Page 8 of Loup Garou

“You do it for every one of the children here, Lindsay.” She shook her head. “You spoil them.”

“No. I don’t. It never comes from me. It comes from…”

Mrs. Fenton nodded and waved her hand in the air. “I know. I know. Rickie’s mother said the man in charge of it all told Rickie it was from her, not you.”

“Itwasfrom her.”

“Lindsay,” she said, scolding me with just a look. It worked.

I bit my lower lip. “How mad was she?”

“She wasn’t mad. She was in tears. All of the parents appreciate it more than you’ll ever know, Lindsay.”

Rickie kissed my cheek and smiled. “I wike k doo-keys.”

Chuckling, I hugged him to me. “You liked the donkeys? Oh, I bet they were great. I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the party, sweetie. Something came up and I couldn’t get away.” I didn’t tell him the truth. No one needed to hear I spent my night being attacked by crazed were-panthers only to wake with no clear memory of how I got home. “I wanted to be there. More than you’ll ever know, sweetie. Show me how old you are now. Hold up your fingers. Can you do it?”

He grinned from ear to ear as he put three, and an almost fourth finger that seemed to want to follow, up in the air. “Free.”

“Yes, Rickie, three.” I gave him a tight squeeze and went to stand. All of the children climbed on me at one time, taking me to the floor with ease. An eruption of laughs broke out and I couldn’t help but join them. I did my best to get up without success.

A strong hand took hold of mine and tugged me to my feet. Looking up, I found Exavier staring at me with an odd expression. It looked like a happy one but beyond that I wasn’t sure. He held the coffee out with his other hand, far from the children. “I thought I might never see you again for a minute there.”

“Thanks,” I said, unable to stop myself from smiling. “I’ve got to go teach a class now. You guys promise to be good?”

A chorus of yesses followed.

Exavier kept hold of my hand and winked at the kids. They giggled as we headed for the door. Once we were in the hallway I tried to take my hand out of his only to find him giving it a squeeze. “They really like you.”

“I really like them too.”

“So, do you have any kids of your own?”

My gut clenched and I instantly felt nauseated. I ran my hand over my lower abdomen and fought hard to keep memories from the past away. It was hard but I managed. “No.” I pulled my hand free from his and drew in a deep, calming breath. “Okay, the natives await.”

“Ah, the dancing on the pole. Can you believe I almost forgot?” he asked, a sly grin spread over his handsome face. He handed me the coffee.

I took it and savored the smell of it. “No fair using bribery to get on my good side.”

“Wait, you have a good side?” he asked, just as I took a sip. Instantly, I found myself laughing and choking at the same time. He patted my back gently and gave me a rather cocksure grin.

Death by way of coffee with a hot guy as a witness. Yep. A very “me” kind of moment.

Rolling my eyes, I entered the room and waited for Exavier to join me before shutting and locking the door. Turning, I smiled at the class, doing my best to ignore the hunk at my heels. They all smiled back and then looked at Exavier like he was fresh meat. In truth, with this crowd, he was.

“Mmm, do we have a new participant?” Betty, a class member asked, her eyes on Exavier.

Turning, I glanced at Exavier. He cast me a worried look. I waggled my brows. “Maybe. Everyone, this is Mr…”

He leaned forward. “Exavier is fine.”

I shrugged. “Fine then. Class, Exavier. Exavier, the class.”

They all smiled and waved. Exavier nodded.

“Hey, Lindsay, we’ve been working on the belly-dancing portion. I think we’ve almost got it.”

Susan, a woman who’d been taking classes at the center since I opened it, smiled. “Pfft. I think I’ll never be able to move again. I tried to have sex after doing it and my husband had to take over, my muscles were too sore to do any sort of riding. I just lay there, letting him take me. I was too tired to care if I played too or not.”

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