Teach Me: A Bad Boy Professor Romance (The Me Series Book 1) Read online

  BOOK 1: TEACH ME

  COPYRIGHT © 2016 BY PENELOPE MARSHALL

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED, SCANNED, OR DISTRIBUTED IN ANY PRINTED OR ELECTRONIC FORM WITHOUT PERMISSION. PLEASE DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN OR ENCOURAGE PIRACY OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS IN VIOLATION OF THE AUTHOR'S RIGHTS. THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. NAMES, CHARACTERS, PLACES AND INCIDENTS EITHER ARE THE PRODUCT OF THE AUTHOR'S IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIOUSLY, AND ANY RESEMBLANCE TO LOCALES, EVENTS, BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS, OR ACTUAL PERSONS – LIVING OR DEAD – IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL.

  TEACH ME

  CONTENTS

  BOOK 1: TEACH ME

  PROLOGUE

  ROMEO AND JULIET

  LOSING FOCUS

  LATE AGAIN

  ART CLASS

  TIRED OF HIM

  McGINNTY'S

  HUNGRY FOR HER

  THIS IS IT

  MY KNIGHT

  TEACH ME

  REALITY

  EPILOGUE

  BOOK 2: INDECENCY

  INDECENCY

  ESCAPE

  CALM WATER

  WRATH

  BIG PAPI CHULO

  FURY

  MY PROPERTY

  ULTIMATE BETRAYAL

  REDEMPTION

  BROTHERS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ALSO BY PENELOPE

  TEACH ME

  I'd never fallen for a student—but she was different.

  Headstrong, and unrelenting, she begged to be claimed. She just didn't know it yet.

  I was going to break her, and make her mine.

  -REGAN

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  Dedication

  To my family for their unwavering support.

  When the sun no longer shines on me, and the dirt has all been laid; all of me will still remember the debt you heart has paid.

  Acknowledgements

  I'd like to thank everyone who helped make this book possible:

  My wonderful beta readers and friends, who are willing to read anything I throw at them:

  Jeanette, Alma, Kelsey, Vicki, Summer, Cat, and my Dad.

  Quinn, Team Work makes the Dream Work XOXO.

  Charity, my all around Ass Kicker and Superhero.

  PROLOGUE

  CHER

  I never knew my father—not that I wanted to. He left me and my mom struggling to keep afloat in a shitty studio apartment so he could run off with his side bitch. I often wondered if he had any other children—if he cared about them—tucked them in at night? If they had real beds, or, did they sleep on the floor like I did?

  I guess it didn't matter. I turned out just fine. I didn't need anyone—or so I thought…

  ROMEO AND JULIET

  The side of the tracks I hailed from left little room for success, but I beat the odds and was midway through a business degree. I didn't need my dad then, and I certainly didn't need him now. Men were just out for one thing anyway, and I'd be damned if I was going to give it up on anything less than my own terms. It's probably why I'd never been kissed before. Sad, I know.

  I had my insecurities. What girl with daddy issues didn't? I tried my best to put up walls but, deep inside, I was alone; a little girl searching for a place to belong.

  Walking down the crowded hallway, I gripped my books tightly to my chest, maneuvering my way through the sea of sweaty jocks, and makeup-caked girls, staring at me with condescension in their eyes. I shifted my gaze toward the dirty tile floor, lodging a tendril of hair behind my ear.

  It seemed I would never outgrow mean girls, nor the men who loved them.

  "Hey, slow down," a husky voice echoed through the hall.

  Suddenly, a mountain of a man decked in the school football uniform zipped past me, causing me to drop my books.

  There were papers strewn about the floor while the roar of laughter filled the hallway, and the absolute embarrassment pervaded my head. I struggled to grab every piece that attached itself to the bottoms of dirty Chuck Taylors and sand-ridden flip flops surrounding me, but I lost some in the stampede of students.

  Fuck me.

  Beads of sweat began to form on the bridge of my nose, and I knew it wouldn't be much longer before I broke out into a full-on hot flash.

  A deep voice whistled past my ears, "Here, let me help you."

  I didn't even bother to look up. "No, thank you. I can take care of myself."

  "That's not what it looks like to me."

  I stopped shuffling my papers long enough to trace a pair of dark, denim jeans up from the floor. Nothing in the entire world could have prepared me for the sight I would be setting my eyes on in the next few moments. Not that I would have ever believed a man as ruggedly good-looking as the specimen kneeling before me could ever grace my presence, let alone acknowledge me.

  A scruffy, chiseled jawline served as the base for his perfect smile. The kind of smile toothpaste commercials could only wish for.

  Goddammit!

  I cursed my luck while a pair of captivating brown eyes, framed with thick black eyelashes stared back at me. My lips parted, but no sound came out. The words were stuck in my throat, choking out the life-giving air my tight lungs were frantically searching for.

  His subtle, yet manly, cologne didn't help matters. All I wanted was to lean in and breathe him in. Nature had begun to take over, and my panties were the evidence of it.

  I tried to pull away from his stare, but I was paralyzed; by what, I don't know. Could it have been fear? I pored over his face again. He didn't look scary to me. His charm, maybe? But he hadn't said anything more than a few empty words in the span of a minute. Lust? It must be lust.

  Goddam lust!

  The same lust my father probably had for his other woman. I shook away the man's mesmerizing stare. A guy like him surely had a wife or girlfriend waiting with bated breath, and I was never going to be the one to break up a relationship.

  I dropped my gaze to the papers still lying on the floor. "I can handle this. I don't need your help. Thank you very much."

  He stood to his feet. "Okay, if you're sure?"

  "I'm sure." I waved him off, not giving him a second look.

  "Have a nice day," he said, as I peeked over to see where he was going.

  Unfortunately, he was walking down the hall in the same direction I was headed before the collision.

  I decided to wait a few minutes to give him a head start. There was no reason I needed to accidentally run into him again. But the smell of his lingering cologne taunted me to feel otherwise.

  REGAN

  Damn, she's sexy.

  I wanted to look over my shoulder to get another quick glance at her deep blue eyes before I disappeared into my classroom, but I knew it was wrong. She was a student, and I was—well, I wasn't.

  No woman was worth losing my job over, not when they came a dime a dozen. I shook my head as the thoughts of her rolled around my skull like marbles. I couldn't put my thumb on it, but there was something different about her; something intangible that spoke to me.

  A few students began to trickle in through the door as I took a seat in my leather chair, taking a sip of my cold coffee. They looked the same every year—disheveled with a wild twinkle in their eye, which usually dissipated by the time second semester rolled around. I leaned forward to set my cup on the desk, and that's when it happened, the moment my world spiraled into a tailspin I couldn't correct.

  There she was, taking a seat in the front row, acting like we hadn't just had a moment right outside. She
dropped her bag on the floor next to her seat. My eyes instantly focused in on her long, slender legs, following them until her flesh disappeared into her tight, cut-off jean shorts.

  CHER

  My heart dropped when I looked up from my notebook and saw the handsome stranger from outside taking up the real estate in front of the class.

  Great. Just what I need. Alienate the substitute.

  Our eyes locked, and for a brief second, I forgot there were other people in the room. I crossed my legs trying to push the ever increasing quiver away, but it was impossible. I was a woman in heat, wanting nothing more than to undress him with my teeth.

  Wait! What am I saying?

  This was the exact thing I promised myself I would never do.

  Students began to filter in like a soft haze around me, but I couldn't shake the curiosity of what his body must look like underneath all that designer material. I bet he was tight, with ridges and valleys in all the right places. I bit down on the metal band securing the eraser to my pencil when the dull roar of laughter pulled me from my thoughts.

  "Miss," the same deep voice from the hallway called out, "Miss. Are you by chance Cher Carson?"

  I struggled for the correct word. It was three damn letters, what the hell was taking me so long?

  "Yes. Cher, but my friends call me Cece."

  He smiled, tapping his fingers against his list of students. "I think I'll stick with Cher."

  I cringed my nose as I shrunk into my chair, dropping my gaze to the notebook lying on top of my desk. There were a few snickers coming from the back of the class, but I was too embarrassed to glance over.

  He continued calling out a few more names, and when he got to the end of the list, he set it down on his desk. Leaning against it, he crossed his arms, panning the array of students sitting in front of him.

  "My name is Mr. Donovan, and I'll be your English Lit teacher for the rest of this semester. Mrs. Jackson had to take an emergency leave of absence."

  The room stayed silent.

  He smiled and shook his head. "She's okay by the way." No one breathed a sound. "Moving on then. This class will be intense but, if you pay attention, you might learn something you never knew about yourself before. Guys, this class, will show you how to treat a woman, and ladies, I hope you learn how you should be treated."

  "I didn't know I was taking The Guide to Relationships 101," a husky voice sneered from behind me.

  I glanced over my shoulder to Reese Lex. A muscular, blond-haired, blue-eyed beast of a man, cramped into the small space between his desk and the one behind him, shooting a wink at me. I rolled my eyes at the cocky smirk painted on his face, which begged to be wiped away. I'd known him since I was little. He was a spoiled little rich boy who thought every woman on earth was placed there just for him.

  The ego he harbored, no doubt from the hundreds of women he was rumored to have bedded, could hardly fit alongside his massive body in the confined space he was smashed into. There was a time or two he'd asked me out on a date but, thankfully, my mother had always been around to rebuff his advances. I shifted my gaze back to the front of the class where Mr. Donovan was scanning the list of students.

  "Mr. Reese Lex, I see you're gonna be my class clown this year."

  "I have been known to crack a joke or two." He laughed as a few others joined in.

  "I love a good joke. Why don't you regale us with your best one?"

  The room went silent, waiting for Reese to reply. I stared at Mr. Donovan and the air of confidence he carried. I chuckled inside, knowing Reese wouldn't have a witty comeback or a snappy joke, and the hot guy in front knew it.

  A moment or two passed before someone cleared their throat, cutting the thick air suffocating the room. Mr. Donovan smiled in victory, and walked around his desk, picking up a piece of chalk before scrawling the words Romeo and Juliet on the weathered, green chalkboard.

  "Raise your hand if you've read this?"

  The whole class lifted their hands, including me. Who hadn't read the legendary tale of star-crossed lovers destined to die an untimely death at the peak of their forbidden romance?

  "And who loved it?" He placed the chalk down before rubbing the dust off his hands.

  Again, every hand shot up in the air—except mine. I didn't believe in destiny or love for that matter. Not the way I was brought up. After panning the raised hands, his eyes rested on me, his brow perking in a questioning manner.

  "Cher, you didn't love the work?"

  Fuck. I should've just raised my hand.

  "Well, I didn't say I didn't love it. I just—"

  He moved toward me. "No. I want your gut reaction."

  The wonderful aroma emanating from his body worked even harder to tease me as he neared.

  "I just don't believe in love. Men aren't capable of it. Maybe Juliet suffered from some delusional state, and Romeo was just a figment of her—"

  The gazes burning a hole into the back of my neck made me stop mid-sentence. A gasp fell over the room, and I could do nothing but grit my teeth and await the public humiliation that was about to ensue.

  REGAN

  She bit her lip as she waited for me to say something. I almost wanted to prolong the moment so she wouldn't move. My eyes meandered from her inviting lips, down the sleekness of her neck as I pored over the plunging neckline of her black blouse which peeked through her cardigan sweater. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something about this woman I needed to have.

  I'd never been with a student before, but her body begged to be dominated—dominated by me. Her slender legs were the perfect length to wrap around my waist, while I did things a woman like her would appreciate to the depths of her soul.

  I moved toward her desk. "So you don't believe a man could truly give all of himself to a woman?"

  Her sheepish demeanor changed, her eyes ablaze with fire. "No!"

  "And what in the world made you think that?"

  "Experience."

  The class broke out into laughter, further fueling the anger in her eyes.

  I slid both hands into my pockets and paced the tiled floor in front of her desk. "What if a man did fall in love with you? Would you meet him with this sort of disdain? Or would you gladly admit your error in thought and fall into his arms, wandering blindly into love?"

  CHER

  "I couldn't. I wouldn't—" I stuttered as I pondered what he was asking.

  Disdain? Do I exude disdain toward men?

  But I suppose I probably wore the anger I carried around for my father right on my sleeve. My lips parted, ready to finish my answer.

  He looked at his watch then turned back to his desk. "Looks like time's up for today. Homework! Write a line. One line that you would use to tell a suitor you weren't interested in his or her advances. It needs to be written in the same verbiage Romeo and Juliet would use."

  My jaw dropped. Class was over? How could an hour have already passed without anything more than trivial conversation passing between three people? I gathered my things and stood from my seat, ready to take my first step toward the door, but my sweater hooked onto a splintered piece of wood jutting out from the table.

  Shit, this is all I need.

  I put my books down and tried to work the material away from the desk's unyielding hold, when a pair of strong hands rested themselves on top of mine, aiding in my attempt to free myself. My heart sunk and my skin flashed hot. I knew from the cologne it was him.

  I wasn't usually this much of a klutz, but today, in front of him, I was the epitome of a fumbling fool.

  "I really can do this myself. Thank you, though," I said, hoping he would leave and take his panty-wetting presence with him.

  "I'm tired of you telling me what to do," he exhaled as his hands worked with mine to finally loosen my sweater.

  "Well, I wouldn't need to tell you what to do if you would just leave me alone."

  He cracked a smile. "I don't know where all this anger toward me is coming from
. Have we met before? Or is it because I'm a man?"

  I picked up my books and held them against my chest. "No, we've never met before."

  "So it is because I'm a man."

  His piercing eyes hooked me in, and my mouth wanted so bad to scream 'yes'. But how could I blame the Adonis standing in front of me for what my father had done when Mr. Donovan had done nothing but help me from the moment we met?

  "No. I'd rather be left alone." I brushed by him. "It's better that way."

  REGAN

  The electricity from her touch instantly made my dick hard, and everything in me wanted to grab her and yank her back to me. I'd never had a woman turn me away, let alone twice in one day. I had to admit, I was intrigued.

  At that point, I didn't even care about my one rule—never get involved with a student. I'd seen colleagues lose everything over the slightest indiscretion, and I swore I would never fall into that trap. But I didn't care. I'd gladly forfeit my tenure for one kiss from those sassy lips. Just for one taste of her red lip gloss to find out what flavor it was.

  Fuck, what am I saying?

  She disappeared into the hallway, and I was left alone to ponder how I'd get through the next semester with her sitting only a few feet from me.

  Could I teach romance to a student who I lusted for? Could I keep myself from crossing lines? Would I want to?

  A whole new set of students began to walk in from the hall, one of which winked at me as she sat in Cher's desk. She was beautiful and just my type, if she wasn't a student of course. But she was a student, and she wasn't Cher.

  I shook Cher's image from my head and turned back to the chalkboard, ready to discuss Romeo and Juliet all over again with a whole new perspective on lust.

  CHER

  God, who does he think he is?

  I didn't need his help. Yet, he kept offering. What did he think he was? A knight in shining armor or something? Just because he looked like a Greek god, didn't give him license to stick his perfect nose in my business.