Undercover Professor (7 page)

Why did it have to be so complicated?

She stiffened, pulling her cell phone out. “Shit. Dell tried to call me. Twice. I have to head back.”

“So, what? He calls, and you go running off? Just like that? I thought we were having fun.” The window was shutting. Time for some drastic measures.

She gave him an exasperated look. “We were, but then you closed up on me, and I remembered I was here on a
date
with a guy who happens to be pretty great.”

She pushed her way through to the front of the tent to get out. Drew followed on her heels. “If he’s so great, then why is he more obsessed with coaching some kids in basketball than spending time with you?”

“Because he’s a nice guy. A really nice guy. With a five-year plan.” The admission came through gritted teeth, as though she was reminding herself of the same thing. With a quick grin to himself, he hurried to catch up with her as she took off in the direction of the basketball courts.

“Wait, just wait. Let me get this straight.” He lunged for her hand and tried to turn her, but she walked resolutely in the direction of the courts. Not willing to be in a tug of war, he trailed along. “You would rather be with a
nice
guy, who is more into hanging out with kids than you, instead of being with a guy who is a little more exciting? I might not be obsessed with kids, but I really like hanging out with you.”

They reached the bleachers for the courts too quickly. She shook her hand loose from his. He moved in and gripped her waist, not wanting to let her go.

“I think you give yourself too much credit. You’re not that exciting. Besides, I like nice guys. They don’t lie or cheat on me.” She tilted her chin up, anger and irritation flashed in her eyes.

“You have to take one thing into consideration.” He pulled her out of the crowded walkway and pressed her up against the wall with his body.

“What?” she demanded breathlessly. Her body was so alive, so warm against his. The scent of amber laced with lavender teased him. He could see she smelled it too. She inhaled sharply and swallowed hard.

“You’re madly attracted to me, and you can’t help but think about me at night, when you’re all alone. You want the excitement, and Mr. Dullsville won’t do it for you. You want me.”

Her chin tilted up, her lips opened to blast him with some sort of tart retort, no doubt. But he kissed her then. He slipped his lips over hers, silencing her words and setting a spark to the fire burning between them. She couldn’t ignore this.

Her lips tightened at first, and for a brief moment he thought he’d gone too far. Then she softened against him and the kiss sparked to life as she kissed him back, pouring just as much irritation and aggression into it as he did. His mind blurred as she grabbed the lapels of his jacket, hauling him to her. She gave as much as she took, demanded as much as she reciprocated. She fit perfectly into a spot deep within him that he hadn’t even realized was empty.

“No.” She pushed against his chest and twisted away and he sagged against the wall for a second. “This is the problem. I can’t be trusted around you.” She stepped backward.

He let her go. Maybe he had pushed her too far. A small part of him asked why he kept pursuing this woman who obviously wanted nothing to do with him. There were tons of other women who were willing and able to be with him.

Drew ran his hand though his hair as she took a few deep breaths, glaring at him before she turned and re-joined the crowd of people, heading toward the three-on-three courts.

The thought of someone else filling the void was distasteful. Was it the thrill of the chase? Was he just bored?

The kicker was she deserved someone nice. Someone who would stick around longer than he could.

“Lucy.” Dell came around the corner, a gallon-jug-sized soda in his basketball-player paws.

“Dell. There you are. I’m so sorry I missed your game. I didn’t hear my phone. I’m really sorry—”

“Great news, we moved on to the next round.” He interrupted her, shifting the soda to the crook of his arm so he could give her an awkward hug.

Lucy put a hand to her neck and looked up to the sky, as though asking for someone to cut her a break. Her irritated frown disappeared in a matter of seconds.

“Congratulations! That
is
great news, isn’t it, Lucy?” Drew stepped forward, trying not to sound giddy at the turn of events.

“Andy, how are you doing?” Dell grinned, putting his hand up for a fist bump.

Drew glanced at Lucy as he bumped knuckles. She pursed her lips in frustration, scowl lines between her eyebrows. “I ran into Lucy down by the caramel apples and thought I’d keep her company. Hope that’s okay.”

Dell gave him a friendly shoulder pat. “Of course. Glad you two ran into each other.”

Lucy shuffled closer to Dell, shooting a wrathful look at Drew. “It’s kind of chilly out here. I was kind of hoping we could head out soon.”

“We can’t.” Dell turned to usher her toward the tent set up for the players. Andy trailed behind. “We just moved on to the next round. We’ll be here another few hours at least.”

Dell looked at the tent with the players in it and helplessly back to Lucy.

Lucy’s face fell and still Dell didn’t say anything.

C’mon, man.
Drew silently coached Dell.
Figure it out. At least offer to take her home.

The silence continued as Lucy looked at Dell, and Dell glanced between her and the sport tent.

Drew sighed. As far as he was concerned, their date was over, and he could move in on Lucy with a clear conscience. Well, clear-ish. “Hey, here’s a fun idea, I could give Lucy a ride home. I’m parked on the other side of the festival, but I’m about ready to go too.”

“Really?” Dell grinned at him. “Oh, that’d be perfect. Thanks, man. You don’t mind riding home with Andy, do you?”

Lucy jaw clenched as she gritted her teeth together. “But Dell, I came out with
you
, I hate to cut our date short.”

“I know, and you’re a rock-solid girl to want to stay. But you look freezing. You should get going. I’m sorry, I had no idea it would take so long.”

He turned to Andy. “If you don’t mind, man, I’d really appreciate it. It’s gonna to be a long day.”

Drew looked at her. She looked sexy and hot from his kisses. He smiled. “Yeah, of course. It would be my pleasure.”

Her eyes narrowed at how he drew out the word “pleasure.” He smirked. She would get her pleasure too. Scout’s honor.

Dell reached out to give him another fist bump. “Thanks so much. Lucy, I’ll let you know how it turns out. Have a good afternoon,” he sang as he dropped a kiss to the top of Lucy’s head and hurried off before they could say any more.

“Humpf.” Lucy grumbled, watching his retreat.

“Guess you’re stuck with me.”

“Guess so.” She sighed, giving him a suspicious look. “Let’s all just keep our hands to ourselves and this ride will be painless.”

Drew grinned. Hell, no, would he keep his hands off her, but she didn’t know that yet. Seduction in his mom’s maroon LeBaron was sort of embarrassing. But he could work with what was at hand.

Chapter Seven

Lucy waited as Andy went into a café-sponsored tent. Things between her and Dell were over, that was brutally clear. It was a shame, he was perfect on paper. But after four dates, if the spark wasn’t there, it just wasn’t there. This decision had nothing to do with Andy being around. Probably.

He tucked a cellophane-wrapped caramel apple into each pocket of his jacket and winked at the cashier as she handed him the lattes. The guy was too damn observant and thoughtful—he remembered the caramel apples.

Susan was lucky to have a nice son to help her after surgery. The familiar pang of regret burned through her at how she last saw her mom, and the smile fell from her lips. She had to forgive herself. There was nobody else who could.

Refocusing on Andy, she noticed the older cashier woman’s flirty smile. No wonder. When he turned on the charm, he was hard to resist.

So why would he fight being a nice guy? And the way he kissed... Her lips tingled in memory. Well, she couldn’t be held responsible for everything that happened during in a warm, erotically charged fragrant soap tent. They probably pumped sexy hormones into the air, just to inspire people to think about naked skin.

He was hiding something. Nothing horribly evil, like he’s a serial killer. He seemed aimless, but with a purpose. She frowned at the nonsensical thought. He was trying too hard to come across as a schlub. Yes, there was something there, something he didn’t want her to see. How she wished she could pry harder. Google would be her friend next time he wasn’t around.

Andy glanced over his shoulder to search through the crowd for her. The moment his gaze landed on her, blood thrummed heavily through her body, making her limbs weak and tingly. The corner of his lips lifted up in a slow, sexy smile. His golden hair fell elegantly over his brow in a delicious manner. It only seemed to accentuate his swashbuckling appeal.

How she wanted to give in to him and spend a few amazing nights naked. Never before had she wanted to lick a man, but something about him just made her mouth water. Maybe a few hours running her hands over every inch of his body would satisfy her.

No, she wouldn’t let herself feel guilty about leaving Dell. But leaving with Andy for the drive back, that was probably a foolish idea. Especially with her crazy attraction to him. Why did this bad idea feel so good?

With a final grin at the older gal, he picked up the steamy cups and started toward her. The easy confidence in his walk and the warm look in his eyes thrilled her. She tried not to shiver as he moved close, handing her a hot cup before murmuring into her ear, “Are you ready?”

Oh, yeah.

She nodded and he led them out of the apple festival, taking her free hand to keep her close in the crowd again.

Lucy cleared her throat and tried to remember they had an entire drive to get through. “So, hey, how is your mom?”

“Oh, she’s doing really well.” He smiled fondly, a warm glow in his eye. They turned a corner and the breeze smacked her upside the head, taking her breath away. She hurried closer to his warm body and tried to leach some of his heat without him noticing. Of course, he noticed.

“Hmm, cold?” His lips were so close to her ear she could hear his murmur as he wrapped an arm over her shoulders to pull her close. She couldn’t tell if her shivers were from the sudden cold or from him.

“You smiled when I mentioned your mom, like something is funny. What’s funny?”

They hurried down a side street with a group of people. Her teeth chattered and he held her closer. She cupped the hot drink protectively with both hands.

“She’s such a pistol. She’s not in as much as pain as before so she’s getting irritated at her lack of mobility. So she’s always pushing the physical therapist to go faster, and the poor guy must be all of twenty-two. He has no idea how to control my mom. She’s running him ragged.”

They turned down another side street, and stumbled against each other as the wind cut off suddenly. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief at the break and his warm amber scent laced with outdoorsy man filled her nose. She couldn’t help herself, she nuzzled into the exposed skin at his neck.
Forbidden, so wrong and forbidden. And so so delicious.
She bit the side of her lower lip, trying to clear her head as she shuffled away, untangling her arm from around his waist. He looked down at her, laughter in his eyes. Somehow he managed to look fresh and outdoorsy in a surfer way, rather than windblown with an icicle for a nose, like her. His gaze deepened, his look turned intense, hot. Like he would seduce her right there in the ally.

“What? My hair must be horrible. That wind is crazy.” She tugged to pull away, jittery with sudden nervous energy.

“No, not at all.” He refused to let her go, pulling her to face him easily. She didn’t want to fight too hard anyway. Despite her better judgment, here she was again, waiting to see what he would do. How would he twist her panties up this time?

He smoothed down a curl of hair on her forehead as he studied her. “You’re amazing.” He touched her face reverently. “In fact—” He released her to whip out his cell phone and snapped a photo.

Striving for normalcy, she lifted her coffee cup and made a face at him before she sipped, but couldn’t break his gaze.

The warmth from the coffee, or maybe it was that gaze, wrapped around her like a cloak. His intense words touched her deep in her romantic soul. She parted her lips, about to deny her beauty.

His eyes zeroed in on her mouth and she had to kiss him. She drew in a breath as she moved forward, as though taking a breath before going under water.

He met her evenly as he slipped his hand around to cup the back of her head, holding her for his kiss. Lucy wrapped her arms around his shoulders to lock him in.

The kiss gentled, then grew fierce. She had no idea who was in control; she just went with the movement until she vaguely realized she had wrapped a leg high around his thigh and leaned against him. His warm hand moved to cup her butt, encouraging her closer.

Pulling away, she tried to stay on her feet. Staring at him, a current of awareness zapped her and they grabbed hands and hauled ass down the street. He unlocked a burgundy LeBaron, fumbling with the keys.

His mom’s car, of course.

She opened the door and sank in, not sure what to say after such a powerful moment. All she wanted to do was launch herself back into his arms and pull his clothes off. And dammit, why shouldn’t she? No, he wasn’t perfect. But neither was she.

He leaped into the car and started the engine with a reassuring purr. It was the type of car that saw a mechanic religiously every six months for a tune-up. He cranked up the heat and they sat for a moment, breathing heavily.

He eyed her warily, clenching his fingers over the steering wheel as though he couldn’t trust himself. She met his gaze for a moment, thrilled at his lack of control.

“I wish I could say I’m sorry, about manhandling you—”

“You didn’t manhandle me!” she protested over him, the silence broken.

“No, I suppose not. I just lose all control with you, I try to be cool but something just rips it away and suddenly I’m—”

“Desperate,” she finished, glancing up again to meet his gaze. It was exactly what she had been thinking.

“Yeah.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Lucy bit her lip, not sure where the hell this was going. Cousin Becca could get hurt and she was going to let Dell go, all because she was drawn inexplicably to this guy who was all wrong for her. All. Wrong. Worse yet, she knew he was wrong, and she was jumping in anyway.

But fighting it was too hard, the attraction too strong. She couldn’t bear it. And in the end, she would be hurt worst of all when he left to go on to his next job whatever that was. Wherever that was.

He put the car into drive and they both buckled in as he pulled out on the road.

The radio played an oldies station. She busied herself with tucking her gloves and hat into her purse.

A Genesis song came on. “Isn’t it weird that an eighties song is now in rotation on an oldies station?”

“I know, it’s very weird.” He rushed to agree. “Next it’ll be Guns N’ Roses.”

Lucy nodded, grateful that he was eager to fill the nervous silence too.

She sipped her coffee, finishing the warm cup much too quickly. He swung into the underground parking lot of the apartment complex. Silence permeated the car for much too long, he focused intently on the precise angle of the parking spot.

Still quiet, she felt his presence next to her like a buzzing heat as they waited for the elevator. Lucy punched the button to her floor and grabbed the front of Andy’s jacket to haul him close as the doors slid shut. Enveloped in his arms, the kiss quickly fed fire to the flames.

The door dinged open a second later and Lucy flew to the other side of the car, shocked to see that the car had gone down instead of up. They had been so wrapped up in each other, they didn’t even notice. And there stood Becca, holding her laundry basket.

“Andy,
hi
!” She launched herself at him full throttle. He caught her skillfully, and irritation burned through Lucy. She swallowed hard, trying to catch her balance.

“Hey, Lucy!” Becca wrapped her arms around Andy’s waist, right where Lucy had been not but a few seconds before.

She stared, horrified.

Becca turned back to Andy. “You rushed out so fast the other day at the hospital. And you haven’t returned my calls, you naughty boy. Is everything okay?”

To his credit, he did manage to untangle his arms from her and gently set her aside, but she clung to his arms like a vine.

“Yes, I got your message.” He sent an apologetic look over Becca’s petite form. “I’m sorry I rushed out. I was just a little overwhelmed by the baby talk at the hospital.”

“Oh, sure. I forget, because I work with babies so much, not everyone is as into them as me.”

“Yeah.” The seventh floor dinged open and they all stood looking at the open door for a second.

“Oh, this is my floor.” Lucy cleared her throat, not sure what to do. She stepped out and turned. “So, thanks for the ride home, Andy.”

“Hey, why didn’t you punch the sixth-floor button, Andy?” Becca still clung to him.

“Um, I guess I forgot, you’re right.” He leaned forward over Becca and hit the button, trying to dislodge her again. She nudged her basket out of the elevator.

“That’s right, you were supposed to be out with Dillweed. How’d that go, Lucy? Andy, do you want to come over for a beer or something? Lucy, you can come over too.” Becca bounced out, clinging to Andy’s hand playfully.

Lucy looked at Andy with wide eyes. Dear God, no, just end this. She couldn’t handle watching Andy try to break up with his non-girlfriend Becca.

“I have to run to check in on my mom, sorry. Maybe some other time?” Andy pulled his hand back and jabbed the floor button harder.

“Okay, well, give me a call when you want to hang out!” Becca posed in front of the closing doors, and Lucy and Andy made eye contact. She thought she read his horror, but she couldn’t be sure. What an unlucky time to not be able to read his mind. Such a ludicrous situation.

“So, where is Dillweed?” Becca picked up her laundry basket, not the least daunted by Andy’s reaction.

“You know, I think I need to cut it off with Dillweed.” She dug into her purse for her keys. Switching gears as fast as she could, she found them by shaking the bag. “It sounds selfish and horrible, but he spent the entire time with those kids and pretty much forgot about me.”

“But wasn’t he there to coach the basketball game?”

“Yeah. It’s very noble. Luckily I ran into Andy, and we had some fun.”

“You
did
? Tell me everything. Did he talk about me? What’d he say?”

“Uh, not much about you, hon. What’s this baby thing about? You didn’t bring up having babies to him, did you?”

Becca looked sheepish. “I kind of did. He bolted out of there so fast. But we’d have the cutest little babies ever, don’t you think, Lucy?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t really seem the settling-down type.”

“I know. But if you could tame that stallion, I think it would be quite a ride.”

Lucy paused with her hand halfway to the lock, trying to digest that statement without flinching.

“So what’s up with Dillweed?” Becca went on, leaning against the wall.

“I guess I want to be unforgettable. You know? I mean, we’ve gone out on four dates now, and he already seems to take me for granted.”

“That’s not fair, though. He was coaching the kids, and he was trying to involve you in his life. I think what he does is just amazing down at the Y. You know, lots of those kids don’t have any good male presence in their life. I bet they just adore him.”

“Yeah. Well, still no spark. I need to break it off with him.”

“Why, is there someone else?”

“Sort of. There’s someone I’m really attracted to, but there are, um complications.” She opened the door to her apartment and Becca trailed her in, laundry basket on her hip.

“Is it your list? Because, you know, you can’t live your life by that thing.”

Lucy pulled off her jacket, inhaling the lingering scent of Andy and the musk of amber on her clothes. “Yes, it’s the list. Don’t knock the list, the list is not at fault here.” She hung the jacket on a hanger in the closet, nuzzling her nose in for a second before backing out. “I just can’t stand another heartbreak. But I’m really into this new guy. I just wish he had a job.”

“I think you should go for the new guy. At least he might get that stick for you.”

“What stick?”

“The one that’s up your ass.” She stuck her tongue out. It was an old teasing joke between them.

Lucy rolled her eyes as she walked by into her kitchen.

“Anyway, Luce, It kind of looks like the list failed you, because Dillweed was perfect on the list, but there was no spark. And in my opinion, that’s way more important.”

“Really? More important than having his own place? Where do you go to hook up, your place all the time?”

“I don’t know. Andy lives with his mom for now, and I’m not worried about it.”