Summary:
Naughty in Pendleton #1
A sweet geek and an experienced Dom: someone’s about to learn their lesson …
When chemistry teacher Neil Greene gets an unexpected delivery at Pendleton High, he's mortified when his fellow teacher and crush sees the contents that hint at the adventurous love life he’s dying to explore. Curious but inexperienced, Neil has no idea how to live out his fantasies until the hot lit teacher offers a helping hand.
Alexander Ford likes to be in charge in the bedroom and he’s happy to tutor Neil in all things naughty. But when Neil asks him to pretend to be his date for the Sweetheart’s Game at Pendleton Bay’s Love Fest, Neil may be the one teaching Alexander about love.
Warning: Date in a Pinch includes impact play, bondage, and a Dom who isn’t quite ready to admit he’s found the love of his life.
Note: Date in a Pinch was re-released in April 2021 with a brand new cover and an additional 11k of steamy new content.
ONE
“Excuse me, Ned.” The words flowed over Neil Greene just as a warm hand gently touched the center of his back. It sent a shudder down his spine, even through the layers of the chambray shirt and lightweight black sweater he wore. Not only was that an incredibly sensitive spot on his body, the voice—and presumably the hand—belonged to Alexander Ford. “Just need to grab my mail.”
“Neil,” he corrected automatically. Oh God, was that a quaver in his voice? Why couldn’t he just act like a professional around this man? Neil had been a mess ever since he walked past the door of Alexander’s classroom and heard him reading a poem by the 13th century Persian poet, Rumi. Not that at the time Neil had known who on earth the poem was by—world literature wasn’t exactly his forte. But he’d heard Alexander’s melodious, smooth voice reciting the line, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it,” and been completely done for.
Neil had lingered in the hallway, despite the fact that his planning period was nearly over and he’d desperately needed to get back to his classroom before students started filing in. The last time he’d dawdled, he’d found students lighting something on fire in the drawers of the lab tables. But despite the urgent need for Neil to supervise his unruly 5th period students, he’d slowed to a stop at the sound of Alexander’s voice, letting the words wash over him.
They’d trickled through his mind, setting off a chain of fantasies in his head that had picked up steam like an unchecked chemical reaction with no inhibiting agent in sight.
And of course, now Neil had confirmation that Alexander didn’t even know his name. He stifled a sigh. Well, that was depressing.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” The heat against Neil’s back disappeared and he blindly reached for the stack of papers in his mail slot. He hoped it was his, anyway. Alexander’s proximity flustered him so much he felt completely upside down. “I thought someone said your name was Ned Greene. I must have misheard.”
There was genuine remorse in Alexander’s voice, and Neil turned to face him, the irritation and disappointment fading away at the earnest look on Alexander’s classically handsome face. Neil had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his jaw from dropping open at the sight of him. No one should look that sexy in khakis. No one. Alexander even wore a crisp, light-blue button-down with a preppy little pattern. He was always starched and polished and so handsome it made Neil’s teeth ache. Not to mention other places, but this was really not the time or place for his wayward fantasies.
Neil realized Alexander was staring at him with a quizzical look in his hazel eyes and he cleared his throat. “Ahh, yes. Neil … Neil Greene. Never gone by Ned.”
“My apologies. Neil it is.” Alexander’s smile was disarming. As was the perfect stubble highlighting his perfect jaw and framing his perfect lips. All capped off by perfectly styled medium-brown hair that was never out of place, unlike Neil’s darker and much more wayward hair.
“Alexander Ford, right?” Neil managed.
As if he didn’t know. As if he hadn’t obsessively looked through every single yearbook and previous edition of the community paper—plus Google—to learn more about him. Which hadn’t yielded a whole lot, to be honest. Alexander was frustratingly elusive online, and he’d only been hired three years ago, so there wasn’t much to go on in the school’s history.
“Yes.” Alexander held out a hand. “I don’t think we’ve ever officially been introduced.”
His firm handshake made Neil’s mind wander to what his palm would feel like on other parts of his body. Namely, his ass. Neil went hot under the collar at that thought. A lot of his fantasies had involved getting spanked while Alexander read poetry to him. Which, Neil was fairly sure wasn’t a thing that Alexander—or anyone else, for that matter—did, but how would he know? He had no experience with kink. At all.
Alexander leaned against the wall, smiling. “How have we not met? You started at the beginning of this school year, right?”
Neil nodded.
“I thought so! I noticed you around and meant to introduce myself, but there’s always some student needing help with something and …” He gave Neil a rueful little shrug, like, ‘You know how it is,’ but, unfortunately, Neil didn’t exactly have the same experience.
Neil was well-liked enough. At least as far as he knew, he didn’t have the reputation for being the kind of teacher students hated. But they adored Alexander. They crowded around his classroom when his class was over, waiting for a chance to talk to him. Teenage girls looked at him with adoring eyes, hanging on his every word, and a few boys—the braver ones—did too.
Not that Neil blamed them. He’d stare at Alexander and find excuses to be close to him too if he could get away with it. The kids hanging around Neil tended toward the nerdy chemistry geeks—like attracted like, after all—and the LGBTQ+ students. He adored them all but it wasn’t like the attention Alexander got. Which reminded Neil, he was supposed to be having a conversation out loud, not all in his head. He was not always good at that.
He cleared his throat. “Yes, I sponsor the LGBTQ+ student org, so I have quite a bit on my plate too.”
Alexander’s expression brightened. “It’s great that you do that. Are you an ally or …?”
“Or,” Neil said. “I’m—I’m gay.” He’d been out since college so it wasn’t like it should be hard to say aloud, but it always was. Especially around handsome men he was crushing on.
“I thought I’d heard rumors to that effect,” Alexander said with a little wink. “But you know this place. Always something to gossip about and since it’s rarely accurate I didn’t want to assume.”
Neil nodded. “True. And you?”
“I try never to gossip,” Alexander said, his gaze earnest, a little smile playing at the corner of his lips.
“No. I, uh—I meant …” Neil licked his lips, suddenly finding it difficult to force the words “your orientation” past his lips. “Never mind.”
Understanding flashed across Alexander’s face. “I’m bisexual.”
“Sorry.” Neil’s face heated. “I wasn’t trying to be intrusive or—”
“You’re fine.” Alexander rested a hand on Neil’s arm. There was a gentleness to his tone, but his gaze was very intense as he scrutinized Neil’s face. “I’m very open about it.”
“That’s great!” Neil said. He winced when he realized it had come out much, much louder than he’d intended. “I mean, it’s great for kids to have that representation. I mean, especially for bisexual students. They just don’t see that, especially in men, as often, so it’s really, really helpful for them to have a role model like you.”
A slow smile crossed Alexander’s face. “Maybe I should drop by your club meetings one of these days.”
“Well, it’s not my club,” Neil pointed out. “The students run it. I’m just there to make sure nothing goes too off-the-rails. But yes, that would be—that would be great.” He fumbled the last part, flustered by the idea of Alexander in that space.
“I look forward to it,” Alexander said. For a moment, they stared at each other until someone pushed past them. Two more teachers entered the mailroom in quick succession and Neil glanced at the clock on the wall. With a start, he realized what time it was. Students would be arriving soon, and he wasn’t prepared for the day.
“Oh! I should go,” he said. “I’ve got first period to get ready for and—”
A surprised expression crossed Alexander’s face as he looked at the clock too. “So do I. It was nice chatting with you, though. I look forward to seeing you around more, Neil.” Alexander touched his arm again before he turned to the bank of shelves. He snagged a pile of mail, then disappeared out the door with a little smile.
Neil smiled down at his own mail for a moment after he was gone. Had Alexander been flirting? No, that was crazy. Neil couldn’t possibly be Alexander’s type. Even if he was interested in dating a fellow teacher, it was crazy to think he’d be interested in Neil. But he’d been friendly. Neil hadn’t gotten close to many people since he’d started here—despite it being his hometown—and it would be nice if he could just be friends with Alexander.
Of course, he was ludicrously out of Neil’s league romantically. Not to mention Neil’s interest in things that weren’t very school appropriate meant that most people he dated were either baffled or disgusted by him. And the people who weren’t, well, they weren’t the type to be interested in him. Which meant he was perpetually single. Usually sexually frustrated. And that was all on top of being a chemistry geek. Neil sighed and shook his head. No, Alexander Ford was way, way out of his league.
But if Neil could get over his stupid crush, maybe they could be friends or something.
“Everything okay, Mr. Greene?”
He looked up to see Sonya Waters—the high school principal staring at him with a concerned frown on her face. Sonya had been a teacher at Pendleton High when Neil had gone here as a student and had stepped into the role of principal a few years before Neil was hired. He’d never had her as a teacher, but at his interview, her kind smile and no-nonsense approach had put him at ease.
“Ahh, yes,” he said with a smile. “Just got lost wool-gathering. Thinking about the day ahead. I came to grab my mail.” He waved it between them, only then noticing that it was not addressed to him. “I seem to have grabbed the wrong stack though,” he admitted.
He definitely wasn’t named Maryanne Grondin. That was the freshman earth sciences teacher. He stuffed the letters back into her mail slot—the one immediately below his and reached for the correct one.
“Guess it’s time for more coffee,” Sonya said with a laugh. She pushed her dark brown hair over her shoulder as he passed her, heading toward the door.
“Guess so,” Neil agreed.
She wished him a good day and he replied with the same, distracted by the thoughts of Alexander. He’d been so warm, so open. Neil had half-hoped a conversation with him would make Alexander less interesting, but unfortunately, it’d had the opposite effect.
As Neil left the main office and turned right, heading toward his chem lab, he passed Alexander’s classroom. Students were beginning to arrive, and the door was open. Alexander looked up and a warm smile crossed his face. He gave Neil a little wink that made him trip over his own feet.
Damn it all to hell, he thought as he hurried away, cheeks blazing bright. I have got to avoid that man at all costs before I make an even bigger fool of myself.
Monday's Musical Melody: Three Shots
Author Bio:
Brigham Vaughn is on the adventure of a lifetime as a full-time writer. She devours books at an alarming rate and hasn’t let her short arms and long torso stop her from doing yoga. She makes a killer key lime pie, hates green peppers, and loves wine tasting tours. A collector of vintage Nancy Drew books and green glassware, she enjoys poking around in antique shops and refinishing thrift store furniture. An avid photographer, she dreams of traveling the world and she can’t wait to discover everything else life has to offer her.
Her books range from short stories to novellas. They explore gay, lesbian, and polyamorous romance in contemporary settings.
To stay up to date on her latest releases, sign up for the Coles & Vaughn Newsletter.
EMAIL: brighamvaughn@gmail.com
Date in a Pinch #1
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