DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(64)

“Do they have special meaning to you? Or were they just random choices?”

“This one,” he said, gesturing with the arm that sported the cross, “was a roundabout insult to my father. Though I didn’t think of it that way at the time. I thought it was more to prove to him that you could believe in God and still do whatever you wanted with your own body. And this one,” he stared down at the infinity symbol, a sort of dreamy look coming to his perfect caramel eyes, “was a request of a young woman I met that summer.”

“Hmm, so it was an attempt to get her into your bed. Were you successful?”

“I was,” he admitted, his eyes moving to the football field just as our defense took over.

It wasn’t hard to imagine him romancing some young woman when he was a young man himself. Hell, it wasn’t hard to imagine him doing it now. He seemed like a very charming man who often got what he wanted. And, as stupid as it might sound, I was a little jealous of that young woman who got him to permanently disfigure his body for her. She must have meant a lot to him.

I don’t think I’ve ever mattered that much to a man before. There were men in my life. Boys, really. I dated in high school, but never anything serious, and most of those guys were married with small children now. And college. There’d been one guy in college I would have done almost anything for. But he was so focused on his studies that I’m not sure he ever realized just how deep my feelings for him went. And the man in New York. But I hadn’t heard from him in more than a year. He’d clearly moved on. And I…I suppose I was just a memory to him now.

At least, I hope I was.

“Do you have others?”

Mr. James looked at me as though he’d forgotten I was there.

“Others?”

“Tattoos.”

“A few.” He touched his forearm. “There’s one here.” Then he touched his chest. “One here.”

I started to ask what they were, but the way he spoke, especially when he touched his chest, left the impression that they were kind of personal and he really didn’t want to talk about them.

“We don’t get many teachers out here with tattoos.”

“I got that impression on the first day of school when I took off my jacket and half the class gasped and the other half stood up to get a better look.”

I smiled. I could imagine.

“This town is pretty tight. People are friendly, but they don’t let you in easily.”

“We don’t get a lot of outsiders around her.”

“Do you like living in such a small town?”

I shrugged. “It has its pros and cons, just like any other place.”

“You’ve lived here all your life?”

“No. We moved here when I was thirteen. Just in time to start junior high.”

“Must have been tough.”

“I hated it,” I admitted. “It took forever to make friends and I struggled with the curriculum for a while.”

“But you settled in.”

“Eventually.”

“Would you have come back, if not for what happened?”

“No. I was happy in my life.” I looked out at the field, watched as JT high fived a couple of his teammates following a turn over. “I mean, I would have come back to visit. But I don’t think I would have lived here again.”

He nodded. I could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. I wondered if I’d said something I shouldn’t have. After all, this was the teacher who’d threaten to have my brother taken from our home. But he seemed—

The crowd erupted into loud cheers and stomping that vibrated the metal stands under my ass. I stood up, realizing a little too late that we’d just made a touchdown and it was JT holding the ball in the in zone. I shook the cowbell and screamed his name, forcing more enthusiasm into my voice than I felt. Someone behind me patted my shoulder as though it was as much my achievement as it was JT.

The extra point kick was good. The crowd cheered again, the band playing a triumphant melody, and then everyone settled back for the next set of downs.

A couple of teenagers wandered toward us, one of the girls waving with a deep blush on her cheeks at Mr. James.

“They seemed to really like you.”

He shrugged.

“They’ll all be talking about how you sat with me at the game. By Monday, they’ll have us engaged.”

He cocked an eyebrow as he glanced at me. “You think so?”

“Oh, sure. You have to be really careful who you spend time with at these public events.”

He started to say something, but then his cellphone rang. He tugged it out of his jeans pocket and I caught sight of a woman’s name—Libby—before he muttered, “I have to take this,” and wandered off.

He had a girlfriend.

Why wasn’t I surprised?





Chapter 4



Harrison

I left the stands and wandered toward a quiet spot at the back of the stadium as I answered the phone.

“Hey, Lib. What’s up?”

“Where are you? I can barely hear you.”

“Football game.”

“Oh? How’s JT doing?”

“Just scored a touchdown.”

“Awesome.”