Cam smiled. “I get that. I can’t believe having a few drinks after practice is a thing. I wanted to play to get back in shape… Maybe I need to find a different hobby.”
“You don’t look like you need to get back in shape.”
There was that flirting again. Cam could feel her cheeks darkening under Jackie’s confident gaze. There was electricity in the air, silent energy crackling in the space between them like the thick, heavy air before a thunderstorm.
“Thanks,” Cam said softly as she paid the bartender and pushed the slice of lime down the neck of the bottle, letting it splash into the beer. She took a long swig, the ice-cold beer quenching her thirst.
“No one’s playing to get in shape, anyway,” Jackie said as she took a drink from her tumbler. “It’s for friendships, the nights out and maybe you might meet someone. It’s a fucking minefield, by the way, if you want to meet someone. It’s almost incestuous.”
“I don’t know… I’m not really-”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to assume you were gay,” Jackie said as she took another sip.
“No, I am… I just didn’t think about dating someone from the team. I wanted to see if I could still play. It’s been a few years.”
“Well, you can definitely still play.”
Cam could feel her cheeks getting warm again. What was it about Jackie? She wasn’t normally like this, so easily flustered.
“You’re full of confidence on the field,” Jackie said, swirling what was left of the amber colored liquor around in her tumbler. “But now, you’re shy. Why’s that?”
Cam smiled, trying to cover up the nerves. ‘You make me nervous,’ she nearly blurted out. “Are you a shrink?” she asked instead. “You seem awfully perceptive.”
“I’m actually a lecturer at the college. Psychology.”
“That makes sense then. Well… I uh… I can’t seem to concentrate on this conversation. Maybe the sun got to me,” Cam said with a nervous laugh.
“I think I know what’s going on,” Jackie said as she finished her drink and stood up. “Come with me.”
Cam didn’t know what was happening, but she followed Jackie. She tried not to stare at her ass as Jackie confidently strutted through the crowded bar to a door that was at the back of the room.
Jackie pushed it open, revealing a set of stairs. Cam followed her up them and through another door.
They were on the roof of the building, but it was deserted. There were eight picnic benches with green umbrellas and a bar at the far side that was closed.
“I didn’t know they had a roof,” Cam said as she brought her bottle of beer to her lips.
“It’s not opened to the public during the week.”
“But we’re up here…”
“I used to work here.”
“You were a bartender?”
“In college, yeah.”
Cam tore her eyes away from Jackie’s as she took another drink. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this sexy. Jackie wanted her. It was so plain to see. The way her gorgeous green eyes locked onto Cam’s, challenging her.
The sun was setting, the sky in front of them a beautiful mixture of pinks and purples. Cam walked over to the beer garden’s exterior wall, leaning her forearms against it, looking out at the horizon.
“I didn’t bring you up here for the view,” Jackie said, coming up behind her.
“No?” Cam asked, turning to face her.
Cam’s mocha eyes met Jackie’s and Cam couldn’t remember the last time that she was this drawn to someone, especially someone she’d just met a few hours earlier.
She’d never been pursued like this and never by someone who was at least ten years older than her. Jackie wasn’t going to dance around, spend the night flirting. Cam could see the desire in Jackie’s eyes.
Cam lived in the moment. That was one of the few rules she lived by. There was no reason not to let this happen.
Jackie reached out, brushing a wisp of Cam’s auburn hair away from her face.
Cam wouldn’t debate this. She wouldn’t wonder how old Jackie was or whether or not she was interested in a fling or something more serious.
Cam didn’t sleep around but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy herself.
“So why are we up here then?” Cam asked with a slight smile.
“Because, I’ve wanted to kiss you since you walked out onto the field,” Jackie said in the most sexy, sultry voice.
Cam’s legs grew weak. She knew that this was where things were heading but hearing Jackie say it gave her a chill down her spine and a tingling sensation that traveled all the way down to her fingertips.
Jackie stepped forward and Cam inhaled Jackie’s perfume, watching her eyes flutter shut.
Jackie was just an inch taller than her. She tilted her head slightly and then her soft, sultry lips were against Cam’s, Jackie’s hand cupping her neck.
Cam felt a shiver run through her as she parted her lips against Jackie’s. Cam’s hands moved to her waist as she deepened the kiss, letting Jackie know that she wanted this just as much as she did.
Jackie’s lips were intoxicating. She kissed Cam with a captivating confidence, her left hand sliding around Cam’s waist.
Cam sighed between kisses, already realizing how different this kiss was to any of the ones she’d previously experienced.
Cam’s phone rang from inside the pocket of her jean shorts. The intrusive noise caused them both to take a step back and break their kiss.
Cam took out her phone. “Kayla… She’s probably wondering where I disappeared to.”
“She can wait five more minutes,” Jackie said, closing the gap between them, her lips brushing across Cam’s as she stuffed her phone back in her pocket.
Cam’s hand moved to Jackie’s cheek, kissing her hungrily. Their tongues met in an intense dance that almost made Cam moan. She stifled it, knowing that they would have to put on the brakes in a few minutes when they went back downstairs.
She didn’t know how they were going to get back down to the bar though. The chemistry between them was unbelievable.
Cam’s hand slid down to Jackie’s neck, her other hand moving across her back, across the cotton fabric of her black tank top. She’d love to slide her hands underneath, to feel her bare skin, but she restrained herself.
Seeing the way Jackie had looked at her, the way she was kissing her, Cam’s confidence was through the roof.
Cam broke the kiss, her lips moving across Jackie’s neck, up to her ear, causing Jackie let out a soft moan before Cam returned to her lips.
Jackie’s lips parted against hers one last time before she pulled away, her green eyes intense with desire.
Cam took a deep breath as her lips tugged into a smile. “That was some first kiss. Or is that your style?”
“I don’t normally do that,” Jackie said with a laugh. “In case you were wondering… I usually get to know a woman first. With you… I just had to get you alone.”
“I’m not complaining.”
Jackie took her phone out of her back pocket and passed it to Cam. “We should get together sometime.”
“I’d like that,” Cam said as she handed Jackie her own phone and they each entered in their numbers. “I better get back downstairs,” Cam said as they swapped back their phones. “But we should…”
“Alright,” Jackie said with a seductive smile as they made their way back down the stairs and into the bar.
Cam tried to keep a poker face, but her lips kept drifting into a smile. She felt like she was glowing. That really was some first kiss.
Chapter 4
3 Months Later
Jackie gazed out at the ocean, the gentle waves rolling into the shore. She leaned against the deck looking out at a view that was similar to the one from her own house just a few blocks away.
She was at Linda’s annual Labor Day Weekend barbeque. Her and her husband, Michael liked to go into the college term in style every year, saying g
oodbye to their coveted summers with a few drinks and a bit of a party.
“I brought you another beer,” Linda said, handing her a bottle. “You look like you could use it.”
Jackie turned to face her, wondering what that was supposed to mean. She thought she looked pretty good. Her cobalt-black hair was down in loose curls. Her navy shorts showed off her toned legs and her white v neck top revealed a hint of cleavage.
“I’m just wondering where the summer went,” Jackie replied, brushing off her comment.
“Aren’t we all.”
“I can’t believe the semester starts tomorrow.”
“We say that every year,” Linda said, running a hand through her shoulder length blond hair. “At least we make the most of this weekend.”
They were lucky that the psychology department got along so well. Linda started hosting this Labor Day Monday barbeque about ten years ago, and it had happened every year since with nearly every member of the psychology department making the effort to come.
Linda and Michael had the space for it though. Their colonial style house had five bedrooms and three baths with a large deck overlooking the ocean and plenty of garden space to put up a marquee.
Jackie wasn’t really that concerned about going back to college. If she was honest with herself, it was the kiss that haunted her.
She never saw Cam again. She wasn’t at the next practice or the one after. Jackie thought that she might turn up to their first game, but she hadn’t.
Even though Jackie had Cam’s number she was reluctant to use it. She’d been aggressive that night and that wasn’t usually her style. She was used to being pursued. She didn’t want to continue being the aggressor, afraid that she might scare Cam off, but it looked like she already had.
Jackie didn’t think she could be the one to initiate another meeting or even send a text. But she thought that Cam would. That chemistry was undeniable. They’d just clicked.
But Jackie never heard from her. She needed to forget about it. Summer was over now. Cam was clearly a lot younger than her anyway. It probably never would have worked out.
Jackie knew that getting back into the routine of lecturing would help. She was taking on a new class this year, Behavioral Psychology. The normal lecturer was traveling through Europe for six months.
She’d actually have to prepare for that class. She’d been lucky enough to have the same classes for the last five or six years. She used the same slides every year. She could do it in her sleep.
“I need to start planning my fiftieth birthday party,” Linda said, her voice bringing Jackie back to the present. “I don’t want to leave it until the last minute.”
“Won’t Michael plan it for you?”
“Ha! I wouldn’t trust him to get the day right never mind organize anything,” Linda said with a laugh.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Just be there.”
“You know I will.”
“I need the moral support,” Linda said, taking a sip of wine. “I can’t believe I’m going to be fifty.”
“I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of it, throwing a party. If you weren’t having this big bash no one would even know that you were fifty.”
“I doubt that but thanks for saying it… I hear you’re taking a freshman class this year. Behavioral Psychology?”
“Yeah,” Jackie said with a sigh. “I’m not sure why I volunteered myself, but they needed someone to cover for James so…”
“It’ll be good for you to mix things up. Sometimes you can get in a bit of a rut, teaching the same classes year in and year out.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Jackie said with a slight smile. “I was enjoying it, not having to prepare too much. I know what works, what doesn’t. This is going to be challenging.”
“You’ll be fine. Freshmen are the easiest to teach. They’re eager.”
“I’ll find out soon enough, I guess.”
Chapter 5
Jackie lifted her laptop out of her handbag and set it down on the table beside the lecture podium. She turned it on, gazing up at all the empty seats that would be filled in the next five minutes.
Thankfully, she didn’t really get first day jitters anymore. She’d gotten excellent results from her students over the years, last year especially, so her confidence was well founded.
She liked to dress to impress too. Her walk-in closet was full of pencil skirts, hip hugging work pants and blouses, designer clothes that she could rely on to show off her figure.
She was out at college. She had been for the last five years. She was dating another professor back then and Jackie felt like it was the right time. Her job was secure. She knew everyone she worked with and didn’t think it would cause her any problems.
She was still approached by overly confident male students, though, who saw her as a challenge. She was flattered, of course. It was a boost to her ego as she got older.
Several female students had made their feelings clear over the years too, lingering after class to pay her a compliment or visiting her office a little too often.
But she’d never been tempted by a student. She just didn’t see any point in crossing that line, in risking her reputation and maybe even her job.
Jackie would never understand all those teachers that made the news for sleeping with their students. How did they think that they were going to get away with it? Especially the high school teachers.
Yes, there might be that thrill of sneaking around and being secretive but what happens after that? Jackie imagined that rush wouldn’t last very long.
She just couldn’t see herself dating one of her eighteen or nineteen-year-old students. What would they even talk about?
She was thirty-five, but she felt young. She knew she looked good for her age, but she put in the work. Her silky black hair was always styled, her makeup flawless.
Jackie went to the gym, golfed, played softball, ran and went to yoga classes. She looked after herself and it was paying off.
She loved the confidence that being in such good shape gave her. Jackie’s well-tailored outfits clung to her athletic figure and she was proud of that.
Today she was wearing a grey pencil skirt that hugged her hips and a white blouse with a few buttons open, but she didn’t show any cleavage.
Jackie checked her watch as the room started to fill up. 9:01AM. She opened up her slide show and it appeared on the screen behind her. She breathed a sigh of relief. Technical difficulties on the first day would have been a nightmare.
She dimmed the lights and stepped out into the center of the floor, away from the podium to start her lecture.
She began talking even though students were still coming in the two doors at the back of the room and trying to find a seat.
Jackie was punctual, and she wanted to set that tone for the rest of the semester. The lecture began at 9:00AM not 9:05 or 9:10.
“Welcome to Behavioral Psychology. My name is Jacqueline Pearson and I’ll be introducing you to the basics of behavioral psychology. I’ll assume you’ve all had a read through the syllabus. Everything you want to know about this course is there, so I won’t waste any of your time going over it with you.”
She heard a few murmurs and let them fade away before she spoke again.
“Let’s get right into it. We’ve got a lot to cover this semester.”
Jackie looked up at the rows of rows of students, but she couldn’t see past the first few seats with the lights dimmed. It was silent though which meant she had their attention. She clicked the remote in her hand to move onto the next slide and deliver her first lecture of the year.
Chapter 6
Cam arrived ten minutes late to her first lecture. It wasn’t the best way to start the year, but she never checked to see where the lecture was taking place and she’d mixed up the buildings.
She tried to open the door as quietly as she could, but it still creaked. Cam held onto it so that
it would slam as it shut behind her.
The lights were dimmed, and her eyes needed a few seconds to adjust to the dark room. She found a seat in the second to last row and tried her best to get to it without tripping over the bags and legs of the three students she had to get past.
It looked like the lecture was well underway even though it was only 9:10. Cam’s eyes fell on the lecturer who was confidently striding across the room, pacing almost, as she delivered the content.
It was hard to see her properly with the light from the screen reflecting back on her, giving her face an almost blue tint but her voice… Cam knew that voice. It was silky smooth just like Jackie’s voice had been that night in June.
Cam took out the syllabus from her leather messenger bag, scanning the page for the name of the lecturer.
Jacqueline Pearson.
Cam had already tuned her out. She couldn’t focus on what Jackie was saying.
Cam’s eyes followed her as she paced the front of the room while she spoke. Her luxurious black hair flowed in loose waves over her shoulders and down her back.
Jackie’s legs looked amazing. She was wearing a grey pencil skirt and black heels. Cam’s eyes traveled up her body, taking in the curve of her hips, the way her white blouse had a few buttons opened but didn’t reveal too much skin.
Cam remembered the way that Jackie had played short stop, fielding the ball with ease and throwing it to the first baseman with speed and accuracy.
She looked different now. She was full of confidence on the field and in the bar, but this was something else. She was in control, with more than two hundred people’s attention, and she was so sexy doing it.
Jackie’s hair had been tied back when they were playing softball and when she’d let it down in the bar later that day, her dark hair was straight. Today it was styled in loose waves and Cam didn’t know how she was going to keep her thoughts from moving to the bar and the easy banter they’d shared.
Cam remembered the way Jackie’s mesmerizing green eyes had boldly checked her out, making her intentions clear from the second they went up to the roof top bar.
Forbidden Love Page 27
