A Profiler's Case for Seduction(11)

With a shake of her head, she shoved aside those distant memories of her hometown and all the despair the thoughts of that place and those times created inside her.

A glance at the clock let her know that there were only two hours left and then she could close up shop. Maybe Mark wouldn’t show. Maybe something would come up that would keep him from being here when she closed for the night.

She told herself it didn’t matter whether he showed up or not. She had no vested interest in him. He meant absolutely nothing to her. She just liked looking at him, and she hadn’t realized, until she’d had coffee with him yesterday, that she’d hungered for the normal conversation between herself and a man.

She’d made no real friends here, hadn’t given herself a chance to enjoy any kind of a personal life. She had her studies and her work and she’d told herself that was enough, but she recognized now that she’d been socially starving herself.

Even if Mark didn’t show up for a cup of coffee, Dora made a vow to herself that the next time one of her fellow students invited her to come along for a quick bite to eat in the student lounge she’d go. For three years she’d isolated herself, afraid of making a mistake, afraid that any distraction might throw her off course or that she’d say something that would hint at the secrets she held close to her heart.

But, she was stronger now than she’d been when she’d first started school. All work and no play was noble, but it was also unnatural. A little play didn’t hurt as long as she didn’t lose control of what was important.

At quarter until eight she went into the bathroom and checked her hair, then sprayed a touch of her favorite perfume on the side of her neck.

She straightened her blouse and tucked it into her waistband, then stared at her reflection and told herself she was once again being silly.

And then he was there...standing at her counter, his gaze going around the room and then landing on her with a smile. “I’ve always loved bookstores,” he said.

She nodded. “All that paper scent and being surrounded by such knowledge,” she said.

“Exactly,” he said, his blue eyes brightening as if pleased that she apparently felt what he did when in a bookstore. “At work I’m surrounded by technology, have the latest Android phone, all the computer gadgets imaginable, but I still like the weight of a real book in my hands.”

At that moment a couple of students came in and as Dora waited on them she kept one eye on Mark, who wandered the store looking at the various offerings. He was a curious man, reading labels and studying contents of the items he perused.

There had been several moments when they were having coffee the day before that his gaze had been so intense on her that she’d felt he was studying the contents of her.

Her breath grew tight inside her chest, making it difficult to breathe. Despite this, she finished ringing up the students. It’s just another cup of coffee, she told herself, and yet she had the feeling that she was about to make yet another big mistake in her life.

* * *

Amanda Burns slammed the door to her tiny apartment and tossed her laptop case and purse on the sofa, which was half-smothered by decorative throw pillows.

She’d like to take one of those pillows and smother Ben, the rotten rat. Melinda had assigned them a research project and they were supposed to get together this evening to work on it. But Ben had done it alone and presented the papers to Melinda that day, making him the official golden boy of the moment.

Amanda fought the impulse to reopen her apartment door and slam it once again, needing a release of the anger that ripped through her.

Ben Craig was a sneaky snake who would undercut Amanda whenever possible to get and to stay in Melinda’s good graces. This wasn’t the first time he’d done that.

Instead of slamming her apartment door once again, she shoved a couple of the pillows onto the floor and sank down on the sofa, picking at a cuticle until it was bloody.

It was hard to believe that she’d once had a bit of a crush on the handsome grad student. Ben, with his short auburn hair and dark eyes, had an intelligence and a suave unruffled manner that had instantly drawn Amanda to him.

However, it hadn’t taken her long to realize there was only one person he adored more than himself, and that was Professor Melinda Grayson.

Amanda stuck her finger in her mouth and realized she’d just managed to ruin a perfectly good manicure. Somehow, that was Ben’s fault, as well.

Amanda adored Melinda, too. The beautiful, bright woman was not just Amanda’s professional role model, but also her personal heroine. She was so gorgeous, so intelligent, and her strength absolutely amazed Amanda.