SYNOPSIS:
Book 1 in the Lessons in Love New Adult Romance series
Alex Heron is a high school cheerleader. 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?
Alex Heron is a high school cheerleader. 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?
AUTHOR BIO:
I
have been an avid reader and writer since my earliest school days.
I probably drink
too much coffee and eat too much junk food, but to compensate do like running
outdoors 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 stories with a happy
ending. You can often find me in a coffee shop either working on my next story,
or with my nose in a book.
Go here
http://clarissacarlyle.blogspot.com/ to find out more, or just stop by and say
hi.
AUTHOR LINKS:
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.
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