Chapter 1
Autumn days used to be such comfort to her. She counted down the days to September. September made her happy. As a child, Amy’s mother made sure that life was full of magic and wonder. But once fall came around, the magic became bigger. Autumn was special. Autumn meant happiness…right?
“Shit! I’m going to be late!” Amy groaned. She was never late. Since becoming a professor at Briggman University so many years ago, she had never been late. Apparently flat tires don’t care about punctuality.
She walked around to the passenger side to assess the damage. Total blow out. Just fantastic. Amy grabbed the pendant on her necklace and took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. No big deal. I’ve got this. I have no idea how to change a fucking tire, but I’ve got this.”
She did not need this on the first day of fall term. She was a stickler for promptness. She popped the trunk and began digging around for everything she needed, which was interesting considering she had no idea what she needed.
Even Dean, in all the years that she knew him, never changed one tire. Hell, he never even pumped his own gas. She should have seen so many red flags back then.
Jake slowly pulled his car off to the side of the road. Damsels in distress. Nothing better. This damsel looked beyond flustered. She was flinging items out of her trunk one after another. A million items, yet none of them helpful when it came to a simple tire change.
“Need some help?” he asked while slowly walking towards the woman who, by this time, was almost completely in her trunk. Nice ass. He had to give her that.
Startled, Amy jumped, bashing her head against the lid of the trunk. She turned, ready to pounce. “Christ! You scared the shit…outta…me.”
Standing before her was a man. Young, probably in his mid-twenties. He was well over six feet tall. His brown hair somewhat curly, slightly blowing in the wind. She had seen many things in her forty years, but she had never seen a man this beautiful.
She was sure he had a flaw somewhere, but by God she didn’t know where. She realized she was grabbing the pendant around her neck so tightly, she may choke.
“Didn’t mean to get you all hot and bothered,” he said, a cocky look on his face.
And then he spoke. Flaw identified.
“I am not hot and bothered. I’m in a slight predicament, here,” she stated.
A small smile started at the left corner of his mouth. He slowly walked closer. Damn there was something about her. Older than he was, but he’d always wondered about that cougar experience. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place her.
“You know, I could help you with this slight predicament, but it’ll cost you.”
Amy let out a small gasp. She had suddenly run out of room. Why was he standing so damn close? She could smell his cologne. Nothing heavy. Just a light, glorious scent that somehow smelled of sex.
She shook her head. Not so much a response to his offer to help, but to shake out the fact that she had basically undressed him with her eyes in seconds.
He chuckled. She was all but eating him whole with her eyes. She was biting the corner of her bottom lip. Whether out of nervousness or temptation, he wasn’t sure.
Intrigued, he reached out and slowly tugged her bottom lip free from her teeth. While he knew he shouldn’t, he lightly brushed his thumb across her lip.
“Don’t want to chew your lip off. Might need it as part of my payback.”
He looked down in time to see her grab hold of her necklace.
Amy stepped away quickly. Romantic thoughts replaced with rage. “Excuse me?! There will be no payback. I don’t need your help. I’ll call someone that doesn’t feel the need to treat a flat tire as an invitation for whatever the hell it is you have in mind!”
“You’re the one that couldn’t take her eyes off me.”
What in the hell had she gotten herself into? She wasn’t sure what made her more angry. His cocky attitude, or the fact that he was right.
Amy was slightly aware of another vehicle pulling up beside her, though she found it much more exciting to keep her eyes on him.
A familiar voice called out, grabbing her attention.
“Amy? What’s going on? You got a flat?”
Thank God. A familiar face. Her best friend, Ashley, hanging out of the passenger window of her husband’s truck.
“Yes! Any chance you can convince that man driving to help me, here?” she asked.
God please don’t say no. She couldn’t be left here with this…boy. She turned to tell him good riddance, but he was already opening the door to his car.
Well, that was quick. Guess he realized there were no opportunities for him. Glad he realized that as she wasn’t quite sure she wouldn’t have been open to those opportunities.
Amy got back in her car. Tire fixed. Issue rectified. Now if she could just shake pretty boy out of her mind, but he was there. She remembered every single, beautiful inch of his face. His quirky smile, his voice. His eyes that, if she was being honest, were pouring over her.
Why did he have to touch her? If he had tried to kiss her, would she have stopped him? She didn’t even have to ask herself that question. Of course she would have stopped him. She was probably old enough to be his mother. Certainly, he realized the huge age gap.
That’s it. He was playing with her. Trying to get in her head. It worked. He was there and he didn’t leave the entire ride to Briggman University.
Amy pulled into her assigned parking spot. Somehow, she was on time with even a minute or two to pull herself together. She checked her appearance in the mirror. Not too bad. Honestly, she did look young for her age. Or maybe she was just hoping.
The good news was, she would never have to see him again. Only the image of him that was permanently engraved in her mind. She realized she was hanging on to her pendant for dear life and quickly let go. She had to get a grip.
She took a moment to look around her. The leaves had not started to turn just yet. It was the beginning of September, after all. But she could feel the magic. That same magic she always felt when the first of the “Ber” months arrived.
She smiled, thinking of her mother. Her mother always called on the first day of September. “It’s here, Nonnie Girl. September is here!” Her mother loved the fall just as much. So many cups of coffee shared. So many books read and discussed in length.
Once October rolled around, that turned into more coffee with horror films thrown into the mix. Whether classic, or pure junk, they always watched them together.
Together.
“Hey, Ms. Turner!” Amy snapped out of her daydream just in time to see Cindy Perkins run by the front of her car, waving and smiling the smile of the beautiful. She returned a wave to Cindy and couldn’t help but smile back. Ah, to be young and beautiful, again. Cindy had her entire life ahead of her.
Amy was forty and had missed out on most of life’s major events. She wasn’t married. No children. She had wanted both. November 1st, 2013 had other plans.
Shaking her head, Amy grabbed her pendant and brushed a quick kiss across the silver. “Love you.” She grabbed her purse and backpack and hurried into the building.
She walked briskly down the hall and cut through a maze of doors to the “History Wing” as she lovingly called it. History. The one solid subject. History was made every day, but once it was history, it was dependable.
She put a pep in her step. She promised Georgia she would meet with her prior to first period, and she wasn’t going to let her down.
