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Love Lessons Box Set

Excerpt

“The first day is always the hardest,” Graig Case said to himself. He wasn’t sure how else to psyche himself up. He walked out of the main office of the high school. He stopped in front of the auditorium and drank in the view from the top of the marble steps. After the craziness of the last few months—the moving, the uncertainty of his job situation and playing a hunch with his career…he had a job. He still hadn’t wrapped his mind around having earned the final interview and being offered the position. He wasn’t a substitute any longer. Now, he was the real deal.

He stared at the keys in his hand. This year he’d been given an honest-to-God classroom, not a portion of the library. He’d been assigned to the art hallway. Sure, that was probably the only open room and not too big, but who cared? The classroom was his!

He leaned on the wall. A row of staff photos decorated the space above the bank of doors leading to the front of the school building. My colleagues. They’d been nice to him during the previous year, but half of them hadn’t expected him to return. The substitutes tended to be there for the school year and moved on or burned out by the next.

Graig chuckled. He wasn’t out or giving up, since he had a classroom right down the hallway from Tessa Martin. Just thinking about her warmed him all over. He’d flirted with her the year before and had almost asked her out twice, but had lost his nerve. They were friends and he’d told himself not to screw things up with her. She’d been nice to him and had given him the tipoff when her apartment complex had a few units open. Without her, he wouldn’t have his current place—right across the courtyard from her. During the summer, he’d run into her a few times in the parking lot. Each time they were together, she made him think twice about her. If he hadn’t gotten into a relationship with his last girlfriend, Lila, he would have made a play for Tessa. But he’d chosen Lila.

He snorted. Lila. She’d been a mistake from the start. She refused to support his career and hadn’t wanted him to take the substitute teaching job. When he’d signed the lease for the apartment, Lila had left him. According to her, he was wasting time at the high school and making a fool of himself by getting a place to live right there in town. She claimed he was meant for bigger and better things. He wasn’t so sure.

Not that Lila’s opinion mattered all that much. She’d broken things off with him. She’d acted almost sincere when she’d told him to go to hell after he revealed he’d been offered the contract to work at the high school. She’d dumped him on the spot.

He focused on someone better—Tessa. Who was he kidding? Running into her and those chance conversations weren’t enough, but he’d never quite gotten her out of his system. When he’d seen her and spoken to her, she’d blush, smile and hurry away before he could get much conversation going. He should’ve stood his ground and asked her out for coffee. But he hadn’t. He’d given her space.

Tessa’s image grinned from her spot on the wall. In the photo, she’d pulled her dark hair away from her face and the cowl-neck sweater bunched up beneath her chin. It wasn’t the best photo, even if she did look happy. He shouldn’t stare. It wasn’t polite, but like last year, he was still drawn to her. She had such a pretty face, bright smile and infectious laugh. Being around her made him happy and put him at ease. But she always hid herself under those baggy sweaters and bulky aprons. Her clothing choices hadn’t flattered her figure.

Part of him wanted to tell her how he felt—that she was a diamond in the rough and had so much sparkle within her. But his tendency to speak his mind and say the wrong things would put her off. Not that he blamed her.

Maybe she needed some encouragement…just like he did. She seemed so shy, but once he’d gotten to know her, she’d gained a little confidence. Could he help her find more? He doubted he’d be the catalyst, but he had an entire school year down the hall from her.

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