Chapter 1
Oh, God. There he is.
Sophie sucked in a breath and slunk down in her chair. Maybe he wouldn’t notice her with all the other teachers and staff filling the cramped space of the Oaktown High School’s library. With her heart thumping erratically in her chest, her gaze followed the tall, gorgeous man she’d been trying her best to avoid the past few months as he entered the room behind the school’s principal. She considered sneaking out the nearest door, but quickly dismissed the idea. From the email Dr. Crawford had sent out earlier, the faculty meeting was mandatory. The last thing she needed was to catch the attention of the newly appointed principal. Gripping the seat of her chair, Sophie scooted closer to Carly until she was slightly behind Mr. Murphy, one of her fellow science teachers. Now partially hidden but still able to see the front of the room, hopefully, she’d be able to avoid direct eye contact with Travis Scott, Oaktown’s chief of police, and the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on.
She let out a sigh of relief when Travis’s brown eyes skimmed over the top of her head as he scanned the room while Dr. Crawford introduced him to the faculty. Something completely unnecessary, as everyone in their small town knew who he was. Sophie didn’t know what was worse though—the fact she had a teenage-like crush on the tall, gorgeous man with his short dark hair and bulging muscles, or that her intense shyness had kept her from being able to speak to him on the occasions he’d tried to engage with her. Well, except for the time when Rachel found herself locked up in the school café’s freezer. But that didn’t count since Sophie had been out of her mind with worry when tasked with getting Rachel’s stepchildren home from daycare on that horrific day. She’d happened upon Travis working a wreck involving the twin’s biological mother and had been too concerned to worry about being nervous. Without thinking, she had stopped to ask him what was going on. By the time she’d driven away from the scene of the accident her hands were shaking, and her heart nearly beat itself out of her chest. She’d been trying her best to avoid Travis ever since.
Sophie pushed back a stray strand of hair behind her ear and picked up her pen. Tapping it in a sharp staccato rhythm against the blank page of her notepad, she tried to calm the thumping in her chest at the thought of being in the same room with him. What would she do if he came over to talk to Carly or Rachel after the meeting? Could she slip out without him noticing?
As Travis addressed the room, his smooth baritone voice sent a warm tingly feeling over her body, and Sophie let her mind drift to more ‘what ifs’. What if she didn’t have reservations about him? What if she wasn’t so shy? What if he took notice of her and approached her after the meeting? She could just picture it. She’d stay seated and pretend to be finishing up her notes. As the last few people left the room Travis would walk over. This time she wouldn’t be the nervous ninny she’d been in the past. No, this time she’d look up, give him a sultry smile as he got closer. Then when he reached out to brush a finger down the side of her face and leaned…
Sophie jumped and her pen clattered on top of the blank page as loud clapping broke out all around. A wave of heat crept up her chest to her neck as she turned her focus to Travis’s close-cropped brown hair, the only part of him she could see at the front of the room over Mr. Murphy’s head. She looked to her left when a sharp elbow smacked into her arm. She gulped and ducked her head at Rachel’s grin. The warmth in her neck crept to her cheeks at the thought she’d been fantasizing about Travis when she’d already deemed him off-limits. Sophie picked up her pen, then scribbled a few random notes across the blank page.
However, her nervousness soon dissipated somewhat when the overhead lights dimmed, and Travis clicked a button on the remote he held in one hand. She smiled at the words that appeared on the screen behind him:
She’d been waiting for this day. After a recent change in law by the Texas legislature, school districts, if they so wished, could implement school safety programs comprising either armed school marshals or guardians. This allowed school personnel who went through training to carry a concealed firearm or have one locked in their classrooms. The Oaktown school board had opted to go with the less intense guardian program training. Sophie knew she was an excellent shot with a handgun. Her dad had told her more than once she had a steady hand and a good head on her shoulders despite her intense shyness. From an early age, her dad had taught Sophie and her brother how to handle guns. She’d always held a secret pride in herself that she could out-shoot both her dad and brother. She’d even entered several competitions at her father’s urging and had either placed high or even won. Along with all of that, Sophie had been looking forward to the Oaktown school board approving the program. After leaving home, she felt more secure as a single woman out on her own when she carried her pistol. It irked her to no end she had to leave it behind when she went to work at the high school, especially after the school shootings that had occurred the last few years. It was her firm belief that teachers and other staff who so desired, and had the proper training, should be the first line of defense in those situations. Heaven forbid if it were to happen again, but why shouldn’t she be able to defend herself and the children in her care?
Her friends believed she was a terrified little mouse, which was mostly true, especially around tall, handsome men, but inside she knew when called upon to act she could overcome those fears when it counted. She’d bolstered her courage and left her parent’s home, gone off to college, then settled into a teaching career she loved. Being able to defend herself and those she cared about was something she felt strongly about. No matter what it took, she was signing up for the training, even if it meant she’d have to face down her intense case of nerves whenever she was around Travis Scott and the strong alpha vibes he projected.
“Sophie,” Carly hissed from her side.
“What…” Sophie trailed off as she looked up and locked eyes with the chief of police who’d paused in his speech. Now that Mr. Murphy had moved his chair over closer to the table, Travis had his dark, intense gaze locked on her. Swallowing hard, Sophie dropped the pen she’d been tapping noisily against her notepad and slunk back down in her seat. Her heart jumped into her throat when Travis winked before turning back to the screen and continued speaking. Another wave of heat flushed into her cheeks as she dropped her gaze to her scribbled notes—partly from being caught daydreaming again, and partly because of the way his lips had tipped up in the corners before he turned away.
It took everything Sophie had to stay focused and listen as Travis explained the qualifications and the steps needed for those interested in the guardian program and not let her mind wander. Contrary to what she’d told her friends, Carly and Rachel, she wanted him. She wanted him to sweep her off her feet, hold her tight, and make sweet love to her until the wee hours of the morning. The only problem was, she was afraid. Afraid of making a fool of herself in front of him. She knew the minute he tried to speak to her again, she’d trip over her words or say something that made no sense, just as she had at the back to school party Gage and Carly had held a few weeks earlier. Her cheeks heated at the memory. She’d been prepared, or so she thought, to engage in conversation with him, but the minute he’d turned to her and flashed a smile at her in Carly’s kitchen she’d deposited her tray of dirty dishes on the counter then mumbled something unintelligible before running back outside to the party. But more than that, she was afraid the man, in all his alpha manliness, would walk all over her. Just like her dad did to her mom.
Not that either of her parents had a problem with it. Sophie suspected it was something that had just developed over time. While she knew they loved each other to the moon and back, her dad was the driving force in the marriage. Everything, and she meant
revolved around what he wanted regardless of how her mom felt. It had always irked Sophie to no end that her mom would drop whatever she was doing to jump at his bidding. In fact, the last time she’d gone home she’d cut her trip short unable to bear hearing her dad yell out to her mom one more time: “Mary, would you…” or “Mary, I need…”. Not when he could get up to get the remote, or the glass of water, or whatever else he deemed so important her mother had to stop and fetch it for him. Oh, she knew it was mostly her mom’s fault for catering to him, but sometimes she wished her mom would stand up for herself once in a while, or that her dad would realize how hard her mom worked and the sacrifices she’d made over the years. And it only seemed to get worse as they got older. Recently, her mom had been so excited after Sophie had convinced her to suggest they go to the beach for their next vacation—something they had done a couple of times when Sophie and her brother were little. But apparently her dad had nixed the idea. The last time she’d talked to her mom, she’d quickly informed Sophie that after giving it some thought she’d rather go to the mountains like they did every year.
No, Sophie would not let the same thing happen to her. She was more like her mom than she wanted to be. Shy and quiet with a heart of gold and always putting herself last to make others happy. But Sophie had been working on being more assertive in what she wanted, especially after finding herself once again on her own after Carly and Rachel, her two best friends and former roommates, had gotten married and moved on with their lives. Sure, they still got together occasionally, but Sophie sat at home by herself more often than not as the responsibilities of her friends' families kept them away. To overcome the deep-seated loneliness and depression that had tried to take over at the thought of never finding someone she could love, Sophie had come to the hard conclusion she needed help. Unbeknownst to her two best friends, she’d been talking to the school counselor whom she’d recently become acquainted with as they both had the same lunch period. Number one on the list Daisy had given her was to find an activity that challenged her but she felt confident she could handle. Training to become a school guardian would fit that bill perfectly. Even if she would have to face her nervousness while being around the tall, dark, and handsome chief of police. She could only hope she didn’t make a fool of herself when she came face-to-face with him again.
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