The evening passed like any other. I relaxed into my seat, grading quiz papers and intermittently referencing the professor’s grading rubric. We exchanged sporadic glances over the work spread between us, sharing fleeting moments of charged silence. Every second of attention from the tempest in those ocean eyes threatened to drench me in the vicious downpour of his awareness.
“Is something the matter?” he asked.
I faltered for a second. “N-no. Everything’s fine,” I lied.
Professor Quinn tipped his head to the side, regarding me with unabashed interest. Like he was looking at a puzzle he wished to solve.
“Then what are you thinking about?”
“You.” The answer bolted from my lips.
He arched a brow in silent question.
“What made you want to become a professor?” I blurted.
His expression melted, and he turned his head. Those stormy eyes seemed to land on the wall of books to my right. Seconds passed, long enough for me to begin regretting the question. Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked. Or maybe he thought I didn’t have any right to know more about him despite the sex.
“Unfinished business.” He shrugged. It was a consolation more than an actual answer. A clue that told mesomethingbut not nearly enough about him. Even as I considered his answer, nothing about it made sense to me. I was out of the loop with respect to his personal life and his past. Aside from the orgasms, we were nothing and no one to each other.
A scoff breached me.
That caught his attention.
“Careful with the Mystery Man routine, or I’ll start to think you’re interesting.”
The professor’s grin cut wider.
“I have it on good authority that I’m plenty interesting.” His eyes trailed across my face before landing on my lips.
Arousal swooped low in my stomach.
I went for a coy smile and rolled my eyes. “Whoever gave you that impression forgot to check your ego first.”
He mock-frowned.
“What’s wrong with my ego?”
I pushed out a drawn-out sigh, tapping a finger on my chin as if really considering it. “Hmm. The size of it.”
Professor Quinn’s eyes instantly darkened. Only then did I realize we’d been flirting the whole time. A pulse tingled across my skin as palpable as lightning in a storm.
His smile morphed, growing wider and turning feral. He shifted in his seat, leaning back and spreading his legs further under the desk in a purposeful move to draw my gaze lower.
“I’ve never had any complaints about the size yet.”
“And here comes your famous arrogance.” I sighed with feigned annoyance.
“Is it arrogance or earned pride?”
For a split second I stared incredulously at him. What anunbelievableman.
“Coming from the man who boasts about failing more students than he passes…” I sucked my teeth and cocked my head. A tinkling laugh escaped me, and a dimple appeared in his cheek that I hadn’t seen before. Something I preened at, having earned that display of amusement from his usually stoic face.
He was sitting there across the desk, staring right back as if he were equally fixated on me. And he smirked, making me think I’d walked into a trap.
“Well,” the low timber of his voice curled through my blood, “that’s interesting coming from the brat who needs more lessons.”
A scoff leapt from my lips. “Oh, that’s debatable.”
