Rumor Has It. Cindi Myers

      She’s haunted by the sexual past she never had!

      Taylor leaned toward Dylan, the intensity of her gaze making his temperature edge up a few degrees. “Do you really want to make it up to me?”

      He swallowed. “Of course.”

      She angled closer, her knees brushing his. “I’ve decided I’ve let those rumors haunt me for too long. I’m ready to get them out of my system for good.”

      “How are you going to do that?”

      She took his other hand and rested them both in her lap. “That’s where you come in.” She traced the lines of his palm with one red-painted fingernail, sending a lightning bolt of sensation straight to his groin.

      “I want to revisit the past, so to speak, and turn those hot rumors into truth.”

      He blinked, trying to pull his thoughts away from sex, to the discussion at hand. “I don’t understand. You can’t go back in time.”

      “Not physically.” She continued to stroke his palm, so that he ached to reach out and pull her to him. “I want to take all those wild stories and re-create them today.”

      He’d never wanted anything more. Had wanted it ten years ago, but hadn’t had the courage to admit it. “If you’re sure…”

      Dear Reader,

      Not many of us would want to live through high school again. But what if we could go back to one moment and correct a mistake we made? What if we had a chance to get things right this time?

      That was the idea that sparked Taylor and Dylan’s story for me. And then I remembered the diary I kept in school. Mine was filled with mundane teenage ramblings (oh, the angst!). But Taylor’s diary, on the other hand, is definitely more interesting, filled with the sexy escapades people thought she and Dylan were having, things Taylor wished had been true.

      I hope you’ll enjoy reading about two people who get a second chance with each other. I love to hear from readers. E-mail me at [email protected]. And be sure to visit my Web site at www.CindiMyers.com to see what’s coming up from me.

      Happy reading,

      Cindi Myers

      Rumor Has It

      Cindi Myers

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      This book is dedicated to the Conroe High School Class of 1979.

       Go Tigers!

      Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      1

      SOMETIMES THE PAST sneaks up and bites you in the butt. You think you’re doing great, planning for the future and then up pops a ghost from your personal history to prove you wrong.

      “I hear Dylan Gates is moving back to town.”

      Alyson Michaels, who taught physical education as if it were merely an extension of her long career as a Cedar Creek Cyclone cheerleader, dropped this bomb as she stood with Taylor Reed and several other teachers on the bus ramp in front of the high school one bright September morning.

      For half a second Taylor stopped breathing. She hadn’t thought of Dylan Gates in a long time, but the memory of him was enough to bring a hot flush to the back of her neck, even after ten years. She swallowed hard and stared out at the lines of students who slouched up the steps of Cedar Creek Senior High with all the enthusiasm of cattle being led to slaughter. Ah, the joys of high school. How ironic that after enduring her own personal high school hell, Taylor had ended up coming back here to teach. Guess she was just a glutton for punishment.

      “It’ll be great to see Dylan.” Fellow English teacher Grady Murphy sidled closer. “Last I heard, he was out in California.”

      “He was, but he’s moving back to Cedar Creek to open a law practice,” Alyson said.

      Dylan, moving here? Taylor’s stomach flip-flopped. “How do you know that?” she asked.

      Alyson bounced on her toes like a hyperactive poodle. As usual, she was dressed in a too tight golf shirt, white shorts and tennis shoes with white anklets. She carried the bus duty roster on a clipboard and her blond hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. In her more vindictive moments, Taylor wondered if Alyson’s whole face would collapse if that ponytail was undone. “Troy Sommers, the real estate agent, is a friend of mine. He said Dylan e-mailed him last week about renting space downtown, across from the courthouse. And he told Troy he intended to move back into his parents’ old place.”

      “Who’s Dylan Gates?” Mindy Lewis, freshman algebra teacher and Taylor’s best friend, joined them.

      “Before your time, child.” Grady grinned at their younger colleague. “Alyson, Taylor, Dylan and I were all at school together, right here at good old Cedar Creek High.” He laughed. “Those were the days!”

      “Yeah, right,” Taylor mumbled. Days of sheer torture as far as she was concerned. Even Dylan…

      “Speaking of our high school days, are you going to the reunion Saturday?” Alyson asked.

      “Why do I need to go to the reunion when half our class is still here?” Taylor said the words only half jokingly.

      “I’m on the reunion committee and I noticed you hadn’t sent in your R.S.V.P.” Alyson frowned at Taylor. “I can’t believe you’d think of missing our ten-year reunion. Everyone will be there.”

      “I won’t,” Mindy said. “Of course, I’ve got years to go before my reunion.”

      Alyson ignored the dig from her younger colleague and pointed a pencil at Taylor. “You don’t want to miss out on this reunion. Trust me.”

      Taylor shrugged. “I guess I’m not very big on reliving old times.” In fact, she’d just as soon forget her short career as a student at Cedar Creek High.

      “It’ll be your last chance to see everyone before you head off to London or wherever it is,” Grady said.

      “Oxford.” In January, Taylor would start a graduate fellowship at the hallowed university, far away from Cedar Creek, Texas, and reminders of the past.

      “Dylan will be there.” Alyson studied Taylor through lowered lashes. “Maybe you two can pick up where you left off, for old times’ sake.”

      “That’s right—you and Dylan were quite an item senior year, weren’t you?” Grady mused. “Is it true Coach Nelson caught the two of you in the boys’ showers?”

      For once Taylor was grateful for the shrill bell that announced the start of classes. Nodding goodbye to Alyson and Grady, she maneuvered past groups of students and headed toward her second-floor English classroom. Only four more months to endure Alyson’s and Grady’s snide comments and suggestive winks. Four months