"You brought me dinner…to my night class on campus?" I mumbled the question, trying to process what he'd just said but clearly not doing such a great job.
"Uh-huh." He steered me forward with a palm burning into the skin of my lower back where my shirt had ridden up a little. It was only a few of his fingers touching me, but I felt every millimeter of contact in perfect clarity. "And we better quit standing here in the hallway and start eating before your professor smokes his last cigarette and comes back."
"Everything okay, Winter?" Ryan called from behind me. Seriously? Ryan was nice enough, but I wasn't interested in anything beyond a peer study group relationship, and I didn't think he'd understood that message yet. Was he checking on me because a few of us usually headed for the vending machines at break, and I was changing up the routine? Ryan depicted the man I was used to but hated as well with a seething passion—guys whose interest in me was first and foremost because of my trust fund. Sometimes it sucked being a rich girl, but I knew better than to ever voice that complaint out loud. It was something I had to accept and deal with silently, because it wasn't going away.
I sighed and turned to answer. "Everything's fine, Ryan. I'm with a friend."
"That's right, douchebag," James muttered just loud enough it was possible Ryan heard him as he continued to lead us farther away. I sighed again, dreading the dual inquisitions of "who is that guy" which would surely come from both James and Ryan before this night was over.
"Where are we going, and why are you here again?"
"This will do." James stopped in front of the next door into an empty classroom and tugged me inside. He flicked on the light and set his bag on the nearest table. "I already told you why I'm here, Win." He stuck an arm inside the bag and lifted his eyes up to mine. "To feed you."
Those three little words came out of his mouth laced with pure sex. To feed you. I think I might have moaned out loud. "Ahh…w-what did you bring m-me?" Screw that I was still confused. To render me captive, all James had to do was speak a three-word sentence in some kind of flirting sex-language…in which he was completely fluent.
He grinned as he took the lid off of a white Styrofoam bowl and stuck in a plastic spoon. "Clam chowder from Shorty's."
My stomach took the opportunity to remind me I was suddenly ravenously hungry by growling loud enough for him to probably hear.
"You know me well." It was no surprise he knew what I loved best at Shorty's, because we'd eaten from there a million times over the years. I took his offered bowl of my favorite soup in the world and thanked him before dropping into a chair. I busied myself with one of the hand-wipe packets he'd set out on the table before taking a spoonful. It tasted divine as usual, and I moaned on purpose.
"I most certainly do." He stretched his legs out and leaned back all relaxed while watching me eat.
"You do," I said after a full minute of silence. Then I stared him down as he lounged in his chair with his hands clasped behind his head. "But what I don't know is why you've brought this most delicious soup from Shorty's to me at the precise location of my night class on campus, and at the exact time we're ready to take our break. That all takes coordination and forward thinking, James, and I'd like an explanation for what in the hell is going on here"
"Well, it wasn't really that hard to find you on campus since you told me last week the professor was Drummond and the class was ethics. No, that part was easy." He unclasped his hands from behind his head and placed them on the table. "What freaked me the hell out was that you don't have your car here to take you home at ten when your class is over." The easy grin was now replaced with a touch of annoyance. "I'd planned to take you to get something to eat before class, but imagine my surprise when I found your car parked neatly in its spot. I said to myself, 'Winter wouldn't take the T to campus for an evening class. She's too smart to risk her safety like that.' But apparently I was wrong." He set his jaw forward…calling my bluff. "Please tell me you weren't planning to ride the T alone this late at night, Win."
Shit. I couldn't help squirming in my chair under his intense interrogation. "I…was…I didn't think it would be that big a deal. The T is safe enough," I offered lamely.
"The fuck it is," he barked. "What about the part where you're alone and walking that many blocks to get to the station and then to get home? That's not fucking safe, and you know it."
"I don't do it that often, only when I can't come directly from the center." Even I had to admit my excuse sounded stupidly weak. "I didn't work today."
"Even once is too often," he said sternly, the edge of his jaw set in a hard line. Still deadly handsome even while pissed at me. Of course.
"I'll drive from now on for the Wednesday night class. It's the only evening I have…and usually someone walks me to my car, so you really don't have to worry."
He snorted at that response. "You mean someone like Ryan the douchebag stalker?"
"Ryan's not that bad." He kind of was though.
"Trust me, Ryan's got his eye on you, and before you say no, please remember I'm a guy who recognizes exactly what that looks like. He definitely wants you." James was leaning back again, but now he had his fingers steepled as he flexed them back and forth while studying me.
"No, he really wants what's in my wallet," I snapped back. "All guys do once they find out my last name." And here I thought women were the only ones with dollar signs in their eyes when it came to a partner. Chris certainly proved that wrong for me.
He frowned at my comment and then checked his watch. "You have seven minutes left. Better finish your soup."
"Don't think I haven't noticed how you never answered my question of why you brought it to me in the first place."
"Six minutes." His stern expression had me squirming again.
I took another few bites before popping the lid back on and settling my eyes on him. I waited for my explanation. I wasn't letting it go.
He stared right back at me, but his expression had softened to the point that the sternness had been replaced with another cocky smirk.
"James." I shook my head at him, exasperated.
"Winter." He blinked once with his slow sexy eyes raking over me as if I was naked.
"Why did you come?"
His eyes flared a tiny bit at the word "come" and just like that we were back to the Land of Innuendo with the comments being tossed around.
"So, you won't tell me." I waited while another beat of silence stretched out like an aeon of time, desperately wishing I could know what was really going on inside his head.
He finally spoke. "Because a granola bar for dinner is not acceptable for you."
I scoffed at that pitiful lie. "You expect me to believe that you, my very busy corporate lawyer friend, have time to be concerned about my lack of a proper dinner on one night of my week."
He nodded slowly from his lounging position in the chair, seemingly at ease with my question.
"Was that a yes?" I pushed for a little more, even though my heart felt like it might bust out of my chest.
"Mm-hmm."
"You care about what I eat for dinner," I said again, unbelieving.
"I care about everything that has to do with you." His eyes burned into mine as he said it.
How I managed to stumble back into my seat for Dr. Drummond part deux I will never know. I certainly didn't hear one word or write down a single note. I ignored Ryan's curious glances and watched the clock instead. My heart was racing too fast to comprehend anything beyond what James had said to me during the break. I care about everything that has to do with you.
Was he telling me he was attracted to me? Tonight it was hard to justify his intentions merely as that of a concerned friend. He'd been nothing but clear when he'd made the comment. He'd also been clear about the fact he'd be waiting when class was over to take me home.
Chapter Four
JAMES