“Leo.” Her nostrils flared.
“Our secret.” I handed her back her pen. She took it, and our fingers brushed longer than necessary. And hers? Were trembling. “And Mrs. Robinson?”
“Yes.” Her voice cracked.
“Even if you don’t miss me, know that I’ll miss you. A lot.” I flashed her a genuine smile and gave her my back.
I jolted awake from the memory, nightmare, dream, I wasn’t even sure what it was other than my brain reminding me that I’d had it bad for my teacher for over four years.
Damn it.
A few minutes later, I got a text and felt my body grow in all the wrong and inappropriate places as Kora said she hoped she would get an A.
Fuck. Me.
“Bro.” Slater covered his eyes. “If you’re watching porn—”
“I’m not watching porn, you ass! I just woke up!”
“Sure, sure.” He laughed and threw a pillow at me. “Don’t you have class in an hour?”
“Shit.” I wiped my face with my hands, grabbed my shit, and made my way out the door just in time for Slater to yell.
“Make it cold!”
I flipped him off and indeed took a frigid shower, all the while wondering how the hell I would survive if she actually did try today.
It bothered me the entire way to get coffee.
And then, as I walked down the hall and took a deep breath in front of the classroom door.
It would be fine; she was just a woman.
A very, very attractive woman.
I was fine.
Right?
Ridiculous.
I walked into the room and quickly took my seat. Huh, she wasn’t there. I mean, there was a woman up front, but her back was to us.
Just as she turned, I took a swig of coffee.
And started choking.
The girl sitting behind me began slapping my back so hard I almost herniated, all the while Kora smiled up at me, amusement dancing in her eyes. “You gonna make it, Blackwood?”
I’ve never understood the term swallowing your own tongue. How is that physically possible?
And yet.
My tongue felt swollen, I couldn’t breathe well, and I wondered if this was the moment people were talking about, when your tongue had nowhere else to go except out your mouth like a dog or to the back of your throat.
“Er—” I rasped. “Yes, ma’am, yes.”
Smooth.
“Good.” Her leather pencil skirt was tight against her thighs. As she moved around the room, her clothes hugged every curve, I was a cat, she was a scrumptious mouse I wanted to pounce on and—
Oh shit, she was asking people to read.
I shoved all thoughts of her perfection away even though it was difficult, especially when I couldn’t stop fixating on the loose braid that hung past her shoulder. A few hairs fell out, and she kept tucking them back until finally putting a pencil behind her ear, just fucking flaming every schoolboy fantasy to life yet again.
I gripped my desk with both hands, fingertips going completely white as she finally dismissed class.
A few idiots stayed back to ask her a question.
One dipshit made her laugh.
Ruining his life later.
And there I sat.
Finally, her almond-shaped blue eyes lifted to mine. “Blackwood.”
Down boy. “Mrs. R.”
She grinned wide. “Why does it feel like the roles are reversed?”
I stood and grabbed my bag then slowly made my way down the stairs until I was right in front of her, measuring her short breaths and the nervous way she licked those pink lips. “I like a good role reversal.”
“I bet.”
I laughed and pulled the pencil from her ear, letting the escaped pieces of hair kiss her cheek. Never been jealous of hair but there’s a first time for everything.
I put a hand on her shoulder and very gently leaned in and whispered. “A-minus.”
“What?” She jerked back. “Are you sure you don’t mean A-plus?”
“Oh, she wants extra credit now?” I teased.
Her scowl was adorable. “I did good.”
“Good isn’t great though, is it?”
She stomped her foot.
Holy shit, I was keeping this woman forever. She just didn’t know it yet.
“An A-minus is bullshit.” She said in a gravelly voice I was instantly responding to.
“Well, the extra credit shouldn’t take too long anyway, but it’s kind of… daring.” I shrugged. “And no offense… but…” I didn’t finish my sentence, and once again, I could tell she was wondering if she could stab me in the dick with her pencil and get away with claiming self-defense.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms. “What is it?”
My eyebrows shot up. “Something a good girl wouldn’t do, that’s for sure.”
“What does that have to do with Wingmen?” she asked.
“Confidence is everything. You gotta know how to fake it, especially in the presence of assholes.”
“Like you?”
I grinned. “Easy, I meant like your ex. Why, do I look like an emotional terrorist?”
She deflated a bit. I hated it. “What’s my extra credit?”
I looked over my shoulder to make sure the door was closed, then stepped toward it, pulled the blinds down, and turned the lock.
Her eyes widened.
“Relax.” I made my way back to her. “I’m not going to seduce you. Can’t, remember? It’s in my contract.”
“I know that.”
Sure she did.
“Your next class will be here in less than fifteen minutes. So you have exactly—” I checked my Rolex “—eleven minutes to get this done.”
“Get what done?”
“Panties.” I held out my hand. “Now.”
“Excuse me!” Yeah, I was definitely getting murdered today. “I’m not giving you my underwear, you perv!”
“Chill, I’m not keeping them.” I rolled my eyes. “Take them off, and I’ll give them back to you.”
“But I have one more class.”
“Yup.”
“And I have to walk around.”
“Yup.”
She glared. “Is that all you’re going to say? And if you say yup, I’m shoving a pencil into your aorta.”
“That’s alarmingly graphic,” I muttered. “And you now have ten minutes.”
She looked around the room, probably realizing what I already knew, there was no place to really hide, her desk was too short, and we were in an auditorium.
“Nine minutes,” I said in a bored voice.
“I hate you,” she muttered.
“Most paying customers do at first,” I said truthfully. “You’re running low on time… Mrs. R.”
With one more scowl my way, she started hiking up her leather skirt and then paused at her thighs. “Turn around.”
“No.” I shrugged. “Hurry up.”
“So. Wrong,” she said to herself as she finally got her skirt high enough right at her hips, and then her perfect fingers were tugging down a lacy pair of black boy shorts.
It was over too fast.
Her skirt was back down.
Her panties were in her hand. “Happy?”
I sauntered over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, then very slowly slid my hand down her back and cupped her ass. “Just checking your work.”
Her gaze was heavy, and it was on my mouth. “A-plus?”
“Plus, plus,” I leaned down, knowing it was wrong, knowing it was against policy, but she met me halfway, her hands gripping my biceps, nails digging into my skin.
And then a knock sounded at the door.
We broke apart.
I cursed and jabbed a finger at her. “Put them in your purse, you can put them back on after class is done, but I think you might enjoy the freedom of having them off all day.”
“I doubt it.” Her smile was forced.
“I’m a
professional, remember?” It was like I was reminding both of us.
Her nod was short, curt.
And I was back at square one as I unlocked the door and jerked it open only to come face to face with her son of a bitch ex-husband and his fucking black glasses.
Chapter Twelve
“Nothing feels better than skin on skin—unless you’re wearing leather and then I want both. I’m a greedy SOB, what can I say?” — Leo Blackwood
Kora
I couldn’t see his face, but I felt him, in a way that made my stomach roll. Please let Leo stay.
“You again? Is this a joke?” Chadwick raised his voice then looked around Leo. “You weren’t answering my calls.”
“I know.” I lifted my chin. “I’ve been busy.”
“With this guy?”
Leo stood up against Chadwick, chest to chest. It was almost amusing how much bigger Leo was. Even though he was a college student, he was all man in that moment.
Mine.
No.
“No.” I crossed my arms. “With my job, and now my next class will be here soon. Could you please just go?”
“Not until you tell me why you were alone with him!” Chadwick shoved at Leo, but Leo didn’t move. Instead, he slowly turned and shared a look with me.
“I’m her new TA. We locked the door because we were discussing something private about one of the students cheating on the last exam, and with social media, you never know what people might do or say or take the wrong way.” He looked back at Chadwick. “Am I right?”
Chadwick’s eyes narrowed. “A coincidence then?”
“It’s a small world.” Leo patted Chadwick on the shoulder. “Looks like her next class is starting to trickle in.” Sure enough, students bypassed the men blocking the door as I stood there in stunned disbelief. “You should make an appointment. Her office hours are taped to the door.”
“Are you shitting me right now?” Chadwick muttered.
“Or if you want,” Leo flashed him an easy grin. “I can pull up her calendar and pencil you in. How does next week Monday sound? Five p.m.?”
“What the hell,” he said, mainly to himself. “I guess, sure, I mean…” He eyed me again. “Is that the soonest we can talk?”
“Sorry.” I shrugged helplessly. “I’ve had to take on a lot of classes.”
I hoped to God he got the jab, felt it in between his ribs.
I’d taken nothing from him yet, and still, he wasn’t signing the papers.
And now I had to work twice as hard to make a living.
More students bypassed him.
“Fine, fine.” He shot Leo a look. “Have her text a reminder to me so my secretary can put it on my calendar, all right?”
“Of course. It’s what a good TA does.” Leo beamed.
And then escorted the nightmare from my classroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.
I would have cheered had I not had ninety humans staring at me expectantly.
And an hour later, when class was done, I actually did do a little cheer because Leo had texted me.
Leo: Sent a note to security. They’ll be there to escort your ex from the building on Monday. I’ll be conveniently taking a test next door to your office. Oh, and I accidentally tripped him in the parking lot. Also, I like you better without him clouding your sunlight. XoXo, Leo
I stared from the phone to my purse where my underwear was waiting, and with confidence I hadn’t felt in years, I grabbed my stuff and strutted out of the classroom only to nearly run directly into Slater and Finn in the hall.
“Guys?” Oh no, would people know I was a client? Could I get in trouble?
“Hey there, Professor Robinson,” Slater said a bit too loudly for my taste. He held out a cup of coffee and whispered. “It’s not coffee.”
I took it, realizing too late my hands were trembling from seeing him again, the evil ex from hell. “Huh?”
“Leo said you could use some liquid courage and since you’re not driving home for a few hours… why not?” Finn added.
“You know…” Slater grinned, instantly making me feel at ease. “We had a cancelation tonight.”
I took a sip. Wine. It was wine. I almost giggled. “How sad for you.”
“I know, right?” Finn agreed, leaning his large body closer, the faint smell of cologne filled the space between us. The effect was more calming than anything. “If you want us to add you in, we heard you did a good job with your homework, and Leo’s anxious to get you to the next level.”
“Next level being what?” I asked, taking another small sip from the paper coffee cup and finally calming down enough to be decent.
“Caterpillar…” Finn held out one hand, “Butterfly…” He pointed at me. “But we still have some inside work to do. You know, intense heart therapy. Let us know, or if you want Leo to shit himself, just show up. Eight o’clock.”
“That’s a nice mental picture.” I laughed.
Finn shrugged. “Think about it beautiful.”
I gulped when he put his hand on my shoulder, gently caressing me with two fingertips before walking off with Slater.
Seriously? Did they train for that sort of thing?
Why was my shoulder still buzzing with awareness when I didn’t even like him?
They left me staring after them. Girls whispered and took pictures as they moved through the large hall.
They did a good job of ignoring all the attention even when it was negative attention from jealous guys.
Eight tonight.
Ridiculous. I mean, I had things to do!
Stuart, for one, could starve, I always fed him right at seven. And cats lived and died by their schedules! Right?
Plus, I had papers to read and grade!
And I was going to watch The Voice because I’d missed last week’s episode, and…
Oh God, was that my life?
The reason I wasn’t taking them up on another appointment?
If last night worked wonders, what would tonight do?
Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps.
Plus, then I could thank Leo. I did owe him.
But I mean, it would be in a totally platonic way.
As I ripped his T-shirt with my teeth and tugged his jeans down.
Platonic.
Someone slap me.
“Professor Robinson, are you okay?” A timid freshman named Cali asked me, the poor thing still had braces and was so quiet during class I could barely understand her.
“Yes, I’m sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
Her grin brightened as she hugged her books to her chest. “Must have been something awesome like dessert.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “It was just like… dessert.”
“Well, have a bite for me!” She skipped off, and I was left with nothing but visions of biting Leo.
And Leo…
Biting me right back.
Chapter Thirteen
“If you’re not thinking of me naked at least three times a day—I’m doing life wrong.” — Leo Blackwood
Leo
Lacy boy shorts, who knew?
I tapped my pen against my denim-clad thigh and tried to focus on my computer screen, on the very boring paper I had to write for my human ethics class.
I let out a snort. Ironic that I was writing a paper on ethics while thinking about my professor naked.
But damn, she’d actually done it.
Had stepped out of those lacy things and stared me down while doing it.
Shit, if I kept thinking about it, I was going to have to take care of a very serious problem, and we had rules about that sort of thing when we had clients, Wingmen wanted us to be sexually charged and focused, something about the energy in the room.
Well, Maranda was definitely going to feel my sexual frustration in about five minutes. I was hard as nails, and I’d written two paragraphs before daydreaming about Kora biting into an apple and sitting on her desk, I’d spread her thighs
and…
“Knock, knock,” Finn’s voice sounded before he shoved the door open.
I frowned and pointed my pen in his direction. “I don’t like that smile.”
He was wearing his usual uniform, jeans and a black T-shirt that showed off a bit of chest tattoo that usually drove the females wild.
“Well, that’s offensive.” He grinned harder. “Don’t you think that’s offensive, Slater?”
“Gotta be honest bro, I’m wounded on your behalf.” Slater put a hand against his chest and shook his head. “Besides, you have a sexy smile.”
“Dude.” Finn held out his fist, “That came from the heart, thank you for this moment.”
“Helllll!” I spun around in my chair. “Why are you dipshits being like this? Why? You’re both a pain in my ass, and you’re wearing your plotting faces.”
“What?” Slater looked behind him. “This face? This one right here.”
“That one.” I crossed my arms.
“This is the only face I have though.” Slater shot a wink in my direction. “Plus, the ladies love it, some men too.”
“Do you bro,” Finn said.
They high fived.
I let out a groan and stood. “Whatever, I’m not gonna push it. We need to set up for Maranda.”
“Canceled.” Finn whistled. “She canceled a few hours ago. I figured you were busy with your homework.” He craned his neck to stare at my computer. “Wow, two hours, and you have two paragraphs. You have a mild stroke in between sentences, or are the words just too big this time?”
I flipped him off. “I’m distracted.”
“By global warming?” Slater asked. “The upcoming election?”
“World hunger.” Finn snapped his fingers. “Remember, our Leo has a big heart.”
“What the hell is with you guys today?” I threw my pen then searched for another one only to come up empty. “Can’t a guy just be distracted?”
Finn laughed. “Bro, if you were any more sexually frustrated, I would feel sorry for you.”
“Wait,” I growled. “Why don’t you feel sorry for me now?”
“It’s amusing.” Slater grabbed a football and sat on my bed. “Amusing as hell, actually.”
“One day—” I jabbed my finger at him, my back to the open door. “—I pray for the day you’re as sexually frustrated as I am, so fucking hard over a piece of fruit that—”
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