‘Oh, sweetheart, don’t ask questions that have answers you aren’t equipped to handle.’
I stifled a giggle at the way his mouth hung open like a dead fish as I pressed my way past him.
‘Burn!’ came a shout behind me as the group descended into more laughter.
The women met me at the door, Blondie grinning ear to ear. ‘God, you’ve got some balls.’
‘As if,’ I said with a smile. ‘Balls are much easier to break.’
‘I’m Emery. This is Faye,’ she said, holding the door open for me.
‘Nice to meet you. I’m Rebecca, but you can call me Bex.’
CHAPTER TWO
HENRY
‘Henry,’Jake demanded, snapping my attention back to the staff room.
‘Sorry, head's in the clouds today.’
‘I bet. You’ve been reading the same page for twenty minutes. Your coffee's gone cold.' Jake stood at the sink, washing out his mug and shaking his head. 'Where are you disappearing to?’
My ass had gone numb, so I shifted in my seat and cleared my throat. While the staff room could be pretty bleak at times, I could at least usually stay present.
But not today.
Not after her.
'Nothing, just getting used to being back full-time after the summer. You know howit is.'
Liar.
Your head's full of the blonde student's thighs. Forbidden. Silken. Delicious.
It was amazing I’d even made it through the lecture. Honestly, someone should’ve given me a medal.
Fuck.
I sat forward, put down my book, and slid my glasses off to rub my eyes. Guilt snagged. Just the tiniest amount, like a chihuahua nipping at an elephant. The girl was forbidden. Professors didn't date students. Sure, she was of age. I knew. I’d looked her up the minute she walked that pretty ass out of my classroom. Her ID image didn't do her justice. In it, she looked like any other student who took my class.
In person? Hell, I was a goner the moment she walked in. When she looked at me, it was like she branded my fucking soul with those dark eyes. The hair on my arms had lifted like I was some kind of predator, the urge to take her overwhelming me.
'Lost you again.’ Jake laughed, throwing the dish towel at me. 'See you tomorrow, buddy. If you wake up enough to make it home.'
'See you tomorrow,' I mumbled, grabbing the damp towel from my lap and dragging it through my fingers, the rough texture somehow calming.
Obsessing over a student was career suicide.
But as long as it stayed in my head... It was fine. Right?
Pulling the folded paper from my pocket, I stared again at her information. A fellow mid-westerner, her ID was from the next town over to the one I grew up in. The one I got the hell out of. Escape was my driving force to go somewhere bigger. Better. Thriving. I'd ditched the small town for the city, only to end up on a relatively small college campus. For now. Give it a year or two to establish, and I'd head for one of the east coast colleges.
Not if you get fired.
I stared at the address on the printout. Rebecca wasn't staying in the dorms. She was in one of the private apartments at the far edge of the campus. All alone...
'Fucking hell,' I muttered to myself. 'Just leave it.'