Page 12 of Rule Him (School of Seduction 1)

“Sshh.” I attempted to quieten her down. “One, he does not have feelings for me. Two, he’s a teacher! Three, he’d lose his job if he did. Four, I’m going to learn more about English

.”

“You are such a spoilsport. Please flirt with him a bit and see what he does.”

“No.” I chastised her. “I have my eye set on Julian being my date for prom. That’s it for my romantic life. Let’s keep it realistic and uncomplicated.”

“Boring, you mean.” She said.

“Yes, boring,” I told her.

Usually, I told Larissa everything, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth. That the real reason behind my makeover was because I wanted Parker to look at me like a woman, not a student. That deep inside I wanted my teacher, no matter how wrong and forbidden it was. That it had been easy to turn my back on Julian because he meant nothing to me and I just saw my behavior towards him as karma for what he’d done to his previous girlfriends.

I left Larissa and went off to my next class. Soon I found myself walking back to Mr. Newell’s classroom.

“Come in,” his gruff voice once again answered my knock.

He straightened his tie as I walked in. “There’s no need to knock, Candy. I’m expecting you. Come on in, take a seat.”

I repeated what I’d done on Thursday, but this time I walked over with confidence as if I was his equal, not his student. I placed my tote on a chair at the side of me, rather than dropping it to the floor and I crossed a leg over the other and sat back.

“I never asked you on Monday, forgive my manners, but did you want anything towards gas?” I asked.

“What? Oh, no. Not at all. How are you anyway? No more fainting episodes?”

“No, I’ve made sure I’ve eaten properly.” I told him and then lost my cool a little and rambled on, “I permanently have something crammed in my mouth.”

He swallowed. I watched his Adam’s apple rise and fall, and he adjusted his tie again as if it was choking him. I flushed bright red. Candy, you idiot. I chastised myself. So not cool.

“Right. I thought we’d look at deus ex machina.” He said. And the lesson began.

We were awkward around each other.

The friendliness and joint enthusiasm for our subject from just a few days before had disappeared. Parker went into complete professional teacher mode, and I stayed cool and aloof while I answered. My appearance was supposed to have made him see me as a woman, but it appeared the opposite had occurred. He’d become more professional than ever. At the last tutor session he’d almost seemed like an older friend, a mentor, but today there was none of that.

When it came to the end of the lesson, I gathered my things away quietly.

“Thank you,” I said to him. “I’ll see you on Thursday? Same time?”

“Yes,” he nodded, then he turned back to put his belongings away.

“Are you walking out?” I pointed toward the door.

“No, I have a few things to sort out before I leave. You go on ahead.” He said.

I nodded and gathered up my tote and headed towards the door.

I was halfway through it when I heard my name. So softly, if the door had creaked, I’d have missed it.

“Candy.”

I turned, my face schooled into a mask that gave nothing away.

“You look really nice. Your hair and your clothes. Very smart. I think your mother will come to realize you’re not her little girl anymore soon if she hasn’t already.”

I ran a hand down my top as if seeing my clothes again through his eyes.

When I looked up, he watched me. His eyelids were hooded, his pupils dark. He was interested. Oh, my fucking god. He was interested, whether he was willing to do something about it or not.

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