Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) (158 page)

“Both!” she exclaims. “Check this out.” She reaches into her purse and pulls out a brand new book. I see the name
Landon
on the spine. “I bought it last night! I want him to sign it for me. Do you think he’d do it?”

“Oh, I have no doubt,” I tell her.

“I also heard he’s teaching an undergrad course this year. Do you know what that means?”

“That… you’ll be competing for his attention with all the younger girls?” I tease.

“No, Celeste. That he’s going to need TA’s
to help him out! And guess where he’ll be choosing them from?”

“Names from a hat?” I quip.

“No, dammit! From
us
. From his graduate students.” She puffs up her hair and readjusts her bra. “I’m going to apply.”

“See, now I’m trying to figure out whether you want to fuck him or work with him.” I smile.

She narrows her eyes at me. “To work. Come on, Celeste, get your mind out of the gutter. Although…” she adds after a lengthy pause, “…if he so decides to seduce me, I won’t be entirely opposed.”

I laugh and push my half-eaten breakfast away. “Come on, then. We should get going if we want to grab good seats for his lecture.”

5.

We’re among the first students to walk into the auditorium for Professor Landon’s morning class. But those who are there have already bunched up together in the front. And they’re all definitely female.

Summer pulls me into the second row of seats, front and center, as close as we can get to the podium without kicking one of the earlier arrivals out. She’s teetering with excitement.

I look around. This is a pretty big auditorium for a graduate class. Stained glass windows let in the sun, coloring it in hues of green, blue, red, and yellow. Combined with the cedar and oak polished interior, this place almost feels like a church.

“So how long before this guy shows up?” I ask.

“He should be here in about forty-five minutes,” Summer says.

“Forty-five minutes? You told me it started at eight-fifteen!” I glance at my watch. “It’s eight-ten!”

She shrugs and gives a “Who me?” smile. “Oops,” she says.

“You mean you got me out of bed almost an hour early so we would wait
here
for him?”

“I wanted good seats,” she says coolly. “If I’d known those bitches in the front would be here, I would’ve awakened you
two
hours early.”

One of the girls hears the comment and glances back.

“She doesn’t mean that!” I say quickly.

The girl scoffs and wriggles higher in her seat, trying to cut off our view.

“Entitled, trust-fund brats,” Summer mutters under her breath.

I shoot her a cautionary look. “Play nice!”

“I will,” she says. “For now. But I swear to God, if one of these bitches tries to take my spot as a TA, the claws are coming out.”

The girl in front of us coughs, quite loudly, clearly having heard the remark.

“She thinks I won’t do it,” Summer says. “You tell her, Celeste. I’m no mincemeat.”

“I’m sure there are going to be enough positions available for everyone,” I say softly, trying to diffuse the situation. I place a hand on Summer’s arm.

“Whatever,” she says. “When he sees me, he’ll clearly know I’m the best.”

“
Clearly
,” I repeat.

She shoots me a scandalized look. “Was that sarcasm?”

“Oh no,” I say. “
This
is sarcasm.”

Summer rolls her eyes.

“So why don’t you tell me more about these books of his that you so adore?” I ask, steering the conversation to calmer waters.

“What’s there to tell?” Summer asks. She sticks her hand in her bag, takes out his book, and plants it in my lap. “Here,” she says. “You’ve got forty-five minutes. You can find out for yourself. Then you’ll see why I’m not completely crazy lusting after him.”

***

I’m wholly consumed by the book as soon as I hit the second page. I don’t even notice the auditorium fill up around me.

Suddenly, I feel a poke in my side. I look over and see Summer, as excited as a tick at a coon convention.

“He’s coming. He’s coming. He’s coming!” she exclaims. “Look sharp!”

I tear my eyes away from the pages regretfully. I look around me. Every single seat is taken. Even the aisles are crowded.

Wow, I really missed the boat on this guy.

I’m turned back to the stage, taking in the size of the crowd, when a voice comes over the intercom.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming.”

I freeze.

That voice. That calm, controlled, silky smooth, dangerously low voice. I would recognize it again in a heartbeat.

It’s
him.

Summer tugs on my sleeve. “Celeste, ohmigod! Look! Look! There he is!”

I turn the remainder of the way forward…

And see my lover from the yacht.

“Oh my God,” I murmur.

I sink down in my seat.

“I know, right?” Summer whispers, mistaking the cause of my disbelief. “Isn’t he fucking gorgeous?”

“That’s putting it mildly,” I mumble.

I bring a hand over my face and try to look as inconspicuous as possible. Jesus! The man’s no more than half a decade older than me, maybe less, and he’s already a
professor
?

“How old is he?” I whisper.

“What?” Summer gives me a strange look. “I don’t know. Thirty-something? Why does it matter? He’s smoking hot!”

“Excuse me,” he interrupts. He stops and looks right at us. “You two. Is there something you’d like to contribute?”

“Oh, no, no,” Summer titters. “We’re very sorry.”

“I don’t like interruptions in my class.” I can feel his eyes on us, but mostly on Summer. I don’t think he’s noticed me yet. I try to scoot even lower, hiding my face…

“Yes sir, I understand. Sorry, Professor. It won’t happen again.”

I watch, peeking out from under the hand shadowing my eyes, as he gives a tight nod. “Make sure it doesn’t,” he says, and steps back to continue his introduction.

Disaster averted, I think.

“Although…” he begins, turning back to us…

His eyes meet mine before I can hide or look away. Momentary surprise flickers across his features. And then comes a slight, sexy, mischievous, self-satisfied smile.

He turns away and continues the lecture.

“What the hell was that all about?” Summer hisses in my ear.

“No idea,” I lie, feeling my ears burn red.

6.

After class, Summer won’t shut up about seeing her idol live, for the first time, and in person.

I’m only halfway there. I listen on autopilot, giving the obligatory “yeah’s” or “uh-huh’s” where appropriate, but my mind is consumed with images from that one sinful night.

His clear, green eyes shining in the dark. His tongue lapping between my legs. His fluidity, as he rises after coaxing the most amazing orgasm out of me with his mouth…

“Celeste! Hey, earth to Celeste! Are you even listening to me?”

“What?” I snap out of my remembrance and nod. “Yeah, of course.”

“Then what was I saying?”

“That after our final class of the day you want to go to Professor Landon’s office hours and see if he’ll sign your book…”

I trail off.
Shit!
I heard what she said, but it didn’t register until she made me repeat it.

“Yeah,” she says, a little surprised. She grabs my elbow and pulls me forward. “And you’re coming with me.”

I rack my brain for an escape, some sort of excuse, but come up blank.

Why would I be opposed to meeting a super-hot, young, brilliant, sexy professor who any female on earth would walk over hot coals to just get a
glimpse
of?

I wouldn’t. Not without raising suspicions.

But I sure as hell can try.

“My feet hurt,” I mope, pulling at straws. “Can’t we do it some other time? Tomorrow, or maybe next week?”

“Um, no.” She fixes me with a no-nonsense look. “Weren’t you listening at all during lecture? Although, I guess I can’t blame you for fantasizing about him. We all do… but seriously, Celeste, remember what he said at the end?”

“Remind me,” I say weakly, knowing my flimsy defense will hold no water.

“That he’ll be choosing his TAs soon! I want to make sure to stand out in his mind.” She tugs down on her shirt a little. Her boobs nearly pop out. She gasps.

“I’m sure you’ll have no trouble with that,” I laugh.

The question is: How do
I
avoid notice?

***

My mind keeps going over possible scenarios as the clock ticks down to Summer’s and my second encounter with Professor Landon.

Well–her second, my
third
. How many times have I thought about the beautiful stranger these past few weeks? Somehow, with absolutely no conscious decision on my part, he’d pervaded my every thought. Before, playing over that night again and again in my head was just fantasy. There was no way I’d ever see him again. Right?

Only now, there’s no way I
won’t
see him again. The stars have aligned to make our paths cross.

What’s more… he remembers me. When our eyes met, and that smile flashed across his face, I felt like a deer trapped in the snares of a hunter.

A very, very
willing
deer. Caught in the snares of a very, very,
very
capable hunter.

Yet obviously, this scenario makes for some awkward choices. Do I tell Summer that yes, I fucked the very man she’s lusting after and that yes, holy hell yes, the sex was spectacular? Do I admit that I’ve been harboring secret memories of that night, sometimes wishing I could experience it again, and now am faced with that exact same situation?

Be careful what you wish for…

Do I admit to her that I have an advantage she would kill for?

I bet he’s got women throwing themselves at his feet everywhere he turns. My best friend is a prime example. But that secretive smile, the look he shared
only
with me, for just a flicker of a second… well, that was nothing from my imagination then.

At four p.m., our final lecture lets out. We have half an hour before office hours with the professor.

Summer is a teeming ball of excitement. As she leads the way to his building, nervous cracks start to show in her iron façade.

“Is this too much, do you think?” she asks me, pulling on her shirt for the dozenth time. “Is it too slutty? I should have worn a jacket on top, shouldn’t I? Dammit, but I left it in our apartment. There’s no way we can get from there to here in time. Oh my God, what was I thinking? He’ll probably see me as some desperate hussy. He needs intellectuals as his teaching assistants, not… not this.” She looks down at her outfit in disgust.

“Summer, relax,” I tell her. Funny that I’m the one doing the calming when my own nerves are firing on all cylinders. “You look great. Seriously, there’s nothing to worry about. Besides, in this heat?” I look up at the sun blazing away in the sky. “It’s almost a crime
not
to wear a bikini. A jacket has no place. You look fine.”

“Really?” she asks. “It’s not… try hard?”

“Absolutely not,” I tell her with full conviction. “You’re hot and you shouldn’t hide it. Besides, I’m sure this professor appreciates a good female figure.”

He sure did with me…

“Yeah.” Summer nods. She grins. “Yeah, Celeste, you’re right.” She gives me a quick hug. “Thanks. You always know what to say to make me feel better.”

“No problem,” I reply.

“Oh, but hey,” she adds, doing that annoying thing where she pokes me in the gut, “I’ve got dibs on him, ‘k? He’s all mine. I’m not letting some other dumb bitch touch Professor Landon while he’s mine.”

“Oh,” I say, and give her a weak smile.

***

I am relieved (but not very surprised) to find an enormous group of students crowding the door outside Professor Landon’s office.

“Shit,” Summer mutters. “Dammit, we should have skipped last class. Look at this! We’ll never get in.”

Some of the butterflies in my stomach go away.
Good
. That means I’ll have a little bit more time to process what I’m going to do when I see him.

We wait on the outskirts of the cluster. Summer is bouncing from toe to toe. She tried pushing her way through, but that only earned her full scowls and grumbled curses before I took her arm and pulled her back.

She’s getting impatient as the minutes drag by. She keeps checking the time on her phone. “Where is he?” she hisses. “It’s four-forty. He said office hours start at four-
thirty
!”

“It’s only ten minutes,” I assure her. “No big deal. Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll show up.”

I silently pray he doesn’t.

Another five minutes go by without him showing. Then ten. Then fifteen. Some of the less patient, more disgruntled members of the crowd filter out.

“Thank you,” Summer says, as she steps into a vacant spot, closer to the front.

Twenty minutes pass. I can feel the growing disquiet in the group. Did my wish come true? Could he have forgotten, or canceled, or changed his mind…?

But just as I’m thinking those thoughts, the doors to his office open. And it’s not Professor Landon who steps out, but a tall, leggy blonde with messy, disheveled hair and a deep red blush in her cheeks that perfectly matches the color of her halter top.

She seems startled to find the audience outside. Her cheeks flame brighter. Her eyes go straight to the ground as she eases her way through, muttering, “Excuse me,” and “I’m sorry.”

As she passes by us, I can just
smell
the sex on her.

“Slut!” Summer accuses. Her voice carries, and I’m sure the girl hears.

Summer is never shy about letting others hear her opinion.

So much for Summer’s claim on the man, I think. Or mine, either.

A second or two later, Professor Landon comes to the door. He’s well composed, especially compared to the blonde. But, I still see evidence of his recent activities all over him. His hair is tousled. He missed a button high on his shirt, so it sits crooked on his shoulders. His jacket is more wrinkled than it should be after a day of work.

He blinks, once or twice, seeming to take us all in.