Nocturne(16)

Wow.

Nathan let out a full-throated laugh, apparently ignoring the fact that I was blatantly staring at our handsome professor. “What in God’s name is he doing in here?”

“Let’s go find out.” I grabbed Nathan’s hand and led him up the three stairs to the bar area.

“What are you going to say to him?” Nathan’s lips grazed my ear as he talked.

“I’ll figure it out on the walk.”

When we got up to the bar, Nathan ordered me a cosmopolitan and himself a beer. My back was to the woman, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. There were words passing between them, though, which seemed to be a small miracle in itself. I drank the cosmopolitan in three sips, and Nathan downed his beer. He tilted his chin to the good professor behind me, and butterflies danced erratically in my stomach at the prospect of approaching him.

“Your cheeks are red …” Nathan raised an eyebrow.

“I just swallowed my drink whole, Nathan.” I gestured with my empty glass to try to cover up what Gregory was doing to my body. “Gimme a minute.”

I took a deep breath and turned around, blushing deeper when I saw that Gregory was already looking at me. Studying me. His eyes moved up the length of my body, hitching my breath as they slowed over my curves. As I stepped forward, his eyes shot to mine, maybe hoping he hadn’t been caught.

He had.

“I’ve never seen you here before.” I smiled as he shifted in his seat. He mumbled something absolutely unintelligible given the band was in the middle of a salsa number. I had to lean in so our faces were inches apart. “What?”

He sucked in a quick breath. So close to my ear it caused goosebumps down that side of my body. “I said, do you come here often, Miss Marshall?”

I laughed, causing him to furrow his brow.

“What?’

“It’s Savannah. Please, call me Savannah, Greg—” I stopped short, covering my mouth and silently cursing the vodka for making me call him by his first name. It wasn’t the vodka at all, but that was as good an alibi as any.

Mr. Fitzgerald grinned before taking a quick sip from a short glass filled with what I assumed was a something and tonic. “It’s okay, Savannah …” He shrugged, not offering anymore.

His features were relaxed as I nodded, breathless at the way he pressed his lips together after sipping his drink. I’d forgotten about the woman he was with, until she cleared her throat.

“Savannah, this is Karin Briggs from the endowment office.” Gregory spoke quickly, seeming flustered.

“Savannah,” Karin spoke sweetly as she extended her hand, “it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Nice to meet you,” I replied.

“If you’ll excuse me, I must run to the ladies’ room. I’ll be back in a moment, Gregory.” Karin stood as Gregory nodded in acknowledgement.

“You’re quite good, Savannah,” Gregory’s tone was unmistakably seductive.

But, I had to be mistaken. He was my professor.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I was suddenly unsure how to respond. “I …”

“Where’d you learn to dance like that?”

Nathan, apparently growing impatient with my increasingly long conversation with Gregory, saddled up next to me as I sat in the seat Karin vacated.

I shrugged. “Spain, mostly,” I said matter-of-factly. One summer spent literally dancing through the streets of Madrid will teach anyone all they need to know about dancing. And love.

Gregory’s eyes widened in approving surprise. “Spain …” He shifted on the stool, his attention diverting expertly away from my legs as I crossed them.

“Yeah,” I sighed, “when I would visit my mom in the summers we’d take lots of trips around Europe. It would last all summer until I was old enough for the Tanglewood Institute, then I’d spend the first part of the summer with her in Italy, and the second half at Tanglewood.”

“Ah, Tanglewood.” Gregory nodded in approval. “Excellent program. I attended through high school. It completely changed my life.” He ran his index finger along the rim of his glass as he stared into the clear liquid. I was taken back by this bit of honesty from him, given it was a memory that caused him to pull his eyebrows together for a second before looking up again.

“So,” I cleared my throat, circling the conversation back to his initial question, “you dance?”

“It seems so, given our setting, wouldn’t you say?” Half his mouth quirked up as he arched his eyebrow and took another sip of his drink.

Damn.

“Do you want to dance?”

Nathan was engaged in loud conversation with a friend of his behind us. I had no one to stop me.

Gregory’s eyes widened a little bit at the question, and he sat up straighter. “That’s probably not a good idea.”

Yes. His eyes said yes. The rapid rise and fall of his chest accepted my invitation. Why did he say no? “Why not?”

“Because ...” He hesitated after the word. Out of character ... Gregory didn’t hesitate. But just as he was about to continue, Karin returned.

“It was nice to meet you, Karin.” I smiled, extending my hand to shake hers one more time before turning to Gregory. “See you in class tomorrow.”