Teach Me a Lesson by Jasmine Haynes

in the deepest part of the night, one time, two, three, until dawn broke.
    She cut her musings off right there. “Actually, it has nothing to do with Principal Hutton himself.” Or her past relationship with a controlling father figure. “It’s more that I’m totally obsessed with the sex.”
    “No,” Lola said on a gasp, sarcastic wonder lacing her tone. “You? Obsessed with sex? It’s impossible.”
    Charlotte tut-tutted like an old maid. Or the psychologist she was. “Just because I deal with sex on a daily basis doesn’t mean I’m obsessed with it. In fact, I help people get over their obsessions and addictions. And that’s why I know the signs.”
    Her sign? She wanted more of Principal Lance Hutton. Or rather, more of what he gave her, ordering her to do those dirty things, tying her up, forcing her. “Oh my God,” she hissed.
    “What?”
    “You don’t think I’m actually reverting to that pathetic young woman who needed a man to tell her what to do, how to act, someone who wanted all her decisions made for her by some older and wiser man?”
    “Charlotte, you weren’t like that.” Lola had lived through those dark months when Charlotte felt like she was losing herself in the will of another. Martin had been subtle, even loving about it, but he’d been directing her life all the same. Do you really think that’s the right decision, Charlotte? Why don’t you think about it this way instead, Charlotte? I’m sure when you think it through, Charlotte, you’ll realize this is what you should do. All those suggestions were supposed to help her. Instead they’d stifled her intuition. She’d begun to doubt herself. She couldn’t make a decision without asking his opinion first. Which had always differed from her own. Until finally she’d managed to make a decision without consulting him first, the day she walked out to find herself again.
    “You’ve only been with him a couple of times, Charlotte. Why are you overreacting?”
    Why? “Because it was too good. I’m suspicious of anything that’s too good.” She was also cautious about allowing anyone too much control.
    “It’s too good with Gray, but you don’t question that.”
    “That’s you, not me. I have an obsessive personality.”
    Lola snorted. “You do not. It sounds more like you’re trying to find an excuse to get rid of him. And you haven’t even started yet. Not really anyway.” Lola hmmed . “You know, you always begin overanalyzing when you’re actually interested in a man.”
    “For God’s sake, like you said, I’ve only been with him twice.”
    “Yes, but you’ve known him since he became principal three years ago. That’s more than enough time.”
    “I was never interested in him. I never even looked at him. He’s too old for me.”
    “That’s exactly why you’re overanalyzing,” Lola insisted. “Because all of a sudden, your little ooh-la-la switch got flipped.”
    “Ooh-la-la?”
    “Yeah. You know, when you suddenly see a man for the first time. Maybe it’s the way he laughed. Or some little thing he said. Or even a scent on him. And bam, you suddenly see him as a man instead of a boss or a coworker or a friend.”
    Charlotte didn’t want to admit that Lola might actually have a point. For her, it had been the way Lance towered over her when she was down on the office carpet holding the apple. His amused expression. His arms folded over his chest. His suddenly impressive chest.
    “So don’t talk yourself out of this yet. At least give it more time.”
    Charlotte wasn’t really planning to talk herself out of it. She just didn’t want to let things get out of control. But when you were talking about addiction and obsession, the essence of the words meant losing control.
    As usual, though, Lola had a point. Charlotte was overanalyzing. It was funny—funny odd—that she could be so levelheaded with everyone else’s problems but overreact with her own.
    “All right,” she agreed, “I’ll