Bad Professor (An Alpha Male Bad Boy Romance) (86 page)

She whimpered softly and opened her mouth,
the combination of her need and taste driving me insane. I pressed my hips
forward and kissed and licked at her mouth as she took every bit of what I
offered and seemed to want more.

I broke the kiss and closed my eyes,
brushing my lips by hers as I panted. "I've wanted that since we
met."

"Me, too, now stop being so damn
sweet." She brushed her fingers by my lips and I kissed them before moving
back.

"Right. No being sweet." I
winked. "Ask your questions on the jacket and let's get out of here. I
want to show you a little frozen pond not far from my place. It's going to get
dark before we know it."

"Okay." She tugged at the front
of the jacket and dove into question after question about comfort, color,
warmth, flexibility, and texture. I answered them all as best I could while trying
to stave off my dizziness.

It was the weirdest feeling in the world.

Wanting someone and thinking that it could
be forever.

Forever was such a long time.

How could anyone agree to forever?

I didn't know, but I knew one thing was
for sure.

I wanted to find out.

Chapter
15

Chloe

The kiss was so far beyond what I
expected, and I wanted another and another. The way he looked at me left no
doubt inside of me that he wasn't looking for one night of passion, but lots of
them. I'd worked so damn hard for five years to get my degree so I could live
the life I had planned. I was going to design summer clothes for college kids
and then find the right movie star in L.A. that I could latch onto. Fame would
be mine, and it would be me that would walk down the catwalk at the end of the
show, gaining accolades for my work.

Why did it feel like the light was dimming
on that future all of a sudden? I'd been in Colorado for almost two weeks. That
wasn't long enough to learn to ski, much less fall for a local who seemed to
have every girl's attention.

I pulled out my phone and read through the
data that Finn and I had gathered as he sang soft and tapped the steering wheel
of his old truck.

"Where is this place again?" I
glanced up from my phone and let my eyes move across him. His body was hidden
behind his jacket and sweater, but the memory of seeing him shirtless left my
heart racing. The swell of muscles on his chest and tantalizing grid of them
along his stomach was something I wanted to see again...up close.

"It's just a stone's throw from my
cabin." His brow pulled tight and he reached over and took my hand.
"You okay? You look like something is wrong."

I pulled my hand back and let out a short
sigh. "No, I'm just tired. I haven't transitioned well to the altitude and
the bed at my dad's sucks."

"Well, I can't do much about the
altitude, but you're more than welcome to try my bed on for size." He
wagged his eyebrows, and I rolled my eyes.

"Good try, playboy." I pulled my
legs up in the seat and wrapped my arms around them. "Do you miss your mom
still?"

"All the time." He turned the
radio down and pulled into a short driveway. A quaint log cabin sat at the end
of the drive ahead of us. It stole my breath. It was unassuming and personal,
peaceful and serene. "You?"

"Yeah. So much." I smiled over
at him. "Please tell me this is your place."

"It is. I don't bring anyone here.
Ever." He shrugged. "Only me, my dad, and Brian have been inside.
Feel special."

I reached for the handle, wanting to see
the inside as if I might discover something new about the beautiful man next to
me. "I do."

He moved to the front of the truck and
walked ahead of me to open the door. The snow was thick and while he'd done a
great job of shoveling my father's driveway, his was heavy with snow.

I walked in behind him and breathed in
deeply at the smell of his cologne and shampoo mixed with vanilla. The studio
was only two rooms, one being the combination kitchenette, small living room,
and holding a two-person table. The other in the back was a bedroom big enough
for the queen-sized bed Finn had and the bathroom.

"It's only big enough for one person,
but it's mine and I love it." He leaned against the wall near the kitchen.

I brushed my fingers by his hand as I
walked through, picking up various pictures and trinkets. He didn't say a word,
but let me explore until I was content.

I picked up the copy of
Moby Dick
next to his bed and held it up
as I snorted. "You're reading a classic?"

"What,
Moby Dick
? Naw...that's about growing your penis to massive
proportions. Silly girl. A classic?" He rolled his eyes and the laugh that
came out of me was deep and far warmer than anything I remembered feeling
lately.

I wanted to ask him to not wake me up.
Something inside of me was warming again and the apathy that had settled over
me years before was cracking. It was frightening and exhilarating all at the
same time.

"Show me this pond and then I need to
get home." I moved toward him with a smile on my face.

"Anything you want." He moved
back and opened the door, letting me go through first.

"Looks like the sun's going to set
soon." I wrapped my arms around my middle and looked back at him. "It
gets so cold when the sun goes down."

"Agreed. That's why you need a friend
to go out and play with you. Otherwise, you'd freeze your ass off and they'd
never find you in this wasteland." He put his arm over my shoulders and I
snuggled into him as we walked into the woods.

"Have you really lived here your
whole life?" I asked, enjoying his comfort far more than I should.

"I sure have. I'll die here,
too."

"Yeah? Not interested in being
anywhere else? Just love the snow too much or what?" I couldn't imagine
living in a cold climate my whole life.

"Well, for starters, it's all I know.
My dad's here, which is a big deal, too. I don't have brothers or sisters, and
though he's an ass most days of the week, he's my ass." He chuckled.
"Well, he's not my ass, per se."

I laughed. "I've seen your ass, and
your dad looks nothing like it."

He blushed and took a deep breath. "I
want to build a lodge where families can come. Dad's worked so hard his whole
life, but we've never gotten to go anywhere. Seems like every time we tried, it
was too expensive or he had too much work to do. So, I want to have a ski
resort that's reasonably priced and welcomes large families. Just loads of
activities for the kids and then some for the couples, you know...to
reconnect."

"I love it. I think it's
brilliant." I wrapped my arm around his back and rubbed softly, not
realizing what I was doing, but simply going with the desire to be closer to
him.

"It's not going to happen, but it's
all good."

"Why not?" I pulled him to a
stop, confused at his reasoning.

"Dreams take money to build. I have a
lot of heart and loads of passion, but money has never been something we've
had." He smiled so authentically that I was stunned into silence. I'd
judged him all wrong. He was nothing like I thought him to be. "It's okay,
though. If it's meant to happen, it will."

I stepped back and lost my footing, wanting
to respond, but rolling down the small hill behind me instead. I landed on my
back and laughed so hard that tears sprung to my eyes.

"Chloe!" He ran after me,
skidding to his knees as he bent over me with fear in his face. "Are you
okay? Are you hurt? Can you move?"

I swatted at him. "Yes. I'm just
stupid levels of clumsy."

"I'm aware." He smiled and
offered me a hand.

I took it and turned, pulling him down
with me and rolling us until he was on his back and I was laid out across the
top of him. He reached up and pushed my hair back before consuming my mouth
with another hot kiss.

I moaned deeply in my chest and gave myself
over to him. I opened my mouth and sucked gently at his tongue as it darted in
and out of my mouth. He rolled it against mine, and I groaned again at how good
of a kisser he was, the slow sensual way he moved left me with no doubt that
one night in his arms would never be enough.

He broke the kiss and brushed his nose
against mine. "Such a bad girl."

"You've no idea," I whispered,
kissed him quickly and got up.

"Well, damn you for making me want to
know."

I offered him a hand and he took it,
pulling hard and causing me to fall back down. We rolled around in the snow
playfully, laughing and tossing small handfuls of the soft powder at each
other.

"How can you not love it here?"
he asked as he sat up and brushed his hair.

"I guess it reminds me too much of my
mother." I shrugged and sat up. I worked to brush his back and shoulders
off and then he returned the favor. It was fine until he ran his hands over my
hair slowly, gripping lightly and tugging a little.

"You're so fucking beautiful. I
honestly haven't ever seen a woman more intriguing, more naturally stunning
than you." He touched the side of my face as his eyes moved along my face,
leaving me to feel treasured.

"You're just being sweet." I
forced a chuckle and got up, using his shoulder.

"No, I'm really not." He got up
and pointed just behind us. "There's the pond. Looks like we had a sense
of direction that worked in our favor today."

I looked back at the pond and smiled. It
looked like something out of a Hallmark movie. "Can you ice skate on
it?"

"I'm sure you can, but I've never
tried. We should try sometime. The damn thing is frozen like that most of the
year." He moved in behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

I relaxed against him and asked a question
that kept bouncing around in my mind. "Do you know what's up with our
dads?"

"They're anal-retentive?"

I chuckled. "No. My dad can't seem to
stand your dad, which is so weird. They have a lot in common. Know the story
behind it?"

"Not a clue. I had no idea there was
an issue."

The wind picked up and I shivered, getting
cold all of a sudden. I turned in his arms and looked up at him. "Let's go
back to your place. Do you have anything to eat?"

"We can whip up a stew or something.
I have potatoes and meat."

"You can cook?" I asked, moving
up beside him as he wrapped me in a side hug and kissed my cheek.

"Yep. Way better than any of the men
in my family."

"I thought it was just you and your
dad?" I looked up at him as my heart fluttered in my chest.

"I have a grandfather and uncles,
silly girl." He shook his head and snorted.

"Then, you're cooking. I've been
cooking since I got here. My brother was living on Cheez-Its and gummy
worms."

"That actually sounds
delicious." He released me as we got back to his place.

"Boys," I mumbled and walked in
as I started to pull off my coat, gloves, and scarf.

"Men, actually. I'm not a boy
anymore. My father calls me a grown-ass man." Finn moved to the fireplace
and worked to start a fire as he continued to talk. "I'm not just a common
man, but I get the designation of being a grown-ass man."

I plopped down on the couch and leaned
back. "You and I are one in the same, then. My dad tells me that I'm a
groan-ass woman."

He glanced over his shoulder and stole my
heart. "I knew we were supposed to be together."

His brown hair was disheveled and curled
on the edges from being a little long. The warmth in his golden brown eyes
spoke volumes of the man underneath and the sexy curve of his lips left me
wanting to taste them again. How easy it would be to stretch out on his couch
and offer him all of me, but it really would be all.

To spend a night with him wouldn't just be
an offering of my body, but my heart would be involved, too. It scared me to
think it might already be.

Finn got up and walked to the kitchen as
he tugged his jacket over his head. It pulled at his shirt and I turned to
watch him with the hopes of seeing some of his tanned skin.

"So, let's talk as I cook dinner.
Wanna?" He glanced over at me and lifted his eyebrow. "You should be
cooking and I should be laying on the couch watching you like a sex-starved
man."

"Do I look sex-starved?" I moved
to get my shoes off and decided not to tell him just how close to the truth his
descriptor was.

"If I say yes, can I be the one to
help you change your status?"

"You're relentless." I popped
the first boot off and groaned before starting to work on the next one.

"Only when I want something I feel
like I can't live without." He turned back to the stove.

I needed to get us away from the topic of
us, and especially with sex being part of the discussion. I was too close to
giving in to the desire to get sweaty with the handsome devil.

"Tell me your most embarrassing
date." I worked on my other boot and ignored the stare I received over his
shoulder.

"Right. You sure you want to hear
this?"

I got up and walked to stand behind him,
sliding my hands up his back and pressing my fingers into the tension in his
shoulders. "Yeah. I do."

"Her name was baby, but you knew
that."

I snorted and laughed loudly, pinching him
and whispering, "Terrible."

"Anyway, I was probably nineteen and
she was way out of my league, but I met her at one of the ice cream shops in
town. Why we have ice cream in Aspen is beyond me."

"Tell the story." I pinched
again and he groaned, the sound of it starting a fire deep inside of me.

"Right. So she sits down at the table
in Brian's seat and tells me I'm cute."

"You are."

"Are you going to let me tell the
story?" He laughed as I slid my hands down his sides and squeezed tightly.

I wrapped him in a hug and pressed my
cheek to his back, unable to help myself. I wanted warmth, but only from him,
all of a sudden. I was grateful he didn't call me out for it. Every move that
was made during the day was me doing it. He was intentionally not coming on to
me, which was great and frustrating all at the same time. It was my fault,
either way.