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“Have a seat,” Quinn said once she’d taken Emily’s coat and hung it up. “Will I open a bottle of wine?”
Emily suppressed a shiver. Yes, she was cold, but it probably had more to do with the nervous energy running through her now than the temperature.
“Actually,” Quinn said, “I’ll light the fire first. It’s all set up.”
“I can do it.” Emily found the matches on the coffee table. “And yes to the wine. Please.” She crouched down to light the fire, striking a match and watching the rolled-up newspaper ignite. The split logs slowly began to catch a flame.
Quinn opened a bottle of red and poured them both generous glasses. She handed Emily hers and they sat on the sofa.
“I hope you had a nice birthday,” Emily said by way of a toast, hardly believing that this was really happening. That she was sitting in Quinn’s living room, enjoying some wine, and unless she was really mistaken, that Quinn was looking at her like she might just want Emily to stay.
“Thanks,” Quinn said with a smile, and they clinked their glasses together. “I did. I had a really nice day.”
Emily would never have thought that Quinn was fifty. When Emily was in college, she would have guessed that Quinn was around thirty, maybe thirty-two, when she’d actually been thirty-seven. So, there were fourteen years between them.
“What were you thinking?” Quinn asked.
“Hm?” Emily blinked.
“Just now. What were you thinking? You had an interesting look on your face.”
Emily choked out a laugh. “I was doing math.”
“What?” Quinn asked, laughing softly with her now.
“Eh… Yeah.” Emily took a drink, realizing that she couldn’t explain what kind of math without embarrassing herself.
“Why?”
Emily bit the inside of her cheek. God, she was beautiful, especially now that she was laughing. There was this glint in her eyes. Quinn was relaxed and maybe even enjoying her company.
“I was uh…” Emily almost said that she was thinking back to when she was in college, but she stopped herself in time, because that was the last thing she needed right now. Even though Emily had been twenty-three back then, Quinn had been her professor, and for some people, that could still be a problem all these years later, even with both of them being adults who could make their own decisions.
Quinn propped her elbow up against the back of the couch, sliding her fingers through her hair as she leaned against her hand. “Well, now I have to know. I’ve never seen you struggle for words like this.”
Emily searched Quinn’s eyes. The chances of this happening were so slim. Worrying about reminding Quinn of their past relationship as student and teacher was ridiculous. Nothing was going to happen. They’d just wanted to continue their night out.
“When I was in college,” Emily said as she averted her gaze to check on the fire, “I thought you were maybe thirty years old. So, I was just adjusting my math and my memories.”
Quinn laughed, and that brought Emily’s eyes back to her. “This is going to sound weird, but I have to say it…”
Emily sucked in a breath, fearing the worst, her heart beating faster. She felt the heat rising to her cheeks as she waited for Quinn to tell her that she knew about Emily’s crush.
“You know what?” Quinn sipped her wine. “I better not… Never mind.”
Emily stared at Quinn, curiosity taking over. “What?”
“It’s too strange to bring up.” Quinn shook her head as she leaned forward to put her glass on the coffee table.
“Oh, come on.” Emily was really starting to feel that last bottle of wine that they’d shared at the bar. Before then, Emily had let the others top up their glasses while she sipped away, very conscious of the fact that Quinn was sitting across from her, and the more wine Emily had, the less she trusted herself. “It can’t be that bad.”
“Okay,” Quinn said with a sigh. “But I have warned you. It’s a weird thing to say to someone.”
“Okay.” Emily’s pulse swished in her ears. Unless she had this wrong and Quinn had something else to say?
Quinn pressed her lips together. “Speaking of college… I um…” Emily felt her breath hitch as Quinn’s intense gaze met hers. “I could tell you had a thing for me. And that was fine. You were never… You never made me feel uncomfortable, is what I’m trying to say.”
Emily swallowed. Okay, so Quinn knew. The thing she’d been dreading wasn’t actually that bad. But where was this conversation going?
