Safe in his Arms Read Online Free PDF Page B

her way to the main office suite and stepped through the doors. Because of the holiday and the swiftness with which she’d had to be hired, she hadn’t gone through the standard orientation. She was early today, as she knew she had to get her classroom ready before the doors of the school opened up to all and a flood of kids came pouring in.
    “Hello, Natalie. It’s great to meet you.”
    Natalie looked up, startled. An older woman was smiling at her, and a quick downward glance revealed a nameplate that said Dorothy Simms, Secretary.
    “Good morning, Ms. Simms. I’m here to meet with Carol O’Connor.” Excellent. Her voice was calm, self-assured. These people would never know that she was actually shaking in her borrowed boots.
    “Yes, she’s been waiting for you. Go right on in. And it’s a real pleasure to have you here with us.”
    “Thank you. I already feel welcome,” Natalie replied, surprised that she did feel welcome. With as much confidence as she could muster, Natalie walked over to the principal’s door, knocked timidly, and went inside. She found a petite blond woman sitting behind a desk, reading on her laptop.
    When the principal finally looked up, a big grin split Carol’s face, and she stood up. “You must be Natalie. It’s so good to finally meet you in person,” she said as shestepped around her desk. “I hope you’re settling in nicely at your house.”
    “Yes. The furnace was broken, but maintenance fixed it almost immediately.”
    A shudder passed through Natalie at that thought. After Thanksgiving dinner, she’d been told there was no way she could go home alone for the next twenty-four hours, and Maggie had insisted she stay the night. At some point the topic of her furnace had come up, and as soon as she said there was a problem, Hawk had jumped up and left his parents’ house.
    The next day, when he came to pick her up and he drove her home, she’d been more nervous in his presence than ever before. But then the two of them walked into her place, and she couldn’t suppress the bounce in her step when she felt the heat.
    It seemed that when Hawk decided to do something, he did it fast. And the proof was in the fact that in only a weekend, this man had managed to wedge his way permanently into her brain. And that’s where he seemed to be staying.
    It would be good to get to work, because she needed something to focus on other than a very sexy fire chief who always seemed to be around. She’d run into him at least four times over the weekend. At the small clothing store. In the post office. At the diner. He just seemed to be everywhere.
    “Well, you can’t have a broken furnace in this weather,” Carol said with a laugh. “You’re in Hawk’s old house, right?”
    That quickly snapped Natalie back to the present. “Yes, it’s a lovely home.”
    “Hawk’s a good man. A little rough around the edges, but there’s nothing that man won’t do for the people he cares about, which happens to be just about everyone in our close-knit community. He has a heart of gold. If only I were twenty years younger,” she said with a sigh before turning to Natalie again. “Oh, and if I didn’t already have a husband,” she added with a laugh.
    Natalie didn’t know why, but she found herself blushing. Could everyone please talk about something other than Hawk Winchester? She really didn’t know what to say to that statement—it was far from professional as she understood the word. But everything here was just different, so she’d have to learn to go with the flow or she’d never fit in. Still, she was tongue-tied and more than grateful when Carol started speaking again.
    “I know this is your first job as a teacher, Natalie, and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me or any of the other teachers. Dorothy is a godsend for this school, and she’s your best source of information. She knows everything, and I do mean everything !”
    “Thank you. I do have one