7. Chapter Seven
As I push open the door and step into CampusBite Café from the bustling street outside, the first thing that hits me is the comforting aroma of freshly brewed coffee mingling with the subtle sweetness of baked goods. The atmosphere instantly envelops me, a warm embrace compared to the brisk air outside. A few students sit in booths, their faces awash with the light from their laptops. The occasional whir of a coffee machine sounds.
That’s all background to me. My focus is on Steph’s slender back as she walks in front of me to an empty booth, face tucked behind a curtain of dark hair. “Will this do?”
It’s the farthest from the entrance. She turns and waits for me to nod before she slides into the booth and hunkers into the corner. She pulls her laptop from her backpack, sets it on the table and opens it up, creating a very effective screen. I settle on the seat opposite and watch as she adds to the work we’ve already done.
The waitress stops at our table with her electronic ordering pad at the ready. “What can I get for you two this evening?”
Steph glances from the menu to the waitress. “I’ll have a cheese and bacon burger, please.”
“And for you, sir?”
I don’t need to look at the menu. I know the foods on these tiny laminated sheets backwards. This café is on the outskirts of the university and one of the places I frequent.
“I’ll have the same. Two sides of fries. And a pitcher of Coke, please.”
Steph hasn’t ordered enough. I’ll give her my fries. The granola bar she ate earlier is not enough. It’s the only thing I’ve seen her eat today. But she didn’t accept the sandwiches I bought for lunch. Or the fruit I laid out between us to snack on, either.
“Water for me please,” she adds softly, and my brows pull into a frown.
“Be back in a sec.” As the waitress moves off, Steph returns her attention back to her computer. “I was thinking, if we add on a manufacturing arm for our company, we’d hypothetically be able to save half of our budget off contracting costs alone.”
“Don’t forget, we’d have to get licensing from the planning office if we did that, and pay fees that are adopted into those contracting costs.”
She brings her gaze to mine but she’s not really looking at me. She’s focused inwards the way she’s been most of the day, which suits me. I can drink her in without her being self-conscious. The sparks in the depths of her eyes draw me in and I can practically see her mind processing a million thoughts. Her lips part and I lean in. “True, but we can absorb those expenses into the costs of material and it would only result in adding half a cent per product. I’d rather pay the licensing and work with local government, than potentially be held up because of a contractor if they miss anything. In this instance, the cost of in-sourcing after the set up cost of a manufacturing arm beats the cost of potentially being out of business for months or having to find new contractors.”
We’ve spent hours expanding my humble class assignment into a quality dissertation. The business we developed, EcoFlow, and the high-efficiency sustainable home appliances designed to minimize energy consumption and reduce the carbon footprint of the average American household has been all her creation. This will be a quality dissertation.
She’s brilliant.
Beautiful.
I want more.
I want her to be mine.
The realization hits me with the strength of a sledgehammer. I sit there, heart racing, blood burning as I let the shockwaves ripple through me.
I want her to be mine. Mine.
“How can you be sure a contractor could put a business out of work like that?” I don’t take my eyes off her. I want to see every little twitch on her face. Every gesture.
We’ve been stuffed in my office where the air became stained with her scent. Where I’ve slowly been digging myself into this grave. I know I should contain myself when it comes to her. The difference between right and wrong blares as loud as a nuclear blast in my head.
But knowing what I should do and being able to do it are two different things. The more time we’ve spent together, the more I want what I shouldn’t have. And the less I care.
Hours have passed but they may as well have been seconds. The mystery surrounding her has only grown.
How does she know what she knows?
She shrugs. Shrugs as though the answer is obvious and not something any student her age could possibly know. “Not every contractor could put a business out of work, of course. Only contractors who have too much power. Once that happens, it pays to reassess and invest in your own business. Always stop outside influences from putting you out of work, and contractors are a resource that should never be powerful enough to do that. No one else will be as invested in your business as you, and you should never expect they will.”
I try to reconcile the twenty-three-year-old woman sitting opposite me with the level of business acumen she’s displaying.
“How do you know all of this?” I ask.
Her brow creases. “About what?”
“About contractors. Licensing. Town planning.” They’re all very important, and I’d expect someone who works in industry to know. Not a student.
Her gaze drops to the table and she plays with a corner of the worn menu. “My father is in business. He talks to me about it. I’ve picked things up along the way.”
My brows rise. “Your father must have a successful business.”
Her lips part and she sucks in a sharp breath. “How do you know how successful my father’s business is? Do you know him?”
There’s a slightly panicked edge to her tone and I don’t like hearing it there. I don’t know what I said but I also don’t want her defensive. “Not at all. But it’s a logical conclusion. Your father would have to run a bigger-sized business if he talked to you about that level of running it.”
Her gaze returns to the menu and she fidgets with the edge again. “I guess some would call it big where I’m from.”
I want to ask her where she’s from. What business her father runs. Hell, her knowledge keeps me vigilant. “And where is that?”
Her lips press together and she flicks another of her unsure gazes my way before she drops her eyes back to the table. “New York.”
“State or city?” I press. New York is a big place. I want to know exactly where she’s from.
The pause grows long enough for me to know she’s stalling. I’m about to press when the waitress comes from behind me and places our order on the table. “There we go. Burgers. Fries and drinks. Would you like anything else while I’m here?”
“No thank you. We’re good for now.” I’ll make sure to remember to order two pieces of the apple pie I saw in the cabinet when we came here. But later. It will give me an excuse to keep Steph here a little while longer. I don’t want this day to end. Or this dissertation. For the first time in years, I’ve…enjoyed myself.
“Here you go.” I slide one serve of the fries next to her burger. “This is for you.”
She leans against the seat and shakes her head. “But I didn’t pay for it.”
“Consider it sustenance because I’ve kept you working all day and I know you have other subjects you have to work on. Granted, they’re not as wildly exciting as business analytics, but the work still needs to be done,” I say, aiming to lace some humor into my words to relax her.
She’s not relaxed though, and she’s eyeing the fries and worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. Money is a sticking point for her.
“It’s okay, Steph. You’re doing me the favor. I need another paper to my name to keep my tenure as professor.”
She scoffs. “You already have five. More than most people your age in your position.”
Warmth diffuses in the center of my chest. “You’ve noticed?”
Color dusts her cheeks, but my stomach eases when she picks up a fry and pops it in her mouth. “Shall we continue while we eat? I’m sure you have better things to do than work all day with me.”
No. I don’t. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
I start to formulate words to that effect that won’t scare her off when the bell over the door rings and several of my students walk in. They take the booth nearest the door and sit without noticing us. Not that they would. They’re deep in animated conversation and looking as though they’re having fun. Something I’ve noticed Steph never has. I turn to find her rammed into the corner as far as she can fold herself and hunkered down with her screen covering most of her face.
She’s hiding from everyone and my mind jumps to the scene in the lecture room.
“Is Daniel Adam causing problems with other students? I can have a word with the Dean and have him expelled. Just say the word, and I’ll have him taken care of tonight. You’ll never have to see him on campus again.” There’s enough of a growl in my voice that her eyes flare and the pretty rose hue drains from her cheeks.
“No!” She jolts, then collects herself. “No. It’s not that…I promise. There’s nothing to worry about.”
But there is. And I do. “Then what is worrying you? Tell me and I’ll help you.”
She shakes her head and disappears behind the computer she uses as a shield. “You’re doing more than enough just by letting me do this paper with you. I can’t ask for more than that.”
I hear the wistful note in her voice. The longing that washes over her face. She’s covering up again, but the more I push, the harder she’ll push back. I nod. I make a point of picking up my burger and taking a bite and watch as she does the same, taking a smaller, much daintier bite than mine.
“There’s a little café in my home town that’s like this. The burgers are similar too. I go there every time I go back home.” I try to sound conversational. A hard task when every sense is locked onto her.
I’m rewarded when her gaze returns to me. “It’s exactly like this?”
“The fries are a little crispier. I think it has to do with the country air.”
“Fries don’t get crispy because of country air.” She takes another bite. Her lips close over the burger bun and my stomach does a slow languid roll that drops into my balls.
“It does in Willowbrook.” I watch as I reel her in.
She swallows, fidgets, and I know I have her attention back when she asks, “Willowbrook? I haven’t heard of that town.”
“Kind of ‘nowhere’ with a population of ‘not many’ in the state of Vermont. Known for its natural beauty, quaint country life and lack of personal space when it comes to the local town gossip,” I say. “Actually I’m not selling it very well. It’s not as bad as that. The local town gossip is a hundred years old and as deaf as a post. The best thing about the town is a little cabin my family owns that we all vacation at every year.”
She holds the burger, almost forgotten, in her hands. She’s definitely forgotten about the students chatting in the corner. And Daniel Adam, whom I know she has an issue with. I make a mental note to do some digging. He doesn’t have the right to make Steph miserable. I’m enjoying seeing the spark of life across her face that’s usually a mask of forced calm.
Another wall she hides behind.
Now though…now I’m captured as her face softens and a dreamy look glosses her eyes. “You have a cabin? I’ve always wanted to vacation in a cabin. With no one around. Just me. And nature.”
“It’s by a lake,” I say, watching excitement flare over her.
“It is?”
Most of my holidays were taken up fishing with my father and brother. Early mornings and late evenings lounging and chatting. “There’s also a pier. The lake is filled with very hungry trout. They’re tastier than this burger.”
“Better than the fries?”
My balls kick into my abdomen at the spark in her eyes. “Much better than the fries.”
But not as good as her. Never as good as her.
Clatter and a loud laugh pull her attention from me to the students. They leave the table and pay for their order at the counter before leaving. Steph shuts her laptop and slides it into her backpack. She’s only eaten half her meal.
“We haven’t finished eating,” I say.
She slides half way down the bench and put the strap of her backpack on her shoulders. She’s leaving. “It’s okay. I’m not really hungry. I should be getting back…’
“I would like to finish outlining the business scope.” It’s late but I can’t let her go. She hesitates and I push forward.
“If we get this last bit sorted, we can start fleshing out a budget for staffing. We can’t run a business without employees.” I smile and pretend I’m okay with her leaving. I pick up my cell and open my calendar app. “If you’re tired that’s okay but the next two days are heavy with classes for me. I have private student sessions booked, as well as staff meetings. We could get back together in five, maybe six days’ time?”
It will be too long for her. She won’t want to stop. It’s not in her nature. My cock jerks when she gnaws her bottom lip between her white teeth. “Six days?”
I keep my expression calm and sip my drink. “That would be the earliest.”
“The café closes at midnight,” she says.
“We’ll go to the library,” I say. My entire focus is on her next words. On the words I’ll say to tap her over the edge.
“We won’t be able to get in at this hour,” she says.
“I have a staff pass. I can go there whenever I need to,” I say.
Her eyes ping from the table, to the counter behind me, to the tired waitress who wants to go home. I resist the urge to fidget when those coffee eyes return to me.
Please don’t find me wanting.
I can barely contain myself when her gaze clears and I know she’s made her decision. “Okay.”