Charm School After Dark: Lesson 1 (14 page)

As if it were a business meeting, Caelen strode across the room to shake hands with the confused girl. Anything to get away from the damn laptop with the purple penises. Her cooling cheeks heated up again at the thought.

Carly shook her hand reluctantly. She noticed the teen check out her floral, cap sleeved, baby-doll dress and then refocus on her face. She blushed becomingly. “Hi. Um, can I have my hand back?”

“Sure, sure. Of course.” Caelen took a deep breath and a step back. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Ms. Hattie told me what a big help you’ve been to her around here.”

Caelen’s heart felt heavy in her chest as she studied the girl. Braces, a lanky build, and mousy brown hair almost obscured the beauty, hinted at, in her heart-shaped face. This young girl had lost her mentor six short months ago. Ms. Belle had collected kids, brushed them off, and made them feel special. The reality of the girl’s loss made Caelen want to reach out and wrap her in her arms.

Carly shrugged nonchalantly. “So, anyway. The Ladies that Lunch mentioned something about classes and a party. They said you’ve been working all morning on getting the place ready?”

“Yeah, it’s been crazy.” Caelen’s morning had started with Ibuprofen, coffee, a Pop Tart, and a mad scramble of calls to the bank, the caterers, and anyone who would take her call. She was not above begging. All of her organizational know-how had to be focused on making this class work.

The teen placed a hand on her hip, not quite meeting her eye. “So, they said something about new classes being taught? And I was wondering… I mean, do you need—Can I help?” The last part of her request sounded angry.

Caelen’s whole demeanor softened when she realized the girl was expecting to be rejected. Then in three, two, one… She realized, she had to reject her! There was no way in hell she could have a sixteen year old help her with fellatio techniques.

Caelen opened her mouth in shock, and maybe some saliva trickled down the wrong pipe because she immediately launched into a coughing fit. The reluctant girl pounded on her back, and when Caelen finally got some air in her lungs, she wheezed, “Classes?”

“Yeah? Are you guys going to start up the etiquette classes, again?”

“Ummm
, well. Uh—”

Carly started to frown and look around as if scouting out an escape route. The look of dawning realization people must get when realizing they’ve come face-to-face with a lunatic, crept over the teen’s face.

“How old are you, Carly?”

“I’ll be sixteen in May.”

Oh my Gucci
. How to proceed?
Oh yeah, hey. Could you help me set up for the blowjob classes I’ll be teaching in a few days? But no worries, even though I fell asleep before the first technique, I’m sure I’ll get the job done.

“First of all, thank you so much for the offer, but I think I’m pretty much set. I spent the morning going over most of what I need done, so…”

“Yeah, I get it. You don’t want me around. Cool. Whatever.” The teen popped on her headphones, the hurt clearly written on her face, and made a fast break for the door.

“Wait! Wait! Carly, please. Just wait.”
What to do?
Rejecting her seemed so cruel, but she could
not
let her anywhere near the class. With a start, she remembered what she’d already been doing when she was fifteen years old. The thought made her blush all over again. “I’m not trying to blow you off.”

Internal groan
. What was wrong with her today? She couldn’t have used a different expression?

The teen stopped moving, but she hadn’t taken out the earbuds.

Caelen sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her. Carly frowned, crossed her arms in front of her, rolled her eyes dramatically, and then
finally
sat down.

“I’m going to tell you a little bit about what’s going on.” Caelen latched onto the end of her hair and started plucking, this time not even trying to curb the nasty habit. It was a miracle she hadn’t plucked her head bald by this point. “I would love your help, but I don’t think it would be appropriate for you to help with the classes.”

“Why?”

“Because of your age and the content matter of the class.”

Caelen was convinced she would just snarl and stomp from the room but instead the girl’s eyes grew round, and she snatched the headphones from her ears.
“OMG!
Are you starting up those sexy classes again? The ones Ms. Belle was talking about before she—Before she—” The girl’s excitement faded as she looked down at her fidgety hands.

“How do you know about the classes?”

“Everybody knows! The Ladies talk about everything and I figured out a long time ago if I just kind of sat long enough, they would forget I was there.”

“Yeah,” Caelen laughed softly, “that’s what my sister, Brynn, would do. Then she’d come over and spill the T with the rest of us.”

“Exactly.” She sat up and implored her with big doe eyes. “So listen. I know I look young, but I’m super mature. I could really help you with the class. What’s it about? I could—”

“No, ma’am.”

Both Caelen and Carly looked back and saw Ms. Hattie standing by the door, with her hands upon her hips and her mouth set in a stubborn grimace.

Caelen sent up a silent prayer of thanks. Ms. Hattie to the rescue.

“Carly, you know there is no way, on God’s green earth, that I will let you get within an inch of those classes. You are just a baby!”

“I am not!” The girl’s flushed face screwed up tight, and she looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

“Excuse me, young lady. Are you sassing me?” Ms. Hattie started to enter the room, her words firm and her dark eyes fierce with determination.

“I—No. I mean, no ma’am. It’s just. Why does everyone treat me like I’m in elementary school? I’m almost sixteen. Do you know what some of the girls have done at my school?”

“And what do those other girls have to do with you? If they jumped off a bridge, would you?” Ms. Hattie held out a wrinkled hand. “Now you get over here and give Ms. Caelen a chance to get her work done. She has been working all morning and deserves a break.”

“But—But—” The girl tried valiantly but there was no arguing with Ms. Hattie. Carly’s shoulders fell, and she suddenly looked years younger as she trudged across the room.

“Now, now.” Ms. Hattie enfolded her in a big hug, and patted her briskly on the back. “The Ladies and I are going to lunch and we wanted to know if the two of you would like to join us.”

“I’m not hungry,” Carly mumbled into Ms. Hattie’s shoulder.

Caelen’s heart started to ache all over again because even though the teen was furious she leaned into the hug, reluctant to pull away from Ms. Hattie.

“What a shame. We’re going to your favorite: Daphne’s.”

Carly perked up a bit. “I love their Greek salad.”

Thank you, God.
Caelen smiled and waved the two of them out as they left. “You two enjoy the meal. I still have a million things to work on.”

“A girl can’t live on Pop Tarts alone, missy.”

“I know, Ms. Hattie. I’ll eat something, I promise. But you know the deadline I’m under.”

“Yes, yes. Let’s go.” The two were gone, blessedly, only a few minutes later.

Caelen felt as if she’d run a marathon. Thank God Ms. Hattie had saved her. For now. Somehow she had a creeping feeling this wouldn’t be the last time she saw the inquisitive teen.

*

W
ITH A FURTIVE
glance around, which made her feel completely ridiculous, Caelen opened up the laptop, again, ready to cross this particular task off her list. Unfortunately, it was taking her awhile to navigate back to the page filled with the colorful penises. Most of her precious time was spent bypassing articles detailing prostate health, tips on how to identify suspicious moles, uncircumcised vs. circumcised, and—Dear God! Some of these pictures were…. disgusting. What would she have done if Dare’s penis had looked like
that?
She yelped and –scroll, scroll–
Here we go.
The article she was looking for, fellatio techniques. The Hot Fudge Sundae with a Cherry on Top immediately caught her attention.

Turned out Ms. Belle’s tin box of index cards were thorough but very… limited. They definitely described the meat and potatoes of the act but Caelen was looking for a little
pinache
. A little… Hot Fudge Sundae with a Cherry on top, apparently.

Just trying to understand the detailed technique had her tilting her head, at one point almost climbing on the desk to get the right angle. Who could resist the combination of two such wonderful things: ice cream and head? The description made the endless pictures of ingrown hair and erectile dysfunction somewhat tolerable.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Without thought, she swiped at her phone, and glanced down before she realized who it would be. There were about twenty texts from Victor.

Miss you, doll.

Give me another chance.

But the latest made her blood run cold.

You know I can make you beg for it.

God, she’d hated when Victor said that. It made her feel small and stupid, as if he knew better than her. Her contemplation on how hard she’d have to throw her phone to make it out the window was interrupted by a small sound that had her glance back, assuming Ms. Hattie and Carly must have returned.

Standing in front of her, decked out in a long-sleeve, black, knit tee and faded jeans, was Dare. His brown hair, a hodge-podge of darks and lights, stood in spiked disorder, confirming he probably gave it a good finger-combing before heading out the door. Arms crossed, he leaned against the frame, a deep scowl on his face. “What have you got there?”

She placed a shaky hand against her racing heart. Why was everyone sneaking up on her today? And why, when she was oh-so-privately trying to memorize blowjob techniques? “Just… research,” she mumbled and tried to ignore the fact that he looked even hotter when he was pissed.

“Research, huh? Looks more like bad porn.”

They’re kind of one and the same, at this point.
“You know exactly what I’m working on.” She tried to go for breezy, but his sudden appearance threw her off. Not that she’d been doing anything wrong, but the whole thing made her jumpy. She tried to walk past but he didn’t budge. There were only a few inches separating him, her, and the desk in Ms. Belle’s office.

“Yeah. Just making sure we’re on the same page,” he said with gritted teeth as he crowded her in. Taking a few steps back, she ended up perched against the edge of the desk, and he was even closer, his rich scent enveloping her. “I should know
exactly
what you’re researching but today, instead of feeling relaxed after a night out, I’m feeling a little… tense.”

Now that the shock of him catching her staring at scary penises had worn off, her anger crept back in. Especially after what he’d done to her
after
she’d fallen asleep. “Oh, poor baby. Are you feeling a little
blue
today?” she snickered and then accidentally snorted in the midst of her zinger.

Damn it.

His eyebrows scrunched together so fiercely, she thought they might freeze that way, permanently. “You’re gonna joke about what you did?”

“Shh! Keep your voice down!”

He leaned in and whispered against her ear. “You’re becoming a broken record, sweetheart. I will not keep my voice down.
I am in pain.”

She shivered but managed to pull herself back and he let her have an inch between them. “Really? Well, while you might be feeling a tiny bit of… discomfort, I was feeling a distinct draft when I woke up this morning.”

He looked confused. “What?”

Okay, it was a stupid comparison. Too late to change course now. “You know, a draft? Because all the clothes I’d been wearing last night mysteriously disappeared from my body. Any idea about how that might have happened?”

A slow grin spread across his face. “Nope. No idea.”

“You are such a liar. Well, I hope you got a good look, because taking advantage of me when I was asleep and vulnerable is the only way you’re ever going to see me like that.”

“Hey, I didn’t take advantage. You looked uncomfortable, and since I’m such a gentleman, I helped you out of your clothes. You should be thanking me.”

“Thanking you? I thought you had no idea what I was talking about. Now you’re a gentleman? Which is it? Your story is starting to sound really shady.”

“Okay, okay. I may have
exaggerated
when I said I had no idea what you were talking about.”

This conversation was over.
Jerk face
. This time she had no doubt she was talking about
him
. Caelen pushed her way out of the small office, laptop in hand. She was worried someone might come in, meaning her nosy sisters, and they might start asking one too many questions.

Questions she wasn’t ready to face, like,
You chose
him?
Don’t you hate him?

Yeah, well, it turned out you could hate someone and still want to blow their brains out—with your mouth.

“Caelen, wait.” Her name on his lips sounded so delicious, Caelen couldn’t hold back a shiver. “Just for the record, I didn’t touch you. I swear.”

Funny, she hadn’t even thought of that possibility. Why hadn’t she thought of that possibility? She’d been more outraged at the idea he’d seen her naked.

“So you didn’t even take a peek?” Her tone sounded slightly offended.

Dare pursued her, following her as she wound her way through to the back of the old craftsman. “Are you mad that I didn’t? Make up your mind, woman. You can’t have it both ways.” He threw up his hands in exasperation. “You were passed out.”

“I think you mean
asleep
.”

“Okay,
asleep. But compared to what you did to me, that was nothing.”

“Nothing? I was defenseless. I trusted you.”