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Even if she did, what could be done about it? How would we keep it under wraps so she wouldn’t lose her job? All the way on the drive back to the Delfino ranch, instead of making a mental list of the things I needed to do for homework tonight, I questioned everything.
I heard voices as I stepped inside the house from the four-car garage. Luc greeted me with a warm smile, dressed down casually in a pair of faded jeans and a blue flannel shirt.
“Hey Theo. Come join us for dinner. We’re having a few people over tonight. Let me introduce you around.”
I stowed my backpack in my room and returned to their decked-out kitchen. My stomach growled. The smells of Italian sauce, garlic, and something incredible coming from their wood-fired pizza oven were more than enough to entice me, even if I really didn’t want to be rubbing elbows with their friends.
“Theo, this is Jim and Bernadette Booth, good friends from a foundation I run. And this is their daughter, Annie.” Luc pointed to each person. I nodded my head politely and wondered quietly how long until I could bite into the pizza. “Annie’s about your age and is on the U.S. Equestrian team for the Olympics.”
I eyed her and gave her a straight-lipped smile. The pretty blonde had a huge smile for me, one of those where the lips pulled back so much, the gums above the top teeth were exposed.
“Hi. Do you ride horses?”
“Uh, yeah. Mostly just here, though. Growing up, whenever we visited the ranch, we’d ride the horses around.”
Emily came around with a glass and wine. “Would you like some, Theo? It’s a splendid little vintage we picked up last year in Italy.”
“Maybe later with the pizza. For now, I’ll grab a beer.”
“I’ll take a beer, too,” Annie piped up. “In fact, I’ll come with you.”
She followed me to the bar in the corner of their great room. I poured two of whatever beer Luc kept on draft, probably some high-end craft brew. One thing I learned about Luc Delfino—he bought the best his money could buy. Always.
Laughter from the other two couples in the kitchen drifted toward us. Luc wiggled his eyebrows at me. Oh shit.
Annie confirmed my growing suspicion. “Listen, they might be fixing us up. This happens all the time. I come home for a visit, and I get fixed up with friends of theirs. It’s gotten to the point I don’t tell them my travel plans anymore. I just show up out of the blue. Only this time, they knew I was scheduled to appear at the horse show tomorrow, so I have to put up with this. But maybe tonight, for once, I’m not complaining.” She cocked her head and eyed my pecs and biceps, and I half expected her to reach out and touch me.
“Sorry about your luck. I’m just back from the Navy. N-not really looking to get tied down right now.”
She smirked. “Who said anything about tying down? Although if that’s your kink, I’m game.”
Wow. She wasn’t afraid to make known what she wanted. The fact I hadn’t been laid in about six months hit me right in the forehead. And, under certain circumstances, Annie with the perky bosoms and outgoing personality might easily satisfy my itch. But I wasn’t offering myself up readily, for some reason.
I sipped my beer and tried to think of something to say, some snappy comeback for Annie or a line of flirty banter. Thankfully, she took over the conversation, telling me all about her horse riding and medals she had won and her whole life existing around horses, leaving me to nod politely now and then. The only thoughts coming to my mind were of Mia.
Maybe it was our familiarity from the past, knowing each other so well as we did, but Mia and I never seemed to run out of things to talk about. With her, I had no problem talking all the time. Flirting and teasing came easily. In fact, if I thought harder about it, I’d admit to never having that kind of friendship with anyone other than Mia.
Annie shifted, crossing her right leg over her left, still going on about dressage and the latest medal she’d won. The slit in her long skirt inched up her thigh, revealing the secrecy of a garter and stocking. Did Mia ever wear stockings? I pictured my sexy professor in a tight red skirt and ivory silk blouse. If only I could have bent her over the desk at the library, in our private room, and lifted her skirt to reveal what she wore underneath.
Mia with her strait-laced ways, her hair done up in a tight bun, and her black fuck-me pumps. Hot for Teacher was the song playing in my mind, and it wasn’t far from the truth. But how did I arrive here in lust-ville when Mia was always like a little sister to me? Hell, I couldn’t ignore the dazzling, intelligent woman she’d become.
A sudden buzzing noise took my attention away from the mystery of Mia. “Pizza’s ready,” Luc called out.
Annie hopped off the barstool and faced me with a knowing smile. “I don’t know where you were just now, but clearly not with me. Come on, you look like you’re starving for something. Let’s hope the pizza satisfies your hunger, for now at least.”
After devouring almost an entire pizza myself and giving polite answers to Annie and her parents’ questions about my time in the military, I finally excused myself for the night. Homework was a perfect reason to leave the dinner party early, and no one questioned me.
I felt bad for Annie, but there couldn’t have been a worse match. With no connection, and no attraction, it only made my ache for Mia intensify. Then I went and skimmed through a few of her recommended English lit books to find kissing scenes and seducing passages and—holy shit. Mia was right. The words in these classic stories turned me on.
The worst of it was how my imagination ran away with me. As I read the pages, I could just imagine Mia again, wearing her tightest Dr. Professor professional skirt, black heels, and one of those white blouses with a bow tied at her neck. With her hair done up in a bun and a pencil sticking out, and thick-framed glasses, her pouty smart mouth would seductively read these words to me—and damn. I could see myself tossing that pencil, watching her hair fall in waves down her back. Then I’d become the teacher, commanding her to bend over her desk, pulling up her skirt to reveal black lace panties and a garter belt.
Yeah, now I was turned the fuck on thanks to her brief assignment. The only person I wanted to share the news with was my professor, who gave me the assignment in the first place. I had a feeling she knew what she was doing. I texted her.
Teddy: You’ll never believe this. Luc and Emily tried to fix me up tonight.
Mia: Really? Did you like her? Are you going to see her again?
Teddy: No reason to when. . .
