His lips twitched. “I have no doubt.”
Megs clenched her fists over the strap of her bag. There was that feeling. Like she was about to jump off the high dive.Bad idea.“You could ride back with me. If you want.”
Eighteen
Gideon blinkedas Megs walked to the driver’s side door and opened it. “It's not far from Champlain, and I'm heading there anyway.”
He shifted his pack on his back. “My car is at Champlain. I had Alli meet me there this morning.” Partially because he needed to drop something off at his office. Partially because he didn’t want her to know where he lived.
Megs raised an eyebrow. “Working on a Saturday?”
“I always work on Saturdays. You know that.” He had recording hours every Saturday afternoon and evening. The first year he’d worked there, he’d tried to keep his weekends open, but had quickly realized that wasn’t in the student’s best interest. So many of them had day jobs or night shifts, they weren’t able to get into the studio during the week. Next year he was hoping to have a TA to help monitor the studios, but he didn’t mind. It wasn’t like he was going out before six anyway.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Megs.”
She looked up and her smile was a little too bright. “Okay, no prob—”
“Not because I don’t feel comfortable driving with you. But I don’t think it would look good.”
Megs nodded and leaned on her door. “Right. Because I’m a student.”
Gideon chuckled. “No, because I’m a professor. You aren’t the one with responsibility here.”
Her brow furrowed. “So, the administrators wouldn’t understand that this is an extenuating circumstance? It’s not like we planned to drive together. The train broke down and you needed a ride home.”
Gideon’s thoughts warred with each other. On the one hand, it was explainable. On the other, he did have the option of waiting for Alli.But what if they didn’t get back in time for him to open up the studios?
“What if they don’t get back in time for you to open up the studios?” Megs asked.
Gideon stifled a smile. It wasn’t that he thought riding with Megs was inexcusable. It was that he knew why he wanted to ride with her, and it wasn’t because of his responsibilities to his recording students. But his resolve was weakening. Especially because his other option was window shopping. “I could tell them it was an extenuating circumstance.”
Megs drew a breath and threw her bag in the back seat without meeting his eyes. “Either way, it seems you’re covered then.”
Gideon’s heart galloped. Was she trying to convince him to come with her? He’d stopped fighting himself on admitting that the attraction was still there for him. He hoped that if he accepted it, that magnetic pull he felt toward Megs would be less forbidden and would dissipate. Based on his one psychology class in college, this was a strategy that should’ve worked. But maybe he should’ve paid more attention to the section on Skinner.
Every time he saw Megs, whether in class or at Matt’s events, his subconscious knew there was a chance for a spark. A glance. A smirk. Or today, his arms wrapped around her as they jostled in the tractor cab. The tiniest moment with her spiked his serotonin so hard, he was quickly becoming an addict.
Which was why he was trying to give himself permission to feel it. To recognize that his body responded to her, but that he was still in control. He didn’t have to act on it, even though every cell in his body pointed to her like iron filings to a magnet.
After sitting with her backside curled against his middle and wrapping his hands around her soft stomach and hips, his control felt like cheap plastic. Gideon scratched his chin.Either way, it seems you’re covered then.“Seems like it.”
Gideon got in the car, but not without a plan. As soon as they were buckled in and Megs was pulling out of the lot, he dropped his hands on his knees. “So. What questions do you have about the course material?”
Megs shot him a look. “This is what we’re doing?”
Gideon’s smile was tight. “I’m just a professor who needed a ride to campus, and you’re just a student who can’t believe how lucky she is to have a private tutoring session.”
“The kind that Jennifer always asks for?” Megs grinned, and Gideon flushed. That was not helping.
“I’m trying to be professional here.” He knew it was ridiculous. Once two people had conversations about cloacas and lizard people, there was really no going back. Still, he had to try.
“Right. Okay, let me think for a second.” Megs straightened in her seat and held her hands at ten and two.
“I appreciate your responsible driving.”
“Thank you, professor.” Megs held back a smile, and Gideon didn’t even dare touch that comment. Thankfully, she continued before he could sinkinto analyzing why hearing that title on her lips made him crazy. “Okay, I’ve got one. I've heard both 'bit rate' and 'sample rate' in class, and I still don’t fully understand the difference.” Gideon didn’t answer right away, and Megs glanced over. “What?”
“I’m impressed. It’s a good question.”
