Another Chance

Chapter 2

JARED'S POV:

I watched as Anna's eyes avoided me, dropping to the grey carpeted floor as she nudged the children towards their parents, waving at them, forcing a smile onto her lips, one that clearly didn't reach her eyes.

She had already suspected that Gia was my girlfriend when we had last visited, and although I had denied the suggestion, to Anna, it could have easily been a lie.

I could be a sleezy womanizer who enjoyed flirting with anything with a heartbeat despite the fact that I was in a relationship.

I could tell she was disappointed as she turned and began to make her way back down the corridor, the sound of her lanyard clattering against her keys making me sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Gia muttered, and I waved her concern away, taking a look at the receptionist, ensuring she was distracted talking to a parent, quickly wheeling my way down the corridor, following Anna.

I heard her clear her throat awkwardly as she turned to me, chewing on her lip, smiling at me, clearly putting on a professional face and acting as she would to any guardian of a child she cared for.

"Sophia will be out soon," she spoke, entering an empty classroom, beginning to make her way around the tables and clean up, grabbing the array of crayons scattered among the table and setting them back in their assigned trays.

"I know, I wanted to see you though," I spoke, and Anna gulped, turning around and cocking her head at me, looking anxious.

"Parents aren't allowed in the classrooms without permission," Anna stated, turning away again and tucking all of the chairs underneath the large table in the middle of the room, the metal scraping against the tiles floor, making me cringe.

"Good thing I'm not a parent then," I said, and I saw Anna freeze, a small smile making its way onto her face as she spun around to face me, narrowing her eyes.

"Why did you want to see me?" she questioned, and I smiled, flashing my teeth at her.

"Because you intrigue me," I said, causing Anna to turn a little red, picking at her fingernails.

"I'm sure Gia is waiting for you outside."

Hearing the mention of Gia's name, I exhaled loudly, wheeling myself further into the room.

"Anna, Gia isn't my girlfriend. She's my sister's best friend."

Anna nodded, and I could tell that she was getting frustrated with herself for getting so jealous when we didn't even know each other, her human brain unable to contemplate why she was feeling the way she was.

But, I wanted her to know that she shouldn't be ashamed for feeling uneasy with Gia touching me. I would feel the same way if I was her, the idea of an unmated male touching my mate making me squirm in my chair. I didn't like the idea.

"I'm sorry," Anna said, shaking her head and laughing, chewing on her lip. "This is so rude of me. It's very unprofessional for me to be acting this way towards a guardian of Sophia. Your relationship status is none of my concern."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "You don't need to apologise."

"How is work going?" Anna asked me, clearly trying to change the subject, and I cleared my throat, scratching at the back of my head.

I had told her I was involved with marketing yesterday, panicking when she had asked me what I did for work, so this was now something I had to roll with until I could tell her what I really did.

"Stressful like usual," I replied, and it wasn't a lie. As much as I enjoyed planning the training regime for the fighters, every fighter needed to improve on something different, so I had to make each one of them a slightly different rota. It took up a lot of my time, hence why the pay was so good.