Read Mail Order Misfortune for Free Online

being disrespectful in my classroom!"
    "Who do you think you are to tell me I'm not raising my boy right?"  He took one more step forward, and the two of them were all but brushing their bodies up against one another as they faced each other.  He could see the pores on her nose and the flecks of green in her otherwise sky blue eyes.
    "Are you telling me that you don't think you should have to teach your boy to behave correctly in the first place , and it's my job to both parent and teach him?"  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she'd gone too far, but she couldn't take them back.  She bit her lip, waiting to see what the man would say or do.
    Jesse Hoover's eyes flashed as he stared down at the tiny little spitfire of a teacher.  He knew Ernie was trouble.  He had been ever since his mother had died, but it wasn't Jesse's job to deal with him while Ernie was at school.  He was only eight.  What kind of teacher couldn't deal with an eight year old boy?  "Don't you have a ruler you can use on his knuckles?"   He hated the idea of anyone hitting his son, but he knew that was the normal discipline in school rooms.  He'd had a ruler used on his own knuckles more times than he could count.
    Anna's couldn't believe her ears.  "If he was disciplined properly at home, I wouldn't have to resort to corporal punishment in my classroom.  If I have to get the ruler out, then I will have to disrupt the entire class to use it.  If you will just discipline him at home and make it clear that you will back up whatever I say, then we won't have any more issues!"
    Jesse was so angry he wanted to hit the woman.  He stared down into her pretty face and realized hitting her wasn't what he wanted to do.  He wanted to kiss her.  He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him, his mouth crushing hers with a hard kiss, his tongue immediately demanding entrance.
    Anna stood paralyzed for a moment, not believing this man was actually touching her.  Didn't he know she was his son's teacher?  It only took a moment for her to feel her stomach fill with longing.  She put her hands up to his shoulders to push him away, and instead, she grasped them and clung to him.  Her mind was no longer functioning.  What was he doing to her?
    After a moment, Jesse lifted his head, staring down at the pretty little teacher.  Her hair was coming down from the sides of her bun, where it had been pinned up severely.  Her lips, a bright pink and moist from his kiss, were still parted, and she was panting slightly.  She was a teacher?  She looked like she should be a dancer in the local saloon.  Not her clothes, of course, but the wanton look on her face.  He stared at her for a moment, waiting for her to open her eyes and realize exactly what she was doing.
    Anna blinked a few times, returning to reality.  Instead of agreeing to discipline his child properly, he had kissed her instead.  She had never been kissed before, and the first time she was, it was by a man whose first name she didn't even know.  What was wrong with her?
    She took a step back, just as she saw the pink fabric of the skirt of a dress disappear around the corner.  "Oh blast! Someone just saw that.  I'm going to lose my job!"  She folded her arms across her chest for a moment, glaring at him , waiting for him to tell her that it would be all right.
    Jesse's eyes widened.  Why would he care if she lost her job?  If she couldn't control Ernie, then she was obviously a terrible teacher anyway. "I guess you shouldn't be going around kissing your students' fathers instead of working then, should you?"
    Anna clenched her fists, not believing this man w as really blaming her for the kiss he initiated.  "I trust that you'll talk to Ernie and get his behavior under control so that I don't have to expel him.  Good day, Mr. Hoover."  She turned and walked regally to her desk on the raised platform at the front of the room, and sank into her chair.  He had to