Busted (6 page)

“It’ll happen when and if the time is right. I’m not gettin’
married just to give her a mama. If I ever walk down the aisle again, I need to
know she’s the right woman for
me.
”

Cole couldn’t deny he got lonely at times, but it would take
a special woman to make him happy this time around. Someone who understood and
embraced the lifestyle that fulfilled him. His wife had tried, but he knew she
was just going through the motions. He needed more this time. He needed to see
that spark of excitement in his lover’s eye. He wanted to know that she was
desperate for his touch, just like Charlene was that night in his driveway.

His eyes drifted to her when her husky laughter rang out in
the crowded bus. He wasn’t just bothered seeing her with another man; it
pained
him. Damn, he was losing himself to this woman.

“So, you’re just gonna let him have her then?” Lynda asked.

The thought of Paul
having
Charlene made him want to
hit something hard. “What the hell do you expect me to do about it?”

She grinned. “It just so happens that Jerry is workin’ on
some renovations at Paul’s place as we speak. You could go on up there and tell
him I need to have a word with him about it.”

Cole knew if he took her up on the offer, there would be no
doubt about his feelings for Charlene. And knowing Lynda, half the parents in
the school would know about it by the end of the day. But the alternative was
to sit there and watch them get even closer. Anyone could see Paul was already
into her, hanging on her every word, and the more time they spent together, the
more he would like her. Cole found that out the hard way. Ever since she moved
back to town, he’d fallen just a little deeper every damn day.

“Fine,” he said, getting to his feet. “I’ll tell him.”

“You’re not supposed to get up when the bus is movin’,
Daddy,” Cassidy said, shaking her little finger at him. “Miss McCoy is gonna
get mad at you.”

He would take the risk if it meant breaking up her intimate
conversation with the other teacher. “I’ll only be a minute, Princess,” he
said, making his way up the aisle. He stopped in front of the seat Paul and
Charlene shared, narrowing his eyes at his rival as he crossed his arms over
his chest.

Paul shifted in his seat. “Uh, hey, Cole. Good to see you.
It’s been a while.”

Cole glanced at the space, or lack thereof, between them. It
took everything in him not to pull Paul out of the seat by his button-down collar.
“Lynda wants to talk you. Somethin’ about the renovation.”

Paul looked remorseful when he glanced at Charlene. “I’m
sorry. I really should talk to her.” He smiled. “You know how renovations can
be. I just want to get it over with already.”

She patted his leg, smiling. “I understand completely. You
go on ahead. We can finish this conversation on the way back.”

His eyes softened when his hand closed over hers. “I’d like
that… a lot. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with you,
Charlene.”

Cole cleared his throat. He’d never been accused of being a
tolerant man, and this guy was testing his patience beyond the breaking point.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep her company while you’re gone.”

Charlene glared at him. “That won’t be necessary. I have to
work on my lesson plan for tomorrow.”

Paul got up and made his way to the back of the bus, and
Cole didn’t waste any time moving in to the seat he’d vacated.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she whispered, looking
around to see if anyone was watching them. “You can’t sit here.”

“Why the hell not? You didn’t seem to mind when Courtnall
was sittin’ here.”

“That’s different. He doesn’t have your
reputation
.”

He felt the force of her words like a punch to the gut.
She’d already written him off because of what other people said about him? “What’s
that supposed to mean?”

She reached into her bag to withdraw a zippered leather
folder. “You know exactly what it means. I don’t want people speculating that
we might be a
couple
.”

She said the word as though even considering it was too
abhorrent, and Cole felt hurt and offended by a woman’s low opinion of him for
the first time. “You could do a hell of a lot worse than me, you know.” He was
a self-made man. A good father, son, friend. So what if he got off on sex
others might consider kinky? Did that make him unworthy of a woman like her?
Apparently she thought so.

She sighed. “I didn’t mean to insult you, Cole. People in
this community know me. They trust me to take good care of their children, to
be a role model.” She squared her shoulders when he scowled at her. “And that’s
exactly what I intend to do.”

He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “You wanted me as much
as I wanted you that night. You can deny it all you want, but the thought of
being with me again turns you on.”

She shivered in response to his provocative words before
scooting back on the seat to press her back to the window. “I don’t care what
you think. I’m telling you the way it is, the way it has to be. I’m sorry if
that’s not what you want to hear.”

Quitting wasn’t in Cole’s vocabulary, but he knew he wasn’t
going to win this battle today. “Are you gonna go out with him?”

“Who? Paul?” She lifted her chin and looked him in the eye.
“That’s the plan.”

“Why?” He wanted to kiss her more than he’d ever wanted
anything, if for no other reason than to remind her how hot it was between
them. The fact that he couldn’t because of their surroundings just infuriated
him more.

“Because I like him, and he likes me. Isn’t that reason
enough?”

“No!” He took a deep breath when he realized he’d raised his
voice and drawn a few of her students’ attention. “Look, we both know why
you’re doin’ this. You just wanna send me a message to back off.” He would do
or say almost anything to convince her to reconsider her decision to go out
with some other guy. Everyone expected her to end up with someone like Paul
Courtnall. He was a nice person, a responsible member of the community, a good
father, and no one speculated about
his
sex life. Within a few months of
dating, her family and friends would convince her that he was the man she’d
been waiting for, and Cole would have to watch his one and only opportunity
with her slip away. He couldn’t let that happen.

“Who I go out with is none of your business.”

The bus pulled into the gravel drive leading up to the farm.

“Kindly get out of my way so I can speak to my class.”

He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “If you think I’m
lettin’ you get away without a fight, you need to give more credence to that
reputation of mine.”

Charlene was obligated to wait in the classroom until all
the children left, which meant Cole had the opportunity to corner her at will.
He and his daughter were the last to leave every day for the past several
months. She hated to admit that she enjoyed their little chats, but they settled
into a comfortable routine.

Cole brought her a take-out coffee from Mavis’s diner and
they sat and talked while Cassidy erased the chalk board, collected papers, and
sharpened pencils. She was such a sweet little girl, definitely Charlene’s
favorite student, though she would never admit it to anyone.

“So, what are your plans for the holidays?” Cole asked,
settling into the plastic chair. It was one of three larger chairs in the room,
but his large frame seemed to make all of the furniture look small.

“Um, Paul’s family is coming to town. He asked me to have
dinner with them.”

She and Paul had been seeing each other since the field
trip. She enjoyed spending time with him, but she feared she might be using him
as a buffer so people wouldn’t speculate about the nature of her relationship
with Cole. She and Cole were friends. Admitting it to herself took a long time,
but she liked the single father. He was kind and generous, sweet and funny. But
she knew he had a mean streak too. She saw it when a drunk man bumped into him
at one of the high school football games, spilling a soft drink down the front
of his shirt.

“Why?” he asked, leaning forward so Cassidy, who was at the
back of the room tending to fish in the small aquarium, wouldn’t hear them.
“You know you’re wastin’ your time with him.”

They had this conversation too many times over the past
several months. He kept telling her that Paul was all wrong for her, while she
kept trying to convince him and herself that they were perfect for each other.
“That’s for me to decide.”

Cole sighed, tipping his cowboy hat back on his head. “You
know you’re just leadin’ him on.”

“That’s not true,” she said, feeling the familiar twinge of
guilt that often accompanied Cole’s accusations. “I enjoy spending time with
him. No one, including you, knows where it might lead.”

Cole turned around to make sure his daughter was occupied
when he asked, “Are you sleepin’ with him yet?”

He’d asked before, but she never gave him the satisfaction
of knowing that she told Paul she wasn’t ready to take their relationship to
the next level. She knew she couldn’t go on this way much longer. They’d been
seeing each other for eleven weeks. The man had been more than patient. Before
long, she’d either have to let him go or sleep with him. Neither was an idea
she felt ready to contemplate.

Sleeping with him would undoubtedly leave her feeling
miserable because she had no doubt that Paul could never give her what she craved,
but letting him go meant she’d be forced to confront her feelings for Cole, and
that terrified her even more. She told herself she liked and respected Cole,
but she knew it was more than that. Without even trying, he excited and aroused
her. Just remembering the way he’d made her feel the night he took her to his
house reminded her that it
was
possible to feel that way in a man’s
arms.

If only she could give in to the temptation and experience
it one more time. But she couldn’t. Cole’s reputation in the bedroom was
legendary in their small town, and if people so much as suspected they were
sleeping together, she’d never be able to show her face again. People would
know what she’d allowed him to do to her, and if she stayed with him, they’d
know she
liked
it.

That wasn’t an option for a small-town second-grade teacher
whose reputation was supposed to be beyond reproach. The conservative soccer
moms on the P.T.A. would scream for the principal to fire her. Her co-workers
would whisper about her in the staff room, kids would snicker in the halls, her
family and friends would berate her… No, it wasn’t worth turning her life
upside down, no matter how sexy he looked in that Stetson.

“I’m waitin’ for an answer.”

“Well, you’re not going to get one. I told you before. It’s none
of your business.”

“If you meet his family, he’s gonna think you two have a
future together.”

She busied herself setting the children’s last period art
projects in a neat pile on the corner of her desk so she wouldn’t have to look
at him. “Maybe we do.”

He reached across her desk, trapping her hand under his.
“You don’t really believe that.”

After forcing herself to look him in the eye, she said, “How
do you know what I believe?”

“Honey,” he whispered, “he can’t give you what you need, but
I can. If you’ll just let me...”

“Daddy, why are you holdin’ Miss McCoy’s hand?” Cassidy
asked, skipping up to the desk. “Are you two
in love
?” She covered her
mouth and giggled as Cole withdrew his hand.

“Come on,” he said, getting to his feet. “It’s time for us
to go home, Princess.”

“Awww,” Cassidy said, stomping her feet. “You told me you’d
take me to the store after school today. You promised to get me that new
Barbie.”

Cole tugged on his daughter’s ringlets. “How could I forget?
Okay, let’s go.” He looked at Charlene a long time before he asked, “Think
about what I said?”

She couldn’t allow herself to go there. If she did, she’d
just invite trouble. “Have a good weekend, you two.” She smiled at Cassidy.
“I’ll see you bright and early on Monday morning, and don’t forget to practice
for the holiday concert.”

“I won’t. I promise.” 

Cole had never been so frustrated. He knew he and Charlene
had a unique connection. He felt it every time they were together, but he
couldn’t act on it because he knew she would reject him. She was too worried
about what people thought to consider putting her own happiness first. He knew
he could make her happy, in and out of the bedroom, but that wasn’t an option
as long as her
pseudo-boyfriend
was in the picture.

He knew she was using Paul to hide from her feelings for him,
but Cole couldn’t call her out on it as long as his daughter was in the room.
He was getting tired of dancing around their attraction. He wanted to act on
it.
Again.
He hadn’t been with a woman since the school year started. He
told himself that he’d been too busy, but the truth was, no one else interested
him. He wanted Charlene. Period. Even in the year since they had sex, the few
women he slept with made him crave her even more. He was so screwed.

“Daddy, what are you doing?” Cassidy squealed. “You drove
right by the store.”

He swore softly under his breath as he pulled into the drug
store parking lot to turn around. “Sorry, sweetie, I guess my mind was
somewhere else.”

“You were thinking about Miss McCoy again, weren’t you?”

Cole looked in the rear-view mirror to see his daughter
looking sadder than he felt. “What makes you say that?”

“You always get real quiet after you see her.” She sighed
and crossed her arms. “I wish she wasn’t going out with Kelsey’s daddy. She
says they’re gonna get married, you know.” She frowned. “Then Miss McCoy will
be her mama.” She kicked the back of the seat with her fur-trimmed boot. “It’s
not fair! Kelsey always gets everything she wants. Why should she get Miss
McCoy, too?”