like
you to run the next couple of miles with me setting the pace. Your track team
performance is impressive but I want to see what you can really do.”
Jocelyn hesitated, concern flip-flopping in her belly. She
might crave Jared but she didn’t trust him.
“Mom, can I?” Kylie’s voice oozed eagerness.
“Go ahead, baby girl.” Suspicions of Jared aside, supporting
Kylie’s running ambitions was second nature to her. In sneakers was the one
place her daughter felt at home. Her heart was close to bursting as she watched
Kylie maintain Jared’s pace, cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling, owning the smile
flashing across her face. And Jared’s butt, truly God’s gift to women.
After polishing off the additional three miles in record
time, Jared led Kylie through a series of short sprints in the middle of the
field. Worry dug a pit in her stomach. From what she’d seen, Jared manipulated
opportunities as well as she did, moving pieces around to meet goals and beat
opponents. Would he use Kylie as a pawn in this game of his?
She was going to find out, and headed over, asking Kylie to
do a cool-down lap while she spoke with Mr. Wyatt.
Hands on hips, she squared her shoulders and got up in his
face. “Jared, whatever’s going on between us, my daughter’s off-limits.”
Stretching into full height, he looked down at her. “I don’t
use children, Jocelyn.” He stepped toward her so their bodies touched. “I’m the
high school athletic director and Kylie is a high school athlete. My world, my
rules. Never question my sports decisions or my ethics again.” The hard set of
his chin hinted at the cold rage within him.
Shuffling back a few steps did nothing to help her escape
that damn sexy smell of his, still strong even after the workout, and the
things his nearness did to her body. “I do not intend to interfere in high
school sports. It’s you I don’t trust. If my daughter is hurt in any way, I
will run you out of this town so fast, Jared Wyatt, it’ll make your head spin.”
“Bring it on, baby. You’re out of practice. You’re not used
to fighting someone who hits back.”
“Arrogance is most men’s undoing. I’ve used this fact to my
advantage more times than I can count. Goodbye, Jared.” Waving Kylie to join
her, she jogged a cool-down lap home to calm the pulse racing out of control
that was not from the workout.
* * * * *
Len Reynolds called Jocelyn at work. Kylie had an incident
at school.
Not again, she thought, en route to the high school. In the
elementary and middle schools, Jocelyn waged war to upgrade the schools’ ability
to teach children with ADHD and other special needs. With her wide-ranging
business and personal networks in town, she also grabbed leadership roles in
the PTA, on the school board, local charities, to channel resources to the
schools to make it happen. It looked as if she’d be starting all over again now
that Kylie had entered high school. Parked in the school lot, she steeled
herself for the battle to come—one she was long tired of fighting.
“Hey, baby girl,” Jocelyn said to a glum-faced Kylie, slouched
in a rickety wooden seat in the waiting room. After kissing the top of her
daughter’s dyed black hair, she maneuvered into an equally wobbly seat next to
her.
“Mom, do you have to call me that here?”
“Check the attitude, Kylie, but I take your point. I’ll
watch my use of it.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Relief flooded her voice.
“Afternoon, Ellen,” Jocelyn greeted Len’s Secretary, a guard
dog of a woman with a perpetual growl glued to her face. Ellen was splayed
across an oversized wooden desk shielding the entrance to the principal’s inner
sanctum and looked ready to pounce. ”I want to thank you for the carrot cake.
It was delicious. How’s Ned’s new job going?”
Ellen’s mug re-formed into a smile. “Fantastic, Ms. Wade.
The cake was the least we could do. We can’t thank you enough for referring
him. Len will just be a
you to run the next couple of miles with me setting the pace. Your track team
performance is impressive but I want to see what you can really do.”
Jocelyn hesitated, concern flip-flopping in her belly. She
might crave Jared but she didn’t trust him.
“Mom, can I?” Kylie’s voice oozed eagerness.
“Go ahead, baby girl.” Suspicions of Jared aside, supporting
Kylie’s running ambitions was second nature to her. In sneakers was the one
place her daughter felt at home. Her heart was close to bursting as she watched
Kylie maintain Jared’s pace, cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling, owning the smile
flashing across her face. And Jared’s butt, truly God’s gift to women.
After polishing off the additional three miles in record
time, Jared led Kylie through a series of short sprints in the middle of the
field. Worry dug a pit in her stomach. From what she’d seen, Jared manipulated
opportunities as well as she did, moving pieces around to meet goals and beat
opponents. Would he use Kylie as a pawn in this game of his?
She was going to find out, and headed over, asking Kylie to
do a cool-down lap while she spoke with Mr. Wyatt.
Hands on hips, she squared her shoulders and got up in his
face. “Jared, whatever’s going on between us, my daughter’s off-limits.”
Stretching into full height, he looked down at her. “I don’t
use children, Jocelyn.” He stepped toward her so their bodies touched. “I’m the
high school athletic director and Kylie is a high school athlete. My world, my
rules. Never question my sports decisions or my ethics again.” The hard set of
his chin hinted at the cold rage within him.
Shuffling back a few steps did nothing to help her escape
that damn sexy smell of his, still strong even after the workout, and the
things his nearness did to her body. “I do not intend to interfere in high
school sports. It’s you I don’t trust. If my daughter is hurt in any way, I
will run you out of this town so fast, Jared Wyatt, it’ll make your head spin.”
“Bring it on, baby. You’re out of practice. You’re not used
to fighting someone who hits back.”
“Arrogance is most men’s undoing. I’ve used this fact to my
advantage more times than I can count. Goodbye, Jared.” Waving Kylie to join
her, she jogged a cool-down lap home to calm the pulse racing out of control
that was not from the workout.
* * * * *
Len Reynolds called Jocelyn at work. Kylie had an incident
at school.
Not again, she thought, en route to the high school. In the
elementary and middle schools, Jocelyn waged war to upgrade the schools’ ability
to teach children with ADHD and other special needs. With her wide-ranging
business and personal networks in town, she also grabbed leadership roles in
the PTA, on the school board, local charities, to channel resources to the
schools to make it happen. It looked as if she’d be starting all over again now
that Kylie had entered high school. Parked in the school lot, she steeled
herself for the battle to come—one she was long tired of fighting.
“Hey, baby girl,” Jocelyn said to a glum-faced Kylie, slouched
in a rickety wooden seat in the waiting room. After kissing the top of her
daughter’s dyed black hair, she maneuvered into an equally wobbly seat next to
her.
“Mom, do you have to call me that here?”
“Check the attitude, Kylie, but I take your point. I’ll
watch my use of it.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Relief flooded her voice.
“Afternoon, Ellen,” Jocelyn greeted Len’s Secretary, a guard
dog of a woman with a perpetual growl glued to her face. Ellen was splayed
across an oversized wooden desk shielding the entrance to the principal’s inner
sanctum and looked ready to pounce. ”I want to thank you for the carrot cake.
It was delicious. How’s Ned’s new job going?”
Ellen’s mug re-formed into a smile. “Fantastic, Ms. Wade.
The cake was the least we could do. We can’t thank you enough for referring
him. Len will just be a
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