To Professor, with Love (Forbidden Men #2)(62)

“And oh, yeah,” Aspen added. “Someone named Zero keeps calling and asking where his truck is.”

I groaned and answered my roommate, telling him to hold his damn horses. Aspen read the reply over my shoulder. “I take it Zero is a friend?”

“Yep.” I pocketed the phone. “My roommate. He goes by Ten, so I of course label him as Zero. He takes Modern Lit with me, actually. Oren Tenning.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Oh.” The way she said it told me she knew exactly who Ten was. “He writes very...interesting papers.”

Laughing, I leaned into her to smell her hair. It smelled exactly as I imagined it would, like lavender and warm sunshine. “I’ll bet. Chock full of f-bombs and crude comments, huh?”

She tensed.

Alarmed by her reaction, I pulled back. “What’s wrong?” Then it struck me. “Shit. I’m sorry. I know better than to ask you about anyone’s papers or grades. I told myself not to even mention school today.”

“No, it’s okay. That’s not why I was freaking out. I mean, not that I was...” She cleared her throat and glanced away, the tops of her cheeks turning pink.

I took her hand, worried about what was ruining our perfect day. She didn’t think I’d told Ten about what I was doing with her in his truck, did she? I opened my mouth to assure her my roommate was clueless when she finally lifted her gaze.

“Did you just...did you just lean in and smell me?”

Shit. I had, hadn’t I? Another thing I’d promised myself I wouldn’t do today. But I hadn’t even thought about it. After waking up relaxed and rested with my head on her thigh and her fingers in my hair, it had felt like the most natural thing in the world.

“Maybe,” I hedged, only to turn the tables on her. “Did I just wake up on your lap to you scratching my head?”

Blushing madly, she bit her lip. “Maybe.”

I swayed toward her. I wanted to steal a kiss. So bad. But my phone buzzed again, letting me know I had another text. With a groan, I lifted it, and we both read Ten’s message, wanting to know when I’d bring his truck back.

Aspen puckered her brow. “Why do you have his truck, anyway? What’s wrong with yours?”

“I don’t have a truck,” I answered her as I wrote Ten back, telling him I’d be home by midnight.

Aspen’s eyes widened. “Midnight? What do you plan on doing with me until then?”

I shuddered, thinking up all the things I’d love to do with her until then, and had to remind myself I’d promised to behave. “Dangerous question,” I warned.

“And why don’t you have a truck?” Then she rolled her eyes. “Oh, I get it. You’re a motorcycle guy, aren’t you? I should’ve guessed.”

Shaking my head, I just grinned. “I wish.”

Her teasing grin fell. “You mean, you don’t—?” With a gulp, she flushed guiltily. “Oh, my God. I’m sorry. I just assumed...”

“Hey, you didn’t say anything wrong. I just don’t have a set of wheels, that’s all. It would’ve felt, I don’t know...selfish, I guess, if I’d bought a car while my family was...” Well we didn’t need to go there. “I usually send all the extra money I have home to my sister to take care of stuff there, anyway, so it’ s not like I can really afford one.”

“Well, that’s just...you know, you surprise me all the time, Noel Gamble. As soon as I discover something good and altruistic about you, you go and top it with something even better.”

Instead of flattering me, her words only fed my guilt. Because bringing her here today had been incredibly selfish and wrong, threatening both her future and that of Caroline, Colton and Brandt. What was worse, it didn’t bother me enough to take her home quite yet.

We were already here; what was another couple hours? Besides, I wanted her to experience the one thing I’d brought her here to do.

“Come on.” I took her hand and helped both of us to our feet. “I think it’s about time for the main event.”

“Main event?” Her smile was curious with a hint of eager excitement. “What’s the main event?”

I pointed to the lights behind us on the other side of the vendor’s market strip. In the distance, the brightened outline of a Ferris wheel rotated slowly.

Grinning, I lowered my mouth to her ear. “You’re about to experience your first carnival, Dr. Kavanagh.”

Her beautiful lips parted with awe. The colorful lights from the amusement park reflected in her dazzled eyes. Spinning to me, she sputtered. “But how did you know I’ve never...?”

Damn, she must not remember anything from the drunken conversation we’d had together, which was too damn bad, because I couldn’t forget a single detail of it.

Lifting her fingers laced with mine to my mouth, I kissed her knuckles lightly and winked. “It’s an old ESP trick I learned from my literature professor.”





CHAPTER NINETEEN




“Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it.” - Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember

NOEL



She loved it. Aspen didn’t say anything aloud, but all I had to do was watch the expressions flit across her face to know the whole experience thrilled her.