Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Although…maybe this punishment wouldn’t be so bad after all.
The guard made the introduction. “Westbrook, this is Layla Hutton. She’ll be teaching the inmate pro-se appeals class.”
He extended his hand with a nod. “Nice to meet you. Grayson Westbrook. Guards here only call people by their last name. Civilians call me Gray.” His eyes did a quick sweep over me. “I’ll have to stick close by. A lot of these men haven’t seen a woman as beautiful as you in…” He shook his head. “Hell, this might be a first for most.”
The guard chuckled. “Yeah. That’s why you’ll be sticking close by, Westbrook.” He turned to me. “Like I said, this is a minimum-security camp. Our doors aren’t locked, and prisoners are basically on the honor system. No violent offenders in here. They decide to leave, they get brought back eventually, and then they’re not guests at this nice facility anymore. You feel okay if I leave you with Casanova here for a bit while I go grab a bite to eat? We have limited staff and usually leave lawyers and regular contractors on their own if they’re comfortable.” He pointed to cameras on the walls and ceiling. “We’ll always have eyes on you and be a shout away. And the library door will be locked since it’s closed today.”
“Umm…sure.” I was actually pretty nervous, although some of that was alleviated when the gorgeous program coordinator flashed his dimples again.
After the guard disappeared, Gray walked me to the adjoining classroom. “So…you draw the short straw at your firm for pro bono work or get yourself in trouble and this is part of your punishment?”
I guess most attorneys didn’t volunteer to drive to the middle of nowhere and teach convicted criminals how to overturn their appeals out of the goodness of their hearts. “Punishment. Today is the first day of my prison sentence.”
“It could be worse. You could actually be a resident here instead of being forced to work here for a while.”
“True.”
“What did you do that got you into trouble?”
“Don’t you know it’s not polite to ask a woman her age, weight, or why she almost got disbarred?”
He smiled. God, he needed to stop doing that. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Gray turned on the laptop at the front of the classroom. “This has Wi-Fi, but it’s limited. If you need a site that isn’t accessible, just let me know, and I’ll get you access.”
“Okay. Great.”
“Class doesn’t start for another two hours or so. I’ll hang around next door in the library so you can get yourself set up. If you need anything, just tap on the glass.”
I spent the next half hour making sure I had access to all of the research resources I would review during my first presentation. Then I went over the slides I’d prepared.
Gray had taken a seat in a chair in the library and was reading a book—wearing glasses he hadn’t worn earlier. They must’ve been for reading. Since I had overly prepared to teach the class today (as usual), I had plenty of time to kill. And… I was curious to see what the bespectacled Adonis looked like up close. So I went next door to the library side.
“Quicksand, huh?”
Gray had been engrossed in his book and didn’t hear me come in.
“Is it fiction or non-fiction?” I asked.
He looked up. The thick-rimmed, square glasses he wore really worked for him—worked for me. The sharpness of their shape complemented his angular jaw. He slipped them from his face, and I found myself debating whether I liked him better with or without while he spoke.
“Non-fiction. It’s a memoir written after the author received a lung cancer diagnosis. It’s sort of his look back while he was still here.”
“That sounds depressing.”
“It does. But it’s actually not. It’s funny. He looks back at the shit he took seriously with a whole new perspective at the end. And he realizes some of the most important days he ever had were just ordinary ones spent with the right people.”
I took a seat at the table across from him, and our eyes met. He shut the book. I’d just met the man, knew nothing about him other than he worked at a prison, but I had the strangest feeling that today was one of those important days. It was crazy.
We smiled at each other in silence, our off-the-charts chemistry rising to an incendiary level, until the guard opened the library door.
“Just checking in on you. All good?”
I waved. “Everything is fine. Thank you.”
“I’ll be back later, before your students arrive.”
“Okay.”
Gray hadn’t taken his eyes off of me during the exchange with the guard. He didn’t even pretend to look elsewhere while I settled back into my seat. It made me feel like a teenager being watched by the cute boy next to me in math class—sort of a nervous excitement. But my way of dealing with nerves was always head-on. Even in high school, I’d turn to the boy and smile back until he backed down or made his move. It was no different now.