Resisting mr right, p.1
Resisting Mr. Right, page 1
Resisting Mr. Right
Love Lessons
Book 2
Mari Carr
Copyright © 2010 by Mari Carr
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Resisting Mr. Right
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
Educating Ms. Wright
About the Author
Resisting Mr. Right
They’re breaking all the rules.
Trey
I’ve wanted Ellie Hunter for a damn long time, so when she and I become colleagues at the same high school, I spy an opportunity to score big. Sure I’ve got a reputation as a player, but Ellie has me reconsidering that role. For the first time, I want to be Mr. Right, not Mr. Right Now.
Unfortunately…
Ellie
I made a really bad decision that not only broke my heart, but cost me my job, so I’ve got a good reason to swear off workplace romances. Problem is Trey’s muscles, his eyes, his smile, his huge…well…it’s all hard to resist.
So…
Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to fudge the rules. Just a little…or a lot. After all, casual sex doesn’t count. Right?
Lots of sexy half-dressed court presses complete with toys, food, bubble baths, strip poker and, oh yeah, balls.
Chapter 1
The Warm-Up
Trey
“Hey! Welcome back, bro.”
I laughed as my best friend, Jamie, entered Tully’s Bar and slapped me on the shoulder.
“Thanks for getting the table.” Grace, Jamie’s girlfriend, bent down and kissed me on the cheek as she and Jamie claimed their usual places.
My friends and I had been holding happy hours at this bar for years. As teachers at a local high school, it wasn’t unusual for us to meet on Fridays to unwind after a long week or to celebrate special occasions—birthdays and big high school sports wins. Today, we were mourning the loss of summer. Come Monday, we’d be back in school, suffering through seven days’ worth of meetings, and the following week would bring two thousand students back to Preston High School for another year.
“Where are Cheryl and Lucas?” I asked.
Grace glanced over her shoulder. “They should be here any minute. Cheryl texted me as we pulled in the parking lot. Lucas picked her up and, of course, he was running late.”
I shook my head, grinning. “That idiot will be late to his own funeral.”
“Too true,” Jamie concurred. “How was the basketball conference?”
I picked up the pitcher I’d ordered upon arriving and poured a glass of beer for Jamie and Grace. “Same old, same old. Little meetin’, lot of eatin’ and shitload of drinkin’. My kind of conference.”
Grace rolled her eyes. “Jeez. I keep waiting for the school system to figure out these so-called basketball conferences are little more than extended bachelor parties.”
I laughed. “We have actual meetings during the day. And we let girls come.”
Grace leaned across the table and lightly tapped me on the cheek. “That’s big of you.”
“Speaking of girls…” Jamie leaned closer. “Was Hottie Hunter there?”
Grace turned to Jamie and blasted him with a laser stare, while I watched with amusement. The couple had been dating for over a year and they were absolutely perfect for each other. I actually took quite a bit of pride in the role I’d played in helping my two best friends hook up.
“You guys are going to have to give up that nickname for her,” Grace said.
“Why?” I asked. “We’ve called her that for years.”
Grace attempted to give me an innocent look that missed the mark by about a mile. “Oh, I don’t know. I just think you might want to break the habit. Soon.”
I gave Grace a “what’s up” look, that she ignored. It was clear she knew something. One glance at Jamie proved my friend didn’t have a clue what she was talking about.
I shrugged and let it go. Grace wasn’t going to get me to beg. She’d break soon enough. The woman was shit at keeping secrets. “Unfortunately, Hottie, um, I mean Ellie wasn’t at the conference. Rumor is she’s not coaching at Harper’s Ridge this year.”
“Get out,” Jamie said. “She was really good. Hell, she was the only coach in the district whose team consistently gave your team any competition. Why would she quit?”
I shrugged and tried not to let it show how much Ellie’s absence at the conference bothered me. I’d always enjoyed discussing techniques and engaging in some good-natured trash-talking with her. Plus, I respected her talent as a coach. I was going to miss matching my skills against hers across the court. “Nobody seemed to know. It was all pretty hush-hush. Speaking of last minute, I’m out an assistant coach this year. You interested, Jamie?”
Jamie scoffed. “Hell no. I enjoy our friendship too much. There’s no way I could play second banana to you all season. We’d be at each other’s throats during the first warm-up. I’ll stick to softball.”
Grace leaned forward. “What happened to Carol? You guys have coached together forever.”
“You know she’s expecting a baby, right?”
Grace nodded. “She’s not due until early March. I thought she’d decided to stick it out and coach another season.”
“Turns out she’s having twins. Doctor didn’t think she’d want to spend the last few months of her pregnancy courtside. Carol agreed.”
Grace’s smile grew. “Well, how about that? Twins.”
I grumbled. “Yeah, great. Now I need to find a new assistant. One who won’t drive me insane the whole season.”
“Hey, guys,” Cheryl called out as she walked into Tully’s. “Look who I found in the parking lot.”
I glanced up and, for a moment, I felt as if I’d been sucker punched. Ellie Hunter followed Cheryl and Lucas to the table.
My grin grew as I stood up. “Take a wrong turn, Coach Hunter? Harper’s Ridge is on the other side of town.”
Ellie smiled, but before she could speak, Grace answered. “I invited her. We ran into each other at school today.”
I frowned, looking at Ellie. “Why were you at Preston?”
“I had a new teacher meeting to attend. I was checking out my classroom when I ran into Grace.”
Jamie looked at Grace. “Why the hell would you go to school on the last day of summer?”
Grace blushed slightly. “I wanted to work on my bulletin board.”
Lucas laughed. “Nerd.”
Grace threw a pretzel at Lucas’s head while the rest of us laughed. Ordinarily I would have been amused by Grace and Jamie’s antics, but I was too busy trying to wrap my head around the idea that Ellie “Hottie” Hunter was now my colleague rather than my competition. She looked smokin’ hot in short shorts and a T-shirt that showcased her perfect curves and I felt my cock stir.
“Here,” I said, grabbing a chair from an empty table nearby and placing it next to mine. I suddenly felt the need to have Ellie in my space, close to me. “Have a seat.”
Ellie acknowledged my friendly gesture with a quick nod of thanks and sexy smile as we sat down.
Lucas grabbed an empty glass and filled it, passing it over to Ellie. “So you left Harper’s Ridge, huh? Finally decide you wanted to teach at a good school with a winning athletics program?”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “You must be Lucas. Grace warned me about you.”
Lucas wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? You like bad boys?”
I narrowed my eyes at my friend, annoyed. While we were both known as being flirts—and players—I didn’t like the idea of Lucas hitting on Ellie. At least not until I’d had a chance to.
“Bad boy?” I scoffed. “Jesus, Lucas. You’re as much a bad boy as Justin Bieber.”
Everyone laughed as Lucas playfully punched me on the arm. “Dick.”
Ellie took a sip of beer. “I needed a change of scenery,” she replied in response to Lucas’s earlier question. “Preston had an opening in the science department, so I took it.”
“What about coaching?” I asked, surprised she would give up something she obviously loved.
She shrugged. “There wasn’t an opening to coach basketball at Preston. I mean, that is unless you wanna quit and hand the reins over to someone who actually knows a bit about the sport.”
Oh yeah, suddenly I wasn’t dreading the end of summer. This school year was looking to be my best yet. It wouldn’t be hard going to work if Ellie was there providing the eye candy. “Not likely. Besides, considering the fact I took my girls’ team to the state championship a couple of years ago, I’d say I know plenty about the game.”
Ellie wasn’t daunted. She leaned closer and I caught the light scent of her perfume. Damn, she smelled good. “Word on the street is you’re not going to see that much success this year. Four of your starters graduated in June, which leaves you with a young bench. Anybody can coach naturally talented players. You think you’re up for teaching a bunch of newbies?”
This was what I had missed at the basketball conference. Nobody kept both my feet firmly planted on the ground lik e Ellie Hunter. “Oh, I’m up for it, sweetheart. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Actually, at the moment, I was up for quite a bit. Literally.
I hoped Ellie didn’t look down or she’d see exactly how much I enjoyed sparring with her. My cock was rock hard and threatening to bust a few seams in my jeans.
“Where the hell did that summer go?” Cheryl said, waving to the waitress to set them up with another pitcher. “I’m warning y’all now. I’m drinking and dancing my ass off tonight. I’m fucking depressed.”
I topped up Cheryl’s glass. “You say the same thing every year at this happy hour.”
Cheryl shrugged. “Why do you think I had Lucas pick me up? I came prepared. DD and all.”
“Speaking of dancing,” I said, when the sound of an older Usher song filled the room. “I lined up a few classics in the jukebox for us.”
Jamie groaned. “Christ, man. You picked all techno dance crap, didn’t you? Bet you didn’t fire up one single country song.”
I stood and gave Jamie a shit-eating grin. We constantly waged this friendly battle over music. “My dollar, my picks. Besides, I put some classics in there like this one.”
I was surprised when Ellie rose quickly. “I love this song.” Much to my surprise, she grabbed my hand and led me to the bar’s tiny dance floor. Cheryl and Lucas were hot on our heels and I noticed Grace leading an only somewhat reluctant Jamie as well.
I started to move to the music, watching as Ellie lost herself to the song.
Holy fuck.
She could dance.
After years of Grace’s and Cheryl’s hilarious attempts at keeping up with me on the dance floor, I was blown away by Ellie’s natural grace and rhythm. She had some sexy-as-hell moves for a white girl. On top of that, she knew all the words to the song.
When she mouthed along with Ludacris about wanting “a freak in the bed”, I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to sleep tonight without jerking off first.
Damn, this girl turned me on.
Ellie turned around and moved against me. For a second, I tried to hold her away, knowing there was no way she wouldn’t be able to feel my erection. Then, I figured what the hell. There was nothing I wanted more than to feel her tight ass rubbing against me.
I reached for her waist and pressed her closer. If she was surprised by my actions—as well as my dick rubbing against her lower back—she didn’t show it. In fact, she moved slower, more sinuously, then she glanced over her shoulder and shot me a sexy, knowing grin.
Oh yeah, she knew exactly what effect she was having on me.
I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore how good her body felt against mine. Her long brown hair was pulled back in her usual ponytail and I wondered what her hair would look like down, loose around her shoulders.
Or better yet, I could wrap that ponytail around my hand and use it to direct her mouth to my cock while she sucked me off. Ellie struck me as the type of woman who’d love to have her hair pulled.
A myriad of red-hot images passed through my mind as I danced with her. No other woman had ever inspired this much lust in me, but a few minutes with Ellie never failed to drive my thoughts straight to the bedroom.
I moved my hands higher on her waist, my hands slipping beneath her T-shirt as she continued to gyrate in time with the music.
I’d never danced with Ellie, never had more than short conversations with her at conferences and before games, but I’d always watched her. Always been aware that whenever she was around, the rest of my surroundings went a bit blurry, all my focus directed at her.
I was attracted to her. I’d never denied that to myself, though I’d certainly worked hard to hide the fact from my friends. Grace and Cheryl would take a great deal of pleasure knowing I had a crush on Hottie Hunter and knowing them, they’d work overtime to try to hook us up. Grace was always trying to set me up, telling me I needed to settle down.
Ellie turned around to face me, but I didn’t release my grip on her waist. Instead I let my fingers slide over the smooth, soft skin of her tiny waist.
Suddenly it dawned on me exactly how small she was. Looking down, I noticed the top of her head only came to my shoulders. Her powerful personality had always made her seem taller to me.
She continued to dance and her new position gave me a bird’s eye view of her breasts. She wasn’t overly endowed, though she certainly had plenty to fill my palm. She sported an athletic build, trim and firm and fit. I considered all the ways she could use her physical strength in the bedroom and my cock twitched.
Jesus.
This wasn’t good.
The music changed and a slower song came on. Lucas and Cheryl headed back for the table, but I wasn’t ready to let Ellie go yet. I retained my grip on her and pulled her nearer. She wrapped her arms around my neck without hesitation.
“This is so fun. God, I can’t remember the last time I went dancing. I’ve missed it,” she said.
“I’m really glad you came.” The words were true.
She smiled, but I noticed a slight sadness in her eyes I hadn’t seen there before. Before I could think better of it, I found myself asking the question that had been nagging at the back of my mind since she’d shown up. “Why did you leave Harper’s Ridge?”
She sighed and I knew she didn’t want to answer. Whatever had driven her away from her school, it had to be serious, considering she’d given up coaching. “It wasn’t exactly my choice.”
“I don’t understand.”
A glimmer of pain shone in her eyes. “I made a couple of bad decisions and I ended up paying for them.”
I frowned. “What bad decisions?”
“I dated a fellow teacher. We lived together for about a year. We broke up last summer when I found out he was cheating on me with another colleague. It’s not easy to have your own stupidity thrown in your face day after day.”
I nodded sympathetically. “That would suck.”
She laughed. “Understatement of the year. Didn’t help my ex is a total shithead who took way too much pleasure in rubbing my face in his new relationship. Much as it kills me to say, I apparently possess more pride than sense, and I got tired of having it battered.”
“Nothing wrong with having pride and standing up for yourself. Better that than being a doormat.”
“Unfortunately, it was a bit more than that. We ended up in a huge battle at the end of the year—a fight that was overheard by several students. Joel, my ex, had seniority and the principal rather strongly suggested that I find a job in another school. Said he’d give me a good recommendation if I went voluntarily.”
“Shit. That sucks.”
She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to my shoulder. I hated seeing her look so defeated, so tired. “Yeah. I know. Gotta admit the lyrics of this song are pretty ironic. Seem to fit my life lately.”
I listened to another one of the classics I’d picked, to Bono singing about being stuck in a moment he couldn’t get out of. I cupped her cheek, then leaned down and pressed my forehead to hers. “Maybe. Maybe not. I have to say this is one moment I wouldn’t mind being stuck in for a while.”
She opened her eyes and looked at me. “I have a confession to make.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve always been attracted to you.” Her words blew me away.
Hot damn.
“Oh yeah?” I replied.
She smirked and rolled her eyes at my cocky tone. “The thing is,” she started and I knew from her tone I wasn’t going to like what was coming next. “I’ve made a promise to myself and I aim to keep it.”
“What kind of promise?”
“I’m not going to date a colleague again. Ever. From this point on, my dating pool does not include fellow teachers.” She spoke the words with such assurance, I didn’t doubt her determination to abide by them for a minute.
I had always dated casually, never considered settling down.
As I looked into Ellie Hunter’s dark eyes, for the first time, I saw a woman who made me think future…and forever.
