Oh god, there’s that dimple again. Put that thing away!
Standing side by side for the first time, I now realized the contrast in our size. He had to be at least a foot taller than me. His broad shoulders and muscular build were so dominating it made me feel even smaller than I already was.
As if he could read my mind, Blake said, “You’re a tiny little thing, aren’t you?”
I rolled my eyes. “The only thing tiny about me is my height.”
His eyes fluttered quickly to my chest, and I realized how bad that sounded. I sucked in a sharp breath. “Um, I mean . . . I was talking about . . . Oh, just forget it. I don’t know what’s gotten into me today!” My personality. I meant my personality! I hung my head in shame.
He smirked. Thankfully, he threw me back my bone. “Shall we?” Blake extended one hand in front of us, touching the small of my back with the other to inch me along.
Heat rippled up my spine, that small bit of contact making it seem like September had just turned into July. And there were those fire knots again. I clutched my belly, willing them away.
“You okay?” Blake took my upper arms in his hands and studied my face. After the other night, he probably thought I was a fainting spell waiting to happen.
“Me? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” I waved him off. “Cafeteria food. Bleh.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, that stuff’ll kill ya.” Grin. Dimple.
I forced my eyes down and focused on the burgundy stones lining the walk. He drifted a little closer than I was comfortable with and, although something in me liked it, I nonchalantly took a small side-step to the left. From my periphery, I saw him glance at me out of the corner of his eye. He’d taken note, but didn’t say anything. His hands returned to his pockets, his biceps flexed as if he was using them for restraint.
“So I don’t know how I’ve never noticed you before. You’re a junior? Did you just transfer in?” He looked confused.
“Nope, I’m a freshman. Just got here. And don’t you make fun, either.” I nudged his arm.
“A freshman?” He raised his eyebrows. “How’d you wind up in such an advanced English class?”
“Yeah, I’m a bit of an English buff. It’s kind of my thing. It’s not my major, but I have a passion for it.”
Blake’s eyes lit up. “Really? I’m impressed. You’ll have to show me your work one day.” He pulled open the door to the building and gestured inside. “After you, madam.”
“Why, thank you, sir.” I followed his direction, conscious with every step that he was behind me.
We walked a short hall and came upon the classroom that would house my discomfort. All sets of eyes were immediately on us, but I wasn’t sure whether they were looking at me or the god beside me.
Blake leaned over my shoulder, lightly touched my hip, and whispered into my ear, “Follow me. I have VIP seats.” His breath licked at my earlobe and prickles swept across my chest. If he didn’t stop with the sexy, I was going to lose it.
He walked around me and proceeded up the aisle, leaving me to admire his perfect male form. The way he held himself was so confident, powerful. You could see the muscles in his back gliding beneath his black T-shirt. Peeking out of the back pocket of his jeans was a folded notebook, which only drew more attention to the most perfectly round ass I’d ever seen. Maybe because I’d never looked before, but still, it was unnerving.
I tried to shake off what he’d somehow just done to me without even doing anything, and on wobbly legs, I did as he said and followed him. He stopped at the back corner of the room and slid into the last seat, furthest away from everyone else. Dropping a long fingered hand onto the desk beside him, he tapped, signaling that was where I should join him.
I obliged.
What am I doing? I should have run straight to the registrar’s office and changed my class, not saddled up next to the only person in the world who seemed to have thrown all my guards down with one wink.
But something about him had me feeling protected and wanting to do whatever he said just to catch another glimpse of that smile.
A satisfied grin played on his lips. “Now that you can’t run, we can get to know each other better.”
Oh no you don’t, dimples.
“Who said I was running?” I picked at the edge of my desk. “And shouldn’t we be paying attention? I told you this is my favorite subject. It’s the only class I don’t mind being in.”
He leaned over his arm so we were almost nose to nose. “Oh, you were running, sweetheart. You were about to leave me in a cloud of dust again.” His deep laugh was like music as he tugged at a lock of my hair. “And don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours. I’ll be sure it’s still the only class you can’t wait to get to every day.”