Chapter 12 Aspen
Aspen
“I wondered if he realized that the way he looked at me was far more intimate than copping a feel could ever be.” - Maggie Stiefvater, Shiver
I’d been stood up. I hadn’t talked to Philip since the day before when we’d revised our plans, but I figured we were still on.
Oh, how wrong I was.
But I was already here, so I stayed and kept looking for him. I didn’t want to become a lame loser and go home alone in the nicest, sexiest dress I owned to sulk on the couch as I ate bon-bons and watched reruns of my one true love, Damon, on The Vampire Diaries. I wanted my damn date to show.
So, here I wandered through clusters of partying friends, feeling alone and abandoned. Uncomfortable to find myself surrounded by so many college students, I wondered why Philip had even chosen this place. Wouldn’t he want a break from this crowd?
Thank God, no one had recognized me as their English professor yet, but I’d certainly recognized a few of them. Or maybe I should say no one recognized me until I finally approached the bar after searching the place for Philip for the past forty-five minutes.
But as one of my student’s eyes widened in shock and he uttered, “Dr. Kavanagh?” I gaped back at the football star, deciding Joseph Conrad had been a genius when he’d written Heart of Darkness and coined the phrase, The horror, the horror! Because that was exactly how I felt. Absolutely horrified.
Number one way to make my night a living hell: toss Noel Gamble into the mix while I was being stood up on a date.
I moaned out a little whimper under my breath, wondering what I’d ever done to karma to make it kick me in the tits like this. If Philip showed up now, I’d never be able to concentrate on him because Noel looked incredible in that tight black shirt. And his bulky arms were so...
Oh, yum.
Why did he have to work here of all places?
Clearing my throat, I straightened my shoulders and tried to pretend it was perfectly normal for me to be here, wearing the most-revealing clothes I owned, and relishing some potent alcohol to ease my mangled nerves.
“Y-yes. I...I’ll take a Bud Light Lime.” There. That had sounded good...enough. Normal, average woman ordering a drink from a normal average bartender...who just so happened to star in all the dirty dreams I’d had this past week.
He gaped at me a second longer, then shook his head and dully repeated, “Bud Light Lime,” as if he was a recorder. But as soon as the words seemed to soak into his brain, he wrinkled his brow and snorted. “A Bud Light Lime? Really?”
“What?” I frowned, curious about the venom in his voice.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just thought you’d be more the type to order a blushing champagne in a fluted glass.” He fluttered his eyelashes to complete his mockery.
His contempt shocked me. I would’ve thought he’d despise me a lot less by now. I’d finally given him an A. I’d assured him I would keep his secret. I’d even pretended not to notice when he’d almost kissed me. It hurt to realize he still thought of me as the bitch of the century.
“Well, I’m not,” I mumbled, trying to hide the pain. “May I have a Bud Light Lime or do I need to go somewhere else for a drink?”
“No, no need to go. I can hook you up.” A smirk twisted his lips, and his eyes went hard. “I.D. please.”
When he held out his hand, I gaped at his extended palm. “You’re kidding me?”
His expression glittered with evil relish as he slowly shook his head. “No, ma’am. I am not. Underage drinking is serious business, and we here at Forbidden don’t allow that kind of activity.”
Muttering under my breath, I snapped open the clasp on my purse and began to dig around. “You’re getting a kick out of this, aren’t you, Gamble?” I ripped my driver’s license free and thrust it his way.
“You have no idea,” he murmured as he slipped the plastic from my fingers before lowering his gaze. A second later, his eyebrows crinkled. “Aspen, huh?”
Folding my arms over my chest, I scowled. “That’s right. What about it?”
Noel shook his head. “Nothing. I just didn’t know your first name.”
I ground my teeth and held out my hand. “May I have my ID back, now? Noel?”
He pulled it away from me and shook his head. “Hold on. I still need to check your age.” When his gaze flickered to my birth date, his jaw dropped open. “Holy shit, you’re only twenty-three?” His face zipped up. “How the hell do you have a PhD at twenty-three?”
I sighed and flicked some hair out of my eyes impatiently. “Let’s see. I graduated high school at fifteen, earned my bachelor’s degree at eighteen, my masters at twenty, and I received my doctorate at the top of my class last year. Add that up, and that makes me...what do you know, twenty-three.”
Shaking his head slowly back and forth, he gawked. “Well, shit. Graduated high school at fifteen? Fuck, I should’ve known you were one of those freaky girl geniuses.” Then he hissed a derisive snort.
“I’m also thirsty.” I leaned forward and yanked my driver’s license from his hand. “How about that drink now?”
“Sure, Professor.” His voice was contemptuous as he turned away and sauntered off. I glared after him, upset to realize everything I thought we’d shared yesterday must’ve been nothing but a figment of my imagination. And yet I wasn’t quite upset enough not to ogle his tight ass in those blue jeans.
Seriously. Wow.
Forcing myself to look away, I opened my purse and pretended to dig around, though I’d already had my money ready to pay before I’d even seen who was behind the counter.
“Here.” His voice was none too polite as he clunked an open bottle on the counter before me.
“Thank you.” I gave a regal nod and took a tentative sip.
He stayed in front of me after I paid, watching me drink. His stance brooded as if he couldn’t wait for me to leave, but his eyes...oh God, his eyes.
Growing warm under his direct stare, I motioned around us, hoping to say something that would at least get him to look away, because his captivated attention on me was making the insides of my thighs tingle.
A slow burn spread from the pit of my stomach and out to the tips of my toes. “I didn’t realize you worked here.”
“Huh.” His lips twisted with scorn even as his eyes continued to devour me. “You mean, there was one thing I forgot to mention in my paper?”
I smiled despite his glare. “Apparently. Though actually, you did say you worked at a bar to support your siblings. You just didn’t name which one.”
“Right.” He nodded slowly, and his gaze followed my every move as I took another sip.
While he tracked the bottle in my hand to my mouth, my stomach tangled into knots.
I gulped nervously, and I swear his stare tried to follow the liquid down my throat.
What was even more discerning, his attention returned to my lips when I lowered the bottle.
If his eyes had been a tongue, he would’ve just licked me from my mouth and down my chin, over my throat to just between my breasts. ..and back up again.
“I can’t freaking believe you’re only two years older than me.”
The comment surprised me so much I spilled a little beer down my chin on my next sip. Moving quickly to wipe it away with the back of my hand, though he’d seen the entire thing, I cleared my throat. “Why? How old do I look?”
His lips tipped up in amusement. “Nineteen. But that’s not the point.”
“Then what is the point?” I glanced away, beyond antsy to be stuck under his direct perusal.
Leaning in close, he lowered his voice. “You act more like you’re fifty in class.”
I turned to study him. Periwinkle eyes gleaming with an emotion I couldn’t name, he just stared back, the challenge in his gaze commanding me to return fire and come up with some kind of retort.
“Wow,” I said, internally cringing because I could detect a catch in my voice when I’d tried so hard to make my tone sound as dry and unimpressed as his had. “You must charm all the ladies with that kind of flattery.”
He just chuckled. “Bet I get laid more than you do.” And now even his words dared me to duel with him.
With a roll of my eyes, I snorted and pulled my shoulders back, putting more space between us. “I wouldn’t say that’s anything to brag about.”
I couldn’t believe I’d answered him that way. I should’ve gotten affronted and called him out for being out-of-line with such an unprofessional comment to his teacher. In fact, I should still call him on it now. Yes. Yes, I think I would.
But as soon as I opened my mouth, another customer called him away.
He continued to hold my gaze as he held up a hand to the other person.
Then he smiled slightly at me. After he skimmed a quick gaze down my body, he turned and left to help someone else, leaving me bereft and heated in all the wrong places.