Page 16

Sam

The library is impressive with its high ceiling and gothic architecture, making it easy to get lost inside and find hiding places.

I found mine years ago. The top floor offers some refuge from the crowds downstairs.

Before I tutored students independently, I worked at the tutoring center on the first floor.

Now, I prefer the solace of the stacks containing reference books.

It smells of dust, furniture polish, and aged parchment up here, but it’s my favorite place on campus. I come here often, and now I’m about to share it with Tucker Kane.

Hidden between a row of old microfiche machines, I flip through my notebook. No one can see me over here, nestled between several bookshelves. Occasionally, I sit by the window, at the only desk on the floor, but I don’t want anyone to see me with Tucker.

The librarian checks this floor twice daily, usually making her rounds once in the morning and again before closing. I don’t expect her for a few more hours, but other students wander up here occasionally.

I can’t take any chances with Tucker. He had suggested tutoring him at his house. That was a definite no for me. After what happened in the SAC the other night, I can’t be alone with him. Not entirely, anyway.

With an exaggerated sigh, I check the time on my cell phone. Tucker is late. Shocker. I’m used to the jocks on campus making appointments and either bailing or showing up late. He could have called or texted.

For the last few years, I’ve taken turns tutoring guys on the football, hockey, baseball, and basketball teams. I spend a lot of my free time with athletes.

Tucker isn’t the first to hit on me, but he is the one who’s gotten under my skin.

Our history is something I cannot ignore.

One kiss from him brought back all the old feelings.

I hear footsteps from a distance, and a shudder runs down my arms. My chest tightens, and my heart beats a little faster. My body responds to him accordingly every time.

So why am I so nervous? It’s not the first time I’ve been alone with him. He’s seen me naked, explored every inch of my body with his hands, and even bigger…

Stop it, Sam.

Tucker stares with those pale blue eyes. I lick my lips, recalling his nice, full lips pressed against mine.

“You’re thinking about me.” His smirk grows wider and more defiant. “I’ve been told I take a woman’s breath away.”

Cocky asshole.

I hate that he’s right.

He has a way with women, one I can’t deny. Every girl on campus stops to notice Tucker and his twin brother. It’s hard not to with their chiseled good looks and muscular bodies. One Kane is enough, but two of them…

He analyzes every feature of my face as if I’m a specimen under a microscope. I study him with equal curiosity. Heat rolls over my skin in waves. He ignites a fire inside my body that only he can extinguish. As Tucker runs his thumb along his jaw, I’m speechless, unable to move or breathe.

I still haven’t answered his question, mainly because it doesn’t deserve an answer.

Yes, I was thinking about him.

He winks, making a point that he already knows my answer. My silence has told him everything he needs to know. His gaze causes my lip to tremble along with my body.

He pulls a chair from the table and sits across from me, still burning a hole through me. My brain stops functioning, and I wonder how I’ll get through our lesson. I won’t make it long before I break my own rules. Tucker will make sure I break them sooner.

“I hope you’re ready to learn.” My voice is firm. “We have one hour before my next job.”

I have to relieve Eden of her shift at Broad Street Beans. She’s meeting with the editor at The Strickland Gazette about her next assignment, and I can’t be late.

Tucker nods. “Then, let’s get to it.” His grin widens. “Teach away.”

His boyish good looks, spiky blond hair, and that cute dimple are distracting. Ugh, I have to stop thinking about him. He’s my student. I have to act like the teacher, or in this case, the teaching assistant. I must draw boundaries to keep Tucker from crossing them.

Getting comfortable in the chair, I lean against the wood and scan my notes. “Take out your textbook and flip to page fifty-six. The assignment is at the end of the chapter.”

Confusion scrolls across his handsome face. “You want me to read?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, Tucker, I want you to read. How do you expect to learn?”

He scratches the stubble on the corner of his jaw. “Well, I kinda thought you would teach me.”

I tilt my head back and laugh, this time too loudly for the library. Now realizing my error, I quiet down and lower my voice. “I’m not your nanny or your mommy. I won’t read to you like the material is your bedtime story. We can’t have a rational discussion if you don’t read the chapter first.”

He sinks back against the wooden chair and sighs.

I lean forward, resting my elbows on the table. “Are you willing to put in the time and effort to pass this class?”

Tucker glares at me.

He despises me for making him work. I must be the only person to make him earn a grade. From the start, he’s acted like I should hand him the answers because he’s good-looking and rich.

He won’t get over on me.

Nope, not going to happen.

He slides the textbook toward him. His long legs graze mine as he settles into his seat to read the material. A simple touch sends a tremor up my thigh. This needs to stop happening. Tucker cannot have this effect on me.

But he does.

I take in the scent of his spicy aftershave and commit his perfectly sculpted features to memory. Starting with his spiky hair, I think about running my fingers through it and grabbing his thick arms that flex beneath a fitted Strick U hockey tee.

Every irrational part of me wants to jump across this table and pounce like a dog in heat. I want to finish what we’d started the other day in the hallway. Tucker must feel my intense gaze because he lifts his eyes from the book. His eyes look feral as if he’s ready to attack. And I wish he would.

He licks his lips.

“Back to work,” I say to break our staring contest. “We only have forty-five minutes left.”

“Such a hardass,” he growls. “Your anger turns me on.”

I chuckle. “Who says I’m mad?”

“You look pissed off ninety-nine percent of the time.”

“Oh, yeah? What about the other one percent?”

He smirks. “I don’t know. I was too busy kissing you the other one percent.”

“You’ll pass this class…. as long as you put the work in and stop hitting on me.”

Tucker digs his elbows into the wood and cups his face. The two feet that separate us are not enough when he flashes me a panty-melting smile that goes straight to my core. I cross my legs and suck in a deep breath.

Keep your shit together, Sam.

I can’t lower my guard around him, even if he keeps trying to strip away my willpower.

“Hitting on you is part of the fun, Sam.”

Tucker loves playing with me as if I’m here solely for his amusement.

“You know you like it.” His leg intentionally touches mine this time, and he rubs inside my inner thigh. “I want you, too. I don’t see the problem.”

I slide my chair back from the table. “Stop it, Tucker.”

“Deny me all you want, Sam.” He folds his arms across his chest and smiles. “I always get what I want.”

“How about we get back to work?” I lift my cell phone from the table to check the time. “I have to leave soon, and I’d like to get through the assignment before I go.”

He winks, and then his eyes are back on the textbook. Tucker has always been a drug to me. I get a contact high just from being around him. Everyone does. And that’s why they love Tucker so much.