Page 16 of Virgin for Next Door Wolf Daddy
7
Talia
Talia woke with a start to the incessant blaring of her alarm. She slammed her hand down on the snooze button on her old-fashioned clock alarm. It had taken her abuse since she was in middle school, and frankly, she was still surprised that she hadn’t beaten it to death.
Five minutes later, it went off again. Her eyes opened a slit and she groaned. Reaching over, she turned off the alarm and practically rolled out of bed. Talia did not enjoy having her night’s rest interrupted by whatever pain in the ass decided to wake her up last night. She made her way into the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Forcing her eyes open, she stumbled toward the kitchen where her automatic coffee pot was blissfully full.
She drank one cup and poured another until she decided she really should get dressed. Teaching class in nothing but a T-shirt and panties might keep her students’ attention but would likely end with her being fired. That would be a bad thing, considering this was the first day of classes.
Talia grabbed a couple of breakfast bars and hopped into her car. Instead of thinking about the day’s ice-breakers and introduction to the classes she would be teaching this semester, her mind raced.
“Who in the world would try to break into my house?”
When Sebastian had asked about a stalker, Darius briefly came to mind. However, he was a narcissist and a pain in the ass, but she didn’t think that he had the gumption to be a stalker. He was too lazy and tended to avoid anything that took an effort.
She blushed at the thought of Sebastian. Talia had run out of the house wearing a T-shirt and panties. Granted, the man had seen her naked many times in the past as they shifted, but there was something about certain types of clothes that were even more erotic than nudity. Sebastian had been interested, even if he was worried about her.
They had a meeting first thing in the morning. Talia abhorred meetings and thought most of them were a waste of time. People spent an hour talking about something they could take five minutes to write in an email.
However, her mood brightened once she got into her classroom. The kids were great and welcomed her to the school. Despite her misgivings, the students seemed to enjoy the ice-breakers, and they helped her get to know them. It was still going to take a while before she remembered all of their names, but she would, eventually. For now, though, they were sir and ma’am.
The day went fairly quickly, and she was packing up to leave when someone knocked on her door. She looked up and groaned. The hair went up on the back of her neck and goosebumps covered her arms. Her gut told her there was something off about him.
Talia plastered a smile on her face. “Mr. Ellis. What can I do for you?”
She wished she could take back the words as soon as she saw the wolfish grin on his face.
Great. This is all I need right now.
He walked toward her and she made sure to keep her desk between the two of them. She was sure that he wasn’t going to physically attack her in the classroom, but she didn’t want him touching her or even getting too close.
“I was just checking in to see how your first day of school went.”
“It was great, thanks.”
“If Joey puts even one toe out of line, all you have to do is call me and I’ll straighten him out.”
Talia hated to think what that might mean.
“He is a great kid and I’m sure he will be terrific in class.”
“His mother and I are divorced. Are you seeing anyone?”
Talia crossed her fingers against the fib and said, “I am.” She hated to lie, but she knew that if she didn’t, he would become very pushy and that was the last thing she wanted to deal with tonight.
Besides, I’ve had dinner with Sebastian a couple of times. That counts as seeing someone, right?
“He’s a lucky guy. You’re a beautiful woman, sweet, and smart.” He paused and there was a brief awkward silence. “Well, I have to get going. I work as a security guard at the prison.”
“Be careful.”
She breathed a huge sigh of relief when he left. Talia waited a few minutes before she stepped out into the hallway. She walked down to the office and clocked out. Then, she was happy to see another teacher walking out at the same time she was.
Talia was restless when she got home and wanted nothing more than to shift and go for a run, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to go alone. At least one of her parents had gone with her when she was a kid. A lot had changed since then. Other shifters might be around or just hunters. Although Angel’s Creek had always been relatively safe in regards to shifter hunters, she couldn’t be sure.
Sebastian’s truck wasn’t in his driveway. She thought about knocking anyway because he often pulled it into his garage, but she didn’t have the nerve. She laughed at herself and decided that she was still acting like a little girl with a crush, even though Sebastian had proven that he didn’t see her as a little girl anymore.
She was about to give up on the idea when he pulled into the driveway. Talia hemmed and hawed about whether she was going to ask him, and then told herself, “Put your big girl panties on and just go out there.”
