Swagger

by Liz Lincoln

  A few times she almost let the words “I want you” slip out of her mouth. Inside the bubble they’d created around themselves, it didn’t seem out of place. But she had the presence of mind to stop herself.

  Barely.

  At some point, Marcus spun her so she backed up to him. He wrapped around her from behind and continued to lead her body through movements that were technically dance but actually approximated sex.

  Occasionally she heard the rumble of his voice, felt his mouth moving against her ear. She couldn’t make out the words, but the low, rough tone told her all she needed to know.

  Feeling bold, she pulled her hair over one shoulder, baring the other side to him. Immediately his breath heated the skin of her neck, his stubble a rough contrast. Her whole body pulsed, screaming in time to the music that she needed this man. Now.

  She made the mistake of turning her head to look at him. The raw hunger in his expression stole her breath. Unable to look away, unable to breathe, she searched his face, memorizing the look so she could replay it later, when she was alone.

  “Bree,” he whispered. His arm tightened, pulling her back against him. His lips brushed down the side of her neck. She shuddered and nearly collapsed, it felt so good.

  He drew his mouth back up, then pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. Close enough to her own mouth to make her want more, but far enough to leave her dissatisfied.

  “Marcus.” She meant it to come out firm. A warning, maybe? But it came out a plea.

  He spun her in his arms and slid one big hand into her hair, igniting her scalp. His forehead rested against hers and he looked into her eyes. She felt him all the way inside her, to the dark, hidden places she didn’t show anyone. How did he do that?

  “I want to kiss you right now. So bad. Right here, in front of everyone.”

  Her mouth dropped open and her eyes closed. Oh God. She couldn’t breathe. Marcus James, Marcus James, wanted to kiss her.

  And she had to tell him no.

  “I want that too,” she said softly, the regret clear in her voice. The words caused a physical ache in her chest. It resembled a panic attack, yet was so different. “But we can’t.”

  She opened her eyes again, silently pleading with him to understand. She wanted it more than she’d wanted any kiss ever in her life.

  “Because I’m your student.”

  He understood. Thank God. “Yes.”

  He made a frustrated sound but didn’t move away from their intimate embrace. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kiss a woman as much as I do right now.” One side of his mouth twitched, like he might smile. “Maybe Traci Jordan.”

  Really? He was bringing up some other chick he’d been really hot for? “Traci Jordan?” Bree didn’t bother hiding her bitterness.

  Now he grinned, the dimple making a heart-stopping appearance. His thumb smoothed over her cheek. “I was thirteen. She was my first kiss. I wanted that pretty bad. But different than this.”

  Oh. Well then. Her fingers dug into his back; she hadn’t realized she’d wrapped her arms around him. They still moved together, approximating dancing, but it was their own music. A slow, sexy beat just for them.

  “The semester’s not that long.” He slid his lips over her cheek to kiss her temple. Even a simple, seemingly chaste kiss like that set her aflame.

  She dropped her head to his shoulder so she could catch her breath without looking at him. She felt his lips in her hair, heard him breathing deeply. She did the same.

  “Somehow the semester seems a lot longer, all of a sudden.”

  Chapter 7

  Marcus tried to keep his hands to himself as he stood at the valet stand with Bree and Reina. He knew they could get Bree’s car just fine on their own, but Marcus hadn’t been able to resist a few more minutes with his sexy, funny, brilliant physics instructor. He’d always had a thing for the brainy girls, but this was his first hot-for-teacher crush.

  Unfortunately, life wasn’t like a porn movie. She didn’t hop up on her desk, get out her ruler, and fuck him. Which was a shame, because he’d had a few fantasies about that scenario with her, and they were damn hot.

  Shoving his hands into his pockets, he stood as close to Bree as he could without being a creeper while she and Reina chatted about something work related.

  “Hey, man, you coming Sunday?” A big hand on his shoulder had Marcus turning.

  Vince Gibbons stood next to him, his arm around a petite blond woman. She had both her arms wrapped around Vince’s waist and an unmistakable look in her eye. Marcus had gone home with women like her plenty of times his first few years in the league. But now he wanted more than a fling. He’d spent too much time with Jaron and Tanni and Matt and Celia. He wanted what they had, or at least to start moving in that direction.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there.” Just because he couldn’t suit up didn’t mean he was watching the game from his couch. He was still a Dragon. He still belonged on that sideline.

  “See ya, man.” Vince held out a fist and Marcus returned the bump.

  Once Vince and his girl were out of earshot, Bree said, “Guess I dodged a bullet there.”

  Interesting. He hadn’t missed Vince asking Bree to dance. And Marcus could admit it felt like a small victory when she’d turned Vince down. Especially when she’d then danced with him. “How so?”

  She looked up at him, face serious. “I don’t do one-night stands. I’m just not built for them.”

  He made his expression equally serious. “I won’t lie and say I haven’t had them. But that’s not what I want anymore.”

  They locked gazes for another of those long, charged moments that made his chest feel too tight and his balls scream for some action.

  He lifted his hand and gently brushed a strand of hair off Bree’s cheek. Her skin was so soft. He could spend hours just touching her, everywhere.

  Before he had a chance to try, the valet arrived with her car. She stepped backward but didn’t look away from him. “I need…” She gestured toward the car, but still didn’t look away.

  Shit. This sucked balls. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, kiss her senseless, then take her home and spend all night discovering how to make her scream his name.

  Instead he had to walk away and send her home with her friend. Then go home alone and fantasize about making her scream. Three more months until he could do anything but imagine.

  So he looked away, and once the magnetic pull between them was broken, he was able to step back too. Giving himself space to breathe, he pulled open the passenger door for Reina.

  Too late, he realized what was an automatic gesture for him could be seen as him saying she wasn’t capable. He felt like a dick.

  “Sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t—”

  “No worries,” Reina cut in. “I appreciate it.” She rolled herself forward until she was parallel to the car seat.

  “You got it?” he asked. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but he couldn’t see how she would maneuver herself onto the front seat without assistance.

  But Bree stood behind the chair, palms resting on the handles. She made no move to help her friend. Sure enough, Reina braced hand one on the seat, one on the door, and swung herself onto the seat. She had to use both arms to lift her legs into the footwell.

  Reina leaned toward Marcus. “I had a good time. Thanks for the hospitality.”

  Marcus leaned on the door, smiling. “Anytime.” He liked Reina. Not anywhere near as much as he liked her best friend, but she was cool. Fun to hang out with. Especially if she brought Bree.

  He shut Reina’s door, then joined Bree at the trunk where she was loading in the now-collapsed wheelchair. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Bree how much he wished she were coming home with him.

  But he swallowed the words. What was the point? They both knew it. They both wanted it. And they couldn’t have it.

  Instead he said, “I had a great time tonight.” Frustrating as it had been, he’d
loved holding her close, moving his body in time with hers. The vertical approximation of sex was amazing and torturous.

  She slammed the trunk and moved toward him. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to step into her until they were a breath apart. Her hands settled on his waist; he allowed himself a moment to simply enjoy her touch.

  “I did too.” Her voice was low and smoky. Seduction.

  He couldn’t help himself. He bent and kissed her cheek, a brush of his lips against her skin. He opened just a little over the very corner of her mouth, a whisper of what a real kiss would be like.

  His heart drummed near out of his chest as he drew back. Her eyes were wide and glazed and she looked as affected as he felt. His whole body was rigid in the effort to hold back.

  “Good night, Bree,” he said.

  “Good night, Marcus. Thank you for inviting us out.” One hand reached up and pressed against his chest, over his pounding heart. They both looked at her hand on him, so pale against his dark shirt. He felt that touch over the entire surface of his body.

  She looked up at him with a smile full of hunger and regret, then backed away. She waved one more time before she got into her car, then slipped inside and drove away.

  Marcus stood there and watched her Accord disappear into traffic. Even after she was gone, he stayed where he was, trying to pull his shit together. He’d never felt so strongly about a woman, especially one he hadn’t so much as kissed. But shit, just that one little brush of his mouth near hers had been enough to set him on fire.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. James?” the kid at the valet stand asked.

  Marcus looked at his name tag. He tried to keep all the staff straight, but there was enough turnover he didn’t always stay on top of it. This guy’s tag read Nate R.

  “Would you like your car, sir?” Nate asked.

  Was Marcus ready to leave? It was after midnight, and his knee was a little sore from dancing. He’d have to talk to his therapist about that on Monday.

  If he went back inside, he’d have another drink, then he’d have to wait awhile to drive home. He’d sit and talk to Jaron and Matt, but they’d probably leave soon anyway. Celia had been talking about how exhausted pregnancy made her. Jaron and Tanni had a sitter to get home for. Vince was gone, Trask would inevitably leave with his date soon.

  “Yeah, I should get going,” Marcus told Nate.

  As wound up as he was, it was going to be a long time before he relaxed himself enough to sleep.

  *

  —

  “Can we promise not to talk about physics at all today?” Bree set her tray on the booth table and slid onto her bench.

  Marcus scooted in across from her. He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it onto the seat next to him, then took a long drink of his iced tea. “Deal,” he agreed, setting down the drink. “Bad week with your advisor?” She’d told him several stories about how much her dissertation advisor disliked her. The guy sounded like a complete douche.

  She huffed out a frustrated breath. “Yes. I mean, it was nice Kevin and Tomás were defending me in our lab meeting this morning, but I shouldn’t need defending from my own advisor.” She aggressively dunked a French fry in ketchup and shoved it into her mouth. “If I weren’t so close to finishing, I think I’d just give up. It doesn’t feel worth it anymore.”

  Marcus was all too familiar with that feeling. “Sometimes when I’m doing these stupid exercises for the millionth time, I think the same thing. I have enough money, and I’m not even thirty. Plenty of time for a second career. Why am I busting my balls to get back on the field?” He picked up a fry and dipped it into his own cup of ketchup, but didn’t eat it yet. “Then I remember how much I love what I do. Lots of tight ends play until somewhere around thirty-five. That’s a lot of years left. And I gotta think a physics career is mostly an upward progression from where you are.”

  Bree sighed heavily. “It is. I’ve got interviews for postdoc positions in the next few weeks. A couple I’m really excited about, like the ones for Duke and Carnegie Mellon. But I’m also terrified Bryant will—” She made a choking sound and quickly looked away.

  “You OK?” She didn’t look good. Her breathing was too fast and her eyes had a panicked look.

  She nodded, then shook her head and covered her face with her hands. “I’ll be fine.” Her deep breaths rushed out from between her hands.

  Shit, was she having a panic attack? Quickly he slipped out of the booth and back in next to her. He slid in close and rubbed large circles on her back. “Just breathe. You’ll be OK,” he said in his calmest, most soothing voice. His oldest sister had anxiety, and had frequent panic attacks when she was in high school.

  As he rubbed and Bree breathed, she gradually released the tension in her muscles. Eventually she sagged into his touch and dropped her hands to her lap.

  She gave him an embarrassed smile. “Thank you. I’m sorry.”

  He couldn’t stop himself from running a hand down the side of her face. “Nothing to be sorry for. I’m glad I could help.”

  Her eyebrows came inward, giving him a slight frown. She studied him for a long moment but he had no clue what she was looking for. Finally he gave her a gentle pat on the back and scooted away. He hadn’t realized he’d gotten so close their thighs were touching.

  A solid dose of lust jolted through him. All the more reason he needed to get back to his side of the table. He downed a bunch of fries before saying, “I’m sure you’ll ace those job interviews. They’ll be fighting over you.”

  Shit, he hadn’t even thought about what her finishing her dissertation meant. Somewhere in the back of his head, he’d assumed once the semester was over and they were free to be together, they would have a relationship, one that was more than physical. Yes, he wanted her naked in his bed as often as possible. But he also wanted to hang out, take her to dinner, watch TV together, do other routine things.

  He wanted to date her.

  But there couldn’t be too many places in Milwaukee with physics postdoctoral positions. Odds were she was leaving town after the New Year. They’d get a few weeks together at most.

  Well that just sucked.

  “Now you can see why I don’t want to talk about work.” Bree laughed humorlessly, then took a long drink of her soda.

  No, he didn’t want to either. He wanted to find ways to hang out with her more before the semester ended in December. Sure, it would be torture not to be able to touch her or kiss her. But he liked her. A lot. He wanted to spend time with her.

  And he knew at least one way to do that.

  “What are you doing next Monday night?”

  In the middle of biting into her burger, she cocked her head to one side and gave him a quizzical look, made slightly comical by the food sticking out of her mouth.

  “Celia works for a nonprofit, and they’re having a benefit to raise money. A bunch of us are going, and Matt says they have some huge announcement.” He made a face. “Though Matt can be a bit dramatic.”

  “That sounds fun,” she said in a completely unenthusiastic voice.

  “It should be. Last year was a good time.” Was he making a mistake inviting her? But hell, he wouldn’t know if he didn’t ask. “Would you like to go with me?”

  She looked startled. “Me?”

  He smiled. “No one else in the booth with us.” His fingers itched to reach over and take her hand, to ask her to please come with him. Instead he grabbed his iced tea and took a drink.

  “I…I mean, that sounds like a lot of fun, but benefits are usually a lot of money, and we don’t get paid—”

  He held up his hand to cut her off, shaking his head. “I bought two tickets. Figured even if I can’t find a date, it’s not wasted money.”

  “A date. Oh. I, well, I mean, we talked about…”

  She looked so uncomfortable he wanted to smack himself. “Not a date date.” Damn, he sounded like a thirteen-year-old. “You know
, just the person who goes with me. But not like that. Because you’re my teacher.”

  Her shoulders relaxed visibly and there was relief in her smile. “So Matt Baxter and his fiancée will be there?”

  “Yeah, you met Celia at Bubble.” His own shoulders relaxed a little too. Was this a yes?

  “Right. Will Tanisha and Jaron be there?” A wry expression crossed her face, then she shook her head a little.

  “What’s that look?”

  “I just can’t believe I’m sitting here, talking about a bunch of Dragons players by their first names, like we’re friends. Like I know them.”

  “But you do.” Now he did reach for her hand and covered it with his. “We’re friends, right?” He definitely considered her a friend, after more than a month of having lunch together, and her working with him during office hours. She was a friend he desperately wanted to get naked with, but definitely a friend.

  “Of course.” She flipped her hand over and curled it around his. The hot pink of her fingernails contrasted with his dark skin. He liked the way they looked together. A lot. “But it’s still pretty surreal to me. I’ve been a football fan all my life, but I’ve never wanted to be a groupie or anything.”

  “Then come. Lots of the players will be there. I can introduce you around. You can get some autographs and give ’em to your brothers for Christmas. Make ’em jealous.” Totally over the top, but he winked at her. “And I promise, no one will think you’re a groupie.”

  “Oh, that reminds me.” She snatched her hand away and grabbed her messenger bag.

  Marcus immediately wanted her touch back but kept his mouth shut. She hadn’t answered him about the benefit, but she seemed intent on finding something in her bag, so he could be patient.

  She pulled out her phone, then slid out of her seat and in next to him. “My brother Drew doesn’t believe that you’re in my class and I know you. We need to take a picture so I can send it to him.” She tapped and swiped her screen as she talked.

  An excuse to put his arm around her and get close to her? Marcus would absolutely take it. He could just rest his arm on the booth behind her, but the temptation to curve his hand around her arm and keep her snug at his side was too much.