by Amy Lamont
Drew charged, fist raised. He swung, but Declan easily sidestepped the punch and the momentum threw Drew forward into the sterile, white tiled bathroom wall. Declan tucked his towel tighter around his waist and stood, feet spread waiting for Drew’s next move. He was almost hoping Drew’s next punch landed.
But before Drew could right himself, two other brothers strolled into the bathroom—one of them Jace, the president of the fraternity. Jace immediately put himself between them.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Jace’s gaze locked on Drew.
Drew raised his a hand to cover his battered and bloody nose and jabbed a finger of the other hand in Declan’s direction. “Don’t look at me. I was just standing here and he took a swing at me.”
Jace stared hard at Drew before he turned his head to Declan. “That true?”
“Guess so.” Declan didn’t spare Jace a glance, keeping his eyes firmly on Drew. He smiled, filled with a grim satisfaction at the sight of black shadows already forming around Drew’s eyes.
“Declan, man, what’s going on?” Jace asked.
“He hit me for no good reason. That’s what’s going on.” Drew snagged a pile of paper towels from the dispenser and wadded them up under his nose. “I want to bring charges against him.”
Jace’s shoulders dropped. “Seriously? We have to bring this before the brothers?”
Declan shrugged a shoulder. Let them kick him out. It was worth it. It was about time he stuck up for Harper. He should have done it a long time ago.
He had to go find her. Offer her his help. Once again he’d painted her as a gold digger. But the truth was, she hadn’t asked for something for nothing. She’d offered him help in return.
Pretty telling that his night and morning had been consumed by thoughts of Harper. Yet his impending failing grade in Bio was barely a blip on his radar.
He smiled as he thought of how he could take care of both his problem with Harper and his problem with Biology—take her up on her offer.
He glanced at the guys in the room. “Whatever. Let me know when you need me to show up.”
He had better things to do with his time.
HE SPENT THE rest of his morning searching campus with no luck. She may have made being invisible a fine art, but he’d made a point of seeking Harper out over the last few years. He’d excused it as just wanting to make sure she was doing okay. But his current single-minded determination to find her made him see clearly it was more than common courtesy driving him.
He slid a thumb over the face of his phone. Damn. After lunchtime. He wanted to find Harper, but he also had to figure out a plan to pass Biology. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to rub away the headache starting behind his eyes. He didn’t even want to think about the fact he’d skipped both his morning classes.
He was out of ideas on where to look for Harper so he might as well go check out the Biology department. Maybe the teaching assistant for his class would be able to give him an idea on how to impress Professor Costa.
Declan turned the corner into the hallway where his T.A.’s office was and there she was. After his morning-long mad search, he found her once he stopped looking. She stood in front of the bulletin board that took up a good chunk of wall between two office doors. She tilted her head back, her gaze focused on the notices on the board.
He couldn’t bring himself to move forward. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Today her blonde hair was twisted into a complicated ponytail high on her head. The tips were tinged pink and hit the collar of her black jacket. The rest of her was covered in black, too—short black skirt, black tights, black boots.
Before he could propel himself toward her, her phone rang. She looked at the display and her lips twisted into a grimace before she answered.
She turned so her back faced him, but it didn’t stop her voice from carrying down the hall. “Hi, Aunt Rose.”
Silence followed for a few beats but her shoulders hunched as she listened to the person on the other end of the line. Finally she spoke again, her voice much smaller than it had a minute ago. “I know, Aunt Rose. I can drop a check off for you tomorrow.”
Something about her defeated tone set him in motion.
“I will.” Her voice strained, Harper turned and spotted him closing in on her. She froze in place, and the light caught the sheen of tears in her blue, blue eyes. “I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Her thumb smacked the screen of her phone, but her eyes remained fixed on him.
“Hey.” He ran a hand along his jaw, the prickle of stubble reminding him he hadn’t taken the time to shave this morning. Not like that was a major worry at the moment. No, right now the only thing he was worried about was talking Harper into accepting his help. He’d do just about anything to clear her eyes of those tears and the hundred emotions swimming in them. “I’ve been looking for you.”
She shook her head. Her mouth opened and closed and she looked away. Her eyes squinted as they hit the bulletin board. She shook her head again and looked back at him. “What are you doing here, Declan?”
“Looking for you.”
A crinkle appeared between her eyebrows. And as fucked up as things were at the moment, he had to fight a smile. There was that thing there that had been there since the moment he laid eyes on her two years ago. Something about her pulled him in like no one he’d ever met before. Or since. And that wrinkle was adorable. Though now he wanted nothing more than to wipe the worry and sadness from her eyes.
“Why? Want to remind me some more of how you’re too good to accept my help? Or give me help? Don’t worry about it, Declan. I get it. You’re awesome. I’m nobody.”
Is that what she thought? A sharp pain pierced his chest, and he found himself once again rubbing that spot over his heart. Shit.
“I wanted to apologize for being a dick. I thought…” He shook his head. “I guess it doesn’t matter what I thought. But I do want to help. And God knows I could use some help figuring out what to do to keep from flunking Bio.”
She tilted her head to the side, studying him like he was a bit of sludge under her microscope. His gut clenched. Was she going to say no?
“I think you were right yesterday. Not a good idea.” Her voice was soft and her teeth dug into her bottom lip. Emotions, none of them good, continued to swirl in her eyes.
He couldn’t let this go.
“SO DID YOU have another idea to get you into Professor Costa’s program?” He arched an eyebrow.
God, could he just let this go already? This had to be some kind of prank. Or a hallucination. She half expected his frat brothers to jump out and start laughing and calling her a whore again.
“Let’s just drop it.” She plowed ahead, shifting sideways so no part of her touched his body as she tried to make her escape.
He grabbed her wrist before she could get past him. Her eyes were drawn to the connection between them as though they had a will of their own. His large hand enveloped her wrist. His hand was strong, solid. Safe.
Safe. The thought made her want to laugh. She hadn’t felt anything close to safe since the day after her twelfth birthday. But still she couldn’t pull her attention from their joined hands.
He gently shook her hand. “Harper, let me help you. Please.”
She dragged her gaze up his arm, over his broad shoulder, to his face. “Is this another joke? A way for you and your friends to get their kicks?”
His strong, solid, safe hand let go of her wrist but didn’t break the connection. Instead he moved it up, slipping it over her arm, up over her elbow, only stopping when he cupped her shoulder.
She shrugged, but didn’t manage to loosen his hold. If anything, it moved her closer to his warm body.
“No. I swear.” He looked into her eyes, searching for something. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I want to help. And I really could use your help.”
She closed her eyes. She needed to get away from him, but his grip told her he wasn’t letting he
r go any time soon. Closing her eyes was her only escape while she tried to think of how to answer him.
She drew in a deep breath. Damn. She didn’t need to do that again. Filling her lungs also meant filling her head with his scent—soap, some cologne with a hint of tangy seaside, and warm skin. How was she supposed to string two words together let alone make a decision that could effect her future with that scent making her head swim?
Harper opened her eyes. He stared down at her. The door on the other end of the hallway clattered shut and she jumped. She was suddenly very aware of the picture they painted, standing so close in a public place. She pushed backwards, forcing his hand to fall from her shoulder. She continued backwards until the cold concrete of the wall seeped through her jacket.
“We can do this. I can pass Bio. You can get in Professor Costa’s good graces.” He looked at her from beneath his lashes. Her stomach did a flip-flop at the intensity of the gaze he shot her way.
She shook her head. What was wrong with her?
“Seriously, you’re going to flirt with me to get your way?” She snorted out a humorless laugh. She knew better. “What do you get out of this?”
“Help passing Biology. And maybe…” He broke off and looked away from her. His jaw tightened before he turned back. When he spoke, his voice was lower. “Maybe you’ll forgive me for being a jackass. Twice now.”
Her breath left her in one big whoosh. She stared at him, unable to pull air into her lungs. He wanted her forgiveness? Her stomach hollowed and dropped. She wouldn’t be surprised to see her heart jump out of her chest and land at his feet.
“Harper?”
No. She won the fight to pull air into her lungs. She straightened her shoulders. Her heart and her stomach and any other part of her that reacted to his words and his touch and his nearness were going to have to deal. She was not being pulled in by him again. Not him. Not anyone.
But he was right. They could help each other. She’d help him come up with a plan to pass his class and he’d help her get on Professor Costa’s radar. She’d do what she needed to do to make sure her hard work and planning paid off.
What she wouldn’t do was put her trust in Declan. Not ever again.
“Okay, deal. You help me, I help you, then we go our separate ways.”
He twisted his lips, half grin, half smirk and stuck his hand out. “Shake on it?”
She stared at his hand for all of two seconds before she stepped around it, hitching her messenger bag up on her shoulder. She stepped around him and back over to the bulletin board. “Let’s start here. Maybe some of the flyers will give us an idea for you to make up your grade.”
Out of the corner of her eye she caught the grin that lit his face. She shrugged internally. He may think he won this round, but they’d see. This was just their first skirmish. Not that this was war. Nope. War usually involved some sort of passion.
And she definitely didn’t have passionate feelings towards Declan. None that she’d ever in a million years, even under threat of torture, ever admit to anyway.
And if the brush of his shoulder against hers as they stood in front of the board sent a little shiver over her body, well, she’d just take that secret with her. To the grave.
DECLAN SNORTED. “Here we go. Maybe I can sign up for the study on sexual dysfunction. Think that will give my grade a boost?”
Harper wrinkled her nose and glanced at the flyer he pointed to. “That one’s for female sexual dysfunction. Something you need to share with me, Declan?” She raked her gaze from the tip of his black boots to the tips of his spiky faux-hawk.
He snorted again and then gave her an ogling once-over in return. “There are several things I can think of I’d like to share with you.” He gave her a teasing leer before going on in a throaty, suggestive tone. “Not one of them has anything to do with sexual dysfunction. Yours or mine.”
He ruined the effect by wiggling his dark eyebrows and she couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her at his flirtatious teasing. “In your dreams.”
“You have no idea.”
His serious tone made her whip her head around to look at him. But she didn’t get to analyze his words because he’d already turned his attention back to the bulletin board.
“I don’t think there’s anything here that’s going to help me pass Biology.”
She stared at him another long second before focusing on the flyer for the female sexual dysfunction study. He started moving back from the bulletin board, but she tapped a finger against the page pinned to the board. “No, I think this it. I think this is exactly how you can pass Biology.”
“By offering my services to the poor, unfortunate subjects of this experiment.” He placed his hand on his chest. “Think I convince them it’s purely from the goodness of my heart?”
She clicked her tongue and flicked the back of her hand at his shoulder. “I don’t mean this study. I mean your own study. Why not tell Professor Costa you’ll design your own experiment? We can come up with something that ties into the material you missed and whatever you’re covering now and come up with a hypothesis. Then you design an experiment to prove or disprove the hypothesis.”
He shook his head and propped his hands on his hips. “I don’t think that’ll work. I mean, a few hours in a science lab isn’t going to make up for missing an exam and a bunch of classes.”
“I agree. I’m not talking about a quickie lab experiment. I’m talking about doing something that’ll take you until the end of the semester. You do the experiment over several weeks and then write a paper explaining your findings.” Her words came faster as she warmed to the topic. “You can even tell Professor Costa you’ll submit the paper to a scientific journal.”
When she came up for air, she found him grinning at her. “What?”
“With all that blonde hair, those big blue eyes, and that tight little body, you look like you should be trying out for cheerleading or rushing the nearest sorority.” He rubbed a finger over his chin. “Who would have thought underneath all that you’re just a big old science nerd?”
Her cheeks heated at his mention of her tight body, but when he hit the end of the sentence she gave his shoulder a harder than playful punch. “What’s that supposed to mean? Because I’m blonde and…and…” She waved her hand around to avoid having to repeat his words about her body. “Does that mean I can’t be smart and into science? Hello, have you been paying attention at all? We’re here because I want to get into a mentorship program that will get me into my top choice of medical schools. Preferably with a scholarship.”
The grin still played around his mouth and he shook his head, holding his hands palm out in front of him. “No insult intended. Just…most of the girls I know aren’t, well, smart.”
She smirked at him. “No kidding. I’ve seen some of the girls you hang out with.”
His head tilted slightly and his eyes narrowed on her. “Have you now?”
She bit her lip. Holy crap. Next thing she’d be blurting out how she’d sort of kept tabs on him the last few years. She needed his help, not to convince him she was a stalker.
“Please, son of a rock star? It’s a little hard not to hear what the great Declan Cooper is up to on campus.”
His lips tightened into a grim line, all traces of amusement flying from his face, and there was no mistaking his sarcasm as he spoke. “My father prefers the term rock god to rock star.”
He turned back to the bulletin board, and Harper blinked. She’d obviously hit a nerve. Tentatively, she raised a hand and placed it softly on his muscular bicep.
He glanced at her hand and then up to her face.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just meant you tend to be a hot topic around campus. It’s a little hard to miss sometimes,” she said softly. She pulled her hand from his arm and fiddled with the hem of her shirt before continuing in an even quieter voice. “Believe me I’ve tried.”
He shifted closer to her, his hand going to her chin
, gently forcing her to look at him. They stood there staring at each other for what felt like forever. The emotions playing behind his dark eyes were unfathomable, but damned if she didn’t want to know what every one of them meant.
She sucked in a breath and stepped backwards, just enough to force his hand to drop from her chin. She closed her eyes for a second and shook her head before she looked at him again. “Anyway, about the experiment….”
He stared at her without moving for several beats before nodding. “It’s not a bad idea.” He gave her a quick smile, not quite as warm as his earlier grin. “But I’m not quite the science nerd you are. I’m not sure I’m up to designing an experiment that’ll impress Professor Costa.”
She offered him a smile. “I totally am. You’ll do the work, but I can get you headed in the right direction and check in from time to time to make sure you’re staying on track.”
His smile turned back to the grin. “Professor Costa isn’t going to believe I did all this work on my own.”
She shrugged. “Tell him I’m advising.” She grinned up at him. “You can even put my name on your paper. You know if your conscience is bothering you for taking all the credit.”
He laughed. “Sounds like a plan.”
She hitched her bag up on her shoulder and turned and leaned back against the bulletin board. “Well, that solves your Professor Costa problem.” She blew the wisp of bangs off her forehead. “Now I just have to figure out how I’m going to solve my Professor Costa problem.”
He leaned next to her, crossing his arms over his chest. “I think I might have an idea.”
Chapter 4
Genetics sucked.
Not her own personal genetics. Though there were a few weak limbs in that family tree. The class sucked. Professor Costa’s lectures used to be the highlight of her week. Probably that right there should have told her something was wrong. Who gets excited about genetics class?
