THANKS FOR THE LESSONS
The story is a mystery, with suspense, danger, secrets, lies, and discoveries. The Wainwright siblings are still in the process of uncovering the life, lies, and secrets of Macon Wainwright, and the DNA test results prove South is the only one that was Macon's. Because of the abusiveness of Macon, East doesn't do relationships, and he fights in a ring to release his aggression. The one thing East wasn't prepared for was a naïve virgin to approach him in the bar wanting to have 'pretend sex.'
Ella Taynor has had a rough childhood, never knew her father, he isn't even listed on her birth certificate and her mother was a drug addict who OD. She was raised in the foster system until she aged out. She is smart, gets good grades, and has career goals to become a social worker. She is also haunted by the next to the last home she was in, because the father was a perv, and she wants to protect others from dealing with it.
East Wainwright defied his arrogant father by continuing on his career path in education. He doesn't have relationships and uses the fighting ring to deal with anger. When it comes to numbers, he is a wiz and can do them in his head faster than someone using a calculator.
The story's plot will have East in the bar after one of his fights and is approached by a shy young woman, coerced by her friends, to pick up a man and have sex. She explains her plight and tells him it will pretend—but when East takes her back to the office, there is nothing to pretend about what happens between them. What a shock to be given a statistic class for the remainder of the semester, and in walks the same girl. But it doesn't take long for East to realize she had no clue who he was. Has she tried to set East up?
"Professor Wainwright wasn't a stuffy math nerd. He was a sex god."
The story has the past colliding with the present when jealousy rears its ugly head, and Ella follows East to a former storage warehouse out in the country. She will enter and be shocked at seeing East in the ring—but that is only the beginning. When a man from her past confronts her, Ella is frightened, and East discovers her there. What will he do when he sees she is uneasy about a strange man? Now, he knows where Ella is, and he will not leave her alone. How far will he go to have her? And to what extent will East go to protect her? Why did Ella ever approach East, to begin with, at the bar?
"From the moment I saw you, I felt something. Something different than I had with anyone else. I somehow knew you'd take care of me, that things would be okay. So when I freaked out, it was you I ran to."
The story has the good, the bad, and the evil in people. I loved the chemistry and interactions between East and Ella. She honestly has no clue who he is and has no ulterior motive for singling him out at the bar—except she felt he was safe. Now, when danger threatens her, she has no one else she can trust and seeks out East again. These two say they have no intention of having or wanting a relationship, but they can't stop thinking about one another—and wanting to be together again.
"I didn't realize when you care about someone, it's out of your control. It's not something you can plan or try to handle how you feel. I thought if we set boundaries and both agreed that this wasn't anything other than sex, then that's what it would be."
I love the suspense, mystery, and intense moments and how East does whatever it takes to protect Ella—from a crazy man from her past—to the school threatening her future.
Ella: I don't know how to love. I have no role models. No idea what I'm doing.
East: I love you, you love me. That's the beginning and end of it.