Out of Her League (8 page)

Maybe he should ask Michaela’s help in
fixing both these problems. The idea was sort of hilarious and promptly
dismissed.

A couple hours later, they were still
talking over their empty dinner plates when Lachlan offered to get them another
round. He was surprised when she agreed, but pleased, too. It felt like they’d
both happily hunker down in their corner, ignored by the other occupants in the
increasingly well-trafficked bar, for the rest of the night.

He shot the shit with Finn while he poured
them two more pints. When Lachlan felt a hand on his arm, he turned, expecting
to find Michaela.

“Oh, uh, hi. Can I help you?” he asked the tall
blonde woman pressed up against his side.

The bar was crowded, but not
that
crowded.

She wore a big, friendly smile. “I didn’t
see you here earlier. Did you just come in?”

“Uh, I—you. No?”

“I’m Gabrielle. My friends call my Gabby.”

Lachlan stood frozen to the spot, staring
down at the woman, and despaired as his brain flailed from one thought to the
next, blitzed by this unforeseen attack. Not that she’d attacked him. She
seemed nice? And was attractive, but in an obvious way. Not at all like Michaela.
He wondered if maybe she’d lost a button on her blouse. Or if that was on
purpose. It seemed like a
lot
to be looking at when he was just some
stranger in a bar.

She cocked her head. “Aren’t you going to
tell me your name?”

Right.
Right.
She’d told him her
name. He should tell her his. Only he really didn’t want to. He wanted to go
back to his table. To Michaela.

“This here is Lachlan,” Finn offered
helpfully as he plunked down the two drinks Lachlan had ordered and walked
away. The dick.

“Lachlan is a nice name,” she said, her
smile still in place, though he could tell she was reaching for it now. He felt
bad that he couldn’t even find the words to excuse himself politely, let alone
make decent conversation. He told himself to blink, but even that seemed
overwhelming.

He needed to get
away
.

He looked over his shoulder, desperate for
an escape. Maybe seeing Michaela would be the inspiration he needed to unglue
his tongue from the roof of his mouth long enough to explain that he was there
with someone and that he hoped Gabby would have a nice night but he really had
to go. Away.
Now.
Because he knew the right words, even what order they
should go in, but he just couldn’t get his fucking mouth to work.

Instead of inspiration, he found Michaela
looking back, watching him with a little frown creasing the smooth skin between
her brows. He snapped his head back around so fast his neck hurt.

Gabby’s eyed him with undisguised alarm.

“I have to go,” he blurted, far too loudly.
Horribly rude.

Finn looked up from his conversation half
way down the bar and excused himself the minute he saw Lachlan’s face.
Lachlan’s heart skipped in its gallop, because that was bad. Finn having to
come save him was terrible, but nothing he hadn’t done before. But in front of
Michaela,
it felt a thousand times worse.

Lachlan briefly considered just walking out
the door without another word for anyone. But then he’d never be able to look
himself in the mirror again, let alone face Michaela.

And he really
liked
Michaela. She
was his friend, damn it. He liked being the one who gave her hugs and made her
smile.

Gabby eased back, putting some space
between them, her smile gone. This was how it always went. The only question
was whether she would treat him like he was a serial killer or just an asshole.

“What’s your problem, dude?”

Asshole it was, then.

Lachlan opened his mouth, because he really
wanted to apologize, but before he could get a word out, a body pressed to his
back.

Michaela hooked her chin over his shoulder.
“Lachlan, honey, what’s taking you so long? Are you holding my beer hostage?”

Gabby eyes widened comically. “Holy shit,
you’re—”

“Hi, I’m Michaela,” she said, and Lachlan
could
hear
the smile in her voice. Could see how it utterly disarmed
Gabby. Michaela stepped to his side and held out her hand. “Are you a friend of
Lachlan’s?”

Gabby smiled uncertainly. “Oh, no, I—we
just met?”

“That’s nice,” Michaela said, smoothly
dropping her hand when Gabby didn’t move to take it. Michaela turned to Lachlan,
and all he could do was stare into her warm brown eyes as relief swamped him.

The spell was broken when Michaela glanced
at the bar. “Oh, our drinks are ready!” she announced cheerfully, as if she
hadn’t been able to see them from the booth, sitting there neglected for the
last five minutes. She picked them up. “Well, if I’m not interrupting…”

“Oh, no,” Gabby said, immediately. “It was,
uh, it was nice to meet you both. I have to get going.”

She turned and fled—not just the
conversation, but the
building
.

Lachlan’s shoulders slumped the moment the
door closed behind her.

“You okay?” Michaela asked gently.

He could only nod, tearing his gaze from
the door to stare down at the drinks in Michaela’s hands.

“Come on,” she said, turning toward the
back of the bar. “Let’s go sit down.”

He thought about arguing. He should
probably just go home. Instead he found himself following her silently to their
table.

Michaela sipped her beer, watching Lachlan
regroup. He’d chugged half his beer the moment they sat down, but now was
playing with his pint glass more than actually drinking from it.

Once his color had returned to normal and
his long, strong fingers were steady as they drew in the condensation on his
glass, she broke the silence.

“Are you being quiet now because of me, or
because you’re embarrassed by what just happened?”

“Sort of both.”

“Explain?”

“I’m embarrassed you witnessed what just
happened.”

Michaela frowned, her chest aching at how
miserable he sounded. She hated how he kept his eyes trained on the table,
never so much as glancing at her when he spoke.

He jumped when she hooked her ankle around
his under the table. “Hey, don’t worry about me. I’ve seen it before,” she reminded
him with a wry smile.

Lachlan’s cheeks went pink again, but a
smile hovered, too. “Yeah, you have.”

“And now you’re over it.”

“Mostly,” he agreed. “But I want it on
record that you still scare the shit out of me on a fairly regular basis.”

She grinned, oddly flattered by the
admission. “So noted. And, I have an idea.”

“Do I even want to know?” He was finally looking
at her again. And the smile no longer just hovered, but curled his lips and lit
up his eyes.

It was little wonder that people hit on him
all the time.

“I think you need to practice.”

“Practice what?” he asked suspiciously. No
one ever said Lachlan was a fool.

“The ins and outs of social bullshit.”

“The what now?”

“The game. The art of small talk and social
niceties. You’ve already got good manners down pat, which you should thank you
mother for, since without those you’d be up shit creek. But we need to get you
used to playing the game, and then you’ll see it’s not that difficult.”

“I’m one hundred percent certain it
is
that difficult.”

“It’s not. We’ll determine what freaks you
out in what circumstances” —and she’d already started to formulate some
theories about that— “and then we’ll figure out how to make you comfortable
enough to get through it, so that you don’t feel trapped.”

Lachlan grimaced. “That is exactly how I
feel when I freeze up like that. How did you know?”

“Everyone feels that way sometimes. We just
don’t all react the way you do.”

“You mean like a complete idiot?”

“Yeah. Like that.”

Lachlan laughed. “You’re not very good for
my ego.”

“Lachlan Morrison, you’re handsome, you’re
brilliant, you can be funny and kind and generous, and you know how to laugh at
yourself. Being a total dork sometimes doesn’t outweigh all the rest.”

“Uh.”

“Your ego feel better now?”

He nodded, unsurprisingly speechless.
Michaela grinned. “Don’t worry. A couple lessons from
Michaela’s Rules for
Managing the Public
and you’ll be the life of the party.”

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Though I do appreciate the offer.”

An offer she had no intention of allowing
him to refuse. “I have a thing next weekend. A charity event. Would you be my
escort?”

“Oh, uh, what? You mean, like a party?”

More like work than a party, though she was
almost looking forward to it now, the idea of having Lachlan along taking root.
“A fundraiser dinner. Food, drinks, maybe some dancing, though we don’t have
to. Do you have a tux?”

“I can get one, I guess, but—”

“Great.”

“
But
you don’t want to take me to
something like this. I’ll embarrass you.”

“You will not.”

“I will. I can’t—”

“Will you come if I promise you don’t have
to speak to anyone, and no one will be the wiser?”

Lachlan’s brows went up. “How will you pull
that off?”

“Just you wait.”

Michaela was feeling decidedly less
confident about her own abilities to manage difficult social interactions as
she strode across campus the next morning. She was on her way to her Business Law
class, and she was on a mission.

It had been a long, long time, but she
could do this. She could take a chance. She could ask to join the study group,
if they’d still have her. She was a good student. She was doing well in all her
classes. She was brave.

She was totally going to chicken out.

“Hi, Michaela,” a cheerful voice said from
her elbow.

Michaela nearly jumped out of her skin,
then laughed at herself as she looked to find Sadie walking at her side,
smiling at her hesitantly.

“You’re stealthy. I didn’t even see you
there.”

Sadie grinned. “Sorry. I was coming down
the other path and I figured since we’re headed in the same direction…” She
shrugged.

“Yeah. Okay, great. I’m going to Business
Law, which I guess you are, too. Thanks.” Michaela sealed her mouth shut,
wondering how she suddenly sounded exactly like the Lachlan she first met.

This was a sign. If Lachlan could get over
his fear of speaking to her, if he could agree to face down a ballroom full of strangers
because she swore she could help him, then she could absolutely do this.

“So, actually, I was going to try to talk
to you before class today,” she began.

“What about?” Sadie asked.

“Is the offer still open? To be in the
study group with you guys?”

Sadie’s eyes widened. “Yeah, sure. I kind
of thought you weren’t interested, though.”

“No. I am. I am interested. It’s
just…uh…you see…” She ran out of words, her brain struggling to find something
to say that wasn’t the ugly truth, or inappropriate, or just plain idiotic.

God, she
was
turning into Lachlan.
Was
this
how he felt when that woman hit on him? Nerves feeding into
themselves until he was stuck, wishing he could just walk away and be left
alone for the rest of his life? She suddenly felt guilty for pushing Lachlan so
hard, and a wave of admiration for how far he’d let her push him. How well he’d
done. And he’d been right all along. She totally
should
have become a
recluse. Because sometime between acing preschool and today, she’d apparently
lost the ability to make friends.

“Let me guess,” Sadie said. “You had to
figure out if we wanted to study with you or if we wanted to bask in your
limelight or some such shit.” She didn’t sound pissed so much as cynical, and maybe
a little amused. Though that last part may have been wishful thinking on
Michaela’s part.

She frowned. “That’s…that sounds even more
awful out loud than what was in my head. I’m sorry. I wish I could say you’re
not at least partially right.”

Sadie shrugged philosophically. “Tanner
does
read as pretty shady. I would have had him checked out, too, if I were you.”

Michaela blinked, shocked, then saw the
smirk on Sadie’s face and laughed. “I’m going to tell him you said that.”

“Go ahead. He could stand to be knocked
down a peg or two,” Sadie replied easily, completely unconcerned.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I didn’t have
you
checked out
or whatever. I wouldn’t. I just had to think about it
for a while,” Michaela said, looking down at the bricks on the walkway as they
passed beneath her feet. She glanced to the side and found Sadie studying her
face.

“I get it. Shit’s complicated for you,”
Sadie said.

If there’d been even a whiff of pity or
scorn, Michaela wouldn’t have answered honestly. “Yeah, that’s one way of
putting it. But, you know, a beast of my own making, so it’s not like I can
complain.”

Sadie’s brows knit together. She looked
like she wanted to say something but she just pursed her lips and stayed
silent. The third time someone took their picture, Sadie stuck her tongue out.

Michaela tried not to cringe. Maybe this
was a really bad idea after all.

“Sorry,” Sadie said. “I probably shouldn’t
have done that.”

“It’s okay. I totally understand that urge.
But, it’s just—I don’t want you to get crap because of me.”

“I’m the one that stuck my tongue out.”

“Yeah, but.” Michaela gestured at herself
helplessly. “I’m the gossip magnet.”

“Your life is fucked up,” Sadie observed with
breathtaking honesty.

Michaela grinned, oddly pleased that Sadie
was willing to point right to the elephant in the room. Or on the quad, as it
were. It was exactly what she’d done to Lachlan when he’d persisted in freaking
out around her.

Needless to say, she liked Sadie’s style.

When they arrived at their classroom,
Tanner and Eric were already in their seats at the back of the class.

Sadie slipped into the seat next to Tanner
and looked at Michaela expectantly. Michaela hesitated for a second, then slid
into the last seat in the row next to Sadie.

“Guys, Michaela’s on board.” Sadie turned
to Michaela. “We’d already made a plan to meet in the library this afternoon to
go through the syllabi and divide up the readings. Will that work for you?”

“Oh, yes, but I don’t want to intrude if
you guys are already all set.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Tanner said.
Michaela was beginning to wonder if that smirk was a permanent fixture on his
face. “It means less work for us in the long run, right?”

“Yeah, right,” she said. She smiled at Eric
when he glanced her way, encouraged when he smiled back.

Their professor then kicked off his lecture
with a stern look for the four of them, and dove into his usual rambling
monotone while glaring at Michaela.

She wasn’t surprised when his first
question was for her.

Lachlan stared in horror at the note taped
to his door.

Please come see me when you have a
moment. —Dick.

What the fuck year did his boss think this
was? 1985? Why on earth wouldn’t he have just sent an email, or left a
voicemail, instead of posting this where his colleagues and students could see
it?

“Oh boy,” Anna muttered from his side.

Lachlan refused to hang his head like the
naughty student called before the principal—even though that was
exactly
how he felt.

“Do you think he saw the new article?” she
asked quietly.

Lachlan looked over at his TA. “There’s
another one?”

“Not about you,” she said reassuringly.
“Just one questioning Michaela’s academic and ethical integrity.”

“Oh, is that all?” he asked sarcastically.

Anna shrugged apologetically, and Lachlan frowned
at himself. It wasn’t Anna’s fault that any of this was happening. He
apologized and patted her shoulder awkwardly in an attempted show of gratitude
for her patience.

When it became clear she found his lame
social skills more alarming than comforting, he yanked his hand away and
plucked the note from his door. He turned toward Dick’s office, grimly
determined.

“He’s not there,” Anna said.

“He’s not?”

“No, I just walked by, and his light is
off.”

Lachlan’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, thank
Christ.” He dodged into his office and smiled when Anna closed the door quickly
behind them.

“So, what did you need?” she asked,
reminding him that he’d asked her to meet with him this morning.

This conversation seemed almost as daunting
as the one looming with Dick. He indicated she should sit in one of his guest
chairs, then sat behind his desk, trying to find the right way to broach the
subject.

He finally accepted he was just going to
have to rip the Band-Aid off all at once.

“I want you to help me be more
interesting.”

Anna blinked at him owlishly. “What?”

“I mean, my lectures. I want my lectures to
be more interesting. To the freshman, particularly. I’m tired of getting paid
to be a university professor when, in fact, all I’m doing is acting as a sleep
aid.”

Anna grinned. “It’s not that bad.”

He arched an eyebrow high and waited.

“Okay,” she conceded, still smiling. “It
can be that bad. But I have an idea.”

“You do?”

“Yes,” she said enthusiastically, pulling
out a notebook and a pen. “We need to figure out how to tie what we’re teaching
them to what they’re experiencing in their lives. We need to figure out what’s
important to them.”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t have a lecture
that will help freshman find the cheapest pitcher of beer in a bar that doesn’t
require ID.”

Anna laughed. “And that’s your problem. You
need to think outside the box.”

Lachlan resisted the urge to point out that
he’d taken this job because he
liked
the box. This place was all about
the box. Hell, this place might actually
be
the goddamn box.

 Based on the look his TA was sending him
across his desk, he didn’t need to say it anyway.

Michaela would readily admit that she was often
wrong. It was just that she wasn’t often
this
wrong.

Joining a study group had clearly been a
terrible fucking idea.

She winced as Sadie grabbed Tanner by the
arm and dragged him away down the library’s main aisle
,
her fingers digging in hard enough that Tanner’s skin went white
around them.

Michaela and Eric hovered uneasily outside
the study room their group had apparently reserved. He looked desperate to dive
through the door and hide, but they both held their ground. She thought about
nudging Eric into motion, but he was an adult. He had as much right to watch
the spectacle unfold as she did.

No one acknowledged the two random assholes
who were taking pictures of Michaela and grinning at each other as Tanner was
hauled away, protesting mightily. Michaela could guess they were friends of
Tanner’s. Their impudent smirks were certainly familiar, and they wore the same
hungover-preppy-frat-boy clothes. Michaela wondered if they all shared a
closet.

“What the fuck did you do?” Sadie snapped
in a harsh whisper that carried across the deathly quiet library as loudly as a
shout would.

“Nothing,” Tanner whined defensively, rubbing
his arm when she let him go with a shove.

Sadie came right back with a biting,
“Really? Then who are those two douche-bros with the cameras?”

“They’re my roommates,” Tanner admitted, quailing
in the face of Sadie’s fury, his shoulders curling inward.

“We are here to
work.
Not to take
pictures, or stalk Michaela, or whatever the hell they’re doing. Make. Them.
Go.”

Tanner nodded quickly and stomped toward
the two men failing to hide in the stacks near Michaela. His furious whisper
was as useless as Sadie’s. “Get the fuck out of here, guys. I told you this
wasn’t cool.”

“Duuude, that’s
Michaela Price.
”

Tanner’s eyes cut to the side to peek at
her, his cheeks going red. She turned her head and looked at nothing, wishing
she’d had the good sense to not come here at all. What the hell had she been
thinking? She’d
known
this was how it was going to turn out.

Michaela shifted her bag higher on her
shoulder, trying to ignore the skirmish breaking out between Tanner and his
friends a few rows away. She smiled wanly at Sadie when she returned.

“So, hey, that was awkward,” Sadie said in
an artificially bright voice.

No one laughed. Eric winced when a loud
yelp issued from the stacks.

Sadie’s left eyelid twitched. She looked
for a moment like she was considering turning around and joining Tanner’s fight.
Instead she took a deep breath and gestured toward the door. “Why don’t we go
in and get settled. I’m sure Tanner will be along shortly.”

Michaela thought it would be better if she
just left. “I—”

“
Now.”

Turned out, Sadie at the end of her
patience was actually pretty scary. Eric and Michaela bolted through the door.
The three of them had barely settled into their chairs with their syllabi and
calendars out when a red-faced Tanner stumbled into the room and shut the door
firmly behind him.

He wouldn’t look at Michaela. Sadie closed
the blinds with a loud snap. Eric still hadn’t spoken a word.

Michaela really, really wanted to leave.

“Right,” Sadie said, glaring at Tanner.
“Let’s just agree that we’re never, ever going to do that again, shall we?”

Tanner nodded quickly and without lifting
his gaze from the papers in front of him.

“Okay, then.” Sadie looked around at all
three of them. “Any objections to starting with Business Law?”

The men agreed, and when Michaela didn’t
answer, Sadie pinned her with a look.

“Uh…okay?”

From there, at least, it got marginally
less painful. Which wasn’t saying much, since Eric remained completely mute
unless spoken to directly, and Tanner didn’t stop blushing for the first twenty
minutes.

It was, in a word, agony.

She’d been an idiot to even think about
trying this. Her instinct had been to say no. She should have listened to that.
Instead, she’d listened to Lachlan, and the minute they were done here, she was
going to march over to his office and tell him just what she thought of his
pie-in-the-sky ideas about making friends and having help with her schoolwork.

Then she’d email Sadie and quit.

Lachlan walked briskly down the hallway
toward his office, having just returned from giving his afternoon lecture. He
refused to run. Running would be ridiculous. Anna
was
jogging, though,
just to keep pace. Even pulling ahead a little as they tried to dash into his
office.

“Dr. Morrison! Can I have a word with you,
please?”

Damn it.

Lachlan acknowledged Anna’s deeply
sympathetic look as they pulled up just shy of his door, then turned to greet
his boss.