Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“I didn’t expect you to be so…” I swept my arm over the desk. “Orderly. Aren’t professors supposed to be hapless messes?”
He glared at me. “I’ve never been hapless in my life.”
I didn’t doubt that. “What have you been?”
“That is none of your business.”
I smiled. “So I can only ask you biochemistry questions?”
“That is correct.” He was tense—back straight, jaw clenched. Did he really not like me, or did he like me too much?
“So you won’t tell me why you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you. I dislike the way you’ve behaved in class.”
“I don’t hate you either.”
He sighed. “Then make sure you don’t disrupt my class next Tuesday. Is that all, or do you need to go over course material?”
“Why are you so anxious to get rid of me? Aren’t you supposed to be helping students during office hours?”
“If they need help with coursework. But I’m not here to socialize. I have a lot of work to do.”
I pointed to the paper he’d been reading. “What are you reading about?”
“That’s not—”
“I really want to know, and I bet it’s relevant somehow, or you wouldn’t be reading it.”
He let out a long exhale. “The paper is an overview of recent research on negative immunological responses to stem cell gene therapy.”
“Interesting. Tell me about it.”
“I don’t think—”
“I want to learn, and isn’t it true that explaining something is the best way to learn it and retain the information?”
Dr. Theriot huffed. “Who would have thought you would have listened to study skills advice?”
“I don’t necessarily take the advice, but I have a great memory.”
I thought he would protest again, but he began explaining more about what he’d been reading. It was actually fascinating, and he was damn good at explaining complicated ideas. I could listen to him talk for days.
“I would love to learn more about the stealth cells being used to disable antibodies,” I said.
He looked surprised that I’d actually been listening. “We’re working on stealth cells here in our lab.” He explained what experiments were being conducted and encouraged me to look into undergrad research opportunities.
This time, my smile wasn’t calculated. He’d taken my interest seriously. I had to force myself to break eye contact. Damn, he was mesmerizing.
As I glanced away, a chickadee called out from the bird clock. I wondered how he’d ended up with something a quintessential grandmother would have in her house. My grandmother, on the other hand, would never let such a pedestrian item into her mansion. “I’ve got to go.”
He raised his brows. “So soon?”
“I’m supposed to be meeting my advisor now.”
Dr. Theriot gestured toward the door. “Don’t let me keep you.”
“I’ll see you next week, if not sooner.”
“Next week will be soon enough.”
I rushed out the door, hating that I’d set up a meeting when I could have lingered there, watching the way his hands moved as he talked. Focusing on his beautiful mouth, wishing I could feel it on mine.
Fuck. I’d never actually kissed a guy. What would it feel like to kiss Dr. Theriot?
I was determined to find out.
4
DANTE
When the door closed behind Alex, I still had an hour left in my office-hours block. I wanted to lock the door and refuse to speak to anyone. Why the hell did he affect me so strongly? There was something about the way he stared at me—like he was desperate, hungry. I knew many of my students crushed on me, but I’d never felt anything as intense as Alex’s interest.
And you’ve never been as interested yourself.
I wasn’t interested.
You wouldn’t want to fuck him? To put him in his place? He’s begging to be punished.
He certainly was, but I couldn’t be the person to give him what he needed.
But you’d like to be.
No. Yes. Fuck. Did he have to be so fucking intelligent, so capable of having real intellectual discourse? I knew I was being stereotypical, but I never expected a frat guy to have a conversation about a research article—certainly not voluntarily.
He just wanted to stare at you.
I was sure that was his motivation, but his questions about the paper seemed genuine. That didn’t matter though. I was not getting involved with a student.
I needed to make sure I didn’t end up alone with him again. I’d have to let one of my colleagues know I had an issue and make sure they were around to interrupt if he came by again. If? Who was I kidding? He was going to come by again.
The next morning, I dragged myself from the bed after a fitful sleep. I’d lain awake worrying about the shit my family was involved in. Tonight, Lorenzo was attending a party where he had to negotiate with Dimitri Kosovo, a Russian asshole he partly blamed for the years he’d spent in prison. I was praying he could keep himself in check. My younger brother, Rafael, was mad that he wasn’t the one Remington had sent to do the negotiating, as if Remington would ever assign Rafael anything where diplomacy was involved. He was way too hotheaded and rarely took anything seriously.