Teach Me New Tricks Read online

  Teach Me New Tricks

  Ali Parker

  BrixBaxter Publishing

  Contents

  Find Ali Parker

  Description

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Epilogue

  Want More?

  Insider Group

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Find Ali Parker

  www.aliparkerbooks.com

  Description

  He’s going to make me break my number one rule.

  And possibly lose my job.

  How dare he?

  It’s pretty simple, though. Don’t date students.

  Which is normally easy to stick to. Who wants to date an eighteen-year-old boy?

  Not me. I much prefer an older man with rough hands that knows what he’s doing.

  Enter Mr. Evans.

  A single father billionaire with more time on his plate than he knows what to do with.

  And the man is brilliant and wickedly delicious.

  Much to my surprise, he’s quickly becoming my star pupil, which means he gets more of my time than necessary.

  But I can’t help myself. He’s exactly what I need in my life, in my bed, kissing me at the stroke of midnight…

  And the best is even though he’s older than me, he’s more than willing to let me teach him a few new tricks.

  Let's just hope we don't get caught.

  Introduction

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  Chapter 1

  Christopher

  The big truck rumbled down the highway, the diesel engine the only sound filling the tomblike quiet in the cab of the truck. I glanced over, checking to make sure my sixteen-year-old son was still breathing, and had to smile. He had passed out. His head was leaning against the door, his mouth hanging open and looking anything but cool.

  I was tempted to snap a picture to use as blackmail for a future date but resisted. I didn’t need him to be pissed at me for anything else. I seemed to be able to piss him off with the simple intake of breath or the dreaded, ‘what’s going on’ question that put him on the defensive.

  It had been a long drive. It felt much longer due to the lack of conversation. The radio had gone in and out, leaving me in silence while he listened to his headphones. The stretch of highway in front of me seemed endless.

  We were close. So close to the end of our journey from our home in Minnesota to what I was declaring a fresh start to life in Conroe, Texas. My real estate career had turned me onto the area long ago. I had dreamed of retiring to the growing city just outside of Houston for a while now. My wife, Carlie, and I had been checking out property in the area for years.

  It was still hard to believe she was gone. She wasn’t going to get to spend her days sitting on our back deck and sipping sweet tea. Life was unfair. My wife of twenty years had been killed instantly in a horrific crash that turned my life upside down. Olin’s life had been forever changed as well.

  It was crazy that one person could make one bad decision and change the course of life for complete strangers. I had to let go of the anger. The anger had driven me into a very dark place for months after she’d been killed. I couldn’t go back there.

  I was running away from the memories. It probably wasn’t healthy, but I felt that Olin and I needed a change. Staying in the house in Minnesota was only making it difficult to move forward. At least for me it was. Olin didn’t seem to give a shit one way or the other. He was a typical teenager with the usual angst. Add in the loss of his mother and things were even more difficult.

  “Hungry?” I asked, knowing he could hear me, but doing a really good job pretending he couldn’t. “Olin, I need gas. I’m going to grab something to eat. I hear these Buc-ees have some great food, real Texas style.”

  “I’m not hungry,” he mumbled.

  “Suit yourself. You’re old enough to know if you’re hungry or not.”

  I flipped on my blinker and pulled off the freeway. It had been a long two days of non-stop driving. I was tired of sitting on my ass and couldn’t wait to be home. Our new home.

  “Can I get one of those pork sandwiches?” I asked the young man behind the immaculately clean counter once I was inside.

  “Sure thing,” he said and quickly filled my order.

  I looked around, suspecting Olin had decided to come in, and found him in front of the Slurpee machine, a bag of chips in his hand. Not hungry my ass. I took my sandwich and grabbed a bottle of water for the road.

  I waited, giving Olin plenty of time to browse the massive food selection. I pretended to be occupied as well, not wanting to pressure him to hurry up. The kid was prickly at best, and any little thing I said or did threatened to piss him off and send him storming out of my general vicinity.

  He looked at me, his blue eyes reminding me of his mother. His thick black hair was all me. He was the perfect combination of the two of us. “Ready?” I asked him.

  He nodded but said nothing. I walked up to the checkout, depositing the snacks and drinks we had picked up. I smiled at the young woman, who was very openly staring at me. “Good afternoon.”

  “Hi,” she said with a smile. “Traveling through?”

  “Headed home,” I said.

  “You don’t look like a Texas boy.”

  I grinned. “I’m not.”

  “I could give you some pointers, help you learn how to walk with a cowboy gait,” she offered.

  “Thank you, but I’m comfortable with my gait.”

  She giggled, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “How about some of our world-famous jerky? Have you ever had it?”

  “Nope, I sure haven’t.”

  “Oh, you can’t be in Texas without trying our jerky.
I’d be happy to give you a free sample,” she said with a grin. “Maybe an after-dinner snack.”

  “Dad, I’m going to use the restroom,” Olin said, dropping a pack of gum on the counter and walking away.

  The woman looked at me, then Olin, then back at me. “Your son?”

  I smiled and nodded. “My son.”

  “Let me get this rung up for you. I’m sure you want to get on your way.”

  I almost laughed at her sudden change of heart. I suppose me having a son who wasn’t much younger than her had done the trick. The goodies were stuffed into a bag and I was sent on my way without the free jerky.

  I waited in the truck for Olin, scarfing down my pulled pork sandwich. Olin climbed back into the truck, a scowl on his face. “I’m not interested in a new mommy that was born in the same decade I was.”

  I smirked. “I had no intention of shopping for a new mommy for you period, but it would definitely not be anyone from your decade. You can trust me on that one.”

  “This is so stupid anyway. Are you making me live here so you can find one of those Texas women?”

  I started the truck and backed out of the spot, being mindful of the trailer I was pulling with all of our belongings. “I don’t know what a Texas woman is, but no. I’m moving us down here because I want warmth and fishing and good schools. Minnesota was killing my tired, old bones.”

  “You’re forty-four, when did you get old?” he retorted.

  “Last year,” I said, leaving it at that.

  “We could have just moved to a new house. Starting a new school my junior year is stupid.”

  I glanced over at him. “In your case, it was start in a new school or get kicked out of your old one. You get a fresh start here. I’ve checked out the school and the district. It’s a good school. You’ll be able to play baseball in the spring.”

  He groaned. “I could have played baseball at my old school.”

  “Not with your grades, Olin. This is a chance for you to be the guy I know you are. Those people back in Minnesota, they weren’t your friends. They were bringing you down and you would have ended up in serious trouble if you would have stuck with them.”

  “Whatever. You don’t know shit about me.”

  “I do know lots of shit about you,” I said, not getting upset about his language. I wasn’t that kind of a parent. I demanded respect, but we were having a conversation. I would deal with it to a point.

  “Whatever,” he said and pulled the headphones that had been hanging around his neck over his ears. He had the music up so loud I could hear it. I hated to think what that was doing to his hearing, but if it saved me an argument, I’d worry about it later.

  I told myself he was a normal teen doing normal teen stuff, but holy hell, sometimes I wanted to shake the shit out of him. He was stubborn and obstinate and so damn much like me it was like shouting at myself some days.

  I felt like I didn’t know him sometimes. I suppose I probably didn’t. I hadn’t been a great father. I had spent more time working, building up my wealth with the intention of retiring early and spending my golden years with my wife. I would never have to worry about paying for Olin’s college or supporting him until he got on his feet.

  Now, I was rich and alone. It was a shitty tradeoff. I checked the GPS and felt a shiver of excitement. We were within fifteen minutes of the new house I had purchased and had furnished—all over the phone. My job in real estate gave me a lot of excellent connections. An old friend had hooked me up with a lavish lakefront home that I was hoping like hell impressed Olin.

  Not much did, but I had seen the pictures and hoped it would be enough to ease some of the tension and apprehension he felt about starting somewhere new. The houses increased in size the closer we got to our new address.

  I pulled into the long driveway that led to the house that had all the lights on, ready for arrival.

  “Holy shit,” Olin breathed, taking in the massive home. “This is it? This is the house you bought?”

  I grinned. I felt proud as hell that I had managed to impress him. “Yep. Wait until you see the backyard. That’s where the real magic is.”

  He gave me a sideways glance. “Whatever.”

  “What the hell? I thought you’d be happy to see the place. It has a pool and our own private dock.”

  He opened the door of the truck, hopped out, opened the back door, and grabbed his duffel bag before walking up to the front door and waiting. I told myself not to take the mood personally. I had a feeling when he saw the house and the awesome view, he would change his mind.

  I opened the front door, unable to stop smiling as I gestured for him to go inside. He walked in, barely taking in the gorgeous home and stomped up the stairs. “Which room is mine?” he snapped.

  “Second door on the right,” I answered.

  He stomped up the rest of the way turned right and disappeared from my view. I sighed, dropping my small suitcase on the floor and giving myself the grand tour. I grabbed a cold beer from the fridge and headed outside to the expansive patio.

  I sipped the beer and strolled around the hot tub that was set up against the pool. I could already see myself enjoying a swim and jumping in the hot tub to warm up on a cool night with a cold beer in my hand.

  The beautiful grass lawn extended all the way to the edge of the lake. The dock was covered with iron benches already on it. I was envisioning many spring and summer days down by the dock resting, relaxing, and hopefully doing a little fishing.

  I headed back inside, meandering through the four-thousand-square-foot home, popping my head into each of the rooms, except for Olin’s. The door was closed, and I didn’t want to push my luck. Two days being trapped in the truck together had pushed us both to our breaking point.

  A little time alone was exactly what we needed. I dropped my suitcase in the huge walk-in closet that would have made Carlie very happy and headed back downstairs. It felt weird to have new everything. Everything from the furniture to the dishes in the kitchen to the towels and linens was new.

  I had been serious about starting over. The trailer in the driveway was filled with our clothes and the things we didn’t want to leave behind. The house in Minneapolis was still ours. It still held all our furniture and all the memories of Carlie. I had kept the house because I wasn’t ready to let it go, but I didn’t want to live there anymore.

  I couldn’t.

  Conroe was where I wanted to be. I needed the sun and fresh air. I needed to be somewhere no one knew my name and nobody knew my story.

  Chapter 2

  Leila

  I checked the time and finished up the lesson plan I was working on for the next semester before getting up from my chair. “Time’s up,” I announced to the class.

  There were a few groans before the typical shuffling began. Students of my Greek Mythology class began to pack up, bringing me their final exams. I kept a stack, smiling and saying various platitudes to the students I had come to know over the last three months.

  “It was a great class,” one young woman said. “I didn’t know I liked Greek Mythology, but the way you teach it with such enthusiasm is contagious. You have a real passion for it and it makes it exciting.”

  “Ah, thank you Amber. I appreciate that. I’ve always had my head in the clouds, dreaming about gods and goddesses.”

  “Do you actually believe in it?”

  I grinned. “I think I believe a version of it, yes. I think we all need to have a little fantasy in our lives.”

  “Good point. See you later. I wish you taught all my classes.”

  I waved and took the next paper. I was always a little sad at the end of a semester. I felt like I spent three months getting to know my students just to say goodbye to them when I figured out I liked them. After collecting all the papers, I stuffed them into my briefcase beside my laptop and took one last look around the classroom.

  I was going to enjoy the few days off I had, but it wouldn’t be real days off. I still had
to grade the papers and finalize the mini-mester syllabus. “No rest for the wicked,” I mumbled, turning off the lights and walking into the hall.

  “Hi,” a deep male voice said, startling me.

  “You startled me,” I gasped, looking at the young man leaning up against the wall.

  “Sorry.”

  “What’s up, Derek?” I asked, recognizing him from class. “Did you forget something in class?”

  “No, I thought I would hang out for a minute so I could speak with you alone.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, what’s going on?” I asked with concern.

  “I’m just going to go out on a limb here. I’m officially no longer your student. That means, it’s not against any rules for us to date. I’d like to take you to dinner.”

  I stared at him. He was an attractive young man, young being the key word. He was too young for me, and truthfully, I doubted we had anything in common. “That’s very nice, but you are still a student at U of H and I am still a professor with no tenure. I really couldn’t risk seeing a student. It just isn’t professional. I like my job and I respect my students.”