(JoAnna flatly refused to talk to any of them, saying she just wanted to leave it behind her, and Jason – bless him – had personally told the jackals outside their place that he’d give them an exclusive through their ears if they ever bothered her again).
“You could take some time off, you know,” he told her, stroking her hair. “You don’t have to go straight back to work like this…”
“I want to get back to normal,” she replied. “It’s the best way to deal with this. For me, I mean… I don’t know about Lucy.”
“Well, different strokes… JoAnna, did they… try anything? I know one of them was hot for that teacher they took with you, but did they…?”
“No,” she said truthfully. “Not a thing.”
“Good,” he said, kissing her shoulders. “I’d have hunted them down if they had, I swear.”
Jason’s lips moved from her shoulders to her chest, heading down her body as JoAnna relaxed; he rarely went first, and it was always a bonus when he did. But from the moment the tip of his tongue touched her slit, she found herself imagining it belonged to a tall, beautiful sloe-eyed young woman with coffee-coloured skin and curves to die for… as Jason licked and probed, JoAnna tried to push Shay Mitchell out of her mind.
Sometimes she succeeded. Briefly.
* * * * * * * * *
“So I hear you’re off to Mexico?” Brandon asked Lucy.
“Yeah,” she smiled as the two walked down the street; it was the weekend, Golden Gate Elementary was over and done with until Monday, and now they were off to have a drink. “Booked the ticket last night, heading off at the end of the month. A whole fortnight without worrying about the Montgomery girls…”
“They’ll be Jaime Sommers’ job, poor kid.”
“Ah, she loves it…”
Brandon was distracted by two good-looking women heading in the opposite direction; he instinctively turned to look at them before he remembered he was with company, and winced as he faced Lucy. “Oh crap, I’m sorry…”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Lucy laughed, patting his arm. “It’s not like I don’t look at hot guys – no harm, no…”
Lucy, still touching Brandon’s arm, suddenly gripped it tighter; her eyes widened, her body was shaking, and her breath was coming in short spurts as if she was choking.
“Lucy? What’s happening? You okay? What’s wrong?”
“Get… get me away from here…” the trembling teacher gasped, her eyes locked on the store the two women had just left.