Undercover Professor

by December Gephart

  “And you’re tall.” Becca sighed the word tall, like it was magic.

  “Well, yeah. I guess I am, compared to you.”

  Lucy shoved a few stuffed animals off Becca’s bed, and sat back to wait for her cousin to finish changing. She slid into her jeans, tugged on the T-shirt and boots and belted her pea coat before dabbing on a last bit of eye glitter. Lucy picked up the fallen stuffed unicorn. There, in the corner, laid a big stack of brand-new gaming equipment, a console, a pile of games, a few different controller options. Becca was all ready for Andy to be her True Love, and they hadn’t even gone out yet. Typical Becca. This had to stop, and Andy would have to be the one to pull back, since Becca had no restraint.

  She rolled her eyes and followed her glittery cousin out. If the girl wasn’t a fantastic pediatric ICU nurse, she’d be an awesome stripper, with her silly outfits and glitter.

  * * *

  They hurried to the restaurant, right on time to sit at the bar and wait. Dell introduced himself politely to Becca, greeted Lucy with a kiss on the cheek and bought them both a drink while they made idle chitchat and waited for Andy.

  “How was work today?” He helped her out of her jacket.

  “Fine. Christmas prep is starting to roll in, so I’ll have to pull some staff to help me set up at night, but it should be good. How about you?”

  “I had a good day. We’re setting up our spring/summer programs and my third-grade boys’ team is really coming along.”

  Dell worked at the YMCA, coaching boys’ sports from daycare up through High School. And he was great with kids. Lucy reminded herself Dell was a fantastic guy.

  He droned on for a while about the grade levels and basketball challenges, and Lucy tried to keep her head in the conversation. She glanced at her watch. Andy was about ten minutes late. Becca’s shoulders began to slouch, and her heart went out to her cousin. Not only was Andy a player, he stood up Becca. Now he needed a lesson on manners too.

  Just as she was about to interrupt Dell’s discussion on adjusting the free-throw line for the littler kids to suggest they sit and eat, she noticed Andy standing outside, gesturing angrily at his cell phone.

  She frowned. What was his story? He brushed his hand through his windblown hair and glanced up, catching her eye.

  Staring at him for a moment, Lucy felt her whole body tingle with adrenaline. She was going to make him squirm. For once, she had the opportunity to stop heartbreak before it happened.

  Becca leaped out of her chair as he opened the doors. She attached herself to Andy’s side. He tripped over her as she made introductions.

  His face registered surprise at seeing her. It wasn’t quite the oh-shit moment she was looking for, but it would do.

  Lucy opened her mouth and arched an eyebrow, ready to blast him with a sharp comment. She had tried out so many retorts in the mirror, waiting for this moment, she wasn’t sure which one would pop out. But Andy got the first word in.

  “Lucy. Hey, so great to see you again.” His smile was warm and friendly as he pulled her close for a casual one-armed hug.

  That took the steam out of her sails. “Well, it doesn’t appear you’ve been short on company.” Damn him. That wasn’t as stinging as it should have been. “C’mon, let’s sit, I’m starving and you’re late.”

  Crap, now she just sounded peevish. Regrouping, she took a deep breath as the hostess sat them.

  “So you guys have already met?” Dell asked.

  “We ran into each other in the laundry room.”

  “It turns out I ran out of dryer sheets, and Lucy had a few to spare. And I think you still owe me a few quarters, don’t you?” Andy put his coat on the back of his chair before sitting. Lucy gave her head a sharp shake, glaring at him again. You lying liar apartment complex hoochie man.

  “Oh, Andy, you are just so friendly,” Becca enthused.

  “Yeah, really friendly, Andy.” Lucy pinched her lips together.

  He had the grace to look confused. “So, how do you guys all know each other?” He shifted away from Becca who had scooted her chair closer to his, pressing her arm against him.

  “Lucy’s my cousin, and just about my best friend in the whole world.” Becca smiled at her, and Lucy relaxed. That’s right, they stood up for each other.

  She glanced at Dell. “Dell and I met, gosh, maybe two weeks ago? He came into Sports Authority asking for a donation of basketballs. He works at the YMCA.” She tried to keep the point of him having a job from making her voice snide.

  “Yep,” continued Dell. “I went in asking for a donation, I walked out with a dozen balls and Lucy’s phone number. It was win-win.”

  She cringed at the win-win comment.

  Andy’s glance pinned her to her chair. “Win-win, huh.”

  He tipped his head to read the menu, squinting and moving it in and out. “I can’t see for shit anymore,” he murmured, pulling a pair of glasses out of his jacket pocket.

  Reading glasses made him look older, more attractive, if that was possible. Gigolo, and a lying liar, she reminded herself.

  But the glasses didn’t really fit in with his slacker image. He looked like a professor, in a sexy sort of intellectual way. Not that she went for that sort of thing, she reminded herself.

  “So do you guys game at all?” Andy asked after the waitress left with their orders, tucking his glasses back into his jacket pocket.

  “Game? Yeah, I have a great pickup game set up on Thursdays at the gym.” Dell perked up.

  “Oh. I meant video games.”

  “I play some video games too,” Dell replied. “I play a little bit of Halo now and then, and I like to stay on top of what the kids are playing. It helps them open up to me, if we can strike up a conversation about gaming.” Dell leaned back in his chair, dropping an arm around the back of Lucy’s chair. The weight irritated her, and she tried not to squirm out from under it. They really weren’t at the casual touching part of their relationship yet. And with Andy watching her so intently, it was unnerving.

  “Becca, you said you play? What’s your game?” Andy turned his attention to Becca, who was applying lip gloss with a wand. One of her patented moves to turn men on.

  “Oh, um. I’ve been into a little bit of Halo too. And sometimes that war world one.”

  “World of Warcraft?” Lucy and Andy both clarified. She couldn’t stop the corner of her lips from twitching up.

  Becca re-capped the gloss slowly, her pink nails caressing the tube, another move. Lucy stared at her cousin, full well knowing she had no patience to sit still for that long. The girl could barely read a four-page article in Cosmo, much less play a video game.

  “What about you, Andy? I hear you’re on the job hunt. We can always use some part-time help in janitorial down at the YMCA, if you need something to pad your resumé.”

  Dell’s tone surprised her. Of course he couldn’t mean it to sound that way. He was just trying to help. There was no shame in the work. A paycheck is a paycheck.

  “Thanks, but I’m just looking to lay low right now. I’ll keep it in mind.” If Andy noticed the dig, he didn’t acknowledge it.

  “If you’ll excuse me.” Lucy unwedged herself from under Dell’s heavy arm and scurried off to the restroom. This was way too weird. She should have told Becca no. She should have forced her to listen. Laying out snarky zingers sounded good in theory, but looking for her opening was nerve-racking in reality. She just wasn’t sharp enough.

  At least this way she could keep her eye on Becca and Andy. And some sick, twisted part of her really wanted to see him again. See if that spark between them hadn’t been simply a one-time thing, spun from fabric softener and fresh clean khakis. Unfortunately, it was still there.

  She came out of the bathroom and heard Andy talking on his cell phone in the hallway.

  He caught her arm as he hung up the phone. “Hey, I’m sorry this is weird. I’m just glad I get to see you again so soon.” Pulling her out of the way of another patron, he crow
ded her against the wall, leaning in.

  “Yeah, you could say it’s a little weird. But this ends here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why are you here with my cousin on a date? I have ethics. I do not date my friends’ guys. And I want you to leave her alone too. She’s much too good for you.”

  He frowned, running a hand through his hair, moving to the other side of the hallway. “On a date? I didn’t ask her on a date. Honestly. It’s a miscommunication, I must not have been clear.”

  Lucy narrowed her eyes, but he seemed genuinely disturbed.

  “I’m new in town, and I’m just looking for some friends to hang out with.” He shrugged. “She must have misunderstood. I don’t want to date her. I don’t really have time to date anyone.” He snapped his mouth shut, like he had said too much.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow. Nice of him to be honest, at least.

  “I didn’t know I’d meet you the next day, I was just looking for people to hang out with.” He moved to rest his shoulder on the wall next to her. “And I’d much rather hang out with you.”

  “Hmm.” Darn it, she sort of believed him. Becca was not above twisting an honest request to meet new people into a date. The girl had done worse.

  Nonetheless, it didn’t mean she could throw herself at him tonight like some sort of hussy. Maybe if he talked it out with Becca, he could clarify the situation. Maybe Becca would understand and step aside.

  No matter, he still didn’t have a job, and he lived with his mom. She tried to move away, but he dropped his hand to her waist, stopping her cold and revving up her engines with one move. He was new in town; perhaps those things could be excused.

  “Becca’s a great person, and cute as all get-out.” Lucy defended her cousin weakly.

  “Well sure, she’s cute. But I really didn’t mean to go on a date with her, not when someone else caught my eye.” He leaned in closer. He must have sensed her weakness, like a shark sniffing blood in the water.

  “That’s impossible.” Lucy’s voice cracked, and she swallowed hard.

  “It’s true.” He leaned forward, his lips brushing her earlobe.

  Lucy inhaled, pressing herself closer to the wall, clinging to it for safety. He was as intoxicating as she remembered. That light in his eyes, the tilt of his chin mesmerized her as it did before.

  He tilted his head down, nudging her chin up to angle to his lips. Lucy let the delicious feel of him, the smell of him, his warmth flood over her. All she had to do was move her head, and she’d be able to taste him again, that combination of soft and firm. Fire and sparks. His arm on her waist clenched, tugging her into him.

  She gathered her tattered indignation. “No. I, we, this is... No.”

  She needed to figure out what this meant before letting him fog her head again. “It doesn’t matter if I ‘caught your eye.’ In fact, I’m a little insulted.”

  He backed away, frowning.

  She nodded judiciously. “Yeah. Insulted. Are all women just interchangeable to you?”

  His mouth dropped open, flapping up and down, like he was forming a retort.

  “For your information, I have some very strict requirements for the men I date. And I’m sorry, you don’t meet them.”

  He tilted his head. “But I take it Dell, Mister Win-win I got some free balls and a phone number, he meets your strict requirements?”

  “Yes, yes, he does.” She nodded, hating that he was so composed and quick, while her brain struggled to keep up with her mouth. “I mean, so far, he has.” She blocked out the fact that his pokey kiss left her cold, and the heavy weight of his arm on her shoulder made her squirmy. Doesn’t matter. That was not on the list.

  Andy watched her with a predatory gleam in his eyes. “C’mon, you’re hardly married. Have you even kissed him? Did his kisses make you quiver?”

  Lucy inhaled sharply. “That’s none of your business.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If Dell and I kissed, if we screwed around, if he made me swing from the chandeliers, whatever, it’s none of your business. I have to get back. You clear things up with Becca, and be nice about it.”

  “And then?”

  “And then we can talk.” She marched resolutely down the hall through the restaurant to the table, settling next to Dell again.

  * * *

  Drew watched Lucy across the table, the pink blush on her cheeks rising every time she made eye contact with him.

  Becca’s fingers crept over his thigh, squeezing his knee. She was cute, but all signs pointed to crazy. He told Lucy the truth in the hallway. When he met Becca, he was only interested in the research. And he wasn’t looking for a relationship with anyone. His time here was brief. Wait for Mom to heal, finish up the article and presentation and get back to Portland. A girlfriend was not in the works for him, even if she did have kissable pink lips. A quick fling, sure. The challenge Lucy presented intrigued him, nothing more.

  He didn’t think she had overheard much of his conversation on the phone. Next time he’d be more careful. He hated lying to Lucy, but circumstances dictated he keep up the farce. What were the chances he’d run into a gamer that she knew? But since he was only staying for a few more weeks, it didn’t really matter.

  Glancing at Dell, the big guy flexed his hand tightly on Lucy’s shoulder as a subtle reminder that Becca was supposed to be his date tonight. Regardless that his intentions were only to meet gamers and get some contacts for research, and that Becca had lied, he didn’t want to piss the guy off. Besides, the man’s hands were like giant bananas. Watching them caress Lucy’s slender shoulders made him cringe.

  “And then it turns out they were out of my size in pink, but all they had was peach. I mean, could you just imagine? I was shattered. Just shattered!”

  “Shadoobie.” Drew murmured the next lyric to a Rolling Stones song. An echo came from across the table. From Lucy. He started, looking at her hard. She snapped her eyes up, looking thunderstruck. This was getting weird. He had to get her alone and dig deep into that head of hers, figure out what made her tick. Not everyone quoted the Rolling Stones in conversation.

  “Whoa, you guys are huge dorks.” Dell laughed, hugging Lucy close for a second. She blinked owlishly, but she smoothed her features before he let her loose, keeping his arm over her shoulder.

  “Ha-ha, yeah. Those Rolling Stones. Guilty.” Drew laughed, trying not to sound as dazed as he felt. Shaking his head, Drew took another drink of beer and winked at Lucy over the top, causing her lips to quirk up in a charming smirk.

  “Hey, you know that American Idol tour is coming in a few weeks? I think they even do a few Rolling Stones songs.” Becca smiled up into his face. When had she gotten so close?

  “I heard they were coming to Milwaukee, that would be really fun,” Dell chimed in.

  “Are you serious? You watch that?” Lucy coughed on her sip of beer, half laughing.

  Until she caught the look on Dell’s face.

  “Of course I do. They are some really talented musicians.”

  “Oh, right. Of course.” She sobered.

  “Well, I didn’t expect that,” Drew muttered as Becca and Dell talked about the upcoming concert.

  “Yeah,” Lucy murmured, holding her beer up for a toast. “Shadoobie.”

  He met it, enjoying the inside joke.

  “You and me should go to the show, what do you think?” Dell smiled at Lucy.

  “What show, American Idol?” Drew could tell she was trying not to laugh.

  “Absolutely. It would be a blast. Our fourth date, right?” Dell pulled Lucy close and moved in for a kiss. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, and she turned her head to avoid the contact.

  Drew stared. Lucy was so easy to read, yet Dell seemed to not even pay attention. She was like the directions to Super Mario Bros., clean and concise. Meanwhile Dell was still playing Donkey Kong.

  “I think it would be really special. Maybe Andy and I
could come too, that would be awesome, right?”

  “Maybe. If the timing is right,” he murmured. Wondering if there was even time to pursue this attraction he had for this interesting person. Maybe he should walk away from her, just save everyone some stress when he left.

  “So, are you ready to go? Maybe have a nightcap at my place?” Becca interrupted his thoughts.

  “Gosh, I wish I could, but I have this...thing.” Drew helped Becca on with her coat, tucking her scarf around her neck firmly. As she tried to snuggle closer, he smartly buttoned up her coat.

  He couldn’t watch this any longer. Trying to be respectful of another guy’s date was draining. He might be a cad, but he was honest, in his own way.

  “A thing?” Becca looked distraught.

  “There’s a midnight release of the new X-Men... I was going to wait in line outside until the doors opened.” He opened the doors for the group, ushering them out into the freezing winds, which had developed into a nasty sideways sleet.

  Becca’s face predictably fell, with a disgusted little sneer. “In this weather?”

  Well, kudos to her, she didn’t mock a comic book, just his brains.

  “Yep, I’ve been excited about this one for months. See, in the last episode the evil scribe and the four-armed translator...”

  “I’ll make sure everyone gets home safe,” Dell interrupted, to Drew’s delight. He didn’t want to have to make up a whole plot to distract them.

  “Good night, Andy, will you call me?” Becca leaned up into his chest, pulling his own scarf snug around his neck, hauling him down for a kiss. He turned his face, and she landed on his cheek.

  “Sure,” he said, because it was easier than being honest. His gaze slid to Lucy again as she wound a rainbow scarf around her neck.

  Dell gave him a quick manly fist bump. “Later, man. Good meetin’ ya.”

  “The evil scribe and the four-armed interpreter, huh?” Lucy sauntered by, zipping up her fleece, pulling a woolly hat low over her ears. The rainbow pattern matched her scarf and mittens.

  “Wait.” He snagged her arm, pulling her into the alcove of the restaurant, out of the wind.

  Lucy glanced at his hand, allowing him to pull her aside. “Yes?”