Here's a taste of what's inside!

 

He stood and crossed the gap between us to stand in front of me. "Boss didn't tell me the new teacher was a woman." He swore low under his breath. "Probably because I would have told him I wasn't doing it."

"Doing what? As far as I know, I’m the one who’s here to teach. Not you. All you need to do is show me where my classroom is. Then you can wander off to whichever bridge you crawled out from underneath."

A muscle ticked in his jaw. "Of course you think it's that simple. Because you're so green you're practically Kermit."

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I might have laughed if I hadn’t also been contemplating punching him. "Well then, I guess that makes you Miss Piggy. Can we go?"

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He shook his head, eyes rolling toward the ceiling. But he motioned toward the security door. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

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He punched a code into the security panel and I grabbed the door before he could, opening it for myself. I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. I was going to have to work with this man. We'd gotten off on the wrong foot for sure, but I didn't want this to be the way we went on. This workplace would be hostile enough as it is. I didn't need my colleagues adding to it.

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Though it went against every instinct in my body, I was willing to try to be the bigger person. "I'm Mae, by the way."

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He didn't bother glancing in my direction. "I know. I've seen your driver’s license, remember?" The corner of his mouth flickered up. "Nice photo, by the way."

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Oh. This guy. Screw being the bigger person. My driver’s license picture looked like I'd spent the night before partying on a pirate ship with a parrot sitting in my hair. I had no idea how I had managed to take such a bad photo. I totally blamed the guys at the DMV for not telling me my sunglasses had snagged and completely ruined my ponytail. "And yours is perfect, I guess? Hand it over, then."

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"Not a chance. But I will say that at least I know what a comb is."

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Fine. If he wanted to play it like that, two could play at that game. I reached over and grabbed the little plastic ID tag hanging from his shirt pocket. It clipped off easily, and I stepped away from him so he couldn't snatch it back. "Rowe Prichard." I glanced over at him, expecting him to look annoyed that I'd taken his ID, but he simply strolled along the corridor like nothing bothered him. And when I looked at his photo, I realized why.

 

"Is this one of your modelling photos? Because this is not normal. Nobody looks this good in a passport photo."

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He smirked, and took the ID back from me, snapping it back onto his shirt. "I do."

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I couldn't have rolled my eyes harder if I tried. "Well, at least I know your name now. Rowe."

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"Prichard to you."

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Oooh. A twitch I could exploit. It was my turn to smirk. "No. I think I'll stick with Rowe." I started humming “Row, Row, Row your Boat,” beneath my breath.

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It was small, but the flash of annoyance that crossed his features gave me a sick sense of satisfaction.

 

Annoying Rowe might just be my new favorite thing to do.