Front Range Cowboys (5 Book Box Set) Read online

  “Kids?” Maggie yelped. “Slow down! The guy hasn’t even asked me out.”

  Rhonda tilted her head and put her hands on her hips. Her stare seemed to penetrate Maggie’s soul. “But you’re totally going to say yes when he does, right? Because that man is going to ask you out. There’s no way he won’t after he just told his brother off for insulting you.”

  “Do you think that’s really an indicator?” Maggie didn’t quite believe that. “It seems sort of suspicious. Just because he doesn’t want his brother insulting me doesn’t mean he wants to go out with me.”

  “Well, you can ask him yourself,” Rhonda said boldly. “Because he’s walking back in here right now.”

  “Oh crap!” Maggie jumped back from the windows. “Get back to your desk. I don’t want him to think we were spying!”

  “Like he won’t know already,” Rhonda snorted. But she obediently went back to her desk and started pounding away on her keyboard.

  Of course, that left Maggie to stand awkwardly in the middle of the office waiting to see what would happen. Sometimes life was so embarrassing.

  Chapter Eleven

  Maggie froze as Darren Hernandez pushed open the office door and stepped back inside. She felt absolutely embarrassed. There was no way to look as though she hadn’t been eavesdropping and watching Darren argue with his brother through the window blinds. He was going to think she was a shameless gossip for sure.

  “Now,” Darren told her with a warm smile. “I think we should just start with where the gym is and how I’m supposed to go about my job. Is that okay?”

  Maggie was at a momentary loss. He looked even better today than he had yesterday. His athletic pants showed off the shape of his butt while giving only a tantalizing glimpse of his powerful legs. His black T-shirt was plain and very snug across the shoulders and pecs. But it was his eyes that caught her attention. She could not stop staring into his eyes. They were just so blue. It was incredible to stand there and see the nuances of every single thought that was going through his mind. His face was more expressive than his brother’s, and yet their features were very similar. The planes of Darren’s face were angular, but he had laugh lines at the corners of his eyes and bracketing his mouth that told her he liked to smile and enjoy himself.

  “Maggie?” She watched his mouth move as he said her name.

  Then she realized that she was supposed to be responding. “Oh. Yes. The gym. Definitely. It’s right across the hallway.”

  “Are you sure?” He was smiling in a way that seemed to be laughing at her, and yet there was nothing malicious about it. “Because if we need to go on a quest to find the gymnasium, I’m totally up for that.”

  “A quest?” Maggie felt her cheeks heating up. She should have been businesslike. She shouldn’t be joking with him, but the urge was irresistible. “Perhaps you can set up a quest for the children. We’ll call it the quest for manners and responsible behavior.”

  He made a face as they exited the office. “That sounds like the worst quest ever. Are there dragons?”

  “No. Definitely not.” She was so very aware of Rhonda watching her every move. It was disconcerting.

  “Well, if there aren’t any dragons,” he let the statement hang as she closed the office door and started walking toward the gym a few doors down. “Then, perhaps I’ll have to find a few.”

  “If you do happen to find dragons inside our school, feel free to slay them.” Maggie had a sudden image of the three young bullies and their mothers. She could not begin to picture how hilarious it would be to see those women dealing with actual dragons or anything else that was not brand name.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Darren told her. He followed her into the gym.

  The smell in here was oddly comforting to Maggie. Perhaps it was because she had spent so much time in gyms growing up. Living in Colorado meant plenty of indoor practices for sport during the winter months. She recalled playing indoor soccer, and the scent of this place could instantly bring back those days. She inhaled deeply and thought of sweaty kids, climbing ropes, and those thin mats that never seemed to cushion anything when you tried to practice your forward rolls for the gymnastics unit.

  “What am I thinking?” Maggie started walking toward the gym teacher’s closet-like office in the far corner of the cavernous space.

  “You’re thinking that unless those dragons are wearing Prada, they need not apply to this school.”

  Maggie swung around and stared at him. “How did you know that?”

  “Please.” Darren actually rolled his eyes. “The parents in this place are like my brother and my ex-sister-in-law. They’re like my mother and even like about ninety-nine percent of the women I’ve dated. It’s all about brand names and money and how much money you can spend on a shopping trip that seems to happen every single week.”

  It was sort of sad and yet refreshing to hear that someone else recognized that fact. Maggie sighed. “You’re right. And those three boys that I’m particularly interested in you dealing with?”

  “Their mothers are the worst,” he guessed.

  Maggie sighed. She used her key on the office door and opened it up. Then she reached inside and flipped on the single bare bulb. “Yep. They are the worst. They show up every single day in designer jeans with their knee-high heeled boots and their scarves. They’ve all got the latest smartphones, and they talk about shopping and who redecorated their house last month. I feel bad because I want to relate to them. It would help their kids, you know. I feel like if I could get through to the parents and help them relate to their kids, then I would be able to help. You know?”

  “Because all you want to do is help.”

  His voice was soft. Maggie wasn’t sure when she became so abruptly aware that this office was even smaller than she had first realized. It was warm in there. But maybe that wasn’t the office. Maybe that was the fact that both she and Darren Hernandez were standing in there and it felt strangely intimate in a way that she should have avoided like the plague.

  He was standing quite close. She was so very aware of the fact that when she took a deep breath, her breasts barely brushed his chest. Her thin blouse did nothing to cover up the fact that her body was responding to Darren’s nearness. Maggie looked up and realized that he was staring down at her. His expression was solemn. He looked so very strong and so very solid. Maybe that was what made him so incredibly attractive. This was a man you could honestly count on. He’d proved it over and over again, and she’d only known him less than twenty-four hours.

  “Maggie,” he whispered. “I want to kiss you.”

  “I would like that.” Had those words come out of her mouth? She shouldn’t have said that.

  But then he leaned in closer. He put his palms flat on the cinder block walls on either side of her body. She felt a thrill as she saw the bulging muscles of his arms bracketing her on both sides. He was so very strong. Yet he was so very gentle. The contrast made her feel delicate and protected.

  His lips came closer. Maggie sucked in a quick breath and then felt his mouth cover hers. There was an explosion. Flavor and heat and something so deep and profound that she could not even define it. Maggie’s arms seemed to wind around Darren’s neck in spite of herself. She tangled her fingers in his curly hair and reveled in the feel of those silky strands sifting through her fingers. She pressed her body against his. Deeping the kiss, she parted her lips on a sigh. She felt him tickle her with his tongue. There was a slow glide of his tongue over her lips, and then she felt him take a deep breath.

  His chest moved against hers. She felt the power there. His pectoral muscles seemed to jump a little. Was he trembling? She was trembling. Her whole body was quivering with something she could not name. It felt as though somewhere above them the heavens were singing. She buried her hands in his hair and tugged as she stood on tiptoe and pressed her mouth even more firmly to his.

  He tasted spicy and masculine and like no other man she had ever experi
enced. His hands moved from her waist to the round globes of her butt. Pulling her even tighter against his body, she felt him flex his fingers into her nether cheeks. There was a corresponding pull low in her belly. She felt as though her entire body were coming alive in that one moment. This was everything she had been missing. This was everything her life needed.

  Then he pulled back, slowly taking one last lingering kiss and tugging on her bottom lip until she moaned and shivered with delight. “We should stop.”

  “Yes.” She was agreeing. Did she really feel that way?

  “I don’t think this room has ever experienced this kind of action before.” His smile held a hint of the devil.

  Maggie could not help but smile. There was something irreverent and almost silly about him. She loved it. Darren had the perfect balance of serious and distinctly not serious. It made him fun to be around but did not prevent him from acting like an adult when the situation called for it. How often was that particular trait lacking?

  The temperature in the tiny office had risen a million degrees. Maggie tried to take a deep breath to calm down and realized that what she really wanted was another kiss. Was that wrong? Was it right? It was almost impossible to say.

  “So, this is my office,” Darren said in an almost conversational tone. “I’m assuming that somewhere in here is a binder or something that has lesson plans from your last teacher?”

  “Possibly.” Maggie’s brains were mush. She was struggling to remember why they were there. “Why did you want to kiss me?”

  His eyes flared bright blue. There was something akin to a solar flare in their depths, and then he smiled. He took her hands and drew them up around his neck. Leaning down, he let his lips brush her sensitive earlobe. “Let’s just say that your lips are irresistible. I wanted to see if they were as soft as they looked.”

  “And?” she prompted. “Are they?”

  He was nibbling her jawline now on his way down to her neck. “Yes. They’re softer, I think. And I never could have imagined the taste of them. It’s amazing.”

  “The taste?”

  “Wild feminine passion,” he told her in a low voice. “That’s what they taste like.”

  “Are you sure?” she whispered. “Because if you’re not, you could taste them again.”

  His low laugh made everything from her waist down tighten with need. He moved his lips from her neck to her lips and took her mouth in a deep drugging kiss that made her toes curl inside her shoes. He wrapped her in his arms and held her motionless against his body. He held on and bent her backwards as he continued to kiss her. It was priceless. It was perfect. It was what she wanted and more. She gasped in delight and gave herself over to Darren. She trusted him to hold her close and keep her safe. And once that barrier was broken, she felt as though it would never exist again.

  Suddenly there was a noise very similar to the sound of a herd of wild horses stampeding through a tunnel. Maggie felt bemused. Her mind was passion drugged and sluggish. And when Darren set her upright on her feet, she needed a moment to get her balance and bearings. Fortunately, Darren kept an arm around her.

  “I think the kids have arrived,” Darren murmured in her ear. “At least I’m guessing that’s what the horrible ruckus is.”

  There was a distinct sound of screaming as the young people started enjoying the echo factor in the gym. Maggie sighed. She let her face fall to his shoulder and inhaled deeply of his wonderful scent. She needed to go introduce the new gym teacher to the kids. That was her task here. That was what mattered. So, it was really too bad that she couldn’t stop sniffing him. Maybe she could just close the office door and spend the rest of the day inhaling his distinctive clean male scent. In her book that would be a day well spent.

  Chapter Twelve

  It took Darren all of three seconds to figure out which of the third grade boys were obviously the ones harassing Bella. Of course, Darren’s brain was completely distracted at this point. All he could think about was the kiss he had shared with Maggie in the tiny office in the corner of the school gymnasium. She tasted so sweet. Just being around her made him want to smile like some lovesick idiot.

  But right now wasn’t the time to be distracted by his desire for the school’s guidance counselor. Especially not when that guidance counselor was trying her best to get the attention of those third graders so that she could introduce Darren to the class.

  So, Darren forced himself to stop appreciating the way Maggie’s skirt cupped her round backside and focused on the three boys completely ignoring Maggie’s attempts to get their attention.

  “Hey!” Darren said sharply. He took three long strides toward the boys sitting on the hardwood floor of the gymnasium and loomed over them in what he hoped was a pretty decent imitation of every coach he’d ever had over the years. At least that’s what he was intending to do. “What do you think you’re doing? Do you have any idea how to respect an authority figure? This woman is your guidance counselor! Do you understand me, young man?” He leaned down and got right in the biggest kid’s face. “Do you?”

  For just one second, Darren thought he was actually going to have a throw down with a nine-year-old. Holy crap! The kid was in that kind of chunky phase that many boys go through right before they hit a growth spurt. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a whole bucket load of freckles on his nose. About half his big teeth were in and the rest were missing. His chin jutted out mulishly, and for one second, Darren was pretty sure the little turd was going to get in Darren’s face and argue that he didn’t have to show respect to anybody.

  Then at the last second the kid looked down and sighed. “Yes, sir,” the boy mumbled.

  Darren immediately followed up on his advantage just to see what would happen. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear your apology to Ms. Brown.”

  There was a flare of anger in the boy’s eyes, but then he turned toward Maggie and bobbed his head. “I’m sorry, Ms. Brown.”

  “I appreciate your apology, Julian,” Maggie said solemnly. “Now. I was trying to introduce Mr. Hernandez to your class. He will be your new gym teacher until we find someone to permanently take over the position.”

  All twenty pairs of eyes drifted toward Darren. They started at his feet and then craned their necks back all the way to look up at his face. Darren smiled. He wasn’t trying to scare them. He didn’t even particularly want to intimidate them just yet. That felt a little preemptive. But damned if he was going to deal with their disrespectful behavior, especially when it involved being rude to Maggie.

  “It’s very nice to meet all of you,” Darren told them in a voice that did seem to carry throughout the gym. He attempted to dial it back a bit more but didn’t have too much luck. “I want each and every one of you to stand up one at a time, tell me your name, how old you are, and what your favorite sport is. If you don’t like sports, that’s okay too. Just own it. Then after you’ve told me your name and your favorite sport, go sit down on the blue line. We’re going to do some warm-up exercises today just so I can get to know you and so you can get to know me.”

  Where was this crap coming from? Darren felt like there was some strange entity inhabiting his body. He had never run a class like this before. He hadn’t ever even thought about what it might be like to run a class like this. Yet here he was, pulling activities out of his ass like he’d had some kind of training to do it. Oddly enough, it felt good. Not just interacting with the kids but also feeling as though he was not only doing something worthwhile but also something honest. There was a certain simplicity to what was happening in this gym that appealed to Darren in a way he had never experienced before.

  Maggie Brown moved in closer to Darren. She put her back to the kids and leaned over to speak to him privately. “Was that in the lesson plan?”

  “No,” he murmured. “I’m just making this up as I go.”

  Maggie touched his arm. The sensation sent a jolt of excitement from the point of contact to every extremity of his body. Her fingers wer
e so soft, and her touch was so light. It was almost featherlike. He thought about what it was like to have those fingers tugging at his hair and touching his face. They had shared one kiss, and he could not stop thinking about the next one.

  “I’ll see you after class to see how things went.” With those words, Maggie left the gym. Darren struggled with the urge to watch in slack-jawed appreciation as she walked toward the double doors leading out of the gym. But that certainly would not be sending a message of respect to the youngsters still staring at him as though they were waiting on pins and needles to see what would happen next.

  “All right.” Darren clapped his hands so hard that the echo made a few of the girls slap their hands over their ears. He was glad that Bella wasn’t in this first class. He wanted to have things down before he had her in front of him. “Let’s get started. Shall we? Julian, why don’t you go first?”

  “My name is Julian, and I like football.” The kid grunted like a professional wrestler and smashed one fist into the other before trotting over to the blue line and plopping onto his bottom.

  Of course, Julian’s buddies Bentley and Sawyer both claimed to love football as well. There were about half a dozen soccer players from both genders, a few cheerleaders, one girl that was pretty much a hardcore gymnast, and two figure skaters, and nearly everyone said that they skied in the wintertime, but only one kid claimed to do so competitively. Then there were the five or six youngsters that didn’t play a sport and didn’t really care. They did admit to enjoying a chance to play outside though, which was something.

  “So, how good of shape do you think you’re in?” Darren asked the kids.

  Most of them were nodding their heads and shouting that they were in terrific shape. There was lots of bouncing and eagerness that made Darren feel about a million years old. When in the hell had he ever possessed this kind of energy?