Page 14 of A Novel Seduction

“I grabbed us some burgers on the way over. I figured you were probably hungry,” he said, picking up the bag off the seat so she could slide in.

“Drake Harkins, you are my hero!”

Other than dealing with a couple of kids who tried to sneak in flasks, Drake, Evie, and the other teachers who had been suckered into chaperone duty hadn’t had to do much. Normally Evie dreaded having to chaperone these kinds of events. As one of the few single members of the staff, she always felt like a third wheel when hanging out with some of her counterparts and their significant others. Usually, she ended up by the front door with Mr. and Mrs. Terry, who both taught math and were old enough to be her grandparents. They were a wonderfully sweet older couple, whom the entire staff actually called Mr. and Mrs. Terry rather than their first names, but were still a far cry from a hot date.

Tonight, however, she had Drake. While they had worked hard to make sure that everyone was under the impression they were “just friends,” she still couldn’t help but feel some pride in knowing the hottest guy there was on her arm. It didn’t hurt that the majority of students had taken to Drake very well, and he had quickly become one of their favorite teachers. The baseball team thought he walked on water, and even a few of the female students seemed to have a crush on him.

“Dance with me?” Drake asked, coming up behind her.

“Teachers don’t usually dance,” she said, turning around to face him.

“Well, a couple of my pitchers seem to think you won’t dance with me, and I need to prove them wrong.”

“You need to, huh?” she asked teasingly, drawing out the e’s in need.

“Yes. Alpha instinct, all that,” he answered, laughing. Leaning in, he looked deep in her eyes and said, “So what do you say, beautiful? Come dance with me?”

Evie couldn’t hide the smile on her lips if she had wanted to. The idea of dancing with Drake, feeling his body against her as they moved, made fireworks go off inside her. She nodded ever so slightly, and Drake wasted no time, grabbing her hands and leading her out onto the gym floor. He kept them off to the side a bit so they weren’t in the middle of all the students, but were still visible to his players.

The pop song that the DJ was playing was familiar enough to dance to, but not one that Evie knew any of the lyrics to. Not that she needed to know the words in order to be captivated by the way Drake moved out on the dance floor. For all the grace she’d seen his tall, muscular build possess out on the baseball field or while running these last couple of weeks, none of it translated to his dancing. His long limbs moved awkwardly, paired with his stiff torso that didn’t seem to move at all. More than anything, he almost looked like he was having a stroke.

“Oh my God, you are a horrible dancer!” Evie shouted to be heard over the music, just before bursting into hysterical laughter.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Drake shouted back as he continued to flail his arms about spastically. Evie burst into laughter again as she noticed some of their students looking at them, watching as their new gym teacher and coach made a fool out of himself on the dance floor.

The upbeat pop song faded into a melody with a much, much slower tempo. In one of the smoothest transitions Evie had ever seen, Drake stopped his thrashing about, grabbed her hand, and pulled her into him. Grabbing her other hand, he wrapped them both around his neck before sliding his hands to her waist, pulling her flush with him, closing the already small gap between them. Evie felt her pulse speed up as Drake slipped his hands around her, placing one on her lower back and another just above it, holding her tight. Being in his arms was the most comforting feeling in the whole world, and she couldn’t hold in the little sigh that escaped from her lips.

“You feel so good in my arms, Evie,” Drake whispered in her ear as they slowly swayed to the rhythm of the music that surrounded them. “I feel like the luckiest guy in this gym.”

“Is that so?”

“Oh, absolutely. Although the chess club kid who brought the cheerleader because she lost a bet to her friends might be a close second.”

Evie let out a small bark of laughter. It wasn’t nice to find amusement in the situation, since she knew both kids to be good humans who simply fell on opposing sides of the high school hierarchy, but she couldn’t help herself. Sometimes those kinds of things were funny. Pulling her impossibly closer, Drake leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“The difference is,” he said, “at the end of the night, I get to take my girl home, strip her down, tuck her into bed, and read to her.”

“Not where I thought you were going with that statement,” she whispered in return.

“Reading to you is the highlight of my day, Evie. It was back in college, and it is now. Just like Godric read to Emily.”

Evie sighed contentedly as she wrapped her arms tighter around his neck. Right now she didn’t care who could see them or what rumors they might be starting. All she cared about was the way Drake made her heart soar with his words. She was falling so hard for this man, and while she knew that should probably scare her, she couldn’t help but feel confident that he was going to be there to catch her.

They continued their sway as the slow song melded into another, thankful for the opportunity to stay like this a little longer. Tilting his head slightly, Drake softly pressed his lips to Evie’s forehead. The forehead kisses were a signature Drake move and she melted inside each and every time he did it. There was something so amazingly comforting in those kisses, as if he were saying, “I’ll come between you and whatever tries to hurt you.” And she really, truly believed he would.

When the song ended, Evie reluctantly stepped back from the warmth of Drake’s body. More than anything she wanted to kiss him, to feel his lips against hers. But this wasn’t the time or place. She’d make sure that once they were out of here, she’d spend the rest of the night making up for all the missed kisses.

“I bet we could slip out a little early if you want,” Drake said as they headed back to where they had been standing.

“You don’t think anyone would notice?”

“Well, Mr. Terry already told me he’d cover for us,” he said, before leaning and whispering, “Seems he’s on to us.”

Evie’s eyes got wide with the realization that they might not have been quite as discreet as she had thought.

“Don’t worry, beautiful. Mr. Terry assures me that our secret is safe with him. Something about reminding him of him and Mrs. Terry.”

“Okay,” she said, a little relieved to hear those words. “Then let’s go home and read.”