Midnight Sons Volume 2 Read Free Page A

O’Halloran brother, Christian, had tried to convince his secretary to move into town. But Mariah always refused. Mitch was just glad he wasn’t the one dealing with her stubbornness.
    He turned the truck around and headed back toward the school. When he pulled up in front of Bethany’s little house, she smiled at him.
    “Thanks for the tour and the ride home.”
    “My pleasure.”
    “Chrissie,” Bethany said, her voice gentle, “since I’m new here, I was wondering if you’d be my classroom helper.”
    His daughter’s eyes lit up like sparklers on the Fourth of July, and she nodded so hard her pigtails bounced wildly. “Can Susan be your helper, too?”
    “Of course.”
    Chrissie beamed a proud smile at her father.
    “Well, good night, Chrissie, Mitch,” Bethany said, then opened her door and climbed out.
    “Night,” father and daughter echoed. Mitch waited until she was inside the house and the lights were on before he drove off.
    So, he thought, the new schoolteacher has arrived.
     
    Bethany was even more exhausted than she’d realized. But instead of falling into a sound sleep, she lay awake, staring at the ceiling, fighting fatigue and mulling over the time she’d spent with Mitch Harris.
    The man was both intense and intelligent. That much had been immediately apparent. He stood apart from the others in more ways than one. Bethany suspected he wouldn’t have bothered to introduce himself, which was why she’d taken the initiative. She’d noticed him right away, half-hidden in a corner, watching the events without joining in. When it looked as if the evening would pass without her meeting him, she’d made the first move.
    There was something about him that appealed to her. Having lived with a policeman all her life, she must have intuitively sensed his occupation; she certainly hadn’t been surprised when Sawyer told her. He reminded her a little of her father. They seemed to have the same analytical mind. It drove her mother crazy, the way Dad carefully weighed each decision, considered every option, before taking action. She’d bet Mitch was like that, too.
    It was one personality trait Bethany didn’t share.
    She would’ve liked to know Mitch Harris better, but she had the distinct impression he wasn’t interested. Then again…maybe he was. A breathless moment before she’d introduced herself, she’d recognized some glint of admiration in his eye. She’d been sure of it. But now she wondered if that moment had existed only in her imagination.
    All the same, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to see his eyes darken with passion before he kissed her.…
    She was far too tired; she wasn’t thinking clearly. Bethany closed her eyes and pounded the pillow, trying to force herself to relax.
    But even with her eyes shut, all she saw was Mitch Harris’s face.
    She hadn’t come to Hard Luck to fall in love, she told herself sternly.
    Rolling onto her other side, she cradled the pillow in her arms. It didn’t help. Drat. She could deny it till doomsday, but it wouldn’t make any difference. There was just something about Chrissie’s father….
     
    “Ms. Ross?”
    Bethany looked up from the back of her classroom. Chrissie and Susan stood by the doorway, their faces beaming with eagerness.
    “Hello, girls.”
    “Um, we’re here to be your helpers,” Chrissie said. “Dad told us we’d better make sure we are helpers and not nuisances.”
    “I’m sure you’ll be wonderful helpers,” Bethany said.
    The two girls instantly broke into huge grins and rushed inside the room. Bethany put them to work sorting textbooks. This was the first time she’d taught more than one grade, and the fact that she’d now be handling kindergarten through six intimidated her.
    “Everyone’s looking forward to school,” Chrissie announced, “especially my dad.”
    Bethany chuckled. Mitch wasn’t so different from other parents.
    The girls had been working for perhaps twenty minutes