First to Fail (Unraveled #3) - Marie Johnston Page 0,12

with him for two minutes weren’t enough to determine his personality. All the other guys I’d dated had no issues dissing me.

I did a quick mental check that my hands weren’t sweaty and then stuck one out. He clasped it, his grip strong but not harsh and his hand warm. The contact didn’t last long. He didn’t drop my hand like a lead paperweight; he let his own slip off so gently I almost lunged to grab it back.

I was the principal. My brain was screaming that a student’s dad was off-limits. But my body wasn’t getting the message.

He towered over me by at least eight inches. My head would fit perfectly against his broad chest. As I gazed up at him, the blatant desire I’d seen when we first met was back. My memory was as sharp as a tack when it summoned the feel and taste of him. He was so close and it was just the two of us.

Shoving his hands into his pockets—to keep from sweeping me into his arms again?—he smiled. “I guess this means I shouldn’t call you.”

He could have dumped a cold glass of water on me. Reality crashed back. “Yes. It does.” Please call me.

No.

Hold firm, Natalia.

How could more heat infuse his gaze? Was my internal struggle obvious?

“That’s a shame.” He went for the door but stopped with his hand on the knob and spoke low. “Nice to see you again, Valaria.”

My breath caught and I wanted to run after him like a damsel in distress. I wanted him to strip me out of my costume inch by inch while he devoured my body—but that fantasy needed to be relegated to the forgotten zone. I couldn’t be anything more to Chris than his daughter’s principal.

Chapter 4

Chris

I rang up customers as the store’s Saturday game-day club wrapped up their afternoon. Saturdays and Sundays were always busy days but some of my favorites. It might be the weekend, but it beat sitting through tag-team board meetings Monday through Friday. And I didn’t have to work every weekend. Only when Jaycee was with her grandparents.

Work didn’t stop me from thinking about her. Uptight Ms. Shaw turned Valaria the Assassin. Or vice versa? Was the real Natalia Shaw somewhere in the middle?

How many cold showers had I taken to get her transformation out of my mind? Uptight Ms. Shaw got me as hot as Valaria. I’d be in trouble if trouble was even an option. The way Ms. Shaw had booted Jaycee out of detention when I’d driven up the circular drive to the entrance of the school, she wasn’t harboring aspirations of sneaking in forbidden time with me.

Glad to see the cosmic balance of my life was holding up.

Lose my virginity at seventeen, have a baby. Hit my career stride, become a single dad. Meet the woman of my dreams, discover she’s my daughter’s principal.

The game-club players started filing out. A few stayed behind to browse the aisles. They were all regulars and it’d been hours since lunch. I ducked to the back office to guzzle a water and check my messages.

My mouth twitched when I opened the picture Jaycee had sent. She was strolling behind her grandparents at the Mall of America. She had her tongue sticking out and her hand in the rock on position. I could make out the designer plush coat her grandmother was wearing and the tweed suit of her grandfather. They made an odd, but expensive pair. Add Jaycee and her torn jeans into the mix and no wonder Jaycee was blowing off steam, though it was in a thankfully subdued and not outrageous way.

It was the weekend Jaycee dined with her mother. At least Cierra was making an effort to stay in Jaycee’s life, even if she refused to take any responsibility for the girl otherwise. Since Cierra did whatever her parents wanted, I probably should thank them.

But they never thanked me for a thing, so…

The bell for the front door dinged. I tossed my empty bottle in the recycling bin and strode back out and around the corner. Stopping, I stared at the new customer.

Natalia browsed through the action figure selections. Her eyes were narrowed and she was leaning close to the hanging display. My lips quirked. She was inspecting the detail on the figures for ideas. Was she coming up with a new character or expanding on Valaria?

This version of Ms. Shaw was better than the rest. She wore an emerald-green sweatshirt that I’d bet my