Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Like Jess was friendly?
It’s not fair comparing every stranger I meet to her, but I can’t help it sometimes.
“Hi.” I return her smile with an effort. “I don’t think we’ve….”
“No, we haven’t,” she says. “I’m Isabel. Or Izzy for short. Most people call me Izzy. I think we’ve both been doing our best not to make friends, so I thought…why not?”
Maybe because you’ll turn out to secretly hate me, want me to fail, and do something evil when I finally tell you no.
I leave that thought unspoken, reminding myself Izzy has problems of her own too, since she’s here.
“Oh, look,” Izzy says. “The gawp-a-thon has begun.”
“The what?” I ask.
She gestures out the window at the large green area.
At the man. My man.
He’s walking through the college, his shoulders squared, his gaze aimed forward. His pale blue shirt clings to his muscular frame, the top button undone.
He’s getting closer, like he’s going to stalk in here, grab my shoulders and kiss me hard.
“They’re like high schoolers,” Izzy says, and I realize she’s talking about the circle of women behind the man, laughing and openly staring at him. “But I’ve heard he never notices. He’s too focused on his work.”
“He works here?” I whisper, breath coming too fast.
“You haven’t heard of Elias Strong?” Izzy says. “He’s the hottest man who’s ever lived. Everybody agrees.”
Elias Strong.
The name slams into me.
Oh my God.
“You don’t?” I manage to say.
She raises her hand, showing me her wedding ring. “And anyway, I’m here to learn, not to ogle.”
But that doesn’t mean I can stop ogling.
Elias Strong, the math teacher.
“Yeah,” I mutter under my breath. “Me too.”
But I can’t stop myself from watching him as he turns and then walks out of view. I study his back, imagining what it would be like to jump at him, to sink my hands into his muscles, to feel the support, the security.
I texted him not that long ago.
We’ve spoken…sort of.
So much for ending my obsession.
“Do you mind if we sit together?” Izzy asks.
I almost tell her no, almost scream it. It’s exactly what Jess said to me on the first day of high school.
I was so happy that my cheeks hurt from smiling, from the relief of finding a friend. I was so innocent.
But I can’t avoid people forever. I’ll just have to be careful, watch for signs.
“Sure,” I say. “That would be great.”
Izzy grins. “Okay, phew. Thank you. I was beginning to feel like the girl nobody wanted to dance with, you know?”
“I get it,” I say, nodding.
As we wait, I wonder how I’m going to forget about him now.
The man.
Elias.
My man.
How can I let him go when I know he’s so near?
CHAPTER 4
Elias
I sit in the cafeteria, cutting into my steak.
“Did you bring your own cutlery?” Mary says in a joking tone.
I do my best to smirk in return, though it’s getting difficult to interact on any level…with anybody when my thoughts are so flooded with the woman from the bus.
“I brought my own steak,” I tell her.
I need the protein, taking another mouthful.
And then I stop mid-chew.
Two women have just walked into the room from the opposite entrance.
The distance – the students and teachers between us – stops me from leaping to my feet and running at her, from looping my arms around her and dragging her into my embrace, kissing her with claiming lips, owning her….
The woman from the bus is wearing a hoodie and jeans, confirming what I guessed before.
Her body is perfectly curvy, and her hips are made to be grabbed and caressed, but only by me – only ever by me.
Mary follows my gaze. “Have you been giving Della some help with math?”
“Della?” I ask, thinking of the student I texted earlier.
Mary looks at me, eyes narrowed. “The woman with the long brown hair.”
“Della,” I repeat, savoring her name, knowing I’ll never be able to let it go now I’ve matched it to her beauty.
I want to whisper it in her ear as I drive inside of her, feeling her body give itself to me.
But then I think of Paul, of what Jocelyn said yesterday. I agree with her.
The students are here to learn, to focus, to better themselves. They don’t need us, the authority figures, preying on them.
“Yeah…,” Mary laughs quietly. “Della.”
“Uh, yeah,” I say, forcing myself to stare at my steak as I cut another piece. “Just a little help earlier today.”
“She hates math,” Mary says. “She openly told me. So thank you for helping her.”
“It’s my job, Mary.”
“But you always go above and beyond. And I know you’re busy with your stocks too.”
I try for a grin, but it feels more like a tight grimace. “That’s just my version of a video game.”
We continue eating as I wonder what the hell I’m going to do.
I have this woman’s cell phone number. We texted not even a couple of hours ago. I could text her again, explain how I feel, and explain she belongs to me.