Mad Love (Hearts Are Wild): Hearts Are Wild (2 page)

She knew Moreland’s type. They coasted
through with minimum grades to pass and spent too much time on
frivolous things such as sport and parties…women. Very few
individuals succeeded at professional sport and by all accounts,
he’d failed, like hundreds of others searching for fame and
fortune. Besides, as far as she was concerned, there was nothing
special about using a natural talent to make your way through
life.

No. True success should be earned, not
given.

“We’re set then? You’ll be ready to leave
tomorrow morning at eight?” Ted asked.

Madison eyed the principal and wondered if
she’d managed to get on the wrong side of him. She might have a
strong opinion about the skill level of the Personal Development,
Health and Physical Education teacher but she hadn’t been
offensive. She’d only put forward the facts as she saw them.
Teaching boys to play Rugby League or Union or whatever other
brutish sport the PDHPE department deemed acceptable, didn’t
qualify as education as far as she was concerned.

“I’ll be ready.” She would bite the
bullet—and her tongue—and spend the necessary time with Tobias
Moreland but no more. “I’d like to pack the bus with our equipment
at seven before the students arrive.”

Tobias shook his head. “No can do. Got
training.”

Of course he did. “Then how do you expect to
be ready to leave at eight?”

Long seconds passed without him saying a
word. He just studied her through slumberous laughing eyes.

“Well? When do you suggest we organize the
equipment?” Exasperation was beginning to take hold, her voice
rising slightly with her inability to control her growing
frustration.

He smiled up from his slouched position in
the chair. “I’ve got training right after school today but we can
do it after that. Around six. Unless you’ve got a hot date.”

Madison narrowed her eyes. Was he fishing for
personal information? Why? “Not this evening.” And why did she
answer him?

“Good.” He surged to his feet, all six feet
two of solid muscle towering over her—crowding her. She had to
fight the urge to retreat from his overwhelming presence. “Let’s
say six thirty to be sure training’s finished. We’ll grab dinner
afterwards.”

“What?”

“Dinner. Tonight. After we load the bus. You
can go over the information. Give me the key points of the
excursion—the aims, what you hope the students will accomplish.” He
lifted the folder in his hand and gave it a shake. “Meet you in the
car park at six thirty. Catch you later, Ted.”

Before Madison could open her mouth to argue,
Tobias had left the room taking the folder with him, and, she was
fairly certain, all the oxygen. She turned to face Ted. Her jaw
worked, her tongue moved, but nothing came out until she utter two
words she was one hundred percent certain she’d never spoken
before. “I’m confused.”

And she was. Did she agree to have dinner
with Tobias Moreland?

Ted was busy tapping away at his keyboard and
didn’t answer right away. When he did, Madison still wasn’t sure
what was going on.

Absently glancing up while shuffling papers
around his desk, Ted said, “Thanks. I hated the idea of cancelling
the trip and disappointing the class.”

Right. Her students.

This excursion was a fun hands-on way to
supplement their education about one of the country’s famous
landmarks and it would be a travesty if it were canceled. They’d
worked extremely hard over the previous months on the history
behind the Quarantine Station and it would definitely be a
disappointment to them.

And her.

She forced a smile. “Of course.”

The end of lunch bell rang.

“That’s my cue to head to class,” she
murmured.

“Thanks again, Madison.” Ted returned to
pecking at his keyboard with two fingers.

“Right. Okay. I’ll…go then.” Madison left
Ted’s office confused and a little flummoxed. She understood the
gist of what had happened in the last few minutes, she just wasn’t
sure
how
it had happened. Her reasons for Tobias’s
unsuitability had been solid and yet they’d gotten her nowhere.
She’d be spending the next two days with a man she could barely
tolerate.

She might not be looking forward to working
alongside Tobias but she couldn’t deny her excitement over
exploring and spending the night in one of Sydney’s most haunted
group of buildings. And nothing thrilled her more than watching
young minds discover new things.

The group of teenagers had embraced this
section of the history syllabus with such enthusiasm and curiosity
she couldn’t wait to see them walk the buildings and compound—see
through their own eyes the places they’d read about. For their
benefit, she’d tolerate her unwanted colleague.

Although it was a shame her anticipation
marched hand in hand with the unfamiliar agitation she experienced
whenever she saw—or thought about—Tobias Moreland.

Toby swung the door of the storage shed
closed, leaned his shoulder into it and gave a good shove. Metal
scraped across concrete and he put his full weight against the door
to force it those final few inches. They needed to do something
about the equipment shed. A new one would be preferable but he’d be
grateful for a working door. One that didn’t threaten bodily harm
whenever someone tried to close it.

As if by some karmic cue, the solid steel
panel sprang back and slammed into him, almost knocking him off his
feet. “Shit.”

“Whoa. We got it.”

Two bodies—one either side of him—combined
their weight and strength with his to wrestle the door into
submission. A few grunts, some scrabbling feet and a heavy clank
later, the lock engaged and the door stayed in place.

Taking a breath, Toby stepped back. “Thanks
guys.” He chose to ignore the fact he swore in front of two of his
students. Best to not bring it up. Besides, he’d heard far worse
coming from their mouths on the footy field.

“No worries, Mr. Moreland.” Jim Landry,
Huntington’s star five-eighth, bent to pick up his backpack.
Straightening, he added, “It’s the least we could do after you
helped us with our English essays.”

“Yeah. Thanks sir.” Andy Sturgis shouldered
his bag. “I’d never pass if you didn’t take the time to walk me
through it.”

Toby smiled. “You’d do fine. You just need to
stop
thinking
it’s too hard. Half the time you talk
yourself out of doing well.”

Andy ducked his head and shuffled his feet
with a mumbled, “Thanks.”

For a senior, the kid was a little lacking in
self-confidence, except on the football field. There, Andy
overflowed with confidence.

Toby clapped them both on the back to nudge
them on their way. “Go on. Get out of here. I’ll see you in the
morning.”

Toby watched them head across the field
towards the school’s rear gate. At this time of day the entrance
would be locked, but both boys knew the code to open the gate after
hours. Being on the school’s League team meant they were on school
grounds outside normal operating times in the mornings and early
evenings during the footy season.

Speaking of the time…

He glanced at his watch. Ten to seven.

“
Fuck
.”

He was supposed to meet Madison twenty
minutes ago. Racing around the shed, he bypassed the most direct
route—through the building—for the fastest. The school should be
deserted by now but there was a chance one or two people were still
inside and he wasn’t about to get caught running in the halls. He’d
done enough of that as a teenager.

Sprinting the length of the gym, he took the
corner wide in an effort to lose as little speed as possible and
pumped his legs harder.

Dammit. She was going to be pissed.

His runners lost traction as he flung himself
around the final corner and out into the car park. Small pieces of
gravel shot out from under his feet as he fought to stay on them
and keep moving forward. The school’s bus was at the far end, near
the admin building, and at least a hundred meters away yet. There
were only a couple of cars left in the lot so Toby had an
unobstructed view of the bus.

And Madison Keibler, trying to load one of
the school’s large lockboxes into the rear luggage compartment.

“Hey!” She didn’t hear his shout—or chose to
ignore it—and continued to struggle with the thing. “Dammit.” He
dug deeper and gained a bit more speed.

From ten meters out, he saw it happen. The
side of the box clipped the edge of the doorframe and rebounded
into Madison. Instead of letting go and jumping out of the way, she
tried to control the oversized load.

“Jesus.” The word exploded on a rush of air
as Toby collided with Madison’s back. He flung his arms around her
and groped for the box.

“What—?” Smashed between him and their
precariously tilting cargo, Madison yelped in pain.

“Hang on.” He tried to get a better grip so
he could shove the lockbox into the back of the bus. Angling to the
left, he cleared the doorframe and propelled the box inside.

Although his efforts to keep them from
falling were useless, because Madison took exception to being
pressed against him and threw her arms out as she spun around.

He tightened his hold as he lost his balance
and in the next heartbeat, Toby found himself flat on his back,
gasping for breath, with a flailing Madison in his arms.

“Let me go,” she screeched in his ear.

Her elbow connected with his ribs knocking
the last of the air from his lungs. Knees and feet bashed into his
legs, the former coming perilously close to unmanning him, and the
latter delivering sharp pain to both his shins. He’d be wearing
bruises tomorrow.

“Easy.” He tried to grab her arms, pin her
legs with his, but she was like the Tasmanian Devil, whirling
around frantically. If she kept it up she’d hurt herself. It was
too late to stop her from hurting
him
. “Madison!”

She stopped. Sucked in a breath. Her breasts
pressed into him and one thigh rested against his cock, which in
spite of the recent scuffle and narrow escape from injury, was
showing interest in the womanly curves cradled in his arms.
“Tobias?”

“Yeah.” He breathed in and out slowly,
willing his body to behave.

“Oh.” She sagged against him, sending all
sorts of interesting ideas through his head—the one on his
shoulders
and
the one in his pants. “I thought…”

“What?” He frowned. “That I was attacking
you?”

“Yes. No. Not you.” Madison palmed his
shoulders and pushed up, causing her leg to press into his groin
with more pressure. There was no way she could miss his reaction to
holding her close. She looked down at him with wide eyes for long
seconds before saying in a wobbly voice, “I didn’t know who’d
grabbed me.”

“But you thought someone was attacking you?”
Toby shook his head clear of lustful thoughts and focused on the
conversation. “Jesus, woman, you’re in a secure parking lot.”

“I…well…” She licked her lips, drawing his
gaze, and Toby felt that small action in his balls.

Her face was flushed red and strands of hair
floated around her head where they’d come loose from her bun. It
was the most disheveled he’d seen her. Toby imagined she’d look
similar after an orgasm. His body tightened in response to the new
images playing through his mind. Definitely no way she was missing
the hard ridge poking her leg now.

“Um…” She caught the right side of her bottom
lip in her teeth and sent his blood pressure soring. Blinking
slowly several times as if she were in a trance, Madison stared at
him with confusion swirling in her gaze. “I…”

“Do you need help getting up?” Not that he
wanted her to get up. Toby would be happy to lie here with her
spread over him all damn day but he figured once she got her wits
about her, she’d be in a hurry to move.

“Oh!” Her eyes opened comically wide and the
dark brown color made him think of melted chocolate. “Sorry.” With
exaggerated care, she untangled herself and climbed to her
feet.

Trying to drag his mind out of the gutter and
force his body to behave, he rolled to the side and stood. Brushing
the gravel and dirt from his clothes, he resolutely ignored the
hard-on in his shorts. With Madison no longer in his arms, the lust
fog cleared from his brain enough for him to remember the small cry
of pain she’d emitted as they’d collided. “Did I hurt you?” he
asked.

She glanced around, her hands twisting
together in front of her.

“Madison?” He took a step closer. “Are you
hurt?”

“Oh. No.” Her hands broke apart and smoothed
down the sides of her skirt, bringing his attention to the way the
material had rucked up her legs to reveal slender thighs.

Her skin looked silky-smooth and his fingers
twitched with the need to reach out and touch. Heat washed over
him. Shit. He really needed to rein in his desire for this woman.
It was becoming more potent by the second. Swallowing, he ran his
tongue over his lips then cleared his throat. “Ah, okay. Good.” He
nodded.

She gave him a tight smile and turned
away.

It didn’t take a genius to work out she was
dismissing him. She had this way about her; she wasn’t rude or
aggressive, but she conveyed her feelings perfectly without saying
a word. For someone who used an economy of words, Madison spoke
nonstop with her body and expressions.

When she tried to move the box again, Toby
darted forward. “Here. Let me do that.”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

Her prim tone, the clipped words, shouldn’t
get him hot. Actually, nothing about her should get him hot. She
was the opposite of his type. He went for warm, outgoing,
confident, independent… Okay; in some ways she was his type, she
definitely had the confident and independent down pat.