Breakaway

Chapter Four

“Remi! Oh, thank god, you’re okay!” Delise turned to Jason and her mouth parted and she blinked. “Uh….”

“Delise, I’m fine.”

Remi turned to the police officer, her cheeks scorching. “I’m so sorry, Officers, everything is fine.”

“Uh huh.”

Remi stacked one bare foot on top of the other, glad Jason’s shirt covered her to her knees, and wrapped her arms around herself. “Delise! Was this really necessary?”

Delise snapped her mouth shut and swiveled her gaze to Remi. “I told you I would call you! Where’s your cell phone?”

Remi swallowed and rolled her lips in. “Um…in my purse. In the living room.”

Delise pursed her lips and planted her hands on her hips. “Remi, I can’t believe you! I said I’d call and you’d better answer and…”

“I know, I know, but I forgot all about that and we were…um…kind of busy.” She tried to ignore the smirks on the faces of the policemen. “But I’m okay, truly.”

“I guess we can go, then,” one officer said.

“I am so sorry,” Delise said to them. “But I really thought…she’d left with a stranger and we’d arranged…well…thank you.”

“Hey,” said the other officer, looking at Jason. “Aren’t you…”

“No,” Jason said firmly, turning away. Remi shot a glance at him as the officers shrugged and left. As she closed the door, she saw with relief they’d turned off the flashing lights. What would the neighbors think? Lord!

She turned back to Delise and Jason, both eyeing each other and giving each other tight smiles.

“I’ll go home now,” Delise said. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but dammit, Remi…”

“I know. I know.” She held up a hand. “I take responsibility. You did say that and I just forgot. I never thought you’d actually call the police, though!”

“I’ve been phoning you for the last two hours! I started calling an hour after you left and…well, that was fast work is all I can say.”

Jason grinned.

Remi’s insides shook and burned. “I’m sorry, Delise.”

She hugged her friend, then watched her out the window as she got into her car and drove away. She again turned back to face Jason. “I am so sorry,” she whispered, putting her hands to her mouth.

“Yeah. Well. Maybe I’d better go.”

She wanted to protest, but clamped her mouth shut and followed him back to the bedroom where the rest of his clothes were. She pulled out her thick, white terry robe and replaced Jason’s shirt with it. Reluctantly she handed the shirt over to him. Silky soft, it smelled delicious, like him, warm male and spicy shower gel.

When he’d finished dressing, having stuffed his tie into his suit pocket, he paused. “I’ll need to call a taxi.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

He pulled out a cell phone and punched in a number—taxi on speed dial?—then she led him to the front door where his coat hung.

This wasn’t ending the way she would have liked.

Dammit.

“I’m sorry,” she began again, but he stopped her with a finger on her lips.

“Stop apologizing,” he said softly and he took her into his arms and pulled her up against him. She went up on her toes and it still wasn’t enough, so he lifted her right off the floor and kissed her. “It’s okay.” Another kiss. “Can I have your number, at least? I’ll call you.”

Sure he would.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, loving the feel of him holding her like that. “Apparently I’m not really meant to have fun.”

“Oh come on. Everyone is meant to have fun. This is funny. I’ve never had the cops break in on me while…uh…”

Her cheeks heated again and she wriggled down. She wrote her cell number on a notepad, ripped the page off and handed it to him. The lights of a taxi pulling up outside swept over them.

He grinned and stuck the paper in his pocket, cupped her chin in his fingers and brushed one more kiss over her mouth. “Night, Remi. I had fun tonight.”

“Me too.” She watched him leave through the small window of the door, her heart constricting inside her chest. “Oh, me too. So much fun.”

“What do you mean they’re not coming?” Remi stared at the principal, a chill sliding over her. “There are two hundred and fifty kids in the auditorium waiting for them.”

Jennifer grimaced. “Jemar Fast was charged with drunk driving on the weekend. Not a good role model for the kids.”

Remi’s brows pulled down and she rubbed between her eyes. “Great. Just great.” She’d worked so hard to get the kickoff rally for the Stars for Reading program to be held at their school this year, with three members of the Chicago Bulls participating.

“It’s not over,” Jennifer said. “They found someone else. Three Wolves.”

“Wolves.”

“The hockey team.”

“Oh. Of course. Okay. Better than nothing, I guess.” She took in a breath. “I better go make sure they’re not destroying the gym.”

Two hundred and fifty middle school students in the auditorium near the end of the day probably had a bit of energy to burn. Especially her grade six students Justin and Ryan. Their ADHD made them a handful at times.

“When our hockey players show up, I’ll bring them right down,” Jennifer promised her.

“Thanks.”

Remi hurried down the school hall, past empty classrooms and into the gym. The kids were actually being pretty good, sitting on the bleachers and filling the room with a dull roar punctuated with the occasional scream of high-pitched laughter.

“Change in plans,” she said to her fellow teacher Paula Vaughan. “We have hockey players coming instead of basketball players.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Okay, everyone, listening!” She paused and waited for the noise to subside, holding a hand in the air. “We’re running a bit late, so please be patient. Jemar Fast isn’t going to be with us after all.” Big groans of disappointment greeted that statement. “But someone else is coming in his place.”

“Who is it, Ms. Buchanan?”

“Yeah, who is it?”

Dammit, she didn’t even know who it was. “Three players from the Chicago Wolves are coming today.”

Cheers echoed in the gym. Huh. Guess the kids knew hockey.

“They should be here shortly to get us started. Has everyone got their book picked out that they want to read first?”

Another burst of cheering erupted and she grinned. She loved it when kids were into books and reading. Some of her students were already avid readers, but others, like Justin and Ryan, struggled with it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jennifer entering the auditorium with a group of men. Relieved, she prepared to turn the microphone over to the principal to introduce their new “stars” and get things started. If they didn’t get going soon, the kids would be beyond control.

Remi went to stand with some other teachers at the side of the gym and watched Jennifer lead the three men to the front where the sound system was set up. Big guys, all three of them… Remi’s eyes widened and she straightened. She blinked and focused on the back of one of the men. It looked like…no. She shook her head. Then he turned.

Jason.

Her face went hot, her body got chilled and she fell back against the concrete block gym wall.

He said something to Jennifer and they both laughed. His gorgeous smile flashed. Today he was dressed casually in jeans and a Wolves T-shirt that hugged his broad chest and shoulders. The other two men with him…yes, she was sure they’d been with him that night at Rouge…also wore the same T-shirts.

Hockey players.

Well, didn’t he just look like a hockey player? Big and tough, with a crooked nose. Except he had beautiful, perfect white teeth—didn’t most hockey players lose their teeth by getting hit with a puck or something?

She licked her lips.

Jennifer spoke into the microphone to get the kids’ attention and get the rally underway, but Remi barely heard a word she said until she introduced “Jason Heller!” and the kids all screamed and clapped.

Dear god, he was famous.

And she hadn’t even known who he was.

No wonder he dated a model. She leaned her head back against the wall and covered her eyes with one hand. She’d slept with him. Her. Remi Buchanan, grade six teacher at Abraham Lincoln Middle School. A wave of heat swept over her at the memory of his touch, his mouth on hers, his body inside hers.

Her one wild attempt at being fun and spontaneous and sexy had ended with the police at her door. She chewed on her lower lip. That could have been very bad for Jason. Oh god.

Jason had taken over the microphone and was getting the kids all worked up into a frenzy over reading books. She focused on him and what he was saying, clamping down on the resurgent lust.

“So you guys can ask us all questions now if you like,” Jason said. “Who’s got a question?”

Hands shot up and little bodies bounced excitedly on the bleachers. Remi smiled.

“What’s your favorite book?” a student asked Jason.

“I have a lot of favorites,” Jason replied. “But I really love Tom Sawyer.”

A murmur of agreement rippled through.

His hockey buddies shared their favorites too.

“What’s your favorite video game?”

Jason tipped his head to think. “Tough one,” he said. “Right now I like Hosuko Heroes.”

More cheers. The kids were eating it up.

“How many of you play sports?” Jason asked. Again hands reached for the sky and kids jumped up and down. “Wow! That’s great! Any hockey players?”

More hands.

“Any girl hockey players?”

Remi laughed and shook her head, but sure enough, several girls jumped up and waved.

The rally continued and then the three athletes stationed themselves at the doors of the auditorium along with the teachers to hand out buttons and score sheets and gift bags with free books to the kids as they filed out.

Remi went over to talk to Jennifer, who was all smiles. “That went great!” she said. “Those hockey players were fantastic with the kids!”

“Yes. They were.”

“Come on. I’ll introduce you. You’ll be working with them over the next few weeks.”

Remi nodded, sucking her bottom lip as she followed Jennifer toward Jason. Her heart picked up speed and her head went just a little light as she neared him, tummy tight and fluttery. She’d given him her number, but he hadn’t called.

Yet. It was only Wednesday.

Maybe he had no intention of calling her.

Maybe he was going to be horribly embarrassed to see her.

Maybe he was going to regret that he’d volunteered to work on this program.

Remi pressed a hand to her stomach and stopped with Jennifer. Jason was bumping fists with a boy—Remi’s student Ryan—who’d stopped to talk to him. She’d never seen Ryan so focused.

Then Jason straightened to his full, imposing height and turned and his gaze landed on her.

She felt it like a touch.

His eyes widened and then a slow smile spread across his face.

She liked that smile.

She gave him a tremulous smile back.

“Remi, this is Jason Heller, Dominic Griffin and Matthieu Lalonde. Gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Remi Buchanan. She’s a grade six teacher here at Lincoln and she’s the one who was instrumental in bringing the kickoff rally to our school this year.”

Jason’s smile disappeared, replaced by a glower. Oh lord. He was embarrassed. She automatically held out her hand. Jason took it first.

“We’ve actually met,” he said, his face smoothing and that charming white smile flashing.

“Oh, really?” Jennifer looked confused, and shot Remi a curious look.

“Nice to meet you, Ms Buchanan,” Dominic said, shaking her hand with a grin. Matthieu did the same. Remi hadn’t paid that much attention to Jason’s companions that night, since all her attention had been focused on Jason, but she was pretty sure they’d both been there too. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire. Did they know she and Jason had…yeah. They must know.

Her whole body blazing, she kept a smile firmly in place. “Thank you so much for coming today. I understand it was somewhat short notice.”

“Not a problem,” Jason said. “I’ve been involved in the program for a few years at other schools. I’m glad to do it again this year.”

“The kids really seemed to enjoy it,” Jennifer said. “I think we’re off to a great start.”

“So for the next six Wednesdays we’ll be back here to work with smaller groups,” Jason said. His gaze held Remi’s and she resisted the urge to fuss with her hair. Did she have any lipstick left on? Likely not. Usually by the end of a school day she didn’t care.

“That’s wonderful,” she choked out. “We really appreciate it. It helps the kids get more involved when there are role models for them participating.”

They made small talk for a few more moments and then Jennifer offered to show the three athletes out, their jackets having been left in her office.

Remi watched them leave, feeling a weight of disappointment settling on her. She left the custodians in the now empty gymnasium dismantling the sound system and putting the bleachers away, and walked slowly down the hall to her classroom, also empty but much quieter.

She sank onto the chair behind her desk.

She’d felt his stiffness. The coolness of his greeting, although he’d smiled at first. He was so freakin’ good-looking. She couldn’t believe she’d done what she had with him. And had so much fun. Watching him with the kids here had been a whole other side to him—boyish and charming and fun. Yeah. He was all about fun.

Which was the opposite of what she was all about. She was all about serious responsibility. Boring.

She sighed and picked up a folder of math quizzes she had to mark that night. She bent to pick up her briefcase from under the desk.

“Hey.”

She straightened up so fast she cracked her head on the edge of the desk.

“Ow!” She rubbed her temple, blinded by the pain.

“Jesus, Remi, are you okay?” Jason’s voice, heavy footsteps and then his hands on her shoulders.

“Yes, yes. I’m okay.” She blinked up at him. “Dammit.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Th-that’s okay.” She tried to shake off the pain. “I’m fine.”

“I was surprised to see you here,” he said slowly, releasing her and stepping back.

“Have you really been involved in the Stars program before?”

“Yeah. This is my fourth year.”

“That’s…impressive.”

“It’s important.”

“I…it surprises me. To hear you say that.”

“Why? Because I’m a big, stupid jock?”

“No, of course not!”

“I like kids,” he said, shrugging those big shoulders, now wearing a black leather jacket. A buttery soft, thigh-length black leather jacket.

“I could tell that. They liked you too.”

“I didn’t know you were a teacher.” The glower returned to his face.

“Well, I didn’t know you were a hockey player.”

“Really?” His brow creased.

She tightened her lips against a smile. “Sorry. I guess you’re not that famous.”

He looked at her, smiling wryly. “I guess not.”

“What’s wrong with being a teacher?” she asked.

He pressed his lips together. “Nothing, I guess.”

A silence stretched between them.

“Well,” he finally said. “It’ll be fun over the next few weeks. So…I guess I’ll see you again next week.”

“You don’t have to.” The words spilled out her mouth. “You can work with a different group. It doesn’t have to be mine.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“I just thought…we had that one night….thing…and you might be…”

Lord help her, she was stammering like Joey Kupchuk, a boy she’d once taught who had a painful stutter.

“That’s okay,” he said. After a short pause, he said, “I was going to call you.”

She waved a hand, anxious to stop him before he said something she didn’t want to hear. “That’s okay. It was just one night of fun. Right?”

“Right.” Relief lightened his scowl and he gave her a faint smile. “That’s right. Okay, then. I’ll see you next week. Bye, Remi.”

She watched him leave, then sank back onto her chair, her legs soft as butter. Damn. She’d known it was only one night, and now knowing who he was made it that much clearer—he’d never really intended to call her.

“Wasn’t that the little blonde you picked up last weekend?”

Jason stared out the passenger window of Dominic’s car as they left the school parking lot. “Yeah.”

“You didn’t know she was going to be there?”

“Nope. We didn’t get into a lot of conversation.” Hell, that wasn’t true. They’d talked about a lot of things. Just not their professions.

Dominic laughed. “Right on, dude.”

“She did not know you were a ‘ockey player,” Matthieu said from the backseat in his rhythmic French accent.

“Nope, she didn’t know that either.”

He couldn’t believe she was a teacher. He’d picked up a teacher in a bar, taken her home and fucked her! Jesus!

“Kinda awkward, running into her again like that,” Dominic said, signaling and making a lane change.

“I was going to call her again,” Jason said, still staring out the window. He had wanted to see her again. She was adorable, but fuck! A teacher! “But not now.”

“Why not?”

“She’s a teacher.” Dominic was probably his best buddy, in Chicago at least, and even he didn’t know about the trauma inflicted on him by teachers. “I don’t date teachers. Don’t want anything to do with teachers.”

Teaching was a noble profession. He couldn’t judge all teachers the same. Just because a few teachers had made his life hell didn’t mean they were all like that. Hell, he should thank Ms Wong. If it wasn’t for her, he probably wouldn’t be where he was.

“Huh.” Dominic shot him a mystified glance. “She’s kinda cute. What difference does it make if she’s a teacher?”

“Never mind. Not going there. Let’s go get some food.”

But he couldn’t get the sexy little teacher out of his head for the next week, until he was back at Abraham Lincoln Middle School a week later, sitting in her classroom with a bunch of grade six kids.

He watched Remi with another group as he sat in a corner of her classroom. He seemed unable to drag his eyes away from her, and his concentration kept drifting off into images of her naked, his hands on her…dammit. He had a hard enough time paying attention without a major hot distraction like her.

He should just ask her out again. He’d wanted to. He’d planned to call her. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

And yet, the intimidation factor was high. Teachers were smart. Bossy. Know-it-alls. Teachers made him feel like a speck of dirt on the ice.

Why he kept thinking about Remi, he’d never know. She was clearly unimpressed with the fact that he played a game for a living. He’d caught that comment about how surprised she was that he was involved in the reading program. She probably thought he didn’t even know how to read.

A familiar knife twisted in his gut at that thought. He had to get over all that old crap.

Dammit. A teacher.

She laughed at something one of the kids said and at that moment looked up. Their eyes locked on each other across the room. His heart knocked in his chest.

He tore his gaze away from her, sucked in air and tried to focus on the kids he was supposed to be paying attention to. Christ, she’d really think he was illiterate if he couldn’t even read a short story with the kids and she’d really think he was stupid if he couldn’t focus long enough to put a few sentences together about what they’d read.

“I cried when Travis had to shoot Old Yeller,” Lindsay confessed. Two boys groaned.

“Hey,” Jason said. “I cried too. He loved that dog. Don’t you think that was a tough choice he had to make?”

Again, he caught Remi’s eyes on him and had to refocus.

As the session drew to a close, Remi retreated to her desk and began tidying up. Jason found his jacket and slid his arms into the sleeves, taking his time, picking up some books and placing them on a table, until the kids were gone and he and Remi were alone.

She looked up at him, her pretty face expressionless, as he approached the desk, a book clasped in his hands.

“Is this what we’re reading for next week?” he asked.

She nodded, lifting an eyebrow. “Yes.”

His face heated. She knew he’d already told her students that. He felt like one of those kids, a kid with a crush on a classmate, practically scuffing his feet on the floor as he hung around on a pretext.

“So, I…uh…” Jesus, she had turned him into a stammering idiot. Why did teachers have that effect on him? He drew in a long slow breath, and forced a smile. She was just a woman. A hot, sexy woman, one he’d already in fact had in bed. Nothing to be afraid of.

He was terrified.

“I’ll…uh…see you next week,” he said and booked it out of there.

Helping kids with reading, being back in school in the classroom, creating hopefully positive experiences for other kids had seemed like an excellent way for him to deal with his own crappy past and the other years he’d done this Stars for Reading program had been great. But this year…why was he getting all screwed up again?

So he’d nailed a teacher. She was just a woman. It didn’t matter if she thought he was big and dumb. It didn’t matter what she thought at all.

Remi watched Jason with the kids. This was now the third week he’d been there in her class and the kids seemed to love him, but she was starting to have doubts about his ability to keep them focused. Seeing as he could barely keep himself focused.

He kept staring off into space or, even worse, staring at her, dammit, and Jessie Doherty had to ask him the same question twice, then twitch his shirt sleeve before he seemed to hear her. “Sorry,” he said to her with a smile, but it wasn’t long before he’d done it again. He rubbed his face, glanced over at Remi, and when he saw her watching, a dark flush stained his cheeks and he frowned at the book in his hands.

With a sigh, she moved over to the group and took control of the discussion about The Chronicles of Narnia, earning a scowl from Jason that tightened her insides. Well, she couldn’t worry about him, she needed to make sure the kids were getting something from this.

Two kids hung around after class, Ryan and Jessie.

Ryan started talking about hockey, while Jessie stood there smiling worshipfully up at Jason.

“You ever come to any Wolves games?” Jason asked Ryan.

“No,” he said glumly. “My mom says tickets are too expensive.”

Jason’s smile disappeared. “Yeah. I guess they are pretty expensive.”

“Well, I guess I better go,” Ryan said.

When he’d gone, Jessie looked up at him. “Are you married?” she asked.

He grinned. “Nope.”

She nodded and gave a smile that looked way too mature for a twelve-year-old. “When’s your next game?”

“Friday night,” he answered, folding his arms across his wide chest. “You like hockey?”

“I love hockey,” she said breathlessly.

Remi sighed. The pre-teen clearly had a huge crush on Jason.

“Cool,” Jason said.

Jessie made no move to leave.

“Jason.” Remi spoke up. “I need a word with you before you go.”

Jessie dragged her feet out of the classroom with a wistful wave at Jason.

Jason turned to face Remi and her stomach went fluttery. His expression turned wooden. “Yes, ma’am, what is it?” he asked.

Remi glared at him. “You know, if you’re not into this anymore, we can probably find someone else.”

“Do you know how many people are in Ryan’s family?”

She blinked at the completely unrelated question. “Um…why?” She frowned at him.

“Just curious.”

“He has a brother, I taught him two years ago. And his mom, she’s a single parent.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“So as I was saying…”

“You don’t need to find someone else,” he said. “I’m still into it.”

“Well, it didn’t seem like it,” she snapped back. “You kept drifting off somewhere. You weren’t even paying attention.”

He stared back at her, his mouth tight, eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. Ma’am.”

“Why are you calling me that?” she demanded. She set her hands on her hips. “It sounds ridiculous.”

“You’re the teacher, right? You’re in charge.”

“I’m not…” She blew out a breath. What was with him? “Okay, we all have days where we have a lot on our minds. I’m sure that’s what was happening today for you. But you have to be able to hold the kids’ attention.”

“I know that.”

They stared at each other, the air crackling between them.

“This was supposed to be fun,” he muttered.

Her lips parted. Fun? Oh yeah, sure. Fun. His main goal in life.

Oh, why was she thinking like such a stick in the mud? Of course it was supposed to be fun. What better way for kids to learn than by having fun? “I’m sorry if you’re not enjoying it,” she said stiffly.

“Whatever.” He grabbed his leather jacket and headed for the door. “See you next week.”

She stared after him, stomach churning, heart thumping. What had she said that had made him so angry? She covered her eyes with one hand and stood there for a moment. Damn, having him in her classroom every week was becoming torture. She still felt unreasonably attracted to him, going hot every time she saw him and hotter every time their eyes met. Which happened a lot, because she kept catching him staring at her. With a frown on his face that totally confused her. He totally confused her. Dammit.