Kaylee's First Crush

By Erin M. Leaf

The last person Kaylee expects to run into when her flight is cancelled is Mr. Hugo Valtree, her favorite high school teacher. It’s been five years since she graduated and she’s never forgotten the sexy man who’d been her first crush. Now she’s all grown up, but he’s still out of her league: he’s inherited his father’s company, making him a billionaire. She’s still shy, still a virgin—what can she possibly have to offer him?

Surprisingly, Hugo offers her something instead, something she desperately needs: a place to stay for the night. It’s storming outside and just her luck, all the hotels in the city are booked. Of course, there’s only one bed in his hotel room...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight Publishing
• Release date: Jul 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781771304740

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Published by Evernight Publishing at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2013 Erin M. Leaf

ISBN: 978-1-77130-474-0

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor: JS Cook

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

For my husband: my first and last crush.

KAYLEE'S FIRST CRUSH

Erin M. Leaf

Copyright © 2013

Chapter One

Kaylee startled from her light doze, groaning as the muscles in her back protested the hard airport chair. She’d been dreaming about him again: the delicious Mr. Valtree. He’d been her English teacher in her last year of high school and her first crush, so yeah, he’d been a big influence in her life, but dreaming about him five years after graduation was just ridiculous. She was twenty-two now! She had two college degrees! She rubbed her eyes. Clearly, the amount of time that passed didn’t matter. The man had made a hell of an impression on her young mind.

You and all the other girls in his class, and probably a few of the boys, too, she thought, amused. He had to be at least in his mid-thirties now. She closed her eyes in an attempt to capture the remnants of her quickly fading dream. He’d been smiling at her, she recalled, warm brown eyes crinkling at the corners. They were somewhere hot, maybe at a tropical island or a resort. He’d had his shirt off, like that one time right before graduation when the air conditioner at school had broken. She’d walked into class early to find him wearing a skin-tight undershirt while eating his lunch. He’d draped his dress-shirt over his chair. Beads of sweat trickled down his hairline.

Kaylee smiled to herself as she abandoned her dream and instead remembered the look of surprise on his face when he realized he was no longer alone. She could still recall with perfect clarity the dusky outline of his nipples beneath the thin fabric. The sexy tendrils of hair under his arms as he stood up. The way he’d left the top button of his pants open, probably so he could quickly and neatly tuck his shirt back in before class. He’d smiled at her then, too. He hadn’t seemed at all bothered that she’d caught him with his pants undone. She’d been mortified and stopped in her tracks, frozen with embarrassment, but he’d taken her entrance in stride.

Kaylee! You’re a little early, he’d said, grabbing his shirt and putting it on. He left it open, tantalizing her with glimpses of his chest, but buttoned his pants.

Kaylee had just stared at him, mouth open. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Just the suggestion of possibly catching a glimpse of his underwear had her flushing from head to toe. His pectoral muscles had flexed in a most amazing fashion as he moved his chair away from his desk. She remembered that had been the day she’d broken her glasses and had to tape them back together at the nose. She’d been trying to grow her hair out of a horrible haircut, and to make matters worse, none of her clothes fit right because her mother didn’t have the money to buy her the right sizes. She’d always worn her sister’s hand-me-downs. Amanda was a lot taller and thinner than Kaylee and her clothes looked terrible on her. No doubt about it, she’d been a nerdy, ugly mess her senior year of high school.

At least now your clothes fit, she mused. You may not be skinny like Amanda, but your curves aren’t hideous. They just seemed that way back then when you were trying to cram double-Ds into your sister’s sweatshirts. Even so, she squirmed on the airport chair, remembering how embarrassed she’d been. How aroused.

Mr. Valtree had been the hottest teacher in the school. All the girls flirted with him, not that he ever responded to any of them. There was never even a hint of impropriety in his manner or dress. He’d been the perfect teacher, the perfect gentleman. He always wore a shirt and tie, almost as if he knew how attractive he was and didn’t want to provoke the girls, yet that day, there he’d stood, half-naked right in front of her. She hadn’t known what to do with herself, so she’d just stood there, wringing her hands like an idiot.

You wouldn’t know what to do with him now, either, she told herself, suddenly irritated. She’d never had a boyfriend. The few dates she’d been on had been unmitigated disasters. You may be a college graduate, but you’re still an introverted nerd. A virgin. She frowned, angry at herself for thinking about it. She’d been trying to act more confident lately. She had a job all lined up in New York, for God’s sake. She was an adult now. So what if you’ve never had sex? That’s doesn’t mean anything, not really. She slumped down further, trying not to remember what had happened next, but the images ran through her mind anyway. Ugh. Remembering the rest of that particular day was never pleasant.

Kaylee? Mr. Valtree had asked gently. He’d always been super-nice to her for some reason. When the other kids made fun of her presentations, he’d praised her creativity. When she’d frozen up during the class discussions, he’d always made certain to wait for her to speak, never pressuring her. Not only was he gorgeous, he was also