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She moaned in protest.
“Yeah… I guess we should at least be grateful you found a job you love. Like, who better to nerd out about books with than the school’s English professor?”
I laughed.
“You’re not wrong.”
“Ok, but if you get back too late, you’ll probably miss me. I’m going out with Howard today and I might not be home tonight.”
I lifted my eyebrows.
“Are you really going to go that far with a guy you're just feeling ‘eh’ for?”
“I don’t know. We’ve been texting. Well, sexting…”
“Clea, you dirty dog!” I called, as I headed for the door. “Tell me if you’re staying out. Otherwise I’ll be checking in and ruining the moment.”
“Fine. Enjoy Professor Sexy Pants.”
I choked, wondering for just a moment if she’d read my texts or something.
“What?” I blurted.
“Oh, don’t even give me that. Everyone knows he’s freaking sexy. Don’t pretend you can’t see it.”
I blew out a relieved breath.
“Right. He’s just my professor,” I fibbed while opening the door, hurrying out of there.
“Liar!” she yelled while I shut the door, cutting off the word that sliced a little too deep and close to home.
She was right. Owen was so much more than just my professor. Fortunately, she didn't know the half of it.
I went down to the bus stop and waited for the next bus that went North on 10th, then dropped me off a few minutes later near Main street. It was up to me to make it the rest of the way on foot.
When I walked up to the house, according to Google Maps, I paused to admire the beauty of the place. It wasn’t really a house. It was a huge, old Antebellum manor, tall, white, and filled to the brim with history. My heart started beating fast before I even found the way to the front door.
Owen was waiting by the long drive that would have led to the stable house back in those days when the house would’ve functioned as a plantation home. He sat on the edge of a low brick wall that housed beautiful leafy trees that towered above him in the yard.
“Did you walk here?” he asked me, looking over my shoulder for a car.
“Sure,” I agreed, shrugging.
I didn’t see the big deal.
“Damnit, Mia, I would’ve come and picked you up if you’d have told me you didn’t have a way to get here.”
“I took the bus to Main Street. It wasn’t a problem. Promise.”
Owen sighed and shoved his fingers through his hair, which made me realize that he wasn’t in a suit or button up shirt for the first time since I’d met him. The soft old t-shirt and dark jeans he wore with deep brown leather loafers made him look a decade younger. The only thing left to reference his age was the worried crinkle between his brows.
“Ok, well, I’ll drive you home. I’d feel like shit making you come out here just for my comfort.”
I laughed, trying to relax myself after every muscle tightened with seeing him so casually dressed.
Owen crossed his arms over his chest, which made the shirt pull against the muscle there. He wasn’t what one would consider broad or built, but he was lean in a good way, with enough muscles that a girl felt safe with him.
“It was literally less than a mile. Don’t daddy me, Professor.”
