The next scene in our story, an update on Provoked, more loot…and some Riley news!!!

 

This is Master X

If you haven’t read the first scene/chapter (click here)

Here is the next chapter/scene in our story!

This was one part of her job Naomi didn’t like. Chairing the PTA meetings on the last Thursday of every other month. Especially when she had an agenda to push. She’d done a good job of riling up the parents in attendance over next year’s budget, which although inadequate, was not the most important thing on the docket tonight. This last item was and she was going in for the soft pedal to get them to agree to more of those measly budget dollars going toward the girl’s science program than the boys locker room. The football team could wait another year for new ceramic tile she was pretty sure, considering there wasn’t anything wrong with the old floors other than being outdated.

“So we’ve covered everything then? No one has any questions about this one small change to the budget? Great, I—”

She’d almost got the words “adjourn the meeting” when someone from the back of the room spoke up and she recognized that husky voice. It was uncle McAlicious. What was he doing here?

Spencer’s the star football player, why wouldn’t the guy be here protecting the boy’s interest in getting the new locker room they’d been waiting all year for? Freaking hell.

She decided to play dumb and maybe McAlicious would go away. “Did someone say something?” She looked everywhere but at the back of the room. “No? Fine. The meeting’s adjourned.” She rushed those words out so fast she figured if this principal gig didn’t work out for her, she’d make a phenomenal auctioneer.

“I said something before you adjourned the meeting, so technically it can’t be adjourned until I have my say.”

What was he a resident expert on the rules of a PTA meeting? She plastered a tight smile on her face and came around the front of the podium, saying, “I’m sorry.” She made a big show of craning her neck and doing a thorough search around the room, looking everywhere but where he sat. “And you are?”

He stood and stepped into the aisle, filling up the space. Yeah, and seeing all the women in the room ogling him? Well, she wished it was just the two of them in her office again.

“Call me Z.”

She had to bite her lip to stop from smiling. He really was a cheeky devil to suggest that in front of all these people when she couldn’t remind him about what he’d said before. That he wouldn’t answer to Z. “Mr. Reid, good evening. Do you have a question regarding something on the agenda?”

His expression remained calm, unchanging, as he shook his head. “No.”

“Oh…then I don’t see why I can’t adjourn.”

“I have a question about what’s not on the agenda that you’re looking to pass.”

Proverbial fly? Meet the oil. “Excuse me?”

“Unless I read the lengthy list of projected budget spending over the next fiscal year wrong, I saw absolutely nowhere in that information that it said a new science lab was even on the table for discussion.”

“It was in four ‘a’ subsection two on page three.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t.”

She was beginning to panic here. The interested crowd was shifting their attention back forth between them as if they were at a tennis match. “Maybe it was on page five.”

He shook his head again. Was he smiling? “Identic memory. There was no mention a girl’s science lab included in the spending.”

Balls.

“So what are you suggesting, Mr. Reid? That we redo perfectly good ceramic tile in the boys change room in lieu of expanding the feminine mathematical mind?”

When she saw the smiling hovering over his lips she realized he was playing with her. Why?

“I’m thinking we should leave the option open so that both will get what they want.”

Naomi looked down at the columns of numbers in the papers in her hand, and frowned. There was no way they could squeeze another dime out of this. To do both was nuts. “I appreciate your input, but there’s no way.”

“How about a fundraiser?”

She looked up. She hadn’t wanted to suggest that topic because the last time she had the parents had complained that the kids had enough to do, but now? Now all those naysayers from before were nodding as if McAlicious had reinvented the wheel that would take them to space or something.

“That’s a great idea,” one woman said.

“I think that would be wonderful.” Another threw her oar in.

“It makes sense to do something like that.” This last one came from a diehard stick-in-the-mud on trying anything new.

Naomi scanned the room and wanted to throw up her hands in defeat. If all it took was one powerful, well-built, gorgeous guy to sell an idea she wanted approved, she’d pay for the next one to attend the meeting.

McAlicious was here of his own freewill.

Her gaze locked with his and she conceded. Even though it killed her, she said, “That’s a great idea. I wish I’d thought of it.”

Ten minutes later she was still waiting for the stragglers to exit the school library so she could lock up. They were all busy discussing their ideas with their new found meat. McAlicious. To his credit, the guy remained calm and patient as he listened to each and every one of their suggestions. But it wasn’t until he smiled at a shy looking mom who was being pushed out of the circle of vultures surrounding him, and purposely gave her his undivided attention, that Naomi experienced a little tightening in her chest. Xander Reid was a gentleman.

Damn.

 

Xander moved aside and let Naomi lock the door to the library. “That was a productive meeting.”

“Thanks to you.” She looked up and gave him a barely passible smile. “Next time I want to get something done at this school I’ll have to hire a hunk.”

“The most powerful time in a woman’s life is when she has school-aged children to care for. Think about it. She’s in the role of boss, doctor, and CEO of her little family unit.” He let Naomi match his stride as he walked with her to the front entrance of the building. “Unfortunately, it can also be the loneliest depending on how wise she was in choosing a partner. If she still has one by the time her kids are in grade school…well, sometimes being in a marriage can make a person lonelier than not being in one.” He was thinking about his brother and his wife. They had a marriage like that.

“Why because you wind up not talking to each other a lot?”

He held the door for her and then followed her out. “I’d rather that then what I was referring to. Not speaking is usually what happens after you fight. Fighting is good in a marriage. And speaking of marriage, why haven’t you asked me if I’m married, Naomi?”

“Spencer told me…” She realized her mistake the second the words came out of her mouth. He could tell because her hands hesitated in the motion of locking the heavy glass doors. “Besides you’re not wearing a ring. Hey, what were you referring to…about marriage I mean?”

“There’s an expectation of companionship that may not be met. As in, you expect your husband to come home to you every night and help out with the kids, but he tells you he’s staying late at work when you both know he’s going to the local bar with his buddies to kill an hour or two before he has to go home.”

“This is my car,” she said, stopping by her deep blue Honda.

“I know.”

She turned and looked up at him. “Why Mr. Reid, have you been checking up on me?”

“Guilty. I read your license plate. Clever.” It read IAMPAL.

Her eyes widened. “You got it? Most people don’t.”

“Yes, with spell check and Google I don’t imagine too many parents are hammering the notion that your Principal is your pal these days so the kids would know the difference between the two spellings. I always thought it was ironic. Believe me. When I was in school that was the last thing any of my principals were to me.”

She shook her head and opened her car door. “I think you’re right about marriages. That’s why I’ve decided to remain single. The thought of a man…”

“Yes?” He stepped closer and she backed up until her ass was against the car.

“I mean, I like my independence.”

He towered over her. Waiting and watching. She could have easily gotten into her car and if she had, he would have let her, but she didn’t. Her breathing pattern changed and with the steady beam of light shining from the overhead lamp post he saw her pupils had dilated as well. When her gaze finally dropped to his chest, he whispered, “Intelligent and beautiful women should never be left alone. If unattended they end up being a danger to themselves.”

“That’s crazy.” Her voice was soft and unsure. He liked that.

“No. Just like the student at your school who needs a capable teacher, an intelligent woman needs a man she can trust and learn from. His guidance and lessons should be worthy of her attention.”

She lifted her gaze. God, he loved the intensity he saw sparkling there. “What…what does beauty have to do with it?”

“Beauty comes with an attitude a real man won’t put up with.”

His comment seemed to snap her out of whatever was happening between them. There’d been something, but he wasn’t exactly sure what to call it. Vanilla wasn’t his flavor no matter how tempting it looked, so he didn’t want to say mutual attraction. “Yes, well I can assure you Z that a real woman wouldn’t put up with some jackass who didn’t come home to her and their kids after work. Wait.” She slid into the driver seat and leaned sideways to grasp the car door handle, before she huffed a piece of bang out of her eyes and said, “I know why you think a beautiful and intelligent woman is a danger. She’d be too smart to let some guy teach her that her place in his life is in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant. Possibly being the CEO of the little brood he helped create but didn’t want to look after. God forbid!”

He quickly step-sided the swing of the door closing, and scowled. The car window started to skip as it made its way down. When it was nearly there she stuck her head out of the opening and scowl right back at him. “Are you gay?”

Yeah, on the list of a thousand things he’d expected her to say, that was dead last. He shook his head.

“Too bad. With your kind of warped ideology about females, I highly doubt you’ll be able to find a woman who’d be willing to let shit—excuse my French—like that slide.”

“That wasn’t French.” When she went to press the button to make the window go up, he leaned down and put a hand over hers in the car. “This is. Je m’excuse. I mean it. I’m sorry.”

“You think that—you are?”

He really was. He had no business speaking to her as if she belonged to him. The concepts and ideology, as she put it, that he had about women and men and their relationships together, were far different than what she was used to. No wonder she was insulted.

The fact that he didn’t want her to be shocked him.

It also made him see quite clearly that there was a mutual attraction after all. One that went deeper than the physical…for both of them. It was a good thing this was the last time he’d see her. His brother returned tomorrow so Xander’s babysitting duties would be over and so would any opportunity to run into the beautiful Ms. Dodd. She walked on paths that didn’t cross his, he was sure.

“I accept your apology.”

Maybe it was the soft way she’d said it, or could have been that sparkle in her eyes, whatever it was prompted him to steal one last moment with her. He leaned closer, and when she sharply exhaled and he felt the rush of warm air against his lips, he whispered, “Be glad about my ideology, Ms. Dodd. It’s the one thing that will protect you from a man like me. It’s the only thing. Believe me, if I thought for one second you’d be on board with my kind of philosophy and how it specifically pertains to the woman I want in my life, nothing would stop me.”

She didn’t move a muscle so he was the one to break the tension between them. He had to. This was getting out of hand. Straightening, he took a step back.

“I would.” He knew his gaze was drilling into her, but seriously, was she challenging him? “I would stop you.”

It was a good thing she put that window up. The best thing that she started the car. A glorious thing when she drove off because he hadn’t felt this burning need to rise to such a challenge in a very long time.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, before he walked to his car. Once he was behind the wheel with engine humming, he thought about what just happened. Somehow, some way, a little vanilla hottie had gotten under his Dom skin and found a place there.

Good thing he’d never see her again. Damn good thing.

He picked up his phone and checked for messages before he pulled out of the parking spot. There was only one text and after he read he swore.

“Shit.”

It was his GM from the club reminding him about his promise. He’d agreed to go there tomorrow night and meet with some of the unattached subs that had a membership. This kind of thing was always a dicey proposition as most of them were unattached for a reason.

Ms. Dodd was unattached.

Yes, and there most definitely a reason.

I would stop you, she’d said.

The only problem he had with that declaration was that she hadn’t believed it and he didn’t know why.

A challenge and mystery all wrapped up in a nice, tight pencil skirt…?

Yeah, tomorrow night couldn’t come soon enough for him. A few eager-to-please distractions are what the Dom in him needed.

Purely feminine distractions that were specifically available for him to touch, taste, and teach if he was so inclined. Maybe there’d be one woman who would catch his interest. She needed to have black hair and if she was wearing a pencil skirt? He’d be interested. Very interested.

(end)

This is what we’re adding. It’s a kinky flash drive! I love these.

It has my website address on it! See?

*rubs hands together* All right. We’re only going to do two more scenes/chapters and then we’re doing the drawing. Seriously, Honey is so ready for me to pack up all the stuff and ship it off. Haha! Did I mention that we’re remodeling the house and he’s doing most of the work? Or that he’s a bear right now? A bossy, grumpy one? No? *shakes head* This too shall pass. *looks right at you and whispers* “Soon I hope.”

For those of you that missed it. The winner of our last Provoked made the Top 100 lists it was Havebookwillsurvive/cara from comments! She won a proof copy of Provoked and 25.00 Amazon gift card!

Oh, and on a couple of other things I’ve got going on. Let’s see…

Provoked‘s book video is spotlighted today on HEA US TODAY! They say it’s unique and compelling. You can click on the cover if you haven’t seen the video. It will take you to the article. Nice!

I’m nearly done with Pushed. This is Jude and Cat’s story. Can’t wait for you guys to meet them!

And…I’ve been asked to write something completely different for a particular publisher. I’m in talks now and I’m seriously thinking about it! So exciting!

As for the next scene in our story? It’s going to be the club scene. You guys have given me some great ideas about what to have in the basic structure, but now I’m looking for some words or phrases. Post them in comments – to get your name more times in the hat and I’ll include what I can.

As always – thanks for stopping by!

Riley