Page 6 of Educating Arrogant Mr. Hunter

Damn him and his deliciously long, muscular legs.

I hated noticing how the soft gray fabric of his suit molded to his body and how I wanted to run my fingers over each taut muscle. My heart sped up, and desire zipped straight to my core. My damn body hadn’t gotten the memo that we loathed him.

I needed to pull myself together. “Were you in the hospital?” I barked out.

He stopped short, and I held back my laughter when his brow creased in confusion. “What? No.”

“Was someone you love in the hospital?” I turned away from him and edged closer to my car, an old Toyota Camry, only a few steps away. I needed to get away from him. Not because I was afraid he’d hurt me but that he’d be able to convince me to stay and meet with him. The raspy tone of his voice was too hypnotic to ignore, even when we were shouting out insults. And if I was honest with myself, the insults made my body hum in excitement.

“Ms. Winter. What does this have to do with our meeting?” He was so close now I could smell the cologne he wore. A woodsy, spicy scent swirled around me, making me want to breathe in deeply.

I stopped and whirled around to face him. “Everything. Emergencies I can understand, but not bothering to show up or calling me as you’re pulling into the parking lot isn’t showing any respect for my time.”

His moss-green eyes narrowed as he stood in front of me. “You’re being unreasonable. If you’d just—”

He was such a jerk! Heat curled in my belly before flashing through every cell in my body. How dare he?

I poked his chest. “I’mbeing unreasonable? You’d accept someone being an hour and forty-five minutes late to a business meeting?”

“Of course not.” Regret quickly flashed through his eyes.

He flicked his gaze down to my finger.

My finger was still pressed against his hard pec. Not a good choice with equal amounts of desire and anger coursing through me. I had to fight the urge to flatten my palm and rub it over his chest.

What was I doing?I needed to stop thinking of him like this.

I cleared my throat and dropped my hand away from him as fast as if I’d touched an open flame. There was no reason I should be admiring his body. I hated him. “Mr. Hunter, I’m well within my rights not to meet with you now. You’ll have to make another appointment.”

Why did the dad of my favorite student have to be such a jerk?

He ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair, which brought my attention to his stupidly handsome face. His classic features, his high cheekbones, his full pouty lips.

I scowled. More angry at myself right this second than him. I needed to get my head in the game and leave. Now.

His lips turned down at the corners. Mr. ‘I’m Too Good To Be On Time’ clearly wasn’t happy with my answer. “I’d have thought that if you were concerned about my daughter, you’d stay and meet with me.”

A slight twinge of remorse tugged at my stomach.

Zoey had gone through so much. She deserved for me and her father to work together. While she was doing well for the most part in school, there were a few behaviors I wanted Beckett and I to strategize ways to support her.

Maybe I should stay.

“Well—” He was right. I should make the time for us to meet. I checked my watch. I hated to disappoint Ruby, but I knew she would understand. She was practically Zoey’s aunt now that she and Grayson were together. At least once Beckett took his head out of his ass and stopped being mad at his former BFF.

“Excellent. I knew you’d see it my way.” He grinned at me.

Whether it was his choice of words or his smug tone, anger flared through me once again. “You know what?”

“What?” he asked after giving me another pleased smile and turning toward the school.

“I made a mistake. I need to go. We can talk about this later, and I’ll be sure to email you tomorrow with the talking points I’d like to go over at our next meeting.” With a smug grin, I gave him a finger wave.

He stopped mid-step and swung around to face me so fast I thought he’d face plant into the asphalt. His surprised look made walking away that much more enjoyable.

I strode the remaining distance to my car with a swing in my step. Beckett Hunter could suck it.

As I climbed into the driver's side, I shut the door and started my car. Today I was giving in to my frustration and anger at having to work with Beckett. And starting tomorrow, I’d figure out how to temper my feelings toward him.

---