AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Four
Catriona
I attend class the next day, but I don't hear the lecture despite the fact the subject matter is of interest to me. Why can't I concentrate? Because of thatbod ceann, Alex Thorne. Aye, he is a dickhead. Why else would he try to chase me away with insulting sarcasm? Something about kissing me terrified him. I've seen other men respond that way to intimacy, but I have never known anyone to say he's "tired" of me afterward. Is it any wonder why I cursed at him in Gaelic, calling the erse a son of a bitch?
That kiss had been bloody amazing.
Yet Alex wants me to believe it meant nothing to him. The way his left eyelid twitched when he said that convinced me that he didn't mean a word of it.
Why is Alex afraid to like me?
After class, I go to his office. But he isn't there. I check the schedule of classes on the university website and learn thebod ceannis teaching a class on British archaeology right now. So I head for Alex's classroom, though I don't go inside. I peer through the small window on the door which lets me see Alex where he stands at the front of the medium-size room. It's not as enormous as the lecture hall he'd used yesterday, but I assume British archaeology isn't as popular as his world history class. After all, that course is aimed at undergraduates, but the one today is for grad students.
While I watch secretly, Alex grows more animated as he lectures to his captive audience. He even grins when a student asks him a question. I wonder what the lass asked, because he clearly loves answering her question. The entire class laughs at something he said.
Alex Thorne might be abod ceann, but he's also the most captivating teacher I've ever seen. Maybe I can't hear his lecture right now, but I sat in during his entire presentation yesterday. Alex is magnetic, electric, and completely mesmerizing.
But he pushed me away.
When did I become a coward? I have three large brothers, and I handle them quite well. I might have been nervous around Alex at first, but only because I have never been as attracted to any man as I am with Alex. Now that I've seen other sides of him, thanks to our intimate dinner last night, I no longer feel shy in his presence.
I watch Alex for a moment longer, then I hurry back to his office to wait for him. I sit down in the chair in front of his desk and watch the clock on the wall opposite me. His class should be ending in a few minutes. I resist the impulse to snoop in his office. I desperately want to do that because I need to understand why he behaves the way he does. But I'll need every ounce of patience I possess to solve the mystery of Alex Thorne.
Footsteps draw closer, and I glimpse the figure of Alex reflected in the window. He turns to the side as if he's thinking about sneaking away.
I crane my neck to glance back at him and smile. "Hello, Alex."
"Catriona." He speaks my name haltingly, as if he can't believe it's actually me. "Why are you here?"
"It's wonderful to see you too." I stand and face him. "I thought we should talk about last night."
"Whatever for? It was a pleasant distract—"
"No, Alex. I want to talk aboutus."
He scratches under his shirt collar. "There is no 'us.' There's me, there's you, and nothing between us."
"You kissed me."
"Do you stalk every bloke who kisses you?"
"Alex, please—"
He spreads an arm as if encouraging me to walk out the door. "I have a job to do. Goodbye, Catriona."
Alex won't talk to me. I have no choice but to leave.
Maybe I'm better off forgetting about Alex Thorne. Whatever his problems are, I need to focus on my studies and not the infernal man who kissed me, then called it mediocre and implied the experience was meaningless.
So that's what I do all week long. Occasionally, I pass by Alex's office and see him hunched over his desk studying papers. That posture doesn't seem like a sign of relaxation or happiness. He looks miserable. But I make some friends, and one lad even flirts with me. But I donnae feel anything for him other than platonic friendship. He seems fine with that, though the lad still flirts. Maybe "friends" isn't the right word to describe the other students I meet. They don't invite me to go anywhere with them, but we chat to each other in class. The lad who wants to date me sometimes approaches me on the quad when I'm reading or writing papers. Sooner or later, he will give up.
One day, I'm eating my lunch on the same bench where I'd met Alex when that boy, Aaron, sits down beside me.
"Hey, Catriona," he says. "You look really pretty today."
"Thank you." I don't even lift my head to look at him since I don't want to encourage the lad.
"What do I have to do to get you to go out with me?"
