Her Dominant SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 9) Page 6

  He looked up, and he saw Karen sitting down on the ottoman getting ready to take off the socks and put on her soggy shoes.

  “Do you have time to swing by your house before you need to get to your classroom?” he asked.

  She looked up startled. “Yes.”

  “Leave the socks on.” He turned to Piper. “Do you have any questions for Karen before she leaves?”

  “Nope, I have everything I need.”

  “Okay, let’s get you to your truck.”

  Karen gave him an inquisitive look and then went to where her coat was laying. He took it out of her hands and helped her into it.

  She gave him a surprised look. “Thank you, Drake.”

  “Do you have everything?” he asked as she picked up her purse and briefcase. She had tucked her shoes into the side of her case.

  “Yep.”

  He swung her up into his arms. It was funny how good she felt nestled there.

  “Put me down,” she squeaked. “I’m too heavy.”

  Evie and Drake laughed.

  “Honey, I carry backpacks heavier than you when I’m on training exercises.” He walked the few steps over to the door, shifted her, and opened the door letting in the biting wind. He stepped onto the porch, then carefully walked down the steps. He saw a distinctive red truck.

  Good God and the Easter Bunny, was this for real? “Dammit, why not paint a neon target on yourself?”

  “What?”

  “Your truck. Everybody would notice that thing leaving town.”

  “I love my truck. It drives great in bad weather.”

  God give him patience.

  “It’s red, Karen.”

  “I love red.”

  “Of course you do. Open the door, Karen.”

  She reached out and opened the door. He carefully deposited her inside the driver’s seat. She set her belongings in the passenger seat and then started the car. He watched her shiver, then she turned the heat on high, and it started blasting hot air down to the floorboards.

  Everything inside him wanted to follow her home. She must have seen him struggling.

  “Don’t worry, my shoes are going to be dry by the time I get home,” she assured him as she pulled them out of her case and tossed them onto the passenger seat floor.

  “Stay here,” he said at last.

  “I can’t. I have a class of kindergarteners waiting for me.”

  “Some of my dad’s friends might have been watching you.”

  “That’s crazy. They’re watching your sisters, not me.”

  Hopefully, she was right.

  She looked at him. Really looked at him, her hazel eyes searching his. “Thanks for caring. I’m going to be fine. Truly.” She reached out with one slim hand and touched his cheek. “I’m so glad you came home for your sisters.” Then she withdrew it, and he stepped back and shut her car door. He watched as she drove toward the gate. Evie must have been watching because it was opening.

  He jogged back inside the house, humming Hot for Teacher.

  ***

  “He shoved me.”

  “Did not.”

  Karen knelt down next to the little girl who was close to tears and put her arm around Jaden. “How did she fall, if you didn’t push her?”

  “I hit her.”

  Karen somehow managed not to roll her eyes. Lori scrambled up from the floor and tried to take a swing at Jaden. She stopped the little girl’s fist before it made contact.

  “Jaden. Go sit in the timeout chair.”

  “Lori, go back to your desk.”

  “She almost hit me, she should go in timeout,” Jaden protested.

  “You hit her first. She didn’t connect. Boys shouldn’t hit girls. Do you want me to continue? I can. Now march, young man.” Karen pointed to the dreaded time out chair in the corner of the classroom.

  Jaden wasn’t normally a bully, she was going to have to talk to him in a bit and see if something was going on at home. In the meantime, she was proud as punch that Lori fought back.

  She went around the classroom and helped children with their letters, keeping an eye on Jaden. She wanted him to sit and stew for ten minutes. Normally, talking to the boy would be easier because Piper would be assisting her, and she could have her watch over the class while she took the boy into the hall for some private one on one time. Instead, she was going to have to be sneaky.

  “Okay, kids, who wants to go see Fluffy eat some lettuce?”

  “Me, me, me, me.” Hands flew up in the air. She saw Jaden turn around with interest.

  “Follow me to the back of the room and you can gather around Fluffy’s cage. Conner will be the monitor, he will make sure none of you get too close. Remember, Fluffy is shy, and you need to be quiet while he eats.”

  Karen herded her twenty-five charges over to the rabbit’s cage and opened up the Tupperware container of lettuce. She placed some in the cage, and Fluffy set about munching to the ooohs and aaahs of the children.

  Satisfied that they would be occupied for five minutes, she went to go talk to Jaden.

  There was a tap on the door, and she saw Lacy, the first-grade teacher let herself into the classroom. Karen continued on to where Jaden was.

  “Can I go see Fluffy?”

  “No, you can’t. You’re still being punished for hitting Lori.”

  She watched as his little face fought between tears and belligerence. Belligerence won.

  “She’s just a girl.”

  Well, that sure as hell was upsetting.

  “Girls are just as important as boys, and boys should never, ever hit a girl.”

  “Why not?”

  “Well you shouldn’t hit anyone, but especially not a girl. You’re going to end up bigger, and stronger. Your job is to protect girls.”

  “But she said I was writing my letters backwards. I hate her. She’s mean.”

  “Then you ask her to stop saying that. If she continues, you call for me.”

  “I ain’t no snitch.”

  Karen smothered a laugh. The poor kid was in a no-win situation. “What should you have done?”

  Jaden scrunched his face and thought. “I shoulda told her that I knew my numbers better than her.”

  “Maybe next time you could help one another.”

  “Whatchya mean?”

  “She can help you with her letters. You can help her with her numbers.”

  He crossed his little arms and thought about it.

  “Do you know what else you have to do?”

  He stuck out his lip. “Pologize.”

  “Yep. And tomorrow I’m going to put you two together at the back table to help one another, okay?”

  “’kay.” She turned around and sent a smiling Jaden towards Fluffy, and then went to talk to Lacy.

  “Is Piper okay?” Lacy asked. “I heard about the stuff with her father.”

  “She’s doing fine. I saw her this morning.”

  “Some of the old rumors are surfacing now that he’s out of prison.”

  “I heard some of them when I went to the high school to get Piper’s homework.”

  “Well, I went to school with Evie before she had to drop out. I can fill you in. Maybe we can go out for dinner later on this week.”

  Karen watched the children out of the corner of her eye. “That could be fun.” Karen would like to find out what Lacy knew about the Avery family.

  “Miss Eastman! Fluffy’s throwing up.”

  “Gotta go.” Karen waved to Lacy and went to go see what was wrong with the rabbit.

  ***

  Thank God for Bailey’s Irish Cream and hot chocolate mix. Karen nuked the cocoa in the microwave and added in the liqueur. She gave a sigh of satisfaction when she found the can of Reddi Wip behind all the diet soda. She piled it high on the beverage and then swiped up a large scoop in a spoon and ate it.

  “Nirvana,” she moaned.

  She took the drink into the bathroom where the hot water was waiting in the bathtub. She le
t the bathrobe fall to the floor and made sure not to look in the mirror as she stepped into the tub. No need to see all the ‘curves’ God gave her when she was planning on indulging in eighty-million calories.

  The water felt luscious. Her feet had felt cold all day, except for those few minutes in Drake Avery’s arms. For some reason, her entire body had heated up even hotter than in this bathtub. Karen leaned her head against the rolled-up towel, took a sip of her creamy cocoa, and groaned as she pictured dark eyes and black wavy hair. God, that man was sex on a stick.

  She licked her lips, tasted whip cream, and thought of his lips.

  “Bad girl.” She groaned and took another sip of hot chocolate.

  As the liquor and hot water finally warmed her up, the shivering stopped, and her brain started to work again. She thought about the hell that the Avery children had lived through, starting with poor Piper. Apparently, she had been brought into the hospital, basically broken and battered by her own father when she’d been little more than a baby. Then there had been what had happened to Drake.

  Half the town, the contingent that she didn’t like, thought he was no-good. The other half thought he walked on water. She knew what he had been doing for his sisters. She’d talked to Trenda as she had worked on the scholarship applications for Piper. Hell, it sounded like Drake was putting half the Avery clan through college!

  Trenda had let it slip that he was a SEAL. This afternoon, during recess, she’d done a Google search. She’d been amazed at the dangerous job they had. He really was a hero. Now he was taking care of Piper because of that bastard father of theirs. He was amazing.

  Karen took another sip of chocolate and shivered. She wasn’t cold. She was hot, remembering that she had actually been carried by a man today. Talk about a total turn on. She closed her eyes and smiled and replayed the experience.

  She put the empty mug on the floor, and pushed out of the cooling water, letting it sluice off her body. She grinned. Okay, maybe the curves weren’t that bad. And, she was pretty sure she’d seen Drake looking her over, how cool was that?

  Now, to form a game plan, because she sure as hell wasn’t going to let the Averys handle this all on their own. She pulled on her robe, and went into her home office and pulled up the information that she’d been gathering on scholarships for Piper. Okay, she would still be eligible for the scholarships if she graduated with honors, even if she wasn’t in class. But the one that Karen had really wanted her to get depended on Piper putting in a certain amount of hours as a teacher’s aide.

  “Well, we have to get this stuff straightened out in two weeks, that’s all there is to it.” Karen picked up her cell phone.

  “Edna?”

  “Did you see Piper?”

  “Yes, but I can’t tell you where.”

  “Of course not.” Edna sighed. “Are you sure she’s safe? Maybe she should leave the state.”

  “She is not leaving the state. She is not giving up everything she has worked for because of a criminal,” Karen said harshly. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure she’s in good hands.”

  There was a long pause on the phone.

  “Drake came home, didn’t he?”

  “I can’t answer that,” Karen said.

  “That’s a yes.” Edna sighed again. “Tell me he’s bald with a pot belly.”

  “He’s fat and bald,” Karen answered obligingly.

  “You lie, he’s still handsome as hell, isn’t he?”

  Karen heard the lust in her friend’s voice.

  “Oh yeah. Even his muscles have muscles. And his hair is black and wavy.”

  “Maybe I should be the one delivering Piper’s homework?” Karen swore she could hear Edna lick her lips. Not that she could blame her. “Okay, enough of that. But I did think he was hot even when he was two years my junior. So do you think Piper’s safe with him? Maybe they should both leave the state?”

  “Something tells me that he can handle things.” Karen thought about the danger and confidence emanating from the man and knew she was telling the truth.

  “Okay, then we continue to get Piper her homework, and just handle it like we would any student who has to miss school. Are you safe being the go-between?” Edna suddenly asked.

  “I’m fine,” Karen assured her friend. “He’s going to have a friend pick me up.”

  “If it gets dicey, we could do things via e-mail and SKYPE,” the principal suggested.

  “We’re working on the college and scholarship applications,” Karen reminded her.

  “Darn it, I forgot. I just didn’t want you to be in the middle of all of this.”

  “I can handle myself. If things get really bad, I’ll call in my brothers.”

  “I’ve been hearing about the Eastman boys for five years now. Are you sure you haven’t been making things up?”

  “I’m sure. But they’re in Alaska. I think it’s a little far for them to come.”

  “I think if they hear their baby sister is in trouble, they’ll show up.” Edna laughed.

  “Probably. I should have some of Piper’s completed assignments day after tomorrow, so I’ll see you then.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Edna hung up. Karen got up and took her empty mug into the kitchen, still contemplating everything she’d learned that day. Nope, she wasn’t going to let the Averys handle this on their own.

  ***

  “Will I like him?”

  “Huh?” Drake looked up to see Piper watching him. He’d been staring at the security monitor. Aiden should be there in twenty minutes, he didn’t need to be checking the screen now.

  “What’s your friend like? Is he like you?”

  Piper was biting the tip of her pencil as she was sitting cross-legged on the couch with her text book in her lap.

  Drake went over and sat next to her. “Aiden’s great, Tinkerbell. He’ll love you.”

  She gave him a slow smile. “Well, that’s a given. But will I like him?”

  Drake burst out laughing. “Now that’s the important question, isn’t it? He’s not nearly as charming as I am. And he’s old.”

  “How old is he?”

  “He’s over thirty,” Drake teased.

  He watched as Piper gave him a considering look.

  “Aren’t you going to be thirty this year?”

  “Busted. I didn’t think you’d know about that.”

  “Trenda and Eva talked about it. Trenda was really sad when she mentioned it.” Piper tapped her pencil against her book. She looked up at him. “I know this situation sucks, but having you home is a really good thing.”

  He hugged his little sister. Drake kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, I’ve missed you, Tink.”

  “I missed you more.” She smiled up at him.

  He stood back up. “Give Evie a call. She hasn’t checked in. I told her I wanted to hear from her every hour. It’s been seventy minutes since her last check-in.”

  “She’s only ten minutes late.”

  “All she had to do was text. I agreed she could go to work, but she had to obey those rules while at the hotel. Call her, Piper.” Drake went over to the screen and saw an SUV, similar to the one he rented, pull up to the gate. He waited until he could see Aiden on the screen before he activated the intercom. At the same time, he could hear Piper talking to Evie behind him.

  “Avery?” Aiden asked.

  “I’ll let you in,” Drake said through the intercom. He depressed the button to open the gate. Then he went over to Piper where she was on the phone with Evie. He held out his hand, and she gave him the phone.

  “Evie, you were supposed to check in ten minutes ago.”

  “I got busy,” she said belligerently.

  “All you had to do was press send on your phone. That’s no excuse. If this were Piper, would you put up with it?”

  He could almost hear her thinking. Then she sighed.

  “I won’t let it happen again.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Has your
friend shown up?”

  “Yep.”

  “Good. Trenda needs you to go over to her place.”

  “Why what’s wrong?”

  “Give her a call. You’ll want to bitch her out, then you need to get your ass over there.” The line went dead. Dammit, was his sister never going to learn how to say good-bye like a normal person? He punched in Trenda’s number.

  “Hi, Drake.” Trenda was putting on her fake voice. Even after all these years apart, he could still spot it.

  “Even if Evie hadn’t already ratted you out, I could tell something was bothering you. Now spill it.”

  “There’s been this guy watching my house since yesterday. Today, I saw Delmar’s car pull up outside my house. He got out and talked to the guy. Silly me, I thought maybe my call to the sheriff’s office might have forced him to do his job. Instead of sending him on his merry way, they sat there talking to one another. Finally, a third car showed up. The three of them looked just as friendly, and then the third car took his place.”

  Trenda sounded like she was almost in tears. Fuck!

  “Besides watching you, have they done anything?” Piper came over to stand next to him.

  “No, but Bella keeps watching out the window when I’m not looking. She asks who the man is. She’s terrified.”

  “Got it. I’ll be there soon.”

  “You can’t leave Piper alone,” she whispered as if Piper could hear.

  “I’ve got her covered. Piper’s going to be safe as a bug in a rug. You hold on, Sweetie. I love you.”

  “Love you too. Wish I could have seen you under better circumstances.” He hated that she sounded so shaky.

  “Me too. Hang tight.”

  “I will. I’m probably making a mountain out of a molehill. I’ll be all right. You really don’t have to come. You stay with Piper.” Her voice sounded stronger.

  “I’ll do what I damn well feel like. I said I’d be there soon and I will.” God save him from feisty females.

  There was a pause. “Thanks, Drake. I love you.”

  “Love you more.”

  Piper was looking at him with fear in her eyes as soon as the phone call was over.

  “She’s going to be fine,” he assured her and gave her a quick hug as he went to the front door and pulled it open. He’d timed it right, Aiden was just getting out of his vehicle. Drake noticed the snow had stopped as his friend gave him a chin tilt and then scanned the area carefully as he walked up the stairs. He had a full duffel bag and a suitcase. Good, he came carrying too.