Beloved (Toni Morrison Trilogy #1)(96)

“This seat taken?”

Embry looked up into a handsome face and a pair of chestnut-colored eyes. They had nothing on the sexy guy from the hallway, but he definitely wasn’t lacking in the looks department. What has gotten into you, Embry? It had been a while but not that long. She hadn’t been in a relationship in five years, not since him, but that hadn’t stopped her from having fun. Law school was different, though. She didn’t want any distractions: no guys, no sex, no drama. At the rate hot guys were popping up, though, she’d fail out by the end of the week.

“Nope, all yours,” she answered, busying herself with her computer.

“Cool, thanks. I’m Jeremy.” He gave her a half wave.

“Embry.”

“So what’s your story, Blondie?” he asked, reaching out to twirl a piece of her golden hair between his fingers.

“What?” Her head snapped up and she tugged her hair out of his grasp.

“You know, your story. Where are you from, what did you go to school for... the usual.”

She pointed at herself. “Embry. Not Blondie.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, sorry. I like nicknames. You’re a little uptight, aren’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, losing her cool.

“I could help you loosen up a bit, you know.” He winked.

Winked! The guy was hot—she had to admit that—but was he serious? “Are you serious?”

“Only if you say yes.”

She had no words. She rolled her eyes and went back to her computer.

He didn’t leave her alone for long. “I got your mind off your first-day jitters though, didn’t I?”

All she could do was stare at him. Who is this guy?

“I did, didn’t I?” He nudged her arm.

She finally let her guard down and laughed. “Yes, yes, you did, okay? Happy?”

“Not until you go out with me.”

“Not happening.”

“Really?”

“Really,” she deadpanned.

“You sure?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Positive.”

“Friends?” he said.

She glared at him.

He tilted his head, widened his eyes, and pouted, giving her what she was sure was his best puppy-dog face. “Come on, we got the sex out of the way. Now we can keep it strictly platonic.”

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Sex? What sex? There will be no sex!” A few curious gazes settled on Embry. She said that louder than she meant to. She should have been aggravated, but for some reason, Jeremy was making her laugh. And he was right; her first-day jitters were history.

“It’s out of the way. I hit on you, you friend-zoned me, so we’re all good. It’s platonic now.”

“Okaaay,” she said reluctantly.

“That is, until you realize how ridiculously attractive I am and regret your decision. I can’t promise I’ll wait for you, though.”

She rolled her eyes again. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Believe it, baby.”

“Embry,” she stated, pointing toward her chest again.

“Embry-baby.”

“Just Embry.”

“We’ll work on it, Blondie.” He winked again.

He was infuriating, but she couldn’t fight the smile tipping her lips. “Friends,” she agreed. And that was that.

“So, you hear anything about Professor Coleman?” he asked.

“Nothing good.”

He nodded as he tapped his pen on the desk. “You know, after that Oscar-worthy performance by the dean, I’m starting to think this is all just a big setup to make us go running for the hills.”

“Yeah, I thought he was laying it on a bit thick,” she said, searching her bag for her textbook.

“I’m pretty sure it’s all a big act. It can’t be that bad,” Jeremy said.

“Let’s hope….” Embry’s sentence trailed off as the room went silent.

Students craned their necks toward the door to catch a glimpse of the professor. After the rumors she’d heard, Embry expected someone a bit more intimidating. Instead, Professor Coleman was a petite woman, about mid-forties, with librarian glasses, shoulder-length brown hair, and a stylish skirt suit. She glided up to the podium, put down a stack of papers, and headed to the whiteboard.

“I’m Professor Coleman.” The dry erase marker squeaked across the board. “I’ll be your contracts professor. This is my contact information. My door is always open during office hours, so feel free to stop in. We’re going to go over the syllabus and class objectives today. Then I’ll tell you a bit about myself and send you on your way, so you can all let out that breath you’ve been holding.”

The entire class breathed an audible sigh of relief as they realized Professor Coleman was not going to torture them on their first day.

At the end of class, Embry packed up and felt Jeremy’s eyes on her.

“So really, where are you from? What did you study?” he asked.

“Oh. Um, well, I’m from here. I did my undergrad at the University of Florida. Studied political science. What about you?”

He smiled as he gathered his things. “I’m from Rochester. My dad owns a law firm back home and one in the city. I’m going into the family business, so law school was the next logical step. I went to Syracuse.”