Megs ran fingers through her curls, and Gideon felt like a dog that had just spotted a squirrel. “It’s due Sunday night, and I wasn’t planning on submitting, but I needed to be up here anyway for this medical coding certification—”
“Why are you taking that?” He hadn’t meant to cut her off, but her showing up here had put him off-balance. He wasn’t thinking straight.
Megs blew out a breath. “Insurance companies give better tips. Or so I’ve heard.”
Gideon chuckled. “Ouch.”
Megs’ eyes widened, and she leaned forward. “No, I didn’t mean you left a bad tip—”
“I know, I’m kidding.” Gideon crossed his arms over his chest, subconsciously shielding himself from the magnetic field he suddenly found himself in. “I wish I could help, but the studios are only for students.”
Her lips twitched. “Like, you couldn’t even bring a friend in there? Let them try it out?”
“Are you saying we’re friends?”
Her cheeks stained a deeper shade of pink. “I meant hypothetically.”
Gideon propped his elbows on his desk. He should say yes. Just take her back there, let her do her audition, and then . . . Then what? Ask for her number? Make her feel like she owed him something?
If somebody saw him making an exception after the mass of emails sent out to the staff at the end of August, he’d never hear the end of it. Especially for a woman who he’d never be able to pretend he wasn’t attracted to. “Hypothetically, no.”
“No?”
He held up his hands. “There are too many people who want to use the studios and avoid paying rental fees. It became a huge problem last semester, so they’re cracking down.”
“I’m not trying—”
“I know, I wasn’t saying you were avoiding fees. Just explaining the situation.”
Her expression clouded, and Gideon’s eyes were drawn to the slight pout on her lips. He hated that he put it there. “So there’s nothing you can do?”
“My hands are—”
“Tied, right. I know.” Megs’ expression hardened as she bent over and pulled a laptop from her bag. She flipped up the screen. “That’s fine, I’ll just . . . ” She murmured to herself, the light of her screen reflecting in her eyes.
Gideon’s eyes narrowed.What was she doing?If she was going to book a recording studio off campus, he doubted they were open this late. “If there’s anything else I can—”
“Nope. You don’t need to do anything, I just—” She leaned closer to her screen, her eyes narrowing. “Intro to Audio Engineering. You teach that, right?”
Gideon frowned. “Yes, but—”
“Perfect. I’m enrolling in the class.”
Gideon blinked.She was enrolling in the class?He picked up his phone from the desk to check the calendar. They were already two weeks into class, which meant—
“The add/drop date is tomorrow, so I’ll enroll now and then . . . ” She smiled and looked up. “I’ll drop it in an hour.” Gideon opened his mouth and then closed it. “I’d like to book the five o’clock recording session, please. I think if you check your roster, my name will show up now.”
Gideon moved his mouse to wake up his computer.
“Here, I’ll save you the trouble.” Megs turned her screen to show him her enrollment confirmation page.
He shook his head, in awe or frustration he couldn’t tell. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to use the studio. He wasn’t trying to be stubborn, but he’d never been a rule breaker. Even running a yellow light made his heart rate spike. But this was inventive. And if it meant he could spend more time with her without risking the ire of his administration, Gideon was on board. “Okay, then, Megs. Follow me.”
Megs had just paidthree hundred dollars to enroll in a class she didn’t need.She pushed down her nerves as she followed Gideon tothe recording studios. She hadn’t paid three hundred dollars, not yet. She’d enrolled in the class, and as soon as she recorded her audition, she’d disenroll.Was that a word?Un . . . roll? She’d get out of it, and her money would probably never leave her bank account.
She probably should’ve asked if she could’ve just borrowed equipment, but that was likely only for enrolled students, as well.
“This is it.” Gideon pushed through a door, and Megs scanned the small booth. There was a door that led into the recording area. Past the glass, two guitars rested on stands in front of the corrugated foam walls.
