Impossible To Resist (BWWM Romance Book 1)(60)
He looked over at her and smiled as he picked up a file from his desk and walked over to her. He saw her twisting her ring and he knew that she must be very nervous indeed. He’d picked up on that habit of hers in the first semester when she did it on test days or when he was reviewing her work.
Connor sat beside her on the sofa and placed the file on the coffee table before them. He was much closer to her than he normally was, and she was surprised to find that she could barely keep her thoughts on the file he was opening and talking about. She leaned forward toward the table and kept her eyes on the papers he was showing her, but all the while, her senses were locked on everything about him; his heat, his nearness, his scent, the hardness of his body, and it seemed like the harder she tried to focus on what he was saying, the more her senses tried to take over and intoxicate her with everything about him.
“So, we’ll meet here tomorrow morning, and we should get an early start. I’d say seven. Does that work for you?” he asked, turning to look at her. He regretted doing it the moment their eyes connected and he drew in his breath, feeling his body tighten slightly. She was too close to him. Much too close, he thought, but when he considered moving, he knew it would be awkward, so he broke the hold of their gaze and looked back at the paperwork before him.
“Yeah, sure. Seven is fine,” she said quietly, directing her own attention to the paperwork and drawing in a breath.
He cleared his throat and continued. “Great. Okay, so we’ll leave at seven. I called and booked each of us a room at a hotel in Springfield the minute I found out that we got the press passes. I couldn’t believe it, but it’s the same hotel where the banquet will be on the last night of the conference. It’s crazy that they even had any rooms left. I’ve put some requests in with a few of the big wigs there for an invitation to the banquet, but everyone wants to go and that’s the hottest ticket of the whole event, so it’s unlikely to happen. It’s worth a try. Just in case we get in to it, you should bring something formal to wear. No guarantees though.”
She nodded. “Got it.”
“The first day is the debates, the second is a town hall meeting, and then the last day is another debate to discuss issues brought up at the town hall meeting. The banquet follows that and closes everything down. We’re in for all of it but the banquet. Bring all of your camera gear, and I’ll have mine in case you need anything.” He sighed and leaned back against the sofa, looking toward her slightly.
“I’m really proud of all that you’ve done and what you’re going to be able to do here. The work that you’ve done over the last three years has put you into a really great position to get a job doing photojournalism work just about anywhere. You’re really talented and you’re such a hard worker.
“This is your payoff. You can do this, no matter how nervous you get, no matter what happens; this is the doorway to the future for you. I’ll be right there to make sure everything goes as well as it can for you.” He smiled at her and she felt overwhelmed with gratitude for everything that he had done for her.
Without thinking about it at all, she leaned over to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close. “You have been my inspiration all the way through it. I never could have gotten anywhere with any of it, if it weren’t for you. Thank you so much for everything, especially for this trip,” she told him, her mouth near his ear, and her breath on his neck.
The feel of her body pressed against his, even in their embrace on the sofa, gave him a rush that he had never anticipated. Her face pressed against his cheek as she breathed on his neck was dizzying to him. He could not react for a moment, wanting desperately to turn his face toward her and press his lips to her neck. He closed his eyes and breathed in, realizing too late that the soft sweet scent of vanilla that filled his nose and then his lungs was just as tantalizing as she was in his arms. He gave her a quick squeeze back to reciprocate her thanks, and then he let her go and stood up abruptly.
Drawing in a sharp breath, he walked to his desk and jammed his hands down into his pockets. It had finally happened. She was so close and so tempting that he had felt a heated stirring in his groin, and in his mind, he demanded of his body that platonic normalcy prevail. His body began to grow hard for her.
He walked around his desk and sat down in his chair, sliding it up against the desk as far as it would go, hiding his stiffening arousal. He was mortified that it had happened, and he felt his face growing warm.
She was a student, he reminded himself. His student, looking up to him for education and guidance, not lecherous and abominable behavior. He shook his head and looked down at papers on his desk without really seeing them.
“I’ve got several things to take care of here. Why don’t you do whatever you need to do to prepare for the trip, and I’ll see you tomorrow at seven, alright?” he confirmed, not doing much more than glancing up at her for a moment to acknowledge her.
She rose up off the sofa and nodded at him with a smile. “I’ll do that. Thank you so much, again. It really means the world to me.” It had taken her breath away to feel him so close to her, but she forced herself not to think of it, and she moved quickly toward the door, opening it and waving to him as she hurried out.
Connor dropped his head into his hands and groaned when the door was closed. Guilt crashed through him and he sighed in frustration as he stood up and walked over to the windows in his office. He opened two of them; tall graceful old windows that held old glass and were framed in time weathered oak.