Hot For Teacher(148)
“Yes, Dr. Anderson,” she choked through the lump forming in her throat.
Jake held her captive with his eyes as a slow, sexy smile spread across his perfect lips. Damn. Savannah’s heart stuttered. A knowing grin teased his lips as he tipped his head to the side and raised his brows at her. But then he rubbed the scruff of his jaw, turned, and redirected his attention to the rest of the lecture hall.
“Alright, class, please turn to page one hundred and seventy-three of your text. Now, who can tell me the moral and political implications of the Emancipation Proclamation?”
At least, that’s what Savannah thought he might have said. Not that she wasn’t paying attention. On the contrary. He had her undivided attention. He may have jumped right into his lecture without so much as a second thought for her, but she was still lost in the inescapable moment when his eyes had held hers. It was impossible to concentrate with her heart hammering in her chest. It was difficult to hear his words with her pulse thundering in her ears. She found herself watching his lips move as he spoke, and fantasizing about what it would be like to kiss them.
In all the years Savannah had known him, this was the first time Jake Anderson had every truly looked at her and seen her. The thought made her head spin. The most intoxicating thought of all was how he’d made it more than clear he liked what he saw. She’d spent most of her life flying under the radar, not caring to be seen by those around her. Except for him. She’d have traded her two front teeth to have him look at her like that when they were kids. But he’d never given her second glance. At last he’d looked at her. And she liked it far more than she dared. If a single look could turn her insides to mush, she was terrified to think of what a single touch could do. A single kiss…
The hour passed by slower than ever. Savannah normally loved to listen to Jake lecture, no matter how trivial the subject matter, but her anticipation made the clock hands move as though trapped in rapidly drying concrete. She wanted to scale the wall and move the hands to the time when the bell would chime and the hall full of students would empty.
Eventually the time came and Savannah leapt out of her seat at the sound of the bell. Loitering at the front of the classroom, she hugged her text book to her chest as she waited for the last stream of stragglers to find the exit. A group of noisy girls whispered and pointed as they stalled near the doorway, eyeing her as though she’d slashed all their tires and kissed all their boyfriends combined. Savannah chewed her lower lip and contemplated shooing them out herself. But Jake saved her the effort.
With a stunning smile and a few charismatic words, he ushered the girls out the door and closed it behind them. The colossal lecture hall suddenly seemed way too small, with just the two of them behind closed doors. Savannah knew she should worry about the gossip certain to spread about her ‘meeting’ with Dr. Anderson. But she couldn’t bring herself to care. Let them talk. What did she care? She had the brains to back up any grades earned.
“So, you wanted to speak with me?” Savannah prompted nervously, hugging her book a little tighter to her racing heart.
The corner of Jake’s mouth tipped up into a wry smile. “Yes. Come with me.”
He led her into his office and shut that door behind her as well. If the massive lecture hall had felt tiny with just the two of them, Jake’s office felt outright intimate. In spite of its tight, institutional design, it had a rugged, masculine feel, much like the man. Degrees hung on the wall alongside painted metal shelving with football trophies and various awards. Piles of papers littered his desk in an unorganized fashion certain to make Savannah twitch. How did he even find the right papers to grade? Never mind. Not her monkeys, not her circus…
“Please, have a seat,” he said from behind her, crossing the room to round his desk and sink into the chair behind it.
Savannah obediently lowered herself into the chair across from his desk. “Dr. Anderson--”
“Jake,” he corrected her softly.
“Dr. Anderson, I—”
“Jake,” he repeated, twirling a ballpoint pen between his fingers like a tiny baton. “Vanna, I was there when you lost your first tooth and when your mom had to cut all your hair off because Preston stuck gum in it. I think that kind of history warrants first names.”
Savannah smiled at the memory. “You lied and said I looked like Audrey Hepburn with my shorn head.”
“Well, I couldn’t very well tell you that you looked like a cancer patient, could I?”
She chuckled. “No, you left that to Preston.”
“Hey, one of us had to be the nice brother,” Jake laughed, his bright eyes dancing with amusement. Savannah loved the way his whole face lit up when he laughed. The warmth of his mirth heated her insides like sitting next to a crackling fire on a winter night.