He stepped forward. “That’s what we are to each other. Familiar. Friendly. Fuck buddies, if you’d only accept that we have more chemistry than a Bunsen burner.”
“We have to draw a line.” Jason should have no problem moving on to the pretty barflies who loved a hockey player. Judging from that photo, he already had. I just wasn’t sure why he was so sore about it.
“Sure, we can draw a line. But you’re not going to cut me out of this baby’s life before it’s even started.”
“I’m not?—”
“Dr. St. James.” A new voice cut in, as welcome as a cold toilet seat. Marcus stepped forward, his gaze cutting between Jason and me. “I noticed that your class ended early so I wondered if there was a problem.”
“No problem.” As if I needed to explain how I conducted my classes. As Marcus showed no sign of leaving, I added, “This is a friend of mine, Jason Isner.”
Marcus blinked up at Jason, who had a good eight inches on him. In all areas, a baser part of me whispered.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Bilson. How do you and our Dr. St. James know each other?”
Jason opened his mouth, but I got there first. “Jason plays professional hockey with the Chicago Rebels.”
“Old friend of the family,” Jason said, and it wasn’t my imagination that he moved closer to me. “Well, more than friends.”
The last thing I needed was my personal life put on blast. Marcus’s eyes narrowed, waiting for someone to explain what Jason meant by that cryptic statement.
“We’re about to head to lunch?—”
Marcus cut me off. “I was hoping we could discuss your open access funding requests.”
“I have that on the agenda for our weekly meeting,” I said. “Scheduled for Thursday.”
“Right.” Still no sign of a departure, so I took the initiative.
“Let’s catch up later.” I moved toward the door while Jason watched our dynamic with interest. Then he raised an eyebrow and grinned.
“So, lunch?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jason
* * *
Lunch was more than I had hoped for, which only went to prove that my expectations when it came to Franky St. James were startlingly low.
“I usually eat in my office.”
“Good thing I brought supplies.” I patted my backpack. “So what’s the deal with that guy?”
“That’s Dr. Bilson, head of my department.”
The guy who got the job she wanted and who she slept with a couple of years ago. Also on the list.
I followed her through the hallways of the university, which yielded plenty of funny looks. Of course, people were going to wonder what the beautiful brain was doing with a lug like me. Let ’em.
In her office, a pretty brunette behind a desk looked up. “Oh, Dr. St. James, Dr. Bilson was looking—” She broke off on seeing me. “Hello.”
“Hey there.”
“Dr. Bilson found me. In class. Where I was supposed to be.” She waved behind her. “This is?—”
“Jason Isner,” the desk girl said. “Hi! I had no idea you …” She trailed off, looking to the professor for guidance.
