The Instructor (2 page)

Faith could hear some yelling in the background on Vicki's end.

"I'll think about it," Faith promised.

"Don't just think about it. Do him! I gotta go, hubby is getting anxious for supper."

"No worries, this has been an enlightening conversation."

Vicki laughed on the other end. "Bye."

The line went dead on the other end.

Her telephone conversation with Vicki had her more confused than ever. To Vicki it was pretty straightforward stuff. Faith didn't see it quite that way. But she and Vicki had very different views on love, sex and relationships. Just because they shared a
look
didn't mean much. It was only a look. She had only met him for the matter of fifteen minutes tops. She didn't even have a chance to have any one-on-one time with him.

However, when she thought about it, she and Vicki
were
very similar both in appearance and personality. It was just that Vicki was a little more… outgoing…  in the sex department. So if he did have a thing with Vicki a number of years ago then it was possible he would have an attraction to someone who reminded him of her. Usually people were attracted to the same types of people. Right?

"Small world," she muttered to herself as she stood and made her way into the kitchen to prepare supper.

****

Faith decided to tone down her attire for the second day of classes. She still couldn't bring herself to take out her silver hoop earrings yet.
Baby steps
, she told herself. Today she downplayed her attire, picking out the most worn of the jeans she owned and throwing on a form-fitting t-shirt.

As she walked down the corridor for the second time her feet were already aching. She had purchased a pair of steel-toed boots after she had made supper of macaroni and cheese for herself the previous night. Despite them not
technically
being in the shop for a couple of weeks apparently they were supposed to wear them anyhow – just in case. The guys had known this – she hadn’t. The things were painful; she would choose the worst of high heels any day over the heavy, clunky beige boots she had on her feet currently.

Looking at her watch as she walked she was satisfied. Twenty minutes early. That would ensure she arrived earlier than most so she could avoid the awkward stares from the class as she walked in.

Just as she was about to enter into the classroom she heard someone walking up behind her.

"Faith."

That deep, masculine voice. Despite only hearing him for a limited amount of time the day before she recognized who it was immediately.

She spun around, giving him her sweetest smile, trying her damnedest not to look nervous or worse yet give away how attracted she was to him. "Mr. Moir. Good morning."

He cringed slightly, then smiled. "Please. Mr. Moir isn't necessary. Tony is fine."

"Tony it is then." Her eyes caught his, but not before she noticed him take a quick up-and-down look at her. Admittedly she had done the same to him. She hoped she hadn't been quite as obvious about it as he was.

He nodded toward his office. "We have a few minutes before I start the first class. Do you have a minute?"

"Of course."

She followed him into his office and proceeded to take a seat in front of his desk, her heart thumping rapidly in her chest. He closed the door behind them and sat in a chair opposite of her. He leaned back in his chair, fingers interlaced behind his head; the brown polo shirt he was wearing strained against the muscles of his broad chest and biceps.

Mind-blowing sex
, Vicki's voice echoed in the back of Faith's mind. Looking at him, at that moment, she had no doubt. She felt a stirring inside her, a heat building between her legs. She shifted uneasily on the chair, giving him an uncomfortable smile.

He's the teacher, the instructor. Off limits
.
Gotta remember that
.
Remember that and it'll be fine,
she commanded herself. But the urge, the desire, to walk around his desk and straddle his lap was insistent. Almost undeniable.
Almost
.

"I wanted to talk to you privately for a few minutes."

Faith nodded.

Tony leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. He watched her keenly for a moment. "The thing is that you're the first female I've taught. So I want you to feel comfortable coming to me for anything, whether it be an issue with the guys in class, or if you feel you need extra assistance learning the basics."

"Thank you." The same electricity that she felt with him the previous day was filling the air of the small office, making her heart beat faster and breath to catch in her throat.

There was an uneasy silence as they watched each other, neither one knowing what to say next, but neither willing to leave the other quite yet.

Best sex I've ever had
, Vicki's words kept replaying themselves in her head as if on a sound loop.
Shut up Vicki!
she silently screamed at the voice – it didn’t help.

The sound of numerous voices outside the office door broke her from her trance. It was best to leave now before she did or said something stupid. She motioned to her watch. "I'll be seeing you in class. Don't want to be late."

She gave him a shy smile, which he returned as he snatched up a book and clipboard from the edge of his desk.

"Just so happens... That’s where I need to be as well." He strode past her, reached out and opened the door, then moved aside so she could exit first.

Walking by him, her shoulder brushed across his chest. She paused in mid-stride, inhaling sharply before continuing on past him. Tony was close at her heels, closing the door behind them. When she and Tony arrived at the class, they were exactly on time. All the other students were already seated and waiting. The chatter lulled down to a hush when they noticed Faith followed by Tony walk through the door.

This time, however, she had a feeling it wasn't the fact that a female was entering the class that brought the conversations to a screeching halt, but the fact she arrived with Tony. A part of her told herself that she was being paranoid, but she didn't think so.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard a low, hushed voice from the back taunt, "Teacher’s pet already."

Again she reminded herself that giving in to whatever it was that was already developing between them was not an option, ignoring the evident chemistry was the best decision. She looked over at Tony, who was beginning to call attendance. He didn't appear to have heard. If he did, he was doing a great job at covering. Either way she was grateful for that.

Chapter 2

The people in the registration department had lied about there only being classroom work for the first week of class. That afternoon, Faith and the rest of the students found themselves in the welding shop looking at two oxyfuel setups. Their goal for the afternoon was to learn to assemble, disassemble, light the torches and make a cut. Tony along with one of the other instructors, an older man by the name of Jerry who Faith would swear to be coming close to the age of seventy if he were a day, would be supervising the process.

Never having seen one of these setups before and slightly intimidated by it, Faith put herself in the back of the line for trying it out. She watched intently as each of the men went up and took their turns. As they completed their assigned tasks they were permitted to leave for the day. Faith could have cared less about the leaving early; all she cared about was not having many people around to watch her fumble.

Jerry finished up with his final student, said his goodbyes and left Tony and Faith alone in the shop with the oxyfuel setup separating them.

"All right. I know you've been paying attention, so get to it." Tony motioned for her to take her turn.

For the first time since she had met him, she was able to focus on something other than the reaction of her body to his presence. Carefully, she assembled the equipment and gave the finished product a solid inspection once done. Peering at him from under her safety glasses she gave him a nod.

Tony quickly double-checked the setup and seemed satisfied as he took a step back from it.

"Good," he said, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans and passing her the flint. "Light it up.” He backed off to the right of her slightly to ensure he didn't mistakenly get in the line of fire – literally.

A soft hiss emitted from the tip of the torch as she took a deep breath and flicked the flint.

Nothing happened.

She furrowed her brow. Took a deep breath and tried a second time.

Still nothing.

"Like you’re flicking a lighter on," Tony suggested.

Faith looked over at him and shrugged. "That doesn't help, I don't smoke."

Tony crossed his arms over his chest and smiled, his eyes lit up with amusement. "Fair enough. Keep trying."

Taking another deep breath she tried a third time. The third time was the charm as the flint sparked, causing a strong, thick flame to shoot out from the tip of the torch.

"I did it!" Faith spun around to face him, torch in hand, flames shooting straight out and making an arc of flame as she spun.

"Oh fuck," Tony said, stumbling backward and bringing an arm up to shield his eyes, just seconds before the flame whipped past where his face once was.

"Oh my god!" Faith gasped, shutting off the flame and setting it down.

"Not to worry. I have great reflexes." He gave her an uneasy smile while quickly regaining his composure. “When we light it this next time and cut that sheet metal, we're not going to make any sudden movements.”

"I'm so sorry." Faith took off one of her gloves and ran an unsteady hand through her hair.

"Forget it. It happens."

"Really?" she raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him.

"Actually... No. Not really, but... first time for everything." He put up a hand to her. "Don't move, and don't touch a thing until I get back. I'll just be a minute."

Faith shrugged and slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "Sure."

She watched as he exited the shop and disappeared into his office. Less than a minute later he returned with a black ponytail band in his hand.

Coming to a halt beside her he motioned to her hair. "Do you mind?"

Faith shrugged and shook her head.

He stepped behind her, and with the speed and skill of someone who had done it numerous times before, he threw her hair up into a loose bun. He stepped back and looked over his handiwork with a satisfied smile on his face. "You might want to keep it up like that from now on. Hair. Very flammable. We don’t normally have to address this issue otherwise I would have said something before coming in here."

"I'll keep that in mind," Faith replied with a laugh, her cheeks turning a rosy hue.

He walked up behind her. He was far enough away that she wasn't crowded but close enough that the intoxicating smell of his cologne drifted off toward her. She closed her eyes a brief moment to enjoy the feelings his closeness was bringing forth.

"Just pick up the torch and light it again. Be careful with the flame this time. And you're going to do a simple cut across the steel plate there," he instructed.

Faith wondered if he knew how affected she was by his presence. How badly she wanted to simply fall back into his arms. How badly she wanted to feel his lips brush the side of her exposed neck.

She nodded, threw her glove back on and proceeded to light the torch, this time with little effort.

"Good job, by the way. I'm stepping up behind you," he warned a moment before she felt his hard body against her back. "Put the flame to the metal. When it turns cherry red we hit the oxygen. We good with that?"

Faith took another deep breath; his body against hers felt both comforting and unsettling at the same time. "Let's do this," she replied.

She lowered the flame to the metal as instructed and hit the oxygen at the advised time. His gloved hand covered hers as he guided her with the appropriate speed, slicing through the metal perfectly.

She shut down the torch quickly and inspected the cut. It was a near-perfect cut. "I did it!" With excitement and without much thought to what she was doing, Faith pulled off her gloves and cutting goggles, spun around and hugged him.

Surprised by her reaction Tony didn't respond straight away, but regained his composure quickly enough and pulled her tight.

Once the excitement wore off, Faith looked up into his eyes. Amusement still shone in his eyes, but beneath that was something more intense. It was the look of raw desire. Realizing she had crossed the line, she stepped back from him, despite the demands her body made for her to stay.

What in the hell am I doing?

"I'm sorry." Faith made an attempt to run her hand through her hair, but realized it was still piled on the top of her head. She made do with jamming her hands into her back pockets. "I – um...”

He stepped up to her with a slight smile touching his lips, took off his left glove and reached out, touching her cheek with his palm, his thumb lightly caressing. "It's fine."

Her mind was racing. She looked up into his grey eyes, then down at his lips. She wanted to taste them more than just about anything at that moment. But currently the situation was correctable.
Stop this now!
her mind screamed at her. It was simply an overexcited hug over a small victory and an affectionate touch.

He wouldn't turn her away, she knew this. But at the same time she was now certain he wouldn't be the one to cross the line with her. She closed her eyes, taking a moment to feel the touch of his hand on her cheek.

The scent of his cologne, the look in his eyes, the temptation of his lips were all too much to bear. Opening her eyes she looked up into his once more, then took a step forward to close the distance.

A knock came from the other side of the shop door and a male voice called out as the door handle turned, "Tony, you still in there?"

They shared one last heated look before she stepped back, turned and began focusing her attention on the oxyfuel setup. Without another word or instruction to do so she began to disassemble it, anything to keep her mind from him and what she was stupidly about to do. Faith heard Tony pause before making his way to the door.

"Yes, we're in here. Finishing up for the day," Tony called back just as the young man Faith knew to be Kevin, or Kenneth, or maybe it was Keith.... started with a K anyhow came walking through the door.

"If I'm interrupting..." the student whose name started with a K looked from Faith to Tony then back again.

"We're done," Faith reassured him with a tight smile. She chanced a glance over at Tony, who nodded in agreement.

It's for the best
, she told herself. She didn't need to go complicating things for herself. Or causing Tony any trouble. She was quite certain the college frowned upon teacher/student fraternization, even if they were both consenting adults. The last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize his job.

Vicki was wrong. Pursuing him was not an option.

She tuned out their conversation as she finished putting away the equipment and gathered up her things. Taking one last look at her work area, she was satisfied everything was tidy and as it should be. Walking with a faster than normal pace Faith breezed past Tony and the student, saying a quick goodbye as she went. Faith disappeared out of the shop, closing the door behind her.

~*~*~*~*~

Sitting in his office, marking the first of many quizzes he'd have to grade this year, Tony's thoughts kept coming back to Faith. The first day of class he felt the instant attraction. It was strong and demanding. He smiled as he remembered her sitting there, standing out among the group. She stood out not only because she was female, but because she looked anything but a welder, or potential welder for that matter, wearing her designer clothing and high-heeled boots. He was curious to know
exactly
what she was all about.

He had pulled her previous school records. She graduated with high honours. Why she decided to be in a trade when she could be an engineer or an academic, or a number of things that didn't involve long hours and a dirty, stressful work environment baffled him.

He had left the trade himself to teach because he was sick of breathing in toxic fumes. Sick of coming home after twelve or more hours of hard labour, then having to spend an hour trying to clean the soot and smoke smell from his body. It wasn't a bad career, just wouldn't have been his first pick if he could have done it all over again.

She was definitely an enigma to him.

Her excitement for her simple achievement with the oxyfuel cutting had been infectious. He wanted her to succeed, would do whatever it took to make sure she came out as one of the best by the end of it all. Tony doubted she needed much help in that department, she seemed to have the smarts and determination to beat just about anything she attempted. If she did need assistance he'd happily be there for her.

He could still feel the silkiness of her hair as he ran his fingers through it earlier. Craved to feel it again. He had come so close to kissing her as she flung her arms around him. Her lips were so close and she had smelt so good, like wild berries in contrast to the smell of smoke and fumes that lingered in the shop, it had near killed him to restrain himself. But he wouldn't make that first move on her. In truth, he wasn't sure if he should even respond if she did make the first move, it was a tricky situation at best. If he were smart he’d steer clear away and he knew it.

As her instructor, he felt he should discourage the physical contact. He should back away from the connection that seemed to be electric between them, but every man had his weakness; his seemed to be her. His cock came alive just thinking of her. No. If she wanted him, if she made the first move to initiate a more intimate relationship, he knew he'd be putty in her hands. And if the truth be known he hoped she would.

****

For the remainder of the first week and throughout the second week of classes Faith attempted to avoid Tony. If she couldn't resist temptation then she was going to do her damnedest to avoid it. There was still tension between them during the classroom teachings. In fact, the tension seemed to intensify with each passing day. They would spend much of the classroom time catching each other's eyes then breaking contact before anyone became suspicious.

Despite nothing going on between them since that all-too-close encounter the previous week, the guys in class were beginning to see the shared looks. It was as if they could sense the chemistry. Worst of all, Faith was doing extremely well in the classroom. She was becoming a superstar as far as the theory went. She never disclosed her grades to the others, but they all seemed to know and envy sprang up within a number of the students – envy over her gaining success in the course and envy over the fact she seemed to only have eyes for Tony, despite a couple of the guys asking her out, albeit in a roundabout way.

To make matters worse, the guy with the name that started with a K, which she later learned was Kevin had, not so discreetly, shared his observation of her getting special time with Tony with anyone who’d listen.

Her avoidance strategy was working fine until they began to weld on the third week of classes. She had managed to set up her equipment and was currently standing in a small darkened booth waiting for Tony to come and assist her.

She was assigned to Tony's group; she suspected it wasn't a coincidence. She looked down at the numerous rods, then at the gun they were supposed to be inserted into. She definitely needed him and not in the sense she had been needing him these past couple of weeks.

There was a rustle behind her then he was at her side. "We ready?" he asked, giving her that infectious smile that turned her knees to jell-o and made her heart skip a beat.