Keeping his mind on track and away from the beautiful, five foot seven-inch, slender natural brunette who had rocked his world was the only ticket to his sanity. Continuing his lecture on 16th-century authors, he wrote several names on the board then turned to the students. “I’ve listed a few names for you. This is an easy question for anyone who has read the first two chapters. I’ve also given you some clues as to the major authors of this time period, but some names have been left off. These are the prominent ones for this century, and you should know all. I need a volunteer to come to the board and fill in the rest. If you know, raise your hand. Reading the first chapter was a requirement, not an option, as indicated in your syllabus.” Arms raised high as he scanned the room. Brandi’s was one of them. He knew she could answer the question; after all, she had won the Seymour, but he was reluctant to call on her. She kept her hand up and he caved. “Yes, Miss Miles?
“I can do that, Dr. Polaris.”
Tiffany whispered in disbelief. “After all that crap you and I went through in the hall, now you decide to get all up in his face?”
“I know the answer, Tiff, that’s all.”
“Please come up and fill in the missing authors, Miss Miles. Remember this is for 16th century, not the following one. The next few chapters are on this century as well. It’s a hard chapter to follow. It’s like a chapter within a chapter, if that makes any sense.”
She remembered how direct he was, the type who usually got what he wanted, at least for the night she was with him. However, she was quite sure that he hadn’t wanted her showing up in his class after what they had done together. She felt skittish as she approached him, as if he might bite.
Nonetheless, she knew the answers and wasn’t going to let anyone or anything get in the way of the A she knew she had to get. She took the chalk from his hands and filled in the correct answers, sensing his closeness, smelling his Burberry’s Classic after-shave. He smelled like sex, wonderful sex, incredible sex, and it was making her mind race. She just wanted to finish and get away from him as quickly as possible before her body language betrayed her. There was still one answer, and he expected it from her.
As Brandi worked, he secretly eyed every caramel inch of her frame. Yes, she was definitely the one from the club; sensual, flawless complexion, like honey-butter and just as soft. Her small frame fit perfectly against him and he remembered craving every minute with her. It was a body worth dumping his ‘no women allowed beyond sexual contact’ mission statement. Almost. It was the relationship part that wasn’t allowed. And Brandi Miles looked like a relationship waiting to happen. When he came back to reality, Brandi was almost finished filling in a wrong answer.
He took the chalk from her shaking, sweating hand, and filled in the correct name of the missing author. “This is excellent. You’ve got Anne Bradstreet, 1612–1672, Roger Williams, 1603–1683, Robert Beverly, 1673–1722, Daniel Defoe, 1660–1731, my personal favorite. You missed Mary Rowlandson, 1635–1678. Very good, though, Miss Miles. You were closer than expected with the correct response. I’m glad to see you involved, and remembered the women. They were very important during this era, an almost beginning to the women’s movement. Now I know why you received the Seymour.”
When Brandi returned to her seat, Tiffany whispered in her ear. “You belong to him, and you know it.”
“Drop it. Yes, Polaris is very sexy, but he’s also very off-limits, as you well know.”
“Fine. It’s dropped for now, but I know you won’t be able to leave it alone. I’ve known you since eighth grade, remember?”
“Tiffany, please.”
“Okay, I’ll cut you some slack.” They were both silent for a few seconds, but Tiffany couldn’t let anything rest. She kept on in a sly undertone. “I didn’t know you knew those authors the way you do. He likes smart women.”
“Didn’t you hear him? I should know what I’m doing in here. I received the Seymour, after all. Besides, how do you know he likes smart woman?”
“He told me.”
Brandi teased. “If he likes you for being smart then he should love me.”
“He does love you. Know what I’m saying?”
“Yes.”
Brandi spent the rest of the class trying to avoid looking at him, but he was so beautiful, so interesting. He made even the dullest of English lit fascinating. He was enthusiastic about it, born to teach it, and to make sure his students appreciated it as he did. For those reasons as well, Brandi couldn’t take her eyes from him; he was the most exciting instructor she had ever seen.
After class, Tiffany pulled Brandi’s sleeve. “You were mesmerized by him. You seemed to be in a trance over even the dullest of parts.”
“It’s not dull with him.”
“Yes, and for obvious reasons.”
“I don’t mean that.”
“I know what you’re saying; he is very good. He even has me lit up. So, you going up to talk to him, or is that brain of yours still on lockdown over ‘the situation’ you’re in?”
“Are you kidding? I can’t go up to him about that! Both he and I know what we did that night, and it’s a sticky situation.”
“You need to get over that and talk to him. He’s a man, not a boy, Brandi. He understands how the world works. Besides, if you talk to him, you could clear everything up.”
“Yeah, maybe, but it won’t be easy. This man saw me naked, for Christ’s sake. He saw every inch of me, and now I have to act as if nothing happened? How can I do that? I don’t know how to get out of a man’s bed one day and pretend nothing happened the next. I’m used to relationships.”
“Then have one with him and get it done. I wish that were my only problem.” She nodded in Tim’s direction. “Look at him, Brandi. Women crawling all over him, but he keeps looking over here at you. You could at least talk to the guy.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll talk to him, but only because you may fall apart if I don’t.” Clearing the air with him was a good idea. But it took Tiffany to make her do it.
CHAPTER 2
After the entourage of women left, Brandi approached him, reminding herself that Tiffany was right about clearing the air. She cleared her throat. “Dr. Polaris?”
Without looking up, he responded, not knowing exactly know what to say. He quickly got his head together. “Yes, Miss Miles? What can I help you with?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“I know you do.” He stood to greet her, lightly resting his hands on his slender hips. “Both of us need to talk about some rather serious circumstances.” He looked at the clock, then back to her. “Now is not a good time.”
Her thought processes were a jumble as she looked at him. “I can’t believe this is you in here.”
“Neither can I. This really took me off-guard…the last thing I expected this morning.”
“I understand. What time can I come back today?”
“After class is good; I have a prep period at three. Is that a good time for you?”
“Sure. I’ll be getting out of physics and can head right over.”
He moved a little closer to her, so close that she could see the tiny laugh lines at the corners of his mouth. The dimness of the nightclub had hidden just how good looking he was. Looking at him in the light of day, she saw that he was beautiful, but wrong for her in every conceivable way.
His voice brought her back. “Well, then, is there anything else?”
“No, nothing that can’t wait.”
“Then I’ll see you. I need to finish this coffee. I have a sudden need for extreme caffeine.” He sat back and picked up a stack of forms.
Directness seemed to be his preferred approach. When he ended things, he really ended them. They had their fun then it was gone. Just like that, just like now.
There was a bandage on the side of his forehead. It seemed like a trademark, and it was a sexy one, a bad boy’s. She walked to the door without mentioning it.
“Brandi, our time together a month ago was out of this world, for lack of a better term. I just wanted you to know that.”
“It certainly was, Dr. Polaris. God, I’ve gotten so used to calling you Jacob. I don’t even know what to call you now.”
“For our purposes it should be Dr. Polaris.”
“That’ll be hard since I know you as Jacob.”
His eyes shifted a bit. “I am sorry about that but…”
“I’m sure I can handle saying Dr. Polaris, but it’s your trademark that gave you away today. I wasn’t going to mention it, but…”
“Trademark?”
“The bandage. How did you get that bump on your head?”
“Someone pulled a costly move last night.”
“And, as usual, you took care of him, right?”
“How do you know that?”
“Remember, you and I talked about it after we danced? I asked you what happened.” She started smiling.
Becoming more and more bewitched, he added, “And…?”
“You said the same thing, that someone pulled a costly move.”
“That’s my stock answer.”