Chapter 30

thirty

ISLA

"Seriously, this is so sweet." LaTonya's voice floats through the open door of my classroom from down the hall, along with a few giggles and the murmurs of a few of my coworkers. "Her classroom is just down here."

That has me straightening. My ears perk up when I hear the familiar rumble of a sexy, deep voice say a simple "Thank you." The scent of pizza precedes Maddox, who walks in with six teachers in his wake. Four of them are female coworkers who definitely take advantage of the fact that they're following behind a hot athlete. They sneak looks at his muscular backside, smirking at each other. Two are male coworkers who have their chests puffed out like they've got to prove their masculinity in the face of a local hockey hero. They may also follow him because Maddox is carrying at least ten extra-large pizza boxes.

Maddox gifts me with a bright smile when he sees me. It overtakes his whole face, those straight white teeth of his nearly blinding me. "Hey, baby."

Swoon.

"What in the world are you doing here? I thought you and the guys were doing weight training." Closing the distance between us, I take some of the pizza boxes off his hands, setting them down on my desk. He follows suit. I take a step toward him, but insecurity makes me freeze. How should I greet him in front of other people? I'm not really sure what we're doing, or if it's more than just having some fun, but he showed up unannounced at my job. That has to mean something, right?

Luckily, Maddox takes my hesitation in stride and decides for me. He wraps me up in a tight hug before pressing a kiss to my forehead and releasing me. "Eh, it wasn't mandatory, and I was distracted thinking about you. When I told the guys I was going to bring you and your coworkers lunch, I had to ban Griffin from coming. He mentioned that teacher you told him about, and I made Navarro distract him because that seemed like a recipe for disaster."

I choke out a laugh. "You have no idea. The teacher I was talking about is sixty."

Maddox's brow rises and his mouth goes slack before he's laughing and kissing my forehead again. "I'm not actually sure if that would deter him."

LaTonya clears her throat behind Maddox and I can feel my cheeks flame hot and pink. She shoots me a knowing look, and I disentangle myself from Maddox's hands and fiddle with the end of my ponytail.

"Oh, uh, sorry. Guys, this is Maddox. Maddox, this is LaTonya, Mike, Kristy, Paul, Kim, Beth, and Sarah." I motion to each of my coworkers. Maddox shakes their hands, telling them it's nice to formally meet them. Since, you know, they've been following him through the school like he's a mama duck and they're his ducklings.

"I have some soda in my car, but couldn't carry them all. I didn't think to grab plates, though. Sorry, that was an oversight." He runs a hand through his dark hair, nervous. It makes me like him even more that he'd be totally at ease around a group of rich, influential people, but with the teachers I work with, that's when his nerves show. Because he cares what they think about him. The realization that he must not care all that much about what the rich and powerful people at the charity dinner thought of him makes me smile like an idiot.

"I think we still have some paper plates in the teacher's lounge. LaTonya, will you check? Can someone also grab napkins and let whoever else is here know there's pizza?" With a bit of reluctance, they disperse, leaving me with Maddox. I go up on my tiptoes and brush a soft kiss against his lips. "This is a really nice surprise. Thank you."

"I hope it's not too much of a distraction, but I wanted to see you."

"Not at all," I assure him. It's like high school all over again. Who would have thought a grown woman could be giddy with butterflies and anticipation? "Let me help you bring in the soda."

He takes my hand in his, interlacing our fingers. We walk in companionable silence. It gives me time to wrap my head around the fact that he's here. He's here, and he brought enough pizza to feed the teachers setting up for the first day of school. It's incredibly thoughtful and sweet.

"If you thought you had a fan club when you walked in, it's nothing on what awaits you when the rest of the teachers hear you brought free lunch," I say when Maddox opens the back of his SUV revealing three twenty-four packs of different sodas.

He grins at me, grabbing one in each hand and letting me wrap my arms around the last one. "That so?"

"Oh, yeah." I nod. I won't tell him that his ass also has its own fan club. He doesn't need to know that. And that ass is all mine. "I hope you're ready."

Maddox shrugs. "There's only one person I need in my fan club." All of me tingles when his eyes rove over my body with proprietary satisfaction. Damn. I might need to carry around a spare pair of panties because Maddox can wreck them with just one heated look.

"Oh?" I try to ignore the dampness between my legs as we walk back toward the school. I totally don't add an extra, exaggerated sway to my hips, so he has to worry about strolling in with a boner so we're even. Nope. I don't do that at all. "Paul is definitely a Rogues superfan."

Maddox's answering growl is adorable and I can't hold in my giggle. "Careful, Short-Stack. I'm not opposed to spanking your sassy little ass."

A shiver of pleasure skips down my spine like an eager little hussy, ending its journey between my legs. "Don't threaten me with a good time, Graves."

"Temptress," he mutters under his breath as we make it inside the school. There's a lot of excited chatter as we get closer to my classroom; no surprise there. My fellow teachers mill around, along with Craig, our maintenance man extraordinaire, talking excitedly. They quiet as we approach, all eyes on Maddox and me .

"Told you it was him," Paul says to the gym teacher, Archie.

"Dude." Archie's eyes are so wide it's comical. God, it's so hard not to laugh.

"All right, all right," I say. "Clear a path, you gawkers. You'll all meet Maddox, but these cases of soda are heavy, and I really don't want to drop it on my foot." That snaps them all out of their fan-induced stupor, and soon the cases are being taken out of our hands. We all gather in my classroom, but no one touches the pizza.

Maddox runs his hand through his hair again, looking bashful. "Everyone enjoy as much pizza as you want. If we need more, I'll order it, so don't worry about taking too much. I just wanted to show my appreciation for what you all do. Teachers deserve the big bucks more than dumb hockey players," he says with a charming smile. There's a beat of silence, and then everyone's opening boxes and digging in.

"Hockey players aren't dumb," I say, grabbing his hand and resting my head against his arm.

Rich brown eyes peer down at me. They're soft and warm, and I want to burrow into them and never leave. "Maybe not, but what we do isn't nearly as important as what you do."

His words heal something broken in me, or at least start to. I never needed anyone to approve of what I do or praise me for it, but I can't deny how warm and gooey it makes me that Maddox does. "You make people happy," I tell him. "You give people something to cheer for when they may not have anything else to get excited about in their lives. Don't downgrade what you do. I know how hard you work. "

Those mahogany eyes of his soften even more, and then he's cupping my face in his large, callused hand and kissing me softly right there in front of everyone I work with. There are a few whistles and cheers, but I don't pay them any mind. My attention is all for the man before me. "Thanks, baby."

For the next hour, we stuff ourselves with cheesy goodness, and all of my coworkers chat with Maddox. His shoulders loosen with each new conversation as the nerves he was battling fall away. Soon, he's laughing and joking around with everyone. Winning them over easily, and not because he's some famous hockey player. He wins them over with his easy smiles, his studious attention to me, and his abundant charisma. He could be a parking cop, and they'd still hang off every word he utters.

Eventually, everyone filters out of the room, offering parting words of thanks and hoping they'll see Maddox around again. Then it's just the two of us, and I wish the afternoon didn't have to end.

"Thanks for visiting me and for bringing lunch for everyone." I wrap my arms around his waist and press my face into the sculpted planes of his chest. "You seriously made my day."

Maddox's arms cocoon around me, and once again I'm struck by how protected and safe I feel when he holds me. I want to chase the feeling, but I'm also terrified of letting myself grow to love it too much. It'll just hurt more when this inevitably ends.

"Kicking me out already?" Maddox arches an eyebrow at me, one corner of his lips quirking.

"Oh, no, I just have to do some more work setting up my room, and I figured you had more important things to do than watch me."

"I do," he says. "Helping you. Now put me to work, Teach."

Swoon again. I'll have to carry smelling salts around. "You don't have to do that." Even though I want him to.

"I know. I want to. If you don't think I'll just get in your way." He hides a flash of vulnerability with a broad smile, but I catch it.

I rest my chin on his chest and blink up at him. "You're pretty big, but I think I can work around you." He chuckles, and I continue with a smirk. "And I'd love the help. Thank you."

The descent of his lips is slow enough that anticipation builds low in my belly. And when he kisses me, I feel it down to my toes. One of Maddox's large hands braces against the back of my neck, while the other goes to my hip. It's slow, sweet, and so damned hot I consider abandoning my classroom to go back to my place, push him down onto my bed, and have my dirty, wanton way with him.

"If you keep looking at me like that, we won't get much work done."

A sigh escapes me, puffing against his lips. "I know."

He kisses me again. This one is quick and playful. And then my body mourns the loss of his heat. Maddox heads toward a stack of posters piled haphazardly on one of the empty student desks and checks out each one. "Where do you want these?"

And that's how Maddox Graves spends the rest of the day helping me set up my classroom.