Page 5 of Spoil Me, Daddy
Zaire’s lips twitched. “Icomewherever I’m commanded to.”
Aaron raised his eyebrow. Did the guy seriously flirt with him?
“Sorry.” Zaire linked his fingers in his lap and crossed his legs, gaze dropping.
The undeniable submission Zaire showed sparked a flint in Aaron’s chest, and he schooled his features. “No, you’re not.”
Zaire’s gaze rose for a second, a twinkle in his eyes until he dropped his gaze once more. “No, I’m not,” he whispered.
“You said you were reliable and respectable. If I can ensure you’ll leave the innuendos at the entrance to the school, I would love to have you back again. What do you say?”
Aaron watched as Zaire’s jaw tightened again, and he swallowed. “I believe I would enjoy working here.”
“That’s good news. I’ll speak to the agency and request you stay with us for the next two weeks. If you appear to fit within the team, I might extend a permanent job offer, if you’d be interested.”
Zaire’s expression brightened. “I would. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me if I offer you the job.” Aaron grinned.
Smiling, Zaire stood, holding out his hand once more. “Regardless. Thank you. For today and last Friday.”
“You’re very welcome, Zaire. Just remember what I said.”
Their hands clasped for longer than was necessary, and when they parted, Zaire’s fingertips slid across Aaron’s palm.
“See you tomorrow.”
Zaire exited the office, and Aaron breathed deeply before picking up the phone and calling the agency. After explaining his terms, they agreed on a two-week employment for Zaire. Aaron didn’t mention anything about the possibility of a job at the end of it. That would be discussed if Zaire behaved.
Aaron thought about Zaire’s demeanour as he’d sat in front of him and from Friday night. There was no doubt Zaire had confidence in spades, but he appeared to need reining in a bit. Friday night showed his ego might be a problem, but if he was true to his word and kept the two sides to himself separate, he’d fit nicely. Aaron was concerned about the separation aspect. Surely, it wasn’t healthy to keep aspects of his personality in different compartments.
He frowned as he tried to figure out how Zaire worked. The side of Zaire he’d seen on Friday was brash, egocentric, graceful and sexy. Today, he’d seen buttoned-up, clean-shaven, confident with some uneasiness if Aaron wasn’t mistaken. Which was the real Zaire Morgan?
Shaking his head, he returned his attention to his workload. Then, hesitating, grabbed his phone.
I need relief. Which club or bar is the best choice for tonight?
He sent the text to Nora, knowing she would reply as soon as she could. Naturally, having lived here for thirty years, she knew the place better than he did and had been on the scene longer. He picked up a file and opened it, trying hard to concentrate on what was inside.
A knock sounded.
“Come in.”
Pamela smiled. “It’s time for assembly.”
“Okay. Thanks. I didn’t realise the time.”
“No problem. It’s what I’m here for.” Pamela grinned and left the office, leaving the door open, presumably to remind him to get his ass up.
Dropping his phone into a drawer and locking it, he stood, heading to the hall ready to give his end of the day assembly. They alternated when they had assemblies and didn’t have them every day like a lot of schools did. He found children fidgeted a lot the longer they had to sit still, so he had introduced a few changes.
He waited at the front of the hall, pacing, as the children entered, some smiling at him, some shy. He crouched to make himself smaller, so he didn’t appear as scary. One of the first changes he had made was to reverse how the classes sat. Usually, the youngest children sat at the front and the oldest at the back. Aaron had read some research once that younger children would benefit from being further away from a person they may be frightened of, especially if he was pacing in front of them all the time. It had the added effect of making the older kids sit closer to him, where he could see the troublemakers.
Once everyone had settled in, he greeted them, “Good afternoon, students.”
“Good afternoon, Mr Brown. Good afternoon, teachers.”
“Thank you. Firstly, can I say you are all looking very smart today.” He caught the gaze of a few students and smiled. “Today, we are going to talk about books.”
