Four months later….

Ryan needed to go to the gym on Saturday morning to get some work done, so he brought Tyler and Jack with him and sent them to the basketball court to hang out. He didn’t plan on being more than an hour or two at the most. And if they got tired, they could go into the playroom and watch TV.

Once the boys were settled, Ryan sat down to work, but was having a hard time focusing. He kept thinking about Dr. Fields and how much she’d helped Ty. He was comfortable sending Tyler and Jack to the basketball court, primarily due to the help she been providing Tyler over the past four months. At twelve years old, he could see a huge improvement in his sons’s attitude, behavior and in his school work. He would often come home from school excited, talking about about what he and Dr. Fields did in their sessions. That never happened before.

Every two weeks, she would call Ryan. They’d discuss Ty’s progress, what they were doing and how he could help at home. They would also meet monthly at the school, sometimes along with a couple of his teachers. Ryan looked forward to her calls as well as the in person meetings.

The conversations began to get more and more personal as time went on, at least from his standpoint, as he shared things that were happening in Tyler’s young life – and his own lonely one. She was easy to talk to and never judged him.

During these calls and meetings, Dr. Fields found out who his daughter was. Knew when his divorce was final. Learned he owned the most popular gym franchise around. Found out the ‘Connor Twins’ were Tyler’s cousins. That Tyler became friends with them, when they weren’t before. What day he and Tyler would be seeing Sam. And on and on.

But it hadn’t gone both ways. Ryan didn’t find out one single thing about Dr. Fields, other than she worked her way through school to become a teacher. Then once she had a job, continued classes during the evenings and through the summers to not only get her masters, but also her doctorate in Education. Ryan surmised she was married to her job, and therefore had no personal life. At least she never spoke of a family. It was entirely possible she was simply a very private, yet very empathetic person.

Instead of working, he found himself daydreaming about what it might have been like if he’d married someone like Dr. Fields instead of the self-centered Maribel. Maribel was beautiful, but she was the most manipulative person he’d ever met. Maybe worse than his own mother, and that was saying a lot. His mother had been certifiably insane, but she wasn’t.

Ryan sighed, and turned on the computer. He knew Sam seemed to be happy enough with her mother, living out her dream. She seemed to be okay with him too. He’d been doing as Will had suggested and kept in touch with her. He felt bad for Tyler though. His mother didn’t bother doing the same for him. She just let Ryan provide updates.

Ryan opened his email and decided to send Samantha another message and ask when she’d have a break so he could come see her again. He looked up to check on the boys through the one way mirror in his office and caught a glimpse of who he thought was Dr. Fields.

He got up for a closer look and knew he was mistaken. This woman had long wild hair, full of curls cascading down her back. Not the neat professional style that he’d seen a handful of times at Tyler’s school. Damn, he had to start dating and get Tyler’s principal out of his head.

He sighed heavily and decided to get some coffee. Maybe that would clear his head. Then he would email Sam and finish up his work so he could shoot some baskets with the boys before they left. When he walked out of his office, the woman he had seen earlier was heading up the stairs. That has to be her, he thought. He recognized the way she walked, with confidence and purpose.

He stopped at the front desk. “Hey Karen,” he asked the receptionist, “who just checked in?”

Karen smiled up at Ryan. “Oh, she’s new, just bought a membership today. She had such a pretty name,” she said as she looked for her paperwork. “Let’s see, yes. Here it is. Taysia Fields. She went upstairs to work out on the treadmills.”

Holy shit, it was her. “Thanks,” said Ryan, trying to stay calm. “Would you mind going up and asking her to stop by my office before she leaves?”

“Sure,” she said looking at Ryan strangely, “Any particular reason why, you know, in case she asks?”

“Just tell her that the owner would like to ask her how her experience was,” he said. He quickly turned and went to grab a coffee.

He poured the coffee and sat down for a minute to try and calm his racing heart. That hair, she looked like a completely different person. Wild and free. And it turned him on in ways he couldn’t describe. Fuck. What was wrong with him? This wasn’t right. She was Tyler’s principal.

He got up and made his way back to his office. She did know he owned the gym. Did she come here hoping to see him? No. Of course not. That was just wishful thinking. But still he felt like they had a little connection between them. But maybe it was just their joint goal of making sure Tyler was able to succeed in school.

He sat there watching for the receptionist to return. Finally, his door opened. “I told her,” said Karen smiling, “She said okay.”

“Thanks Karen,” he said, dismissing her.

He got up and paced back and forth, waiting for Dr. Fields and checking on the kids. How long would she work out? Would she shower first? Now he was imaging sweat running down between her breasts as she worked out, and then water sluicing over her caramel skin as she showered. God he was a perv. He needed to get his shit together before she came in the office and keep reminding himself, she was Tyler’s principal. Nothing more.

He saw her coming down the stairs and then she went to talk to Karen. Probably to find out where his office was.

A minute later, a knock on the door startled him. It was her. He walked to the door and stood there for a minute speechless before he opened it. Holy hell, she’s gorgeous, was all he could think. Finally he recovered enough to move and opened the door, “Please, come in Dr. Fields.”

He couldn’t stop admiring her body in her workout clothes. He’d never seen that much of her gorgeous skin before. He hoped he wasn’t drooling.

She walked in with a hint of a smile. It looked like she was trying not to laugh. “Do you conduct personal interviews with all of your new members?” she asked coyly.

Was she flirting with him? he wondered. “I didn’t recognize you at first. I like it down … your hair, that is. Who knew? You look …” Ryan swallowed hard, “different. Certainly not like a … a … ” Shit now he’d stepped into it, he thought miserably.

“Stuffy administrator?” she filled in for him, but her eyes were still smiling, mocking him even.

“No!”objected Ryan, “I never think of you as stuffy. More like this incredibly smart, put together, beautiful and amazing person with a heart of gold. Tyler is doing so much better since you took an interest in him. I can’t possibly thank you enough. But now, I see there may be a little more to you than I knew.” He knew he was rambling but couldn’t stop as a smirk formed on his lips as he continued. “Do you let your hair down often? And I mean that both literally and figuratively speaking.”

She laughed out loud and it was the most glorious sound he’d heard. It was full and beautiful. He suddenly felt foolish. Now he was flirting with her and he had no idea if she was married or in a relationship. Any man would be a fool to walk away from her. Although he supposed all of that confidence could be intimidating, but for some reason, he admired the hell out of her and wasn’t intimidated at all, well maybe a little, but she never made him fell less than, and he admired that about her. And, he reminded himself, she was Tyler’s principal.

Finally, she spoke. “May I call you Ryan?” she asked and bit her bottom lip. He nodded, because he didn’t think he could speak coherently, so she continued. “Ryan,” she said again, as if testing out his name on her tongue. That one word sent all the blood rushing down where it shouldn’t and he almost missed what she said next. “I do, but not often enough. I have a girlfriend that I usually go dancing with when I need to get out. I get stressed more than you might know, and dancing and having a drink or two is a great stress reliever.”

A girlfriend? “Oh, I see,” he said, and swallowed hard. Not married, but in a relationship. He felt like the wind had been knocked out of his sails. But it was probably a good thing. She was Ty’s principal.

“But Ryan!” she said excitedly as she sat on the small couch, “this place is amazing. I should’ve checked it out sooner. It lives up to the hype and then some. You’ve done an awesome job. I can see me coming here for stress relief. So many choices.” She smiled as she licked her luscious lips.

Ryan had to sit down too. He was on a roller coaster. Instead of sitting next to her, he pulled one of the chairs around to face her. Much safer. From the way she seemed to be openly flirting with him, maybe she meant girlfriend as in friend, not lover. He hoped. “Dr. Fields…” said Ryan, and his voice broke, as was barely able to form words.

She began to laugh at his stuttering. “Taysia, Ryan. Please, call me Taysia,” she said. “At least when we aren’t at school. I think we’ve gotten to know each other well enough to drop the formalities when they aren’t called for.”

Ryan swallowed and smiled. “Taysia,” he said, testing out her name as she had seemed to have done with his, “I love that name. It’s beautiful, and exotic, like you. You have so many layers and I feel I only know one, but you know practically everything about my sad little life. Since we are apparently both single, would you have dinner with me so I can find out more about the mysterious and lovely Taysia?”

She got quiet. Fuck, I overstepped, he worried, but then why is she here, all sexy as fuck, and laughing and calling me by my first name? “I’m sorry. That was out of line,” he said trying to roll it back before he made things super weird between them.

“No Ryan, you weren’t out of line. It’s just, that being with a student’s parent, it’s not ethical. We need to put Tyler first. I don’t want anything to affect his progress. I think I was so flattered that you had your receptionist hunt me down, I sorta got caught up in the moment.”

“But you obviously feel it too.” Ryan stated his question, almost desperate now as the roller coaster took another nose dive, “This thing between us? It’s not just me?”

“No. Its not,” she admitted, “Actually, I came here hoping to run into you. I’m sorry, this was a mistake. I didn’t expect to be asked to dinner. I’m not sure what I was thinking. I guess I wasn’t.”

No! he screamed in his head, it’s not a mistake! “Taysia,” he said, “how about this. We have dinner in and just talk. Get to know each other on a more personal level. I, at least, want to know more about Dr. Taysia Fields and how she seems to work magic with my son.”

“We couldn’t tell Tyler,” she said looking miserable. “He would be devastated if he knew we were becoming more than just teacher, parent and student. He might begin to hope we were a couple. It could destroy all that we’ve done.” She sighed deeply before continuing. “And I can’t let anyone at school know either. They would think I’m giving him preferential treatment. Ryan, I’ve worked really hard to get where I am and I can’t do anything that would appear inappropriate, even if it’s not. We simply shouldn’t be seen fraternizing with the parent of a child in our care.”

Ryan wasn’t ready to give up. “When are things ever easy? I don’t take you as someone to walk away from a challenge. Look Taysia, I understand everything you just said. But I can’t just turn my back on this. Honestly … I really want to get to know you on a personal level. So, we don’t have to tell anyone. School will be out in a couple of months. And he only has one more year left in middle school. Perhaps he won’t need help next year. Or you won’t be the principal next year. A lot can happen.”

“Ryan, you’re making it awfully hard for me to say no.”

“Then don’t,” said Ryan as if it were the easiest thing in the world for her to do. He understood her fears. He would respect her need to keep their relationship private if it turned into more.

She thought for a minute. “Okay, how about this? Instead of going out, why don’t you come to my place tonight and let me cook for you?”

“You cook too? How are you so goddamn perfect. Oops. I’m sorry.” He needed to clean up his mouth.

Taysia laughed again, the earlier tension seemed to be gone. “I imagine holding that shit back all day is fucking hard.”

Now Ryan laughed. She was teasing him and it was so damn cute. “Still, you’re a classy lady and should be treated with respect,” he said.

“Sometimes ladies like to get a little dirty,” she said arching an eyebrow and smiling again. Now that they had decided to have dinner, she had taken off the brakes.

“Fucking perfect,” he said smirking at her. “What time do you want me there?”

She looked at him and licked those juicy lips again as she thought about the time. He was very glad he was sitting down. “How about 6:30?” she said finally, “That should give me enough time to get dinner started.”

“Red or white?” asked Ryan.

“Definitely red,” she practically purred the words. What was she doing to him?

She stood up to leave and Ryan jumped to his feet along with her. But instead of heading for the door, she turned and kissed his cheek. “See you tonight, Ryan. I’ll text you the address.”

I’m dead, thought Ryan, as he watched her walk out the door grinning like she just won the lottery. Principal or not. I’m dead.

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