Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Maybe it was because I was running scared, and he was there to save me.
The kiss had been one thing, but when he’d scooped me into his arms and pulled me away like that, I knew it was everything I wanted — escape, release, and something wild. A gorgeous stranger to take me away from all the shit in my life, if even just for a little while.
…And now, it turned out, that gorgeous stranger was my gorgeous professor.
I’d run out of the bar right afterwards and run smack into Matt, who was even more wasted than when I’d run from him before. And that’s where we’d been when Professor Jameson — Nolan — had stepped in.
I turned and glanced at him in the dim light from the dashboard, and felt a shiver tease through me. God he was gorgeous. Seriously, seriously gorgeous. Dark hair, bright blue eyes, this perpetual five o’clock scruff, and the man was built. I mean, he was in his mid-thirties, and the guy was in perfect shape. Big, broad shoulders, the kind of big arms that make girls lose their ability to think, and a great ass.
Professor Jameson was the kind of teacher that every single girl in the class had an enormous crush on, and lusted after — myself included. I’d been drooling over my stern, take-no-shit economics professor since freshman year, and here I was at two o’clock in the morning in his car, driving into the night.
…And fifteen minutes before, he’d been fucking my brains out against a bathroom door.
“I— I don’t live in the dorms.”
Nolan nodded, his face white. Okay, I got it. I got that he was probably a little bit freaked out about what we’d just done. I mean, if it got out, I might get in trouble, but he’d be fucked.
“Alright, so where’s your apartment?”
I was silent as I looked away.
“Cora.”
I closed my eyes, my cheeks blushing with embarrassment. “I, uh…”
I felt the car slow to a stop.
“Where do you live, sweetheart?”
The change from cold to warm in his voice broke through the walls I was trying to put up. I shook my head, my eyes still closed as I tried my hardest not to cry.
“Could you just drive me to the student parking lot back at school? That’s where my car is parked.”
“Cora, I’m happy to take you home, just tell me where—”
“That is my home, okay?”
The words just blurted out, and suddenly, the tears came too. I looked away, wiping at my face, when suddenly, his arms were around me. I turned on instinct or something, burying my face in his chest and letting the tears I’d been holding back for weeks just come out. Nolan held me tight, his big, strong hands stroking my back softly.
“Hey, I’m here,” he murmured into my hair. “I gotcha, Cora.”
We stayed like that a minute, just sitting in the darkness of the idling car as he held me close and let me cry until I was done.
“I was kind of staying with Matt, but—”
“But you’re sure as fuck not going back there,” he growled, pulling back to look me hard in the eyes. I nodded, sniffling and biting my lip.
“And you’re not going to sleep in your damn car.”
“It’s really fine,” I mumbled.
“It’s really not.”
His eyes narrowed, flickering, before he nodded.
“Okay, you’re coming home with me.”
Something flip-flopped inside of me, and for the first time in I don’t even remember how long, I felt the spark of something warm in my heart.
“Profes— Nolan, you don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, well, I am.”
“Look, if this is about…” I blushed, looking down. “If this is about what happened, I’m not gonna tell—”
“We’ll talk about that later,” he said, his voice edged and dark.
I scowled. “You don’t have to baby me, and you don’t have to take care of me, okay?” I snapped. “I’m really—”
“Fine? Okay? Sleeping in your car in a fucking parking lot?” He narrowed his eyes at me as he shook his head. “I don’t think so. And I don’t live far.”
He turned, putting the car back into drive and pulling onto the road. But that spark of heat I’d felt never went away. In fact, it grew, and expanded, and slowly melted through me. I turned again, feeling my heart skipping a beat and jumping up into my throat as I snuck another glance at my professor. Twice my age, gorgeous, sexy as hell, and taking me home.
“Uh, I should probably mention something else, actually.”
I turned to see him frowning in the dim light of the car.
“You’re not my only houseguest.”
“Sit tight, I’ll get you something to sleep in.”
He disappeared down the dark hallway, opening a door at the end that I guessed was his room. I turned back to glance over the amazing room I was going to be sleeping in. A huge, four-post and absolutely cozy looking bed stood against one wall, and big french doors opened to a balcony. I’d literally never slept in a room that nice.