Temptation (The Hunted, #1)(12)

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome, right?"

"That's the one. Anyway, I wanted to go on a double date with you and well, whoever. So who is it going to be?

"And when is this date taking place?" I could feel myself grimacing. I didn't want to ask Tyler out and send him the wrong message. And I didn't want to call Austin again. I didn't do well with rejection.

"Saturday night."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

"That's all I can ask."

We ate our meals quietly for a few minutes. Then we started complaining about our new classes and laughing. As we walked back to the dorm I tried to impersonate my foreign Stat teacher. Melissa laughed so hard she dropped her ice cream cone on the ground.

"I know, that's how I feel listening to him. How am I supposed to learn anything?"

"You just have to hope everyone else can't understand him either, and that there will be a huge curve."





Chapter 10


Thursday

A few minutes before Professor Hunter's office hours ended, I peered around the corner and looked into his office. He was sitting at a desk with earphones on. His door was open and there weren't any girls waiting to see him, except for me. I took a deep breath and walked to the door. He didn't seem to notice me. He was wearing a white dress shirt. The top few buttons were undone and he had a loosened tie around his neck. The sleeves were rolled up, revealing his tanned, muscular forearms.

I tapped on the door.

Professor Hunter looked up and his eyes bulged slightly. He pulled the headphones off and set them on his desk.

"Miss Taylor, come in," he said. He walked over to the door and closed it behind me. His office smelled strongly of his cologne. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I didn't expect to see you."

"I didn't expect to be here."

"You're angry with me," he said slowly.

"I'm not." I pulled off my backpack and leaned against his desk.

He looked at his watch. "My office hours are almost over."

I was making him uncomfortable. "I tried to come the other day when they first start, but you had quite the line."

He reached his hand up and ran it through his sleek hair. I wanted to do that for him. He walked over so that he was only a few feet away from me. "Part of the duties of being a professor," he shrugged.

"Right." I picked up my backpack and pulled out his gray sweater. I had pathetically snuggled up to it in bed last night, but he didn't need to know that. All he needed to know was that I was brave enough to waltz into his office hours and bring it back. "I came to return this."

He stared down at the sweater and then let his eyes slowly wander up to mine. I could feel my face flushing.

"You can keep that."

"It's yours," I responded. I hadn't expected him to reject it. That wasn't part of my master plan.

"Certainly it looks better on you."

I gulped and placed the sweater on his desk. He drew closer, reached around me, and picked it up. He grabbed my hand and placed the sweater on my palm. His hand stayed on mine as he stared down at me. This wasn't what I had expected. It was way better.

"It's a gift, Penny."

"I like when you call me Penny."

His breathing sounded heavy. "Miss Taylor, you should probably go."

I wanted to grab his tie and pull him toward me. But he had just called me Miss Taylor instead of Penny. Did he want me? I gripped the desk with my free hand to stop it from shaking. A wave of his cologne hit me. It was growing hard to breathe.

A knock sounded on his office door.

Professor Hunter's hand fell from mine instantly, and he took a step back. He looked at the ground for a moment, and put his fingers through his hair. With his hand still in his hair, he slowly tilted his head back up and looked at me from under his thick eyebrows. The hunger. Then he glanced back down at the sweater.

I swallowed hard, picked up my backpack, and shoved the sweater inside.

He walked casually over to the door and opened it as I zipped my backpack and pulled it over my shoulder.

A girl walked in. She was wearing a charcoal pencil skirt and a matching blazer. Her high heeled shoes made her almost as tall as Professor Hunter. She was wearing bright red lipstick. "Ready to go, James?" she asked, and then spotted me. She glanced down at her watch. "Sorry, I thought office hours were over. I can wait outside." She smiled at him.

"We just finished up," he said to the mystery girl. "I'm ready to go." He was tightening his tie when he turned back to me. "See you tomorrow, Miss Taylor." He said the words without really looking at me.

I walked over toward them. "Thanks for your help, Professor Hunter," I said and made my way out of his office. Who the hell is she? I glanced back at them. She was laughing about something and she touched his arm. My stomach churned. She wasn't a girl, she was a woman. And clearly, she was his girlfriend. They were both dressed for a fancy date.

***

I added Austin's new number into my phone and then tossed the scrap of paper in the trash. Melissa insisted that I needed a date for Saturday. Austin was a good option. Tyler was persistent and I didn't want to string him along, whereas I could just go on this one date with Austin and I'd probably never hear from him again. Two days seemed like a good amount of time to ask for a date. Not so far in advance that I seemed like a lonely loser, and not too close to the date that I seemed desperate.