by Clarissa Carlyle
Release Date: 02/24/14
Genre: New Adult
Synopsis:
Book 1 in the Lessons in Love New Adult Romance series
The Lessons in Love series follows the story of high school cheerleader Alex Heron. She's pretty, blonde and popular. Alex seems to have it all, but she's hiding a dark secret from her past that threatens to destroy her future. Only the handsome new math teacher, Mark Simmons, can see past Alex's façade to the real girl hiding inside. He wants to help Alex overcome her past, but will their developing feelings for each other get in the way?
Lessons in love
by Clarissa Carlyle
Almost a week
had passed since Alex had gone from being the girl in Mark’s car to the
invisible woman. She was tired of second-guessing his feelings about her and
more tired of her own constant attraction towards him. She was obviously
deluding herself to entertain any sort of fantasy involving him, yet she
couldn’t help it. Each time she caught his scent or spotted him in the
corridor, her heart raced in a way that no one else had ever been able to make
it do.
The only way she
could get through math class was to actually settle down and do some work, and
as a result, her grades began to improve.
“You got an A?”
Claire gasped as they sat in their Friday morning class.
“Mmm.” Alex
nodded sheepishly.
“How did you
manage that?” Claire asked, clearly amazed by the achievement.
Alex wanted to
answer that all she had done was pay attention and apply herself, but knew that
wouldn’t be in keeping with her head cheerleader status. “I bought the answers
off some guy yesterday,” Alex whispered conspiratorially.
“Ooh,” Claire
exhaled, nodding in approval. “Why didn’t you share?” She sounded hurt as she
asked.
“I didn’t want
us both to get caught cheating.” Alex offered an impromptu explanation, which
seemed to appease Claire.
“Hope you don’t
get caught,” she whispered across to her friend.
“Me too.” Alex
smiled at her.
Mark was winding
down his class, having distributed test papers and solved all of the equations
on the board. As usual his gaze had never once drifted to the back right of the
classroom where Alex sat. Suddenly she felt his eyes upon her before she heard
him speak, her breath catching in her throat as he did so.
“Miss Heron, can
I see you after class?” His tone was abrupt. It was not a request but a
command.
“Oh God, looks
like he caught you cheating!” Claire sent Alex an apologetic glance before
hurriedly packing away her stuff, not wanting to be tarred with the same
cheating brush.
Alex watched
Claire and the rest of her classmates scurry away, her heart already in
overdrive, pounding within her chest, reverberating all the way to her
eardrums, blocking out all external sound.
What did Mark
want with her? He’d ignored her all week long; why speak to her now? Alex
nervously approached his desk. Mark went to speak but then spotted the open
door, beyond which were students milling around in the corridor,
unenthusiastically meandering towards their next class.
He got up and
walked purposefully to the door, swiftly closed it, and then headed back to his
desk. He sat on top of it, close to Alex as she hovered nervously nearby. She
could smell him, and it was intoxicating. She struggled to keep her focus.
“I owe you an
apology,” Mark blurted out, his stern demeanor instantly gone and the kind,
open man from the cinema standing in his place.
“Huh?” Alex was
caught off guard.
“I’ve been
ignoring you all week. But you know that, right?” Mark looked deep into her
eyes, and embarrassed, Alex looked away.
“I thought you
were just being a tool,” she told him flippantly, forcing herself to wear her
arrogant cheerleader armor.
Mark merely
smiled fondly at her insult. “You’ve every right to be mad. I just can’t be
seen to be too familiar with you in school. People will talk.”
Alex was silent,
staring intently at her battered Converse sneakers; thankfully the distressed
look was currently in style.
“Alex, I’d risk
losing my job if anyone knew we were…friends.” He struggled on the last word,
and Alex wondered why.
“What’s wrong
with being friends?” Alex challenged.
“You know what,”
Mark told her earnestly, and she felt her heart skip a beat as she dared to
believe that perhaps he did actually see her as something more than just a
friend. But if that was the word they needed to use to toe the delicate
teacher-student line, then she was more than happy to do so.
“Are we still
friends?” she asked cautiously.
I have been an avid reader and and writer since my earliest school days. Reading was my first and earliest passions, often seeking the safe sanctuary of my room or the library to read everything I could. My favorite has been romance. I penned some romantic poetry in high school and was winning school awards for my short stories when I was just 16. In college I would hibernate in the library for days at a time, consuming every short story and novel I could find. My diploma says Bachelors in English Lit. which I'm very proud of.
I probably drink too much coffee and eat too much junk food, but to compensate do like running when the weather is nice. I love shopping in the mall even if I never find what I'm looking for. I'm a hopeful romantic who prefers novels with a happy ending.
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