Shane
I push mychair back from my computer, rise to my feet and stretch, my back aching from all the hours I put in at the desk in my office. If I didn’t know better, I’d never believe I went to the gym this morning to work out. But I did. Then I showered, came back here, and got into the zone on my research, losing track of time, skipping lunch and working through the afternoon. Now, almost dinner hour, my stomach is grumbling, and I am way overdue for a long walk and some food.
I stride through campus, the sight of students sporadic, as summer session doesn’t lend itself to kids hanging out on the lawns and in the student union. But the Circle, a cul-de-sac with a variety of restaurants and eateries, is open year-round, and I decide to head there for dinner.
As I walk, I open my phone and skim the progress I made on the paper I’m working on. Another couple of years, and I hope to move into a tenured position, something I would have thought impossible a few years ago. Shaking my head before I gothere, I refocus on the words on the screen, a deep dive into a paper dealing with advanced quantitative economic theory and…
I bump into someone, jolting myself and causing my phone to fall to the ground at the same time I reach out to steady whoever I crashed into. My hands wrap around soft flesh and obviously feminine arms. A floral fragrance reaches my nostrils, and I find myself breathing in for a deeper whiff of the tantalizing scent.
“I’m sorry!” the woman says as I help stabilize her before letting her go and retrieving my cell.
“My fault. I was reading on my phone.” I look up and find myself staring into arresting light blue eyes surrounded by blonde hair that has been pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head, with sexy stray strands falling around her face.
“And I was looking at the directions on my screen. I’m new to the area,” she explains, biting down on her full lower lip.
“Where are you headed?” I hope she is going my way despite the fact that she is, in fact, walking in the opposite direction.
“The Circle. I’m looking for restaurants. A place to eat dinner but I think I got turned around or something. I’m not very good with maps,” she says, her cheeks flushing an attractive shade of pink.
I blink and try not to look like the cat who swallowed the canary when I just got my wish. We are going to the same place.
I subtly take her in, a petite but nicely figured woman, wearing a pair of black workout leggings and a white and lavender top that drapes around her body, giving me a hint of her curves that I enjoy.
“How about you walk with me? I’m headed in that direction myself. I’m Shane, by the way.”
“Amber. And that would be awesome. Left on my own, I’d probably end up on the opposite end of campus.”
I chuckle. “Not everyone has a good sense of direction. So where did you move to?” I ask, making conversation.
She hesitates before answering. “A small cul-de-sac on the outskirts of the school,” she says vaguely, which I understand. She doesn’t know me at all, and I shouldn’t have asked something so personal.
We start toward the Circle, and I point out the library and the businesses that surround the campus, consisting of large companies that tend to donate to the school. Those who live in and around the area aren’t solely college employees.
“Are you meeting anyone for dinner?” I ask, surprising myself with the question.
She shakes her head.
“Want some company? I can familiarize you with the area a little,” I offer.
She looks up at me as we walk. “Sure. I wouldn’t know which restaurant is good, and I’d planned to sit outside and read. Company would be nice.”
I am selective about dating, and for good reason. But Amber isn’t a young student, she is a woman close to my own age. Besides, I justify to myself, she just moved to town, which explains why I haven’t run into her before now, and I am just doing a good deed by sharing a meal and telling her where to find things in her new town.
Although she is hot as hell to look at, I am not going to do anything beyond share this one meal. Even if I am more attracted to her than any woman I’ve met before.
CHAPTER TWO
Amber
Ihaven’t lookedtwice at a man in more years than I care to remember. Oh, I dated when I could, my mom watching L.J., but anyone I went out with freaked out at the mention of my having a kid or never called me again. Lately, I’ve been too busy being a mom and keeping my head above water financially and emotionally to worry about meeting anyone. But I am looking now because Shane is a very attractive man.
We settle into an outside table and chairs with hamburgers and French fries in front of us. I take a sip of my soda, aware of his heated gaze on the purse of my lips around the straw. We certainly share an immediate attraction, I think, dropping my stare to the food in front of me.
I don’t have to look at him to be aware of his handsome face covered by a scruff of beard, warm brown eyes, and what look like soft, kissable lips. I squirm in my seat, unaccustomed to my body’s reaction to the man. Any man. It has been so long since my sex pulsed in delicious response to the opposite sex.
Have I used my battery-operated boyfriend? For sure. But even those moments are few and far between with a little boy in the house. But this man with his nice body, his short-sleeve tee shirt pulling tight over his muscular frame, has me thinking about doing other things in my bed. Adult things I haven’t experienced in far too long.
“So the campus is a circle with roads situated like spikes that lead to different areas and buildings,” he says.
