“But you want to catch babies?” He smiled and she knew he was remembering—they both were. She could still feel the soft down of the baby’s head against her palm. “You sure knew what you were doing!”
“Hey, I’m not the only one!” she protested. “Mr. Apgar score. How did you know about that? And the cord?”
“I’m a scientist, remember?” he reminded her.
“You play with test tubes and Bunsen burners.” She snorted.
“Is that what you’ve gotten out of chemistry?” His nostrils flared, eyebrows going up.
“It doesn’t matter.” She grabbed her backpack and coat off the floor and stood. “I’m not going to pass.”
He watched her, his finger resting against his lips, his gaze sweeping over her. She was a mess—her hair tangled, her blouse only half tucked in, her skirt damp with God only knew what bodily fluids—but he looked at her like he wanted to bend her over his desk. Right there. The thought made her mouth go dry and her hands tremble as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.
“I have an idea,” he mused quietly.
She met those blue eyes and felt something burning in her belly, coiled like a spring. She wondered what he was thinking, but how could she doubt it, after the way he’d kissed her. But she’d kissed him back. And still wanted more. What was wrong with her?
“I won’t sleep with you for a passing grade,” she told him over her shoulder as she headed toward the door.
“Is that what you imagined I was going to propose?” He glanced up from where he’d been writing something on the back of a business card.
She hesitated, looking back at him, unsure now. “I don’t know.”
“I was going to say…” He stood, coming around his desk toward her. “I’d like you to meet someone.”
She waved him away, rolling her eyes and heading toward the door again. “Honestly, my father bought the best tutor money could buy. I really don’t think—”
He grabbed her backpack strap, pulling her fully back against him. She glanced over her shoulder and those blue eyes flashed and pinned her to the spot. She forgot how to breathe.
“Bailey, do you want to be a midwife?”
“More than anything in the world,” she managed. Her voice was small, breathy. He had her facing the periodic table, trapped between him and the wall.
“Then meet me here.” He slipped the business card into the open side pocket of her backpack. “Tomorrow at seven.”
“Is this a date?”
His lips parted and she remembered that kiss. Just thinking of it sent a jolt of electricity through her. His gaze dropped to her lips and she knew, she just knew, he was thinking of it too.
He’s your teacher, dummy! What are you doing?
He was so close she could smell him, that dark, masculine scent. And underneath that, they both smelled raw. Like sex. It made her feel a little wild, like an animal.
“Bailey.” He said her name like he was trying it out in his mouth for the first time, but his words didn’t match his demeanor. “I don’t sleep with my students.”
“I…I’m sure you don’t.” She swallowed, trying to remember how to breathe. In and out. Oh God, that didn’t help. “I didn’t mean—”
“But if you weren’t my student…”
“If…” she breathed. He was closer, pressing her against the wall. If her backpack hadn’t been in the way, she would have felt the heat of his bare chest, his shirt still open.
His lips brushed her ear. “I’d clear my desk and have you bent over it right now.”
She gulped, feeling the cool brick wall through the thin material of her blouse.
“I’m sure that’s just the adrenaline talking.” She gave him a way out but he didn’t take it. Instead, he shifted, and what she’d imagined he would feel like against her was nothing compared to the heat of him trapping her against the wall, her backpack slipped to the side. He braced himself against the wall, hands on either side of her head, as if he didn’t trust himself to touch her. But he leaned into her and she felt the iron heat of his erection through the denim of his jeans.
“No,” he whispered. “It’s my cock talking. I’m hard as a rock and it isn’t because of that short little skirt you’ve got on, although I can’t say I haven’t imagined pulling it up and seeing for myself what you’ve got hidden under there.”
Oh.My.God.
“Then what is it?” Bailey thought she might faint.
“You.” His lips against her ear made goose bumps appear up and down her arms. “You’re fucking amazing.”