Underneath It All (Storm Series) Read Free

dead-fish grip—his mom had clued him in that girls hated it years before. “Rob D’Amico.”
    “Mr. D’Amico —”
    His eyebrows drew down. This girl thought he was old enough that she should call him by the name his dad went by? “Rob.”
    Her cheeks colored a s she cleared her throat. “Fine. Rob. I’d appreciate it if you called me Ms. Rossa in front of the class, though. It will keep things consistent. Now, I’m sure they explained the early intervention reading program to you.”
    “Actually, no. I was told they’d started one and asked to take part.”
    “You didn’t get any details on the program? ” Her tone was incredulous. “You didn’t ask any questions?”
    Why would he have asked questions? Rob was designated for this project, and that was good enough for him. He shrugged. “I figure if they want me to do more than read some books to the little guys, they’ll let me know.”
    Ms. Rossa crinkled her nose like she’d smelled something bad. “How very…straightforward of you.”
    Rob had a pretty good idea that was an insult, but remained quiet.
    She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Anyway, I do appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule ,” another insult, “but I wanted to make sure we understood each other.”
    He rubbed the back of his neck, afraid to ask what she meant, but knowing the question was necessary. “About what?”
    “You read to them, you say hi and bye, but nothing else.”
    “Uh, okay. Do you mind if I ask why?”
    “ I don’t want my class disrupted. I’m all for this reading program, but having professional athletes lead the way seems a little shortsighted. These kids look up to you as role models. I’d hate for them to pick up on something you say or do and bring it home to their parents. We have enough trouble around here.”
    Rob’s mouth fell open. “What the hell do you think I’m gonna say to them?”
    Drawing herself up to her entire, what, five-four height, she replied, “Well, not swearing in their hearing would be a start.”
    “Obviously since I’m a professional athlete , I make a habit of talking a blue streak around small children. I couldn’t help myself, ogre that I am.” His tone was defensive. But geez, who pissed in this chick’s cornflakes this morning? He was pretty sure kids heard worse than hell on the school bus.
    “I need to protect them.”
    Rob briefly debated what to say then went with, “You’re their teacher, Ms. Rossa. You feel responsible for them. I get that. I’m not going to do anything bad, I promise. Despite what you obviously think, I’m actually a pretty good guy, or so I’m told. I’m guessing they didn’t pick names out of a hat for this program, so there must have been a reason they chose me. Now can we go in and stimulate their developing brains with some exposure to great literature?”
    He had laid it on thick with the sarcasm, but damn, he could practically see the stick shoved up this woman’s ass. At least if the thing was a hockey stick, he’d have some use for her. Rob snorted to himself. In all his years of playing hockey, he wasn’t sure he’d ever been insulted so quickly and so thoroughly, even by his most bitter rivals. Just because she was a teacher didn’t give her the right to judge him.
    Sweeping her arm toward the classroom, Ms. Rossa said, “After you.”
    “Oh no. After you.” He held the door open , wondering if she’d faint in shock at the chivalrous action, but she slipped through without so much as a glance at him. Try as he might, though, he couldn’t drag his gaze from the back view as the woman walked away.
    Was she purposely putting an extra swing in those hips? No, definitely not. Considering she clearly subscribed to the “all athletes are stupid, insensitive jerks” theory, he doubted she was trying to impress him. But if her hips naturally moved like that…
    Why a m I even thinking about her? She’d be a total waste of time to pursue, and