“That’s it for today. Don’t forget to complete tonight’s reading and we’ll see you in class tomorrow morning.” Just as Dexter returns to the lectern to close his laptop and gather his items to leave, four female students crowd around, asking him God only knows what in an attempt to capture even a second of his undivided attention.
Who am I kidding? I’m nearly as pathetic as they are. While I know I should pack up my stuff and leave, I instead find myself continuing the grading charade in hopes that I’ll get a second alone with him when those girls finally leave. I just want to compliment him on his lecture, and maybe thank him for covering this section so I could catch up on grading and not have to take work home with me tonight.If only I had actually graded while he taught instead of losing myself in his voice the entire time.
Dammit to hell. I’m going to be up until midnight finishing these quizzes and I have no one to blame but myself.
“I never knew choosing a research topic could be so difficult! Do you have any time tomorrow to help me narrow it down, Dr. Belanger? Maybe during the lunch break?” I choke back a laugh (okay, fine, we both know it was a snort) at the girl’s not-so-subtle come-on. I know he heard me, and there’s no way I’ll own up to it, so I keep my eyes fixed on the quiz before me and try my best to drown out the sounds of young twenty-somethings flirting with their professor. Dexter doesn’t strike me as the cradle-robbing type.
I continue grading through two more quizzes when I’m interrupted by a masculine index finger tapping my desk. I look up and see Dexter smiling down at me, eyebrow raised in amusement. “Enjoying yourself back here, Miss Gilmore?”
I push my glasses back up my nose and reply, “Quiz gradingisriveting.”
“Is that so? It looked to me like you were more interested in Daphne’s research topic struggles than the quizzes.” Dammit, I knew he heard me. “Either that or you were honing your pig impersonation. Five stars, by the way. That was a solid snort if I’ve ever heard one.”Kill me now.
“No idea what you’re talking about. Which one is Daphne?” I feign ignorance, picking up the stack of graded quizzes and tapping them on the desk to align the papers before setting down the stack and thumbing through the ones I have left.
Dexter snickers and asks, “Need some help finishing up?”Yes, please.
“I’m good. I’ll just take them home and finish up there.” Staying in this room with him for one second longer is not a good idea. I can hardly pay attention to what I’m supposed to be doing when he’s in the same room, not paying attention to me and surrounded by fifty-something students.
“Nonsense. I finished class more than an hour early.” Dexter raps his index knuckle on the desk twice to pull my attention from thepapers and back to him. “Let’s order a pizza and knock these out before closing up shop for the night.”
I look up to tell him that won’t be necessary, but the second our eyes meet my brain short circuits and my mouth betrays me. “Sure. Yeah. Okay.”Watch out, Lin Manuel Miranda. Master wordsmith Alis Gilmore comin’ at ya.
“Great,” Dexter smiles down at me and picks up the stack of not-yet-graded quizzes. He takes a step back and nods toward the door. “Let’s head to my office. We’ll drop off our stuff and walk over to Nico’s.”
We’re almost to his office building, comfortably chatting about the upcoming topics for the class, when a thought slaps me upside the head.
Hold up. Dinner and then work? I thought we were dinnering while working. As in, simultaneously. Is dinnering even a word? My mental Word document doesn’t show any red squiggles, so I’m pretty sure it’s a word. Interesting.
Dexter is still talking about the strengths and weaknesses he saw in the students based on their interactions in class today. He doesn’t seem to notice my mental hyperventilation.
I need a few minutes to clear my brain fog before I can do anything alongside this man, so I cut him off mid-sentence and ask, “Would it be okay if I get to work on these quizzes while you grab the food?” I don’t know if it’s weird to ask him to leave me in his office, alone, but the words are out of my mouth before I consider anything outside of my need for space.
“Not a problem,” he says, smiling down at me as he opens the building door for me to enter. The dim hallway lights are our only guide to his pod, offices and lobbies alike dark without their usual inhabitants busy at work.
It’s nearly seven thirty and most people leave for the day at five, so the dark offices don’t surprise me. However, I had hoped the cleaning crew would still be working on this building so we wouldn’t becompletelyalone.
No such luck.
The second I step foot into his office I’m enveloped by his scent. God, he smellsso good.
I make myself at home in his sitting area, retrieving the quizzes and my red pen from my bag. Dexter, thankfully, reads the room and sets his bag down before saying, “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Thanks,” I say, not looking up from the quizzes. I don’t want to be rude; I’m just overwhelmed with everything right now and I need a few minutes to sort through all these thoughts and emotions before I interact with him again.
Actually, no. I don’t need to sort through my emotions right now because that will just bring them to the forefront of my mind and distract me, once again, from finishing these quizzes. I finish grading another quiz and then pull out my phone to inform Skye about tonight’s schedule change.
Alis: Class ended early but I have some grading to knock out so I’m going to do that here before I head home.
Skye: Ok. Hiding out in the library?
Alis: I wish. I’m in L&L.
Skye: … you don’t have an office in L&L.
Skye: OMG ARE YOU WITH DEXTER?!
Alis: It’s not a big deal. He offered to help me finish grading so I wouldn’t have to take it home.
