by Layla Frost
It was disconcerting, and I wished he’d return to silent and bland disinterest. At least then I didn’t feel as though I were being studied.
Afraid he’d see beyond the surface I willingly showed, I turned away and redressed. “Why does anyone? I’m obviously an undercover spy,” I dead-panned.
“You shouldn’t be in a place like this.”
“And yet, here I am.”
“Remember what I said I’d do about that attitude?” he whispered from right behind me as he slid cash into my skirt.
A tremor ran up my spine, both from the feel of him and the reminder of what he’d said.
“We’ll talk about all of this.” I heard him inhale deeply before he gave a lock of my hair a playful tug. “Soon.”
Unsure what that meant, but knowing I didn’t have the time to ask, I simply nodded and went back to work.
The rest of my night was a disaster. Three fights broke out thanks to cheap beer and jealousy. I had two private dances who barely tipped. Even Brittany had threatened to quit, and she was usually unfazed.
By the time my shift was done, I was dead on my feet. All I wanted to do was get home and sleep. I’d even scrubbed my makeup—and likely three layers of skin—off at work so I didn’t have to shower before bed.
Walking into my apartment building, I eyed the ratty couch. I was sure it was splattered with more DNA than a porn set, but for a brief second, I was tempted to curl up on it.
I hiked my bag up my shoulder and mentally prepped for the daunting trip upstairs when someone spoke from behind me.
“You shouldn’t drive when you’re so tired, Eden.”
Nearly jumping out of my skin, I whipped around to see Professor Caine lurking in the alcove that housed a never functioning vending machine. “Holy shit!” Realizing I’d yelled, I lowered to hiss, “What’re you doing here? How did you even know where here was?”
His lips quirked. “Perk of the job.”
“Effortless stalking is part of the benefits package?”
His eyes darkened to the color of midnight skies as he prowled toward me.
Part of me wanted to run from him.
Most of me wanted to run to him.
I did neither and held my ground as he stopped close, our bodies nearly touching.
Looking down at me, a sardonic, almost devilish smile curved his lips. “It’s kind of like a 401K, except I pay into it with my soul and sanity.”
I had no clue what he was saying, but the way he said it was enough to make me lean forward, closing the minimal distance between us. “What’re you doing here?” I whispered, my voice breathy no matter how hard I worked to keep it even.
“Did you know there are two drug dealers on the first floor alone?”
“Well, good thing I don’t live on the first floor.” Though, truth be told, knowing that freaked me out. But on the long list of pressing matters, potential drug-related danger zone was surprisingly far down. “Anyway, you’re the one lurking in dark corners. Why?”
“I said we’d talk soon. I decided soon needed to be sooner.”
“Other students live in this building.”
He gestured behind. “Hence the shadow lurking.”
“Even if we continue lurking, this isn’t a good place to talk.”
As if on cue, the door opened and some kids came in, filling the small space with the overpowering scent of cheap beer and skunky weed.
Grabbing Professor Caine’s shirt, I frantically tugged him toward me, backing us into the darkened corner until I hit the wall. Almost tripping, his hands shot out, slapping above my head.
Using his positioning to our advantage, I wove my hands into his hair and pulled him down so his raised arms blocked his face.
If one of them wasn’t seeing double, I hoped we just looked like we were saying a hot and heavy goodbye.
“What’re you doing?” Professor Caine asked, his eyes dropping to my lips.
I tilted my head to the side. “A couple of those kids are students.”
“I don’t give a shit.”
“You talking to a female student at almost three in the morning would be unexplainable.”
“I didn’t say I could explain it. I said I don’t give a shit.”
Heart racing, I peeked around him to see the kids go into an apartment. “They’re gone. Hurry and go before they come back.”
“No.”
My brows shot up as I dragged my attention from the apartment door to look at him. “Why?”
“First of all, we haven’t talked yet.”
“We’ll talk some other time,” I lied.
His narrowed eyes let me know I wasn’t fooling him. “Second, I’m finding I enjoy this position.” He moved closer to me. “And last, I’m not leaving you here.”
My gaze darted to watch the door. Adrenaline sizzled through my veins, making my head swim and my pulse pound. Speaking quickly before we were discovered, I said, “I’ve lived here a while and nothing’s happened. I told you we’d talk soon. We will. But I’m exhausted.”
“So come home with me.”
“Are you crazy?” I shook my head and pushed his shoulders, though he barely rocked. “No. Go.”
“I’m not above threatening to make a scene.”
His words were spoken matter-of-factly, as were mine when I asked, “What’s your deal with that?”
Professor Caine shrugged. “It’s effective. Now come home with me. Sleep where I know you won’t be robbed in the middle of the night.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“Okay.” He moved away from me, heading into the lobby.
That was… surprisingly easy.
My relief crashed when I realized he wasn’t leaving. As though he belonged in a slummy apartment in the middle of the night, he sat on the nasty couch and lounged back.
“I hope you know, your ass is now a Jackson Pollock painting of various human fluids. Actually, I take back the human part. There’s likely animal there, too.” I rushed to stand in front of the couch in a futile attempt to block him from anyone’s view. “What’re you doing?”
“Just making sure everyone knows I’m here,” he said, his words getting progressively louder.
I covered his mouth and whispered, “Seriously, are you insane?”
His answer came out muffled, his lips teasing my palm.
I dropped my hand. “What?”
“You asked if I was insane. I said, yeah, probably.” He leaned back, stretching his arms along the back of the couch. “Go up to bed. I’ll stay here so I know you’re safe.”
“No. Go home.”
He crossed his legs, putting his ankle up on his bent knee as he settled in. “Not unless you come with me.”
There were voices at the end of the hall, and somewhere a door opened.
I reached down and grabbed his wrist, yanking it hard. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Once I’d pulled him outside, I stopped and released him, unsure which direction to head.
He wrapped his arm around me and turned us left. “Was that so hard?”
“You’re such a dick,” I muttered, scanning the empty street to make sure no one saw us.
“So you’ve said.” He opened the passenger door of a nice car.
I didn’t know anything about them, but I knew his was sweet. Of course, compared to my jalopy, anything with functioning heat would be a luxury vehicle.
Climbing inside, I practically sank into the lush seat. When he got in, I rolled my head to look at him. “Why do you have to make everything so hard?”
“Funny, I thought that was your job.”
“Ha ha, very mature, Professor. Honestly, why?”
“To protect you, Eden. Hate me all you want, it’s what I’ll keep doing.”
“I don’t hate you,” I said through a yawn, leaning my head against the window.
“You don’t?”
Had I had the energy, I’d have looked at him so I could analyze whether his expression held the sa
me surprise his tone had.
I didn’t have that energy, though. Nor did I have the energy to filter my words. Eyes closed, I shook my head a little. “No. I find you fascinating. Attractive. Passionate and intelligent. And dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“Very. No one else seems to see it. They think you’re deep and sensitive. But I know better. I feel it.”
“I always knew you were brilliant,” I thought I heard as sleep pulled me under.
*******
What felt like minutes later, heat and comfort surrounded me as cold air whipped across my face.
When a familiar scent filled my nose, my eyes shot open, and I saw my face was pressed against Professor Caine’s broad chest.
He held me tenderly, carrying me toward a house.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Four.”
It’d taken forty minutes to get from my apartment to his place. From the little I saw before I’d conked out, we’d been heading in the opposite direction of Sinners.
“You drive a long way to come see me,” I mumbled as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“You’re right, I do.”
“Why?”
“I like to,” he answered, as if it were that simple.
Maybe it was.
“Put me down, I can walk,” I insisted, though I made no moves to remove my own hold on him.
“No.” He tightened his grip as he unlocked the front door and kicked it closed behind us, not bothering to turn on any lights as he moved through a small room and started up some steps.
“I’ve never been carried like this before,” I murmured, more to myself than him.
“Never?”
“Maybe. I mean, before I could walk I assume someone had to carry me. But nothing I can remember. When I was a little girl, if I fell asleep somewhere, I was woken up to put myself to bed. I much prefer being carried.”
“In that case, I’ll carry you everywhere from now on.” Reaching the top of the stairs, he walked us into another room and placed me gently on a bed.
“No, then it wouldn’t be special. Just this once was perfect.” I yawned and curled onto my side. “This is your room, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“It smells like you. What’re the chances you have a guest bedroom?”
“Very good, in fact.”
“What’re the chances I’m just resting here for a second before heading to sleep there?”
“Not very good.”
“What’re the chances you’re gonna be sleeping there?”
“Even less.”
“That’s what I figured.” I sighed dramatically, though I wasn’t sure I minded.
I was almost asleep when the blanket was pulled from beneath me and the bed dipped. Professor Caine’s arm went under me and curled so I rolled to face him, my cheek landing on his chest.
Keeping his arm around me, he threw the blanket over us and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Goodnight, Eden.”
“Goodnight, asshole,” I muttered before falling into a deep sleep.
The best one I’d had in years.
*******
“Wake up, Eden,” someone rumbled before lips pressed against my collarbone.
“Don’t wanna.” I hid my head under a pillow before noticing the bed was much too soft to be mine. Unless Tonia’s voice had dropped, and she was getting much friendlier with me, it wasn’t her waking me.
You’re not in your own bed, Goldilocks.
A deep, male chuckle made my eyes shoot open. I tossed the pillow off, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. When I saw an already dressed Professor Caine standing next to the bed, I blinked a few more times, convinced I was dreaming. In slate gray jeans, a navy-blue V-neck sweater with the sleeves pushed up, and his damp hair in disarray, he looked like something out of a dream.
Or maybe a nightmare.
His smile was soft—tender even—which was at odds with the all-consuming way his gaze seared me as he scanned down my body. “Stay then. I don’t see you at school today, so knowing you’re in my bed is the next best thing.”
Shit.
School.
I bolted up and looked around for a clock. “What time is it?”
“Six-thirty.”
“Thank goodness.” I flopped back.
Putting his fists to the mattress on either side of me, he leaned down so his face was in mine. “I don’t get how you do this night after night. You slept for three hours, and it wasn’t even consecutive. Stay here and rest.”
“Are you encouraging me to play hooky?” I asked teasingly.
He dipped down and nipped my jaw. “Shocking, I know.”
I closed my eyes against the sweetly erotic gesture. “I have to go.”
Even if I didn’t, there was no way I could just hang around his house all day. I needed space from him, not to be in his space.
“Figured,” he muttered, not hiding his disappointment. “Bathroom’s across the hall. Want a coffee for the ride?”
“Yes!” I calmed myself before adding, “Please.”
Dropping a quick kiss to my lips, he turned and walked from the room, seemingly unfazed by the sudden change in direction our relationship had taken.
We were a dysfunctional pendulum—a wrecking ball swinging between bitter animosity and unrelenting desire.
Both had the power to hurt.
Only one would inevitably destroy me.
I sat in his bed for a moment, my fingers pressed to my lips. There was a lot for me to wrap my brain around, but in that moment of crushing exhaustion and weightless happiness, I just wanted to stay still a little longer and enjoy the rare moment of blissful quiet inside my head.
Pulling myself together, I headed to the bathroom. I was able to clean the morning funk from my mouth with the unopened toothbrush he’d left on the sink, but anything beyond that was a lost cause. I’d removed my makeup at the club the night before, but the stubborn residue remained. My high, messy bun was more mess than bun.
I hadn’t been an alert night owl before, nor was I a chipper early bird right then.
I was a perpetually exhausted raccoon.
After trudging down the stairs, I paused in the foyer and surreptitiously scoped out the bit of his living room I could see. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but it was... normal. Tidy, but not meticulous. There were books sitting out and a couple empty beer bottles on the coffee table. A large TV hung from the wall, a massive couch positioned in front of it.
Everything looked comfortable and lived-in, not showy or ostentatious. It was a home, not a crash pad. Although there was nothing that screamed woman in the masculine space, I found myself wondering if he’d been married at one point.
There was a lot I didn’t know about him.
“You sure you don’t want to stay and rest?” he asked, coming around the corner.
I gave a self-conscious laugh. “Do I look that awful?”
“Never.” He handed me a travel mug before using his free hand to cup my cheek. “You’re always beautiful.” His eyes dropped to my mouth, and I thought he was going to kiss me.
And I thought I was going to let him.
Rather than add more tangles to the knot that was my life, I awkwardly launched my arm up between us, nearly burning myself when some of the coffee splattered from the small opening in the cup. I forgot it’d just been a ploy for distance when the seductively rich scent hit my nose.
He dropped his hand and backed away so as not to stand between me and my true love, coffee.
Smart man.
I took a hesitant sip before closing my eyes and giving a small hum. “How’d you know how I like my coffee? This is heavenly.”
“I’ve been in line when you’ve ordered at the shop on campus. It’s an incredibly fussy order.”
My eyes shot open, indignation making me snap, “It is not. It just has to have the right amount of milk and sugar.”
“So I’ve heard.”
His smile turned teasing as he threw my frequently used phrase back at me. “‘It has to be the perfect beige. Not too light, not too dark.’”
“It’s very scientific.” I couldn’t keep my expression serious and grinned up at him, conceding, “Okay, fine, it’s a little fussy.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth again. I barely had time to lower the cup when his hand came up to palm the back of my head and his lips covered mine. Hard and demanding, his kiss woke me more than the coffee could.
“Now I’m thinking we’ll both play hooky,” he murmured against my lips.
“We have to go,” I whispered back, though I was having trouble remembering why.
He stepped away and opened the door, gesturing out. “Then after you, Miss Wilder.”
The car ride was so enjoyable, I could almost forget he was the same man who’d been making me an anxious mess and a ticking temper-bomb. The sharp edge of danger still resonated off him, but I also got to see a different side of him. One that was sweet and playful.
One I liked.
But in the dark corners of my mind, locked away in an area I didn’t dare open, a thought began to form.
Not ready to acknowledge it, even to myself, I blocked it out and drank my perfectly beige coffee.
Heavenly.
Chapter Twelve
* * *
The Bear Has Control Issues
Eden
“I must need to get my eyes checked, Miss Wilder, because there’s no way I’m seeing what I think I am.”
The savage whisper sounded thunderous in my ear, making me jump and nearly knock over the coffee shop table. Whipped cream spilled onto my laptop as I slammed it closed.
His laugh was humorless—darkness dripping from each harsh burst. “Oh, it’s a little late for that. My office.”
Oh, so now he wants to talk to me?
Too late.
In my naïve mind, I’d assumed sleeping in the arms of a sweetly affectionate man meant things would change—that he would change. I hadn’t expected anything major. Definitely nothing preferential.
I guess, in a way, I’d been right because things had definitely changed.
