by Vivian Wood
The heat rises off the pavement, burning my feet as I walk down to the end of my block. There my quiet residential side street meets up with a bridge that runs over the river to the med school. A car passes me as I hop onto a perfectly manicured lawn, trying to decide which way to go.
On one hand, the med school isn’t that far away. And I know I would be welcome there… if they are open on the Sunday before classes start. There are some businesses that I noticed in the neighborhood on the way in, but I have no idea if they are going to be friendly or not.
A few joggers pass me as I stand here, feeling like I’m a stranger in a strange land. One guy runs past me, stops, then backs up. He is tall and broad, wrapped in black running leggings and a black t-shirt. Wrapped around his waist is a lightweight black jacket.
“Eve?” he asks.
I take him in for a second, my face turning red, before recognition hits me.
The hot guy I’ve practiced my flirting on? The rich heartthrob that I gave my virginity to on the fourth of July?
That’s exactly who stares back at me, his expression just short of a deer in headlights.
“Carter?” I’m more than a little surprised to see him here. “What— why—”
“Jesus Eve,” he breaks in. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you wearing any pants?”
I wrap my arms around myself again, my forehead creasing. “I just moved in down the street. I locked myself out of my house.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Carter immediately starts peeling off his jacket, still breathing a little harshly as he offers it to me. His bare arms are something to behold, the muscles bulging a little bit. You know, just enough to make me drool. The jacket is still warm from his body heat, the slick fabric curling under my trembling fingers.
It feels like decadent armor against the prying eyes of the entire neighborhood.
“I can’t take your jacket!” I protest.
He shakes his head, disgusted. He leans down, using his height to intimidate me. And it actually kind of works. “You’re going to take the jacket and you’re going to be grateful about it.”
That stops me short. Carter is one of those guys. Those handsome and rich guys that hardly ever hear the word no. He’s borderline rude, if I am honest about it. He always manages to be more bossy than me, which puts me on unsure footing.
He’s just lucky he’s hot.
“Thanks,” I say, but I wrinkle my nose as I say it. Wrapping the jacket around my waist, I do my best to act casual. “What are you doing here?”
“Come on.” He grabs my arm, towing me in the opposite direction from the bridge. “I keep a place a few blocks from here. I’m starting a new job close by soon, otherwise I would probably be in Port Angeles like Aiden.”
He hand is warm against my skin. I shiver even though it’s hot as Hades outside. He eyes me sternly. “It’s just another block this way. Don’t be melodramatic.”
I roll my eyes a little. Even though he’s helping me, he’s just so… pushy and domineering about it. Carter is just like all the guys at my father’s golf club. Only he’s hardly in his thirties, unlike all those sixty-something windbags.
Also he’s like… dreamy. Or something.
He pulls me up outside a little gray bungalow. It’s neat and tidy, with a tiny lawn and a white picket fence. When he releases me and opens the gate, ushering me inside, I resist a little.
“This is your place?”
He scowls at me. “Yes. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get inside before one of us melts from merely standing under the sun. Is that okay?”
Carter doesn’t wait for an answer. He just barges ahead, eager to get inside. I can’t help the pout that takes over my expression. I follow him up the porch steps, watching as he pulls off his shoe and digs the key out.
Then he lets himself in, standing by the door with an impatient expression. I hurry inside, appreciating the instant coolness. He closes the door behind me, leaving me to look around the small kitchen area. After the dingy kitchen counter, I can see the couch, the tv, and a couple doors off to the right.
“What is this place?” I wonder aloud.
He shoots me a look. “It’s my apartment.”
“But it’s so… umm…” I squint, trying to think of a nice way to say it.
Carter flings his key down on the kitchen counter, looking irritated. “It’s a normal apartment. Stop being such a snob.”
My eyebrows fly up. “Sor-ry.”
He points to the phone clutched in my hand, all but forgotten in all the excitement. “Is that working still?”
“Yeah, I—” Glancing down at the screen, I see that my phone is on silent somehow. Not only that, but there are two missed calls from my father. “Shit.”
A sigh is already on Carter’s lips. “What?”
“Umm.” I drop the phone to my side. Calculating the amount of trouble I’m now in with dad will take more time than I have. I dart my tongue out to wet my bottom lip. “Nothing. It’s just… how did I not know you were going to be here? Like… living a few block away, I mean.”
He shrugs. “You didn’t ask, as far as I know. It’s not like I knew you were going to show up here either. Though I don’t exactly mind knowing that you live close by.”
I blush. It’s not like I forgot that I asked him to take my v-card on the fourth of July. But the look in his eyes just now says he hasn’t forgotten either. He doesn’t say it aloud and neither do I, but our close proximity means we are definitely going to be intimate.
If I have my way, that is.
I wrinkle my nose at him. “You knew I was going to school at the university, though.”
Carter looks unimpressed. “Well, if I was supposed to know that, you should have known that I was going to be teaching at the university. Luckily for both of us, I teach part time to a bunch of disaffected undergrads.”
My eyebrows rise. “I didn’t realize you actually taught anything.”
“That’s what I’m doing with my very expensive biology degrees.”
“Biology, huh?” I cast a speculative glance over him. “I’ll have to come here when I have questions about human anatomy.”
He smirks faintly. “Oh, I hope you do. I can teach you my methods. I am very thorough.”
Carter steps closer to me, making me aware of how much space he takes up in the tiny apartment. I color, even though I started the flirtation. I may talk a big game, but I don’t actually know how to follow through with any it.
At the moment, I find myself tongue tied, my gaze dipping down to his mouth.
Oh, the things I’ll bet he can do with those lips and that tongue. I only had a small taste at the Sapphire Hotel, but I’m definitely ready for more. A lot more, right about now.
“So… if you’re free…” I start, taking a step toward him, angling at closing the distance. His gaze is more than interested, slipping down to my mouth, my tits.
When we finally bang, I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be amazing. I’m starting a new school in a new city. Why not leave my old uptight habits behind along with my old life?
Suddenly an alarm goes off, startling both of us. He looks at his watch. He groans. “That’s my one hour reminder. I have to shower. I have an appointment and I can’t be late.”
My mouth twists. I step closer, bridging the gap between us. I don’t quite touch him, but I look up at him with a meaningful gaze. “Not even for me?”
It comes out sounding more whiny little girl than I meant it to but… I meant the question in earnest. Carter slowly shakes his head.
“U of W waits for no man,” he declares. “Even you, tempting though you are. We can rain check for tonight or tomorrow if you want.”
That makes me pout.
“I’m not sure,” I say.
He slides me a sideways glance, then glances at his watch again. He heads toward one of the doors toward the back of the apartment. “I really have to get ready. And I assume that you don’t want to join me i
n the shower so… I’ll leave you to figure out who you’re going to call, Eve. I’ll be thinking about you when I’m in the shower, though…”
Then he pulls his t-shirt up over his head, exposing miles of smooth ridges of muscle. His arms aren’t the only thing worth drooling over… he has an amazing chest, incredible six pack abs, and an adonis belt that most women would probably kill over.
My jaw drops. Carter just smirks, throwing the t-shirt at my head.
“Stop staring,” he says slyly, his tone teasing. “It’s not ladylike. And get someone on the phone that can unlock your doors.”
Snapping my jaw shut, I glare at him. But my glare is kind of lost on him because he just disappears behind one of the white doors. In my hand, my phone starts to buzz.
I look down at the screen.
Daddy.
He’s calling for the third time. He’s going to be pissed when I finally talk to him. Swallowing hard, I just let it ring until it goes to voicemail. In the meantime I look up the closest locksmith, calling as soon as the line is clear.
Sliding my gaze back to the door that Carter vanished through, I sigh. At least I’ve already found one familiar face… though I wouldn’t call Carter friendly, exactly.
Then again, I’m pretty used to not having any friends. Sighing, I start to make arrangements to get back into my house.
4
Carter
“We’ll resume things later,” I promise Eve from the fence outside her yard.
She just glances back with a wry expression. The locksmith is just now working on her door and I’m almost out of time. She lifts a shoulder and shrugs. “Whatever.”
Then she heads up the steps to her modern, expensive-looking house. She leaves me there, wistfully turning toward the bridge that will carry me across to the meeting that I’m almost definitely going to be late for.
As I jog down the street, I can’t stop my mind from churning.
Seeing Eve is like someone has kicked me in the gut. One minute I’m jogging toward home, the next minute I’m trying not to stare at her honey colored hair and her incredible face.
Her lips alone could make a man beg for mercy. Her eyes are exactly halfway between blue and green. And the way she arches her eyebrow when she has a question…
It’s funny how that little facial quirk can bring me to my knees.
Every single interaction I’ve had with her has been exactly that way. Try to focus on what she’s saying and not on her slender body. Or the way she tosses her hair back and fixes me with a fiery glare.
Yeah, it’s official. I’m thirty two years old and I have a fucking crush. On Eve no less, who is a spoiled princess just out of her undergrad years. She’s way too young for me to even be looking at her and she’s my half-brother’s sister.
And yet… I mean, just look at her. Other than all the things I just mentioned, she’s basically perfect. Lucky for me, things have never lined up right for us to be able to spend much time together. We came close to kissing as the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve but otherwise my world has been blissfully Eve-less.
I mean… she’s perfect for someone else. With her sharp tongue and her critical gaze she’d be better off with a marshmallow of a man, someone who will let her walk all over him. Someone that can give her the life she is used to, the one that she deserves.
I blow out a breath. Eve leaves me confused and horny at the best of times.
After making sure she gets back to her house just fine, I glare up at the three story house as I walk away. I should be in a house like that.
But after the blow out fight that I had with my mother year over my trust fund, I’m not exactly rolling in cash. She administers my trust until I turn 35. I comfort myself with knowing that’s less than three years away.
Nevertheless, I’m forced to live on my actual salary alone for the first time, and…. well, it’s proving more difficult than expected. I straighten my tie as I walk over the bridge to the University of Washington Medical School.
Ten minutes from now, I have a meeting with the head of the biology program. I’m not nervous exactly; I’ve never spared much thought for job interviews. But I worked as an adjunct professor last semester, and I would really, really like to move up to a less tenuous position.
You know, the better to pay the rent with or whatever. But I still can’t help but feel like I am being called into the principal’s office when I climb the stairs to meet her.
When I get to Dr. Mooney’s office, she ushers me in and points to a seat. All around me are piles of files and books, stacked haphazardly. It’s a challenge for to fit my body in the empty space of the chair without knocking over anything.
Dr. Mooney sits down at her cluttered desk and looks down her nose at me, even though she’s probably only five feet to my 6’4”. She’s old and cranky as fuck, wrapped in at least two old cardigans today. It’s hard to get a read on her, honestly.
She opens what seems to be my permanent record on the desk in front of her, leaning close to read. “Dr. Morgan. You taught a Bio 300 level class last semester.”
I shift in my seat, brushing a stack of files with my shoulder. “Yes.”
“Let’s see. Yale for undergrad… and you did your post grad at Portland State.”
Nodding slowly, I answer. “Yes.”
She sits back, considering me. “Dr. Finanster taught first year biology here at the Medical School. He has been fired from the med school.”
My brows go up. “Really?”
Her mouth flattens. “Yes, really. He had relations with a student. Actually, it seems like he slept with a number of students. Which is sort of unbelievable because he was 67.” She stares at me. “Your name has been brought up as a replacement for Dr. Finanster. Repeatedly.”
I’m tongue tied for a moment. How? Who even knows that I work here?
But I quickly recover. “That’s very flattering.”
I start calculating. The difference in pay between teaching as an adjust in an undergrad class and teaching a med school class full time… it’s undoubtedly substantial.
Dr. Mooney sits back, steepling her fingers. “I want you to realize that we take these allegations by students very seriously. Whoever we hire has to be impervious to the students. Unaware. Above it all. Unimpeachable.”
“I understand, Dr. Mooney.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “The problem is that you are… well… you are handsome, to begin with. And young. You will undoubtedly have students throwing themselves at you. So I’d like to know how you plan to handle that.”
I blow out a breath. “I’m not married, but… I assure you, I have a healthy dating life that has nothing to do with twenty year olds. It’s not even in my thoughts.”
Well… there is one particular twenty-something that I fantasize about regularly, but Dr. Mooney doesn’t need that much info. She just needs to be reassured that I won’t dip my pen in the company ink.
She rolls her eyes. “That’s not what I am saying. I am saying you might need to consider what you will do if a student proposes something indecent. What will you say? How will you act?”
It’s only the work of a second to respond. “I’m not their friend. I’m a professor at a prestigious school. I’ll act offended, because I will be.”
Her lips lift a fraction. “That’s more like it. I just don’t want to be the one who hires the school’s next #metoo issue.” She pauses. “There is one more thing.”
I lean forward. “What would that be?”
Her eyes glint. “You would have to start tomorrow.”
For a second, I am speechless. “Tomorrow?”
“Yes. Dr. Finanster was only fired a few days ago… and his first class of the spring semester begins tomorrow. Short notice I know, but we would have that issue with any potential professor.”
“That’s… um…. I mean, I guess I could work it out,” I say, wrinkling my brow. “The first class is basically just trying to pronounce everyone’s names righ
t and… you know, going through the syllabus.”
“My thoughts precisely,” Dr. Mooney says. She stands up, knocking a stack of file folders over. She doesn’t seem to notice. “Well, Dr. Morgan. I’d like to start you in the position temporarily. You’ll receive a pay raise. After the end of this semester, I will meet with you and decide if you’re suited for the role in a more permanent capacity.”
I stand up, extending my hand to her. “Thank you, Dr. Mooney. You won’t regret it.”
She takes my hand briefly, shaking her head. “I had better not, Dr. Morgan.” She gives me a cool smile. “I’ll be emailing you the information about the class right now. Everything from the classroom location to the syllabus and class roster. You’ll need to take over Dr. Finanster’s office too… I actually think I have some ancient notes from when I used to teach the class, a million years ago. If I can manage to dig them out of wherever they’re buried, I’ll scan them and email them to you.”
“I would be obliged,” I say. I give her a little bow and then see myself out of her office, my heart pounding in my ears.
That was not at all what I expected. My workload has suddenly doubled or tripled in only the space of a few minutes time. But the most important thing is that I will be able to more than afford my life now, which is great.
My worries about money, however briefly I had them, seem like a distant note on the horizon. Now I just have a huge amount of responsibility… Dr. Finanster had a huge job.
Jogging down the stairs, I listen as my phone chirps a dozen times. A dozen new emails from Dr. Mooney, each about something vital.
Fuck. I don’t even have the textbooks that this course teaches. I guess the campus bookstore should be my first stop, then. Followed by finding the classroom and my new office… and figuring out what the hell I’m supposed to teach tomorrow.
5
Eve