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Chapter 3
Leyna
‘Oh, you gave me a fright! I didn’t see you there,’ I say. Professor Jack Stanhope stands in the doorway—like a mountain that looms over the landscape, tall and forbidding, his expression inaccessible.
This professor isn’t like the others.
This one makes me nervous, in a tingly, prickly sort of way. He makes my skin hot and uncomfortable, and his presence makes the backs of my knees quiver like a plate of jelly. I’ve worked here for almost a year and I’m always nervous around this guy. I have no explanation why. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s a head taller than me, or the way his upper arms and shoulders fill out the tweed jacket he’s wearing, to the point that if he stretched it looked like he might burst the seams. Maybe it’s the fact that I can’t read him like the other bumbling idiots around here.
And he’s slightly younger than the other professors. Okay, a lot younger. He has the darkest blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a well-trimmed beard, just the kind you’d expect to see on an English professor. He dresses like he’s just stepped out of anEnglish Country Gentlemanmagazine: tweed jacket, wool waistcoat, crisp dress shirt and tie, tucked in behind his waistcoat, of course. And his shoulders... I have spent far too many coffee breaks casting sneaky, furtive glances at those shoulders as he got himself coffee from the machine in the break room.
While I’m used to hiding who I really am, it doesn’t stop me from noticing others—and Professor Jack Stanhope isnoticeable. He stands there quietly, those dark blue eyes gleaming at me and the corner of his mouth is ever so slightly upturned. I have tried very hard not to notice that mouth, but he has the most kissable lips I have ever seen. I can’t tell if he’s looking at me with humour or disdain and I wonder how much he saw of that previous exchange with the fusty, old professor.
‘I could come back later,’ he offers.
‘No, it’s fine. I was just talking to the—’ I stop. I nearly said the Old Codger. Jack’s eyes bore into me. I can’t believe I almost did that. I need to be more careful. Remember—mask!
Jack is still staring, in his quiet, dark way. Only, is that a twinkle in his eyes? He can’t have known what I was going to say. My heart is beating a mile a minute and my breaths are quickening. Is it because I almost let my mask drop or is it the inscrutable, piercing stare of Jack Stanhope, country gentleman-English professor?
‘Er... I mean...’Get it together, Leyna. I clear my voice. What is wrong with me? I never get this way at work. It’s a job and I do it well. I’m proud of doing it well and have no intentions otherwise. I can’t believe I’m letting this guy have this effect on me. He’s probably just like the rest of them, anyway. This is embarrassing and it needs to stop because I could never get involved with someone at work, no matter how much I wanted to—which I don’t. Not even for one night of meaningless, hot, unforgettable, out-of-this-world sex. Not even if it was with the hottest English professor who looks like he could teach me a thing or two about riding—
Change the damn topic. In my most professional tone I say, ‘Is there something I can help you with Professor Stanhope?’
‘Yes, actually, Miss Burrows. I’m wondering if you could print and photocopy the slides for my Tuesday lecture course?’
‘Not a problem. You don’t have to come to the office to ask me, though. Just pop it in an email next time. I’ll have it done by the end of the week if that’s alright?’ I stare up at him inquisitively, hoping the growing flush of my skin isn’t visible. I can feel my mask slipping and I find it disconcerting. I don’t know why his presence affects me in this way—it’s why I try to avoid him most of the time. I’m not looking for an office romance, or any romance for that matter.
His cryptic half smile is back again and it’s going to be the death of me.
‘I happen to like asking in person,’ he says, as though that’s going to help me with my temperature issue right now. ‘It ensures I know the message is fully delivered.’
Fully delivered.
‘Your assistance is much appreciated, Miss Burrows,’ he says. ‘This place would fall apart without you.’
Charming.
He walks closer. ‘About the slides. I can email those over or I have them on a memory stick. I can give it to you now.’ He hesitates for just a second before continuing, ‘What would you prefer?’
‘I’ll take the stick now.’Jesus, Leyna. I quickly glance at Jack and I’m sure I see his lips twitch, like he’s trying not to laugh.
He leans over the desk and hands me the memory stick. In that moment he’s so close I can smell the undertones his expensive aftershave, a combination of pine and musk. I have no idea what kind it is. I only know it smells utterly delicious and nothing like the overpowering shite the guys I’m used to dating wear.
I find his proximity intoxicating. I download the slides as quickly as I can and then reach across the desk, holding out the memory stick. He pauses for a second, moves closer, and takes it back. Then, in a low voice, so no one else can hear, he whispers, ‘I hope Professor Old Codger stays out of your way the rest of the day. He really is a miserable bastard.’
Instantly, I realise that the always-reserved Professor Stanhope must have been watching me. I gulp as I feel a flush spread upwards across my face, a deep red that betrays my rapid pulse. So much for my attempts at decorum and professionalism in the workplace—he had well and truly seen through my façade. Despite my heightened senses, my flushed face, and that tingling sensation that simply won’t go away, a very tiny, little, miniscule part of me properly enjoys that he’s seen through me—even just a little.
His aloof smirk breaks into a full-fledged smile and, instinctively, I know he’s delighting in this—in teasing me. But whether he’s delighting in my embarrassment or in my handling of Professor Old Codger is unclear. Before I can work it out, he winks and disappears out of the office.
My pulse is barely under control when I hear someone call my name.
‘Leyna!’
My head jerks round. Lorna’s back and she doesn’t look happy. I dodged a bullet there. I wouldn’t have wanted her to see my exchange with Jack because I’m certain she wouldn’t approve—she’s grumpy on the best of days.
