to squeeze through with her sleeping bundle.
No one spoke on the walk to the car. Nor when Charles opened the back door of Tessa’s van and stood back for Jessica to put Miranda in her booster seat.
She buckled the child in with shaking hands and hoped she had done it correctly in her foggy state.
When she ducked her head and backed out of the car, both men stood there on either side, still as statues, staring her down as she balanced on one foot and then the other and whipped her gaze back and forth between them.
Charles pushed a button on the remote, and the sliding door slid shut automatically, the movement and squeal of the motor behind Jessica making her jump.