27. Callie
Callie
I stumbled back into the wall as he stormed past me and slammed the door behind him.
I leaned there, hand over my heart, and tried to tell myself that I had no reason to be as freaked out as I was.
He hadn’t said anything that I could file a complaint over, not without seeming like I was splitting hairs.
He knew how to toe the line of inappropriateness.
I jumped when Cole appeared right in front of me, face twisted in anger. He planted his fists on the wall on either side of my head and ran his eyes over my face. “He scared you.”
He said it like a death sentence, like it was the worst thing he’d ever heard and couldn’t quite stomach it.
I went into fix mode, feeling embarrassed and scared of someone else knowing how Darren spoke to me because they’d expect to do something about it.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I just didn’t know how.
I couldn’t lose my job and I couldn’t say anything other than Darren was mean to me and sometimes made me uncomfortable.
Okay, always made me uncomfortable. It wasn’t so much his actions or words, typically, but the way he looked at me that left me squirming.
How could I take that to the school board?
He looked at me funny? They’d laugh me right out of the school and into the unemployment line.
I knew the look people got when they thought you were stupid for not fighting back more, though, and I didn’t want to see it on Cole’s face. I looked down at my feet and blew out a long sigh. “I wasn’t-”
Cole’s hand gripped my jaw and tilted my head up. “Don’t lie to me. Not about this, Callie.”
I didn’t see any judgement in his gaze. There was anger, plenty of anger, but it wasn’t directed at me.
My body finally relaxed against the wall and he was there, scooping me up and carrying me back to bed.
I let him hold me in his lap and felt the remaining tension drain out of me.
“He’s never come here. That was…too much. ”
“I heard you tell him that you’d prefer to meet at school with your union rep. Good girl. You shut him down perfectly.” He shocked me by praising my response. “I just have one note.”
I stiffened. “I can’t file-”
“I want to teach you some self-defense moves, just in case he ever takes it further. I don’t know enough about school politics to give you a half-baked opinion wrapped up as good advice. But I can teach you how to protect yourself and fight back if he, or anyone else, ever crosses you.”
My heart did a dangerous thing then, fluttering and beating harder, like it wanted to jump out of my chest and splatter itself against Cole’s face.
Butterflies erupted in my stomach and I had to take a few deep breaths before I could speak.
His support, given in the way he understood, meant too much to me.
I knew it but it was too late to pretend like I wasn’t feeling things for him that I shouldn’t. “Okay.”
His eyes crinkled in the corners, the light blue of his irises practically twinkling in the morning light as he smiled. His dimples came out to play and I almost leaned forward and flicked my tongue over them. Clearly, there was something wrong with me.
“That was a lot of time and facial expression for you to just say okay.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and moved me like a doll so I was straddling him. His tattooed arms flexed as he did and when my eyes tracked the movement, he flexed again on purpose. “You’re drooling.”
I scoffed and leaned back, crossing my arms and scowling. “I do not drool.”
“As the man you used as a pillow last night, I beg to differ.”
“Do you want to get kicked out?”
His grin stretched even wider. “Fine. You don’t drool. You just…orally leak.”
I made a disgusted face and pushed out of his lap. “Gross. Just…gross. I’m ignoring all of that. So, self-defense. Teach me. Please.”
His face turned stern and serious and I suddenly felt weak in the knees.
I was pretty sure he was giving me a new kink, one where he bossed me around and punished me when I stepped out of line.
Maybe he’d even wear his old uniform… He’d mentioned being in the SEALs before he retired from service and I was suddenly very interested in how he looked in that uniform.
I bit my lip and silently chastised myself. That was probably so disrespectful. I cleared my throat and rubbed my hands together. “Um… Where should we do this?”
Cole moved towards me like a lion closing in on its prey. His large body made no sound as he moved, even somehow avoiding the part of the floor that creaked. “Here. We have maybe an hour before Noah is awake and bouncing off the walls.”
He filled that hour completely, telling me about attack angles and escape methods before getting to the part where I got to break out of his holds.
That part of the hour was a lesson in control for both of us.
I felt his hardness when he grabbed me from behind and accidentally arched into it a few times before Cole’s big hand landed on my ass in a warning.
He took his training seriously. I let him.
I felt turned on to the point of pain, and like I could kick Darren’s ass if he ever got physical with me.
The hour ended and we heard the first sound of the boys moving around.
I was breathing hard after breaking free from one of Cole’s holds, staring up at him, tracing his tattoos and muscles with hungry eyes.
I’d noticed the scratches down his back earlier and thinking about them then had me shifting in place, trying to get even an ounce of relief by squeezing my thighs together.
He suddenly gripped the back of my neck in a fierce hold that allowed no room for argument. “Keep looking at me like that and I’m going to pin you to the wall and do my best to fuck you through it.”
I slapped my hands over my eyes and let out a ridiculous giggle. “The boys are up!”
He tugged me into his chest and waited for me to meet his heated gaze. “Interesting. You know what you didn’t say?”
I sank my teeth into my bottom lip and shook my head.
“That last night was a one-time thing and we weren’t doing it again.” His smirk was cocky but his eyes were warm. “I’ll take that to mean you want me again.”
“Hey!” Before I could tell him that he was wrong he’d gripped the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over my head. It left me bare on top but he simply growled when he saw my breasts and yanked his shirt on. I instantly missed the oversized shirt and the smell of him. “You could’ve just asked.”
“I’ll note that for next time.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my mouth before grabbing the doorknob. “The boys are on the move.”
I found a bra on top of my dresser and dragged a shirt on just as he opened the door and stepped out. He shut the door behind him, giving me more time to calm down before facing the kids. I pressed my forehead to the hollow door and groaned. What the hell was I doing?
I could almost see the path to self-destruction and it terrified me that it didn’t terrify me more. A smart woman would zip up her pants, wear her ugliest panties, and keep her vagina closed for business. Especially when her job depended on it.
“Mom. Did you know Noah’s dad is in our house?”
I barely stopped myself from banging my head into the door.