It was all very domestic and, she knew, very dangerous. Because, while it seemed wholly platonic, she was constantly noticing things like how one of his middle fingers was crooked, as if it had been broken, and it made her aware of how much she wanted his fingers stroking her body. Or that he always started his slow, flirtatious smiles with the right side of his mouth, which made her aware of how much she wanted to feel those lips on hers. Or how the low, deep chuckle of affection he’d give for something Ami-Fred did made her stomach flip in a different way than the surprised, entertained chuckle he’d give when she one-upped him. Oh, her stomach flipped with that chuckle, too. It was just a different sensation. Strange she’d never noticed stomach flips could vary.
She glanced at her screen as she headed for her car.
It was James.
She stopped in the middle of the grassy square she was crossing and shifted her bag to her other shoulder.
He had plans with his friends tonight. Why would he be calling her? Was Ami-Fred okay? Was Henry okay? She couldn’t believe she was actually concerned about a lizard, but here she was.
“James? What’s wrong?”
“Hey, Professor. Nothing’s wrong.”
She could hear the grin in his voice. Was he drunk dialing her? She frowned. “Then why are you calling me?”
“I have a question.”
There was music in the background along with the clinking of glassware and boisterous conversation. He was definitely still out somewhere with his friends.
She narrowed her eyes. “Okay.”
“If a guy ties a girl up in bed—”
Immediately she realized he’d been talking to his friends about the conversation they’d had the other day. He’d noticed the books on the table next to her sofa and had asked about them. They’d had a mature conversation about romance fiction and erotic fiction and had even talked about some of the pieces of the BDSM lifestyle.
But now he was either calling to tease her or calling to get more information that he could share with his friends. She was going to make him regret either of those. “Oh my God, James. Does she have a safe word?”
He paused. “Who?”
“The girl you’re tying up,” Harper said. She didn’t really think he was tying anyone up, she realized.
Interesting.
He’d, of course, noticed the stack of books was made up of five romances—two contemporaries, two erotic, and one suspense—and a book about female self-esteem. Because, at times, James was a thirteen-year-old boy in a twenty-seven-year-old man’s body, he’d made the mistake of sharing his perception of all that. Harper had taken the opportunity to educate him—for twenty minutes—on the genres of romance, erotic romance, and erotica, in addition to the topic of women’s sexual fantasies and empowerment and men’s erroneous assumptions about all of the above, including women’s self-esteem issues.
She’d fully expected it to turn him off that topic, and possibly talking to her again about anything ever, but he’d been surprisingly interested and attentive.
The man simply would not stop surprising her.
Which was probably even more dangerous than owning a dog together.
“You’re sure she wanted you to do that?” Harper went on, resuming her walk, intent on giving him a hard time. “You have to talk about this stuff.” She got to her car and unlocked the door. “I’m coming over.”
“You’d come over if I have a girl tied up in bed?” He sounded a little baffled but also amused.
That was often how he looked at her in person as well. For some reason, it always made her feel warm.
In her real life, people looked at her as they would a well-respected professor and colleague, with admiration and respect and just enough intimidation to keep them from saying something inappropriate.
James looked at her warmly. That was the best word to describe it. It was almost as if there was affection mixed in when he talked to her or listened to her. He was not inappropriate or disrespectful, but there was an underlying air to him that said he wanted to be. That he was waiting for a time or a circumstance when he could be. And that when that time came, she’d very much enjoy it.
That all made her feel warm, too. But in a very different way.
“Do I need to bring scissors?” Harper asked, slamming her door shut behind her.
“You think I tied her up and can’t get it undone?” James asked. He was clearly enjoying this.
“Zut! I don’t know where my scissors are,” Harper said. “I have a knife. That will work. But tell her not to freak out when I come in.”
She had to admit, it often felt as if James had the upper hand when it came to flirting and teasing. For some reason, tonight she felt like turning the tables. Maybe because after their conversation about erotic romance, he’d seemed not only interested in the subject matter but very intrigued by the fact she read it extensively. Was there a side to her that he hadn’t expected? Good. Because there were many layers to this man and every one she discovered made her feel more and more out of her element.
“Not to freak out that you’re carrying a knife when you come storming into my apartment where she’s tied to the bed and can’t get undone?”
She heard the humor in his tone.
“Wow, Professor. Take it down a notch.”
“Open the door, James,” Harper said.
“I’m not home.”
“Where are you? I need to drive this knife over to you?” Harper realized she was grinning. She was teasing a very hot, young, fully-accomplished-and-very-experienced tease and seemed to be doing a good job at it.
“Put the knife down, Harper,” James said firmly. “I’m not home. I don’t have a woman tied up. I was asking… for a friend.”
“Did she know it would be two of you?” Harper asked, a surge of adrenaline pumping through her. Yeah, this teasing stuff was fun. Especially when it had to do with sex rather than ficus trees that weren’t really ficus trees and adorable dogs that made her feel warm and fuzzy rather than warm and… sexy. She loved Ami, of course. And sharing him with James had brought them a new level of intimacy that was definitely sexy. Seeing a man in love with a dog did something to a woman’s insides. No matter how much that woman wished that wasn’t the case. But it all felt like… foreplay. There was another word she didn’t use lightly. Yes, everything with Ami and even Henry, in spite of him being a lizard, and the olive tree, and even Courtney, had felt like foreplay. This felt like they were finally talking about sex. And she wanted him to come home. Right now. “You really have to talk this stuff out ahead of time,” she went on. “Avocado makes a good safe word.”
James blew out a breath. “You aren’t standing outside my door, are you?”
“No.”
“You’re also not holding a knife, are you?”
“I’m not even at my apartment,” she said. “But I’ll have you know that I know exactly where my scissors are.”
There was a pause. “You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?”
She thought she knew this man better than she’d realized, actually. She liked that. “If you called to tell me that you had a woman tied up in your apartment and couldn’t get the knots undone, I’d call 9-1-1,” Harper said.