Page 13 of Falling for the Quarterback

Yeah, it’s going to be a fun semester.

She inhales deeply and huffs out a breath of air, clearly not on the same page.

“Yes, Joel. Thereisa problem. One that could be utterly damaging to my career if anything about our shared time together gets out.” She presses her lips together, the frown marring her perfect features, and anchors me hard with her green eyes.

“It can never get out. Do you understand me?”

Lottie pauses a moment and places her hands demurely in her lap. It’s clearly obvious she is not originally from the US with her straight-spined, debutante stature. If someone were to tell me she came from old money and was of royal descent, I wouldn’t bat an eye. She’s absolutely regal with that tight bun sitting low at her neck, a braid of hair elegantly wrapped over the top of her head like a goddamn crown.

Her bright green eyes flash with anger and she levels me with a pointed stare. A shaky hiss of breath passes through her lips.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” she says with authority. “You’re going to talk to the registrar to drop this class immediately, and we will do our very best to ignore each other on campus.”

I screw up my nose and tilt my head to the side, as if debating the merits of her request.

“No can do, Prof,” I state mildly but with a forceful shake of my head. She can’t hide the shock on her face, no matter how stoic she tries to be or whether she might typically be the ‘keep calm and carry on’ type.

“This is a required class in my program and my schedule is locked in tight so I can finish with my master’s degree this year.”

Her expression morphs into something I can’t read and I scoot forward in my seat, placing my hands on top of her desk.

In a deep, daring voice, I murmur the next words in a raspy whisper.

“Here’s what’s actually going to happen,Lottie…I’m not going to drop your class.” I pause for good measure. Her eyes flare at my rebellious response. “During this semester, every time I’m in your classroom, during every lecture you facilitate and seminar you lead, I will be a good student and dutifully take my notes and listen to you speak, participating in all the important discussions, completing all the required assignments on time. But all the while…”

I cock my head to the side and raise my eyebrows. “I will be imagining you just as you were six months ago…on your knees in front of me, getting me off with your mouth.”

The statement is crass. It’s over the line. It’s inappropriate. It begs for a reaction.

A reaction that comes in the form of a loud gasp and causes angry blotches of red color her otherwise creamy white neck and cheeks. Or she could be turned on, I don’t know. But I like it.

Without waiting for any further argument, I grab my bag and stand from the seat, walking toward the door.

As I turn the knob, I peer over my shoulder one last time to see Lottie appraising me candidly.

“Joel,” she says in a whispered plea, a long, slender hand coming to clutch at her pretty neck. “Please don’t let me regret that night.”

“My only regret now is that it wasn’t longer.”

My wink is the last thing she sees when I close the door quietly behind me.

Then I hear a noise that sounds like books crashing against the door and I chuckle.

Oh yeah. It’s going to be an interesting semester.

ChapterFive

Charlotte

That little shit.

That goddamn cocky little shit!

Okay, he’s not little at all, but damn him! Damn the whole universe!

I look down at the books now scattered across my office floor and heave a dramatic sigh. I have never let my anger get the best of me or let it get physical. I am, after all, my father’s daughter. We British are notoriously and stereotypically stoic in nature.

Why am I letting this man…thisstudentget to me?

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