LITMIR.BIZ

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and patted Mac’s hand across the table. This wasn’t the first time—today—they had discussed her leaving the prison. “I do love kids,” she began, before she was interrupted by the waiter delivering their meals. She bowed her head and offered a quick, silent prayer of thanksgiving.

      God, thank You for this food. And please soften Mac’s heart toward You. In Your name—Oh! And please take care of the men in my classes, and help them to follow the rules and stay out of trouble with the guards. Especially Myles.

      The moment she lifted her head, Kenzie saw Mac’s knowing smile. “I know you love kids. So why not work with them? Think how wonderful it would be, being close to your grandmother and me.”

      “Well…it would be nice to be closer to you. But what about these inmates? They deserve to have someone believe in them. Why shouldn’t it be me?”

      “But why does it have to be you? There are plenty of other qualified teachers that could take your place.”

      Kenzie tried to keep the sting of those words from showing on her face. How could she explain how much she loved working with the men at the prison—teaching them, offering them hope beyond the walls of the prison? Would another teacher pray for the inmates, care for them as she did? She took a bite of her prime rib and chewed slowly on the succulent meat, buying some time.

      “I like children, but I really love my job right now. I’m not going to leave.”

      “But think of the pay raise and the budget for your classroom in a private school like that.”

      Kenzie looked directly into Mac’s gray eyes and said, “No. I’m not leaving.”

      Mac’s shoulders slumped as he shoveled a chunk of steak into his mouth, his whole face morose.

      “So tell me about the campaign. What have you been up to, other than dealing with Claudia Suarez?” As she’d hoped, Mac was easily distracted with the details of the campaign. He quickly obliged, falling into stories from the electoral trail.

      As he regaled her with tales, Kenzie’s mind drifted for just a minute to another man in her life. Blue eyes and a handsome face flashed through her thoughts. She fought the smile that Myles’s memory brought and had to physically shake her head to clear away any thoughts of him.

      This night was about her relationship with Mac, not some strangely intriguing new inmate.

      TWO

      Two days later, Kenzie sighed softly as she waited for the guard to open the front gate far enough to pull her maroon sedan into the bus barn inside the prison walls. She slipped the gear shift into Park, turned off the engine, but remained seated behind the wheel.

      Her stomach felt like it was tied in knots, and she took two cleansing breaths. But the uneasy feeling remained.

      Usually she only felt this way the day of the GED exam, which was still three days away for her most advanced class. Forcing herself to be honest, Kenzie admitted to herself that today she feared facing a set of piercing blue eyes and an arrogant smirk. Oh, she had really done it this time. She had crossed the line of professionalism that was to be strictly adhered to at the prison, for her own safety, and now she had to face up to her mistake.

      Leaning her forehead on her steering wheel and closing her eyes, in her mind she replayed the scene from the day before.

      “Great work today, guys.” She took a sip of water from the cup on her desk as the men shuffled papers into a pile for her to collect after they left. “Now, don’t forget that we have a review of the math section tomorrow and an English review the next day. The following class I’ll be taking your questions, so make sure you have plenty to keep us busy. And the next class—the following week—is your test.”

      Per their usual, the men mumbled unintelligible responses.

      Larry, her usual guard, stepped forward from his location just inside the door of the room and the men began lining up to exit. Kenzie started erasing the chalkboard, white dust billowing around her head.

      “Ms. Thorn.”

      She jumped at the sound of her name. Larry stood on the other side of her desk.

      “Yes?”

      “Superintendent Ryker wants to meet with Inmate Parsons. He just radioed that he’s been held up at another meeting and will be here in just a few minutes. He said to have Parsons wait here for him. I’ll be right here at the door if you need anything.”

      “That’s fine. Since he was late today, it’ll give us a chance to make sure he’s ready for the exam in a few days.” As the guard motioned to Parsons to return to his seat, she knew she hadn’t spoken the whole truth. The whole truth was that Myles Parsons was more ready to take the GED than any other student she had taught in her two years at the prison. He probably could have passed the exam his first day in her class.

      Larry moved to the open doorway, standing half in the hallway, leaving Kenzie and Myles in relative privacy.

      “Good lesson today,” Myles said from his seat at a table, his tone serious. But his eyes and wicked smirk mocked her from his semirecumbent position.

      She heard Mac’s advice to not respond when there was no good counter, but ignored it, blurting, “You have no idea—You just don’t get—What is your problem?” She charged at him, fists clenched at her sides. She certainly had no intention of hitting him, but his one little comment and snide sneer riled her beyond reason.

      Just as she reached the table where he sat, he stood. Forced to crane her neck just to look at his chin, her anger boiled hotter. How dare he try to intimidate her with his size? With those broad shoulders and muscular arms?

      One call to Larry would have Myles in solitary confinement for a week.

      Only one other inmate had ever tried to intimidate her. That was well over a year ago. That time she had crumbled, calling for the guard on duty, having the inmate permanently removed from her class. Fearing that the other inmates in her classes would think they could overrun her, Kenzie had grown braver, stronger. She had read somewhere that kindness could be mistaken for weakness. She let her students know right away after that incident that that was not the case with her. But now she was faced with another inmate who wouldn’t back down. She should have been angry or frightened, but she wasn’t. Inexplicably, she felt safe with him. Oh, he might infuriate her, but for some reason, she felt he’d never hurt her. Was she a fool to trust him so much?

      Those terrible, beautiful blue eyes never looked away, never broke eye contact as Myles put his hands around her fists and held them gently.

      “I meant it as a compliment,” he whispered. “The polite thing to do would be to say ‘thank you.’”

      She should have wrenched her hands from his, stepped back, put at least three feet between them. Instead she took a tiny step toward him, closer to the strength he exuded.

      Finally able to look away from his hypnotic eyes, she noticed a bruise forming around his right cheekbone. “What happened?” she instantly demanded. Of their own volition, the fingers of her right hand gently probed his cheek, feeling minor swelling. Was this from an inmate? Or worse, a guard?

      That offending smirk returned as he gently pushed her away. Just then JB and Larry had charged into the classroom, pushing desks out of their way as they appraised Myles.

      Today Kenzie hung her head low, still too embarrassed to exit her car. While nothing really tangible happened between her and Myles, they both knew that rules had been broken. She was to have no physical contact with any inmate. And she certainly wasn’t supposed to enjoy the feel of his hands briefly holding hers.

      He simultaneously irritated and intrigued her. Along with her trust in him came more emotions than she wanted to own up to at the moment. Was she crazy? She didn’t even know what he was convicted of. How could she think that he was safe, that she would be safe with him?

      God, why does my heart skip a beat every time

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