Chapter 17
Monday morning was a Monday in every sense of the word.
Last night, reality had gradually seeped in, crowding out the incredible high from getting naked with Harper and keeping me awake for hours.
I’d crossed multiple lines that went against my personal code and my professional code. I’d made a liar out of myself where my boss was concerned, allowed my dick to make a decision instead of my brain, and exposed myself to a mind-blowing bliss I didn’t currently have room for in my life.
It’d be too easy to become addicted to Harper Ellison.
I’d finally managed to drift to sleep about an hour before my alarm went off. Then I’d apparently turned off that alarm instead of snoozing it. I’d woken to Danny’s cries nearly an hour later and bolted out of bed with my adrenals pumping.
I’d had to skip my morning run with Danny in the jogging stroller, our weekday father-son ritual that served as a peaceful, meditative time for both of us, with me pounding the pavement in an even rhythm and Danny taking in the sights as the town came alive for the day.
When I’d dropped him off at my mom’s house, I’d barely had time to tell him goodbye. As irony would have it, Danny was fussy to begin with, so I’d left my mom with a cranky, unsettled toddler.
On the short drive to the high school, I’d realized I’d forgotten my coffee. I hadn’t merely walked off and left a mug of it on the counter. No, I’d not even remembered to brew a cup.
Now I had about two minutes to get my ass into my classroom and get organized for the day.
Instead of entering through the front door and walking by the main office like I usually did, I used the side entrance by the gym. Both were about the same distance from my classroom in the math wing, but this way I had less chance of running into Bob Ellison.
I was a guilty son of a bitch, and I knew it.
There were clusters of students who’d arrived early: outside the band room, at lockers, roaming the halls. My colleagues were here and there, some on morning supervision duty and others discussing their weekend. I made eye contact with no one, busying myself with my phone as if checking my calendar for the day.
When I rounded the corner into the math hallway, Lisa Brimm and Dean “Mills” Miller were outside their rooms, chatting across the hall.
“Morning, Coach,” Lisa said, her voice chipper with an edge of knowing to it. “Good weekend?”
“Sure. You?” I kept going toward my room, and they closed ranks and walked with me.
“Not as good as yours, judging by the photos,” she said.
As I’d anticipated, there’d been no shortage of them on the Tattler.
“The boss’s daughter,” Mills drew out. He did have the courtesy to say it quietly, so only the three of us could hear. “I’m shocked Bob okayed that.”
“Old news,” I told him, not surprised he’d been out of the loop. Mills was a good work friend, a few years younger than me, and what I’d affectionately call a math nerd. He was an intellectual guy who didn’t keep up on the social scene. Normally I liked that about him.
“Are you and the principal’s daughter a thing now?” he asked as he pushed his glasses higher on his nose.
“We’re not a thing, Mills. Why are you so obsessed with this?”
I saw him shrug out of the corner of my eye. “You could have any woman you want in this town. I find it interesting you singled out the one who could get you in the most trouble.”
“I didn’t single her out.”
“She bid on Max in the auction,” Lisa said.
“How do you manage to miss everything?” I asked Mills, ready for the topic to switch from me to him.
He laughed. “Years of practice, my friend. Level with me. How are you handling Bob with this?”
We’d reached my classroom, and I faced my coworkers. “There’s nothing to handle,” I lied. “Harper needed a date for an event in Nashville. She bid on me to take her. I took her. End of story.”
I was still waiting for my dick to get that message.
Mills lifted his palms in surrender. “Okay. Got it.” He exchanged a look with Lisa that I could easily read. It said, Oversensitive, much?
Hundred percent accurate, and I needed to tone it down and get my head in a space to interact with dozens of moody, hormonal teenagers for the next ten hours, God love ’em. Without coffee. Because venturing to the teachers’ lounge for a cup of marginal brew would risk running into Harper’s father.
The hall was filling up. One of Mills’s students called out a question from his classroom doorway, so he headed that way.
“I better do the same,” Lisa said. “Have a good day, Coach. Hope the kids don’t latch on to the gossip and give you too hard a time.”
“Thanks a lot,” I said.
The kids I could handle. Probably.
I darted into my classroom, thankful to have first period as my planning time. I needed to do last-minute prep for my second-period Algebra II class. Prep I’d planned on doing last night.
That thought naturally led to the steamy memory of what I’d ended up doing instead. As I unpacked my bag and put it in my coat closet, I couldn’t get the image out of my head of a naked Harper, lying in wait, stretched out on my comforter.
This wasn’t the place for those kinds of thoughts even if she weren’t my boss’s daughter. There was no room for weakness in a roomful of teens. I prided myself on keeping my private life out of the classroom, but this morning I was struggling to get any of it out of my head.
Once I sat at my desk, missing my caffeine, overheating from my thoughts, I ran my hands over my face. “Let it go,” I muttered.
“You okay, Coach?”
I jumped out of my skin at the sound of Bob Ellison’s voice nearby. Like, two feet away, I realized when I opened my eyes.
“Morning, Bob,” I said, forcing my usual cheery professionalism into my voice.
“You don’t look like it’s a good one.”
I scrambled mentally like a quarterback facing down aggressive linebackers. “Forgot my coffee. Nothing worse than facing a bunch of rowdy teenagers without caffeine.”
Unless it was facing your boss after sleeping with his daughter.
“There’s some in the lounge.”
“Yeah. I’ll have to grab a cup.” It would be better than nothing now that avoiding my boss was a moot point. “What can I do for you?” I asked, knowing he had to have a reason for appearing in my room at this hour.
“Your team played quite a game Friday night. Congrats on win number one for the season.”
“Thanks.” I relaxed a little. “If Brant keeps it up, he’ll get some attention from colleges in the next year.” Our starting running back was only a sophomore and had come close to setting a single-game record for yards rushed. In the first game of the season.
“He’s something else. Fun kid to watch,” Bob said as he took up a casual stance against the wall. “Tanager had a decent game too.”
“He’s fighting to keep his starting job,” I said of the first-string defensive end. I was warming up to the topic like I always did. Our kids were coming along well for it being so early in the season. I couldn’t wait to see what they could accomplish.
“I saw the photos of you and my daughter,” Ellison said abruptly, just as I’d started to relax. I should’ve seen that coming.
I pulled out a reply that put his focus on how amazing his daughter was. “I wish you could’ve heard Harper’s award acceptance for her friend. It was a tearjerker. Poignant, to the point, and profound. And one hundred percent off the cuff.” I shook my head. “I don’t think I could do half as well with a prewritten, well-rehearsed speech.”
Pride flashed in his eyes as he shook his head. “She’s something else. Don’t think I’ll ever understand her. She doesn’t do anything the tried-and-true way, but she somehow seems to do okay.”
“She did more than okay. I wish I’d thought to record the crowd’s reaction. They gave her a standing ovation as they dabbed at their eyes.”
I bit down on my tongue before I could praise her more. There was a fine line between sounding like a teacher who recognized a job well done and a guy who’d fallen under Harper’s spell in a nonteacher way.
“I warned you away from my daughter at the auction?—”
“Yes, sir,” I interrupted, hoping like hell my facial expression didn’t reveal that I couldn’t get her out of my mind. My heart raced, and I stopped breathing.
I tried to think of something else to say that would reassure him but wouldn’t be a lie. Nothing came to me, because facts were facts. I’d had sex with Harper last night. If he knew, he’d shit-can my ass on the spot.
He straightened from the wall, advanced to the side of my desk, put his hands on it, and leaned forward. I braced myself.
“The more I looked at those photos of you two…” He paused.
I waited.
I got up the nerve to meet his gaze, and he shook his head, exhaled, as if he was trying to figure out how to say something.
“The more I think about it, Max, the more I think you could be the best thing for my daughter.”
My brows shot up. I studied his face, looking for an explanation. There was a spark of challenge in his eyes.
“I’m not sure I heard you right,” I said.
“You did.” He stood tall, folded his hands behind his back, principal style, and paced. “You’re a few years older than her. A heck of a lot more settled. You’ve got a stable career, two of ’em, actually. You’ve lived in the same place for years. What I’m trying to say is that maybe what my daughter needs is a strong, stable influence in her life instead of these young punks who hook up and won’t commit to more.”
I knew fifty percent of that equation was that Harper didn’t want more, but it wasn’t my place to tell him that.
Still reeling from his one-eighty, I sat there dumbfounded. “I’m flattered you feel that way, Bob,” I finally said.
I couldn’t deny there was a part of me that was tempted by the idea of pursuing Harper. But it was a small part. Not a logical one.
“It’s hard for a father to let go of his daughters, in particular. Tough to think any man could be good enough for them. Scaring every male off is a knee-jerk reaction no matter how old she is.”
“I can imagine that now that I have a child.”
“Harper needs some stability in her life, whether it’s from a career path or a relationship. Hell, I don’t know. Between you and me, she could stand to grow up a little.”
I didn’t respond, knowing Harper herself was having similar realizations. I believed she’d get there. On her own.
“I appreciate what you’re saying, but I have to respectfully disagree that I’m the guy. Danny’s my focus. Now and in the future. My cousin trusted me to take care of his son.” I shook my head, those familiar heavy emotions rolling over me again. “I can’t put into words how that’s affected me, but it’s life changing.”
“Parenthood is like that no matter how you arrive at it,” my boss said.
“I’m sure it is,” I said, knowing no one would understand where I was coming from, and that was okay. “Bottom line, your daughter is an amazing woman who deserves a man who can give her the world.”
“Yes, she does.”
“That man’s not me.”
“I respect that, Max. I do.” He stopped his pacing, faced me, and slid his hands into his front pants pockets. Nodding once, he said, “That’s fair. I just wanted you to know I changed my mind. If you were to get involved with my daughter, you have my blessing.”
“That’s good to know, sir. I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Bob nodded, pivoted, and walked to the door. There he paused, looked at me, and asked, “You’re sure you’re not the guy?”
With a chuckle, I said, “I’m sure.”
He walked out, and I expelled a breath.
Holy hell.
My mind was thoroughly fucked with.
But I’d meant what I told him.
I had to be sure. I had to be resolute.
Harper was a temptation. A fucking wet dream. But I couldn’t be the man she deserved.
Being a single parent was hard as hell. Danny already lost out more than he should to my two jobs. Adding the distraction of a relationship would eat even more into time with my boy.
As much as I wanted to get to know Harper better, I couldn’t let myself go there.