Chapter 17
Monday
This was by far the best day of the semester. The air was turning crisp as fall descended upon campus. The sun was shining. And tomorrow afternoon I was going to get to fuck Penny Taylor.
I smiled to myself as I walked along the brick path to Lerner Hall. I had a break between classes and I usually spent the time holed up in my office. For a moment I thought about stopping and grading some papers outside in the nice weather. But then it would be open season for students to approach me. I preferred being unapproachable.
A mid-morning coffee sounded good though. At least I’d get to spend a little more time outside. I took a detour and stopped by the quaint little coffee shop where I’d met Penny on the first day of classes. God she was beautiful. Even with coffee stains down her shirt she was gorgeous. I glanced around the shop as the barista handed me the to-go cup. It wasn’t the first time I’d stopped by hoping to run into Penny again. But she was never here. It seemed like she didn’t make a habit of coming to this coffee shop. Which made our meeting that first day even more momentous to me. Chance. A lucky roll of the die. Fate. I shook away the thought. There was no such thing as fate.
I left a generous tip and walked back outside. The 10:10 classes had started now and campus was a bit emptier. I could probably grade papers under a tree in peace. But for some reason, I still didn’t stop. It was like I was being drawn to my office. A nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I was supposed to be there. I picked up my pace.
Maybe I had forgotten about a meeting? That was probably it. I was used to someone taking care of my schedule for me. And I hadn’t been sleeping well. Something could have easily slipped through the cracks.
I pushed through the doors of Lerner Hall and took the stairs two at a time. When I rounded the corner toward my office, I saw her. Penny was standing outside my office door. It was like my body knew she was there. Like I was drawn to her. But she wasn’t supposed to be here right now. She was supposed to storm into my office hours tomorrow. Unpredictable. I glanced at the scowl on her face. Hot.
"Can I help you, Miss Taylor?"
She stayed by my office door, pulling me closer, like we were opposite ends of two magnets. When I reached her, she held up the paper with her grade on it.
"Yeah, what the hell is this?" she asked.
I lowered my eyebrows. I’d wanted her to come, but I didn’t want her to make a scene. I kind of thought she’d come beg me to change her grade. And I’d show her exactly how she could convince me… Breathe.
"My office, now." I pulled my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door. She stormed past me and I took another deep breath and followed. Just because I’d expected her to stop by tomorrow when she’d had time to cool off, it didn’t mean this was going to go down any differently. I knew without a doubt that when I left this room before my next class, I’d have fucked her out of my system.
I closed the door behind us and locked it slowly, hoping she wouldn’t hear the click. I was the one in control of this situation, not her. Which was important because she was pulsing with too much anger to think straight. I strolled over to my desk, trying to remain unphased by her anger. She was always sexy. But when there was fire in her eyes? I was seconds away from ripping off her clothes without her saying another word. I shook away the thought. I needed to stay in control. She had to agree to my terms. She had to beg me for it. I took a slow sip of my coffee and placed it down.
"What can I do for you?" I asked with an easy smile. It was my turn to torture her. Because she’d been driving me insane for fucking weeks.
She was still standing near the door. Her hands were on her hips. A cute pout on her full lips. "You said you were tired of hearing everyone talking about the same people in their lives. You said to think outside the box. That's what I did. This," she held the paper up again, "is bullshit, Professor Hunter."
My dick stirred when she called me by my title. "Please take a seat," I said.
She ignored me and walked behind my desk. "You failed to harness your audiences' attention,” she quoted from the paper in her hands. “I was one of the last people to go, and I still made them laugh!"
She was enticing when she was all smiles and sultry looks. But when she was pissed off…it did something to me. I tried to take another steadying breath. "Penny..."
"It was unclear what your point was," she quoted again. "My point was that I choose who gets a chance at inspiring me. I said that several times, Professor Hunter. Maybe you weren't listening." She glared at me.
Oh, I was listening. "Penny..."
"And this C- used to be an A. I can see it through the whiteout. You changed my grade. You changed it because you overheard Tyler say that the speech was about him. Well it wasn't about him. It was about you." She poked me hard in the middle of my chest.
Her hands on me felt like heaven. I swallowed hard, willing her to continue with her outburst, resisting the urge to grab her arm and pull her whole body against me.
"I don't know why I ever let you kiss me,” she said. “Is this a game to you, Professor Hunter?"
I thought it was a game. It’s exactly what I had been thinking before she showed up here unannounced. A game I was about to fucking win. But when she was looking at me like she wanted to devour me, it didn’t feel like a game. It felt real. Raw. Tantalizing. I was supposed to get her out of my system. But what if this made it worse? What if I couldn’t get enough? Because there were a whole lot of things I wanted to do to her perfect body… Breathe. All I could smell was her cherry perfume. And I could feel myself leaning closer. I so badly wanted to taste it on her skin. She was going to ruin me.
"Penny, I'm fully aware that this isn't a game. This is my career that we're talking about." My fresh start. I was jeopardizing everything for her. But I wasn’t second-guessing it. I needed her. Right. Fucking. Now.
"And this is my G.P.A." She crinkled the paper in her fist and threw it on the ground.
I knew she was a good girl. That this contradictory behavior was caused by me. For me. The reason why she was standing here begging me to kiss her didn’t matter. All I knew was that I was transfixed by her. I just didn’t realize that she was equally transfixed by me until this moment. The heat in her gaze. The desire written all over her face.
I’d played this scenario out in my head over and over again. But I never expected her to make the first move, and that turned me on even more. I think I was as surprised as her that she was about to initiate this. She was inching forward. She was going to kiss me in…three…two…one…
She reached up behind my neck and pulled my head down. Without hesitation, I tilted my head the rest of the way down and kissed her back. When our lips touched I felt more relief than when she first fell into my arms. I kissed her like I was greedy for air. Her exhales ignited something inside of me. She made me feel alive for the first time in years.
For a moment it didn’t matter that I was her professor. All that mattered was that I was a man. And she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever met. I could have just kissed her for hours. But that wasn’t the plan. And I needed to stick to the plan if I was going to come out of this whole.