Mad Love (Hearts Are Wild): Hearts Are Wild (4 page)

The whole Tobias Moreland package was hard to
miss.

She’d spent much of the day talking herself
out
of noticing him. When she had to speak to him, she’d
been short with her answers and refused to make eye contact, which
only served to annoy her further because he was turning her into a
rude bitch. And that was something she never thought she’d be.

Her one saving grace had been the students.
She’d used them as a buffer.

She was by no means proud of her behavior but
it had saved her from having to deal with Tobias for the majority
of the time, as well as keeping her mind off the way her body
reacted whenever he was near.

The last few hours in particular had proven
extremely difficult. He’d seemed to always find her in the dark as
they’d been guided around the compound on the hunt for ghosts.
Without fail, he’d managed to brush against her as he passed. Stand
close behind her, his warm breath drifting over the back of her
neck as they listened to their guide explaining the origin of each
otherworldly specter believed to be haunting the location they were
in.

At one point, he’d even leaned forward and
whispered in her ear. Even now Madison had no idea what he’d said.
Though she definitely remembered how those whispered words made her
feel. She shivered recalling the warm tickle of his breath over her
skin, the vibrating hum of his voice in her ear and the flickering
hot-and-cold sensation that had swept through her.

Her pulse had pounded and her breathing
quickened. And it wasn’t only in those moments when they touched or
stood close enough for his heat to sink into her either. She’d been
a little out of breath all day. It didn’t make sense. Madison
didn’t even like the man. He was the opposite of everything she’d
been brought up to believe.

At least she thought he was.

She had to admit there’d been times during
the day when she’d glimpsed a serious side to him, and she couldn’t
deny he was an attentive and patient teacher with the students.
He’d appeared knowledgeable about the history and folklore of the
area and not once did she hear him mention any sport. The man was a
puzzle, and she feared she might have dealt him an injustice when
assuming he was nothing more than a has-been professional
sportsman.

She’d heard all about his football career
when she’d started at Huntington College.

She sighed. Perhaps that was where her
instant dislike had come from. That thought definitely didn’t sit
well with her.

With a frown, she shook her head and
attempted to push all her turbulent thoughts from her mind. She
needed to channel some of her earlier resolve and ignore Tobias
Moreland’s existence. Or she could kiss a good night’s sleep
goodbye. It would do her well to remember she was at work in spite
of the late hour.

Fifteen minutes ago she’d checked the
students were in bed with lights out. Hopefully they’d stay there.
She didn’t foresee any issues, they were a well-behaved group and,
other than Rick and Kim trying to sneak off to make out at every
opportunity, they’d given her no trouble at all.

She’d agreed with Tobias to take the second
shift in the shared bathroom at the end of the hall, and she’d
allowed him over an hour to use it and return to his room. Drawing
deep breaths and letting them out slowly in an effort to relax, she
gathered up her toiletries and headed for the shower.

All was quiet as she made her way along the
moonlit hall. They were staying in a six-bedroom cottage. It was
one of the original buildings on the grounds and the renovation
work done to accommodate overnight stays of school groups had kept
with the architecture of the original 1800s building. Each of the
rooms had a rustic charm—including the two dorm-like rooms lined
with bunks—except the kitchen and bathrooms. Those had all the
bells and whistles of modern convenience.

Rounding the doorway into the bathroom, she
collided with a hard
bare
chest. The bundle in her arms
crashed to the floor on impact and strong arms wrapped around her
tightly, forcing her against a wall of heat.

“Whoa.” Hot mint-scented breath bathed her
face.

Tobias
.

Madison closed her eyes. Her heart beat
against her rib cage, the thuds reverberating through her torso to
settle low in her stomach. They were pressed together from her
chest to her knees, and her hands were splayed on the hot stretch
of muscle covering his midsection.

“You okay?” His deep voice rumbled through
her.

She swallowed. Trembled. “Y-yes.”

“Steady on your feet?”

Her legs shook and she leaned into him, her
face pressing into his warm chest.

The steel band of his arms tightened.
“Madison?”

Her hands flexed, her fingertips inching
across his hot flesh, her thumbs moving a fraction lower and
encountering the towel wrapped around his hips.

Heat rolled over her. From her curling toes
upwards, as though she were slowly sinking into a hot bath; it rose
up, tightening and tingling and leaving her breathless.

“Madison?”

He spoke into her hair, the rush of warm
breath over her scalp sending a shiver down her spine. The scent of
mint and soap and something she couldn’t name surrounded her,
cocooning her in a bubble of alluring warmth. His muscles rippled
beneath her fingers and her mouth watered with the desire to kiss
him, lick him—taste every inch of his exposed hot skin.

More unfamiliar urges flooded her. She knew
what they were. Knew from an educated position that what she was
experiencing was arousal. Sharp and fierce. She’d felt it before,
only never this strongly.

Madison tried to catalog each sensation—each
emotion—but her reactions were so extreme to any she’d known it was
hard to keep track of them. Hard to know what to do with them.

“Madison!” He gave her a little shake. “Are
you okay?”

“I…” God what was she doing, plastering
herself against him? Feeling him up? She lurched backwards,
stepping out of his arms. “Sorry. I didn’t see you.”

“No worries.” She could hear the smile in his
voice, if not see it clearly on his face. “I’m finished.”

“I’ll come back.”

“No need.” He bent towards her and she jumped
back for fear of touching him again. “Let me help you grab your
stuff.”

Madison stifled a gasp when he dropped at her
feet. The moonlight filtering into the hall sparkled off his back,
highlighting the undulating muscles in his shoulders, along his
spine, as he picked up her toiletries bag and nightgown.

Oh god. He scooped up her underwear.

She held her breath as he slowly rose to his
full height. Her eyes felt huge as she stared at Tobias. Before he
could say anything—think anything—she snatched her things from his
hands and rushed around him into the bathroom. Whirling around, she
grabbed the door, all but yelling “thank you” as she slammed it
shut between them.

Resting her forehead on the solid timber,
Madison barely held off thumping her head against the hard surface.
She was such an idiot.

She was
attracted
to Tobias.
Intensely.

And he’d had his hands on her underwear!

Madison Keibler was prejudiced.

Toby had never dealt with anyone who had such
a narrow-minded view when it came to intelligence. In her eyes,
he’d played sport for a living, therefore he was stupid. It was the
whole jock-versus-nerd equation on steroids with guns drawn.

He’d been so astounded by her assumptions
that he’d been unable to defend himself against her preconceived
opinion of his intellect. She’d informed the students to ask her
any questions they might have as ‘Mr. Moreland doesn’t have the
level of expertise required to answer’.

Ha!

Wouldn’t she be shocked to discover he held
more than one degree in education? Personal Development, Health and
Physical Education was the one he used for his job as head PDHPE
teacher at Huntington College, but he also had bachelors of
education in both English and History. He was qualified to answer
the students’ questions. More than.

He wasn’t sure why he’d continued to let her
think he was a moron who’d cruised through school and university by
the skin of his teeth, but he
did
know when it started to
get on his last nerve. Right at the moment he’d realized his
attraction to her wasn’t minor.

The moment she’d been glued to the front of
his practically naked body.

It wasn’t that he wanted to impress her with
his brain; it was that he wanted her to like
him
—brain
and
brawn—the whole package. He’d worked out Madison
didn’t tolerate idiots, and she gave him the impression she thought
he
was
one, and was enduring his presence only for the
benefit of their students. He definitely wanted her to do more than
simply
put up
with him.

Toby wanted her to like him so much she
wouldn’t pull away when he kissed her. From there, he’d convince
her to let him do more. For now, he’d settle for that kiss.

A long, hot, wet one.

He grinned. Their little tango in the
bathroom doorway last night had been eye-opening. Until that
moment, he’d thought the attraction he was feeling went one way.
But he hadn’t missed the shallow breath, trembling, or the flush
that filled her face. And the way she’d snatched her clothes from
his hands before slamming the door in his face made him chuckle
even now, almost twenty-four hours later.

In spite of her icy attitude that had turned
to an artic freeze today, Toby was now one hundred percent sure he
was going to pursue Madison. It would be tricky, but she wasn’t the
first opponent he’d gone up against who appeared unconquerable.

He just needed a game plan. So far subtlety
hadn’t gotten him anywhere. It was time to rush her defenses.

The last student had just been picked up, and
if Toby had to guess, he’d say Madison’s turned back and silence
meant they were done. Of course, she’d been telling him for the
last thirty minutes he could leave. She didn’t need him to hang
around while the students waited for their rides home.

In what his mother would call ‘typical Tobias
style’, he’d ignored every one of Madison’s dismissals.

They’d packed up the equipment and returned
the bus keys to the office and unless he could come up with a
reason to prolong their time together, Madison would walk away.

He wasn’t prepared to let her.

“Don’t know about you but I’m starving. Let’s
grab a pizza and eat while we write up the excursion report.” Toby
slid his palm under her elbow and steered her towards his car. “We
should get it written while the trip is still fresh in our
minds.”

She yanked her arm from his grasp and spun to
face him. “You don’t need to contribute to the report. I’ll
complete it over the weekend and put it in your pigeon-hole first
thing Monday. All you need to do is sign and return it. I’ll make
sure Mr. Richardson receives it.”

“You expect me to sign a document without any
input?” Toby shook his head. “Oh no. That’s not how it works. And
if you insist on it, I’ll have to fill out my own report to give
Ted.”

He held her gaze. It surprised him that she
didn’t back down or look away. Of course, it
shouldn’t
.
She was tough. Intelligent. Independent. Indomitable. Madison
Keibler knew her mind and stood her ground with a stubbornness that
tickled some previously unknown need to dominate. To get her to
bend.

Toby wasn’t a bossy guy by nature. He was the
middle brother of five, and if his four brothers hadn’t taught him
to get what he wanted without pushing others around, their baby
sister had. The best life lesson he’d learned from his siblings was
patience and stealth.

You didn’t need to order people around to get
what you wanted. All it took was a little manipulation. He’d
convinced more than one brother an idea was theirs over the years.
It made for a less confrontational life. Toby had gotten more than
enough of that on the football field during his playing days.

“Look. We can do this the hard way or the
easy way.”

Madison cocked one eyebrow at him.

“You can agree to dinner and doing the report
together. Or. You can get in your car and go home.”

“I suspect we would disagree on which of
those is the easy way.”

She was right. He had no doubt she wanted him
out of her sight and this whole forced togetherness over with.

Toby grinned. “I should have added what would
happen if you choose the ‘go home’ option.”

“Oh?”

“I’d follow.”

“Follow?”

He took a step closer, crowded into her
personal space. “Follow.”

Her throat rolled as she swallowed. “But
that’s…stalking.”

Toby laughed. “It takes a bit more than one
colleague following another home to ensure she arrives safely to
qualify as stalking.”

“Well, yes, but…”

He leaned in. Took a deep breath of her sweet
scent. “But…what?”

She licked her lips. Pulled the bottom one
between her teeth. “I…”

It was so rare that Madison couldn’t put a
coherent sentence together but he’d been turning her into a
stammering, half-sentence orator for the last two day. Toby felt
that right in his gut. He liked that he rattled her enough to stop
her brain from ticking.

During their time together, he’d discovered
Madison never stopped thinking. And while an intelligent woman was
a turn on, one who overthought was not.

He watched her. Watched the dazed look fade
from her gaze and resignation slide in to replace it.

Her shoulders lowered the slightest bit.
“Fine. We’ll have pizza and fill out the report.”