Page 87 of Fundamentals of Chemistry

“There are only four other senses, and hearing doesn’t make sense.” I didn’t need to see him to know he was frowning.

“I was going for touch. But come to think of it, taste also would have been a good choice. And you really shouldn’t knock hearing. You know what sounds I can make.” I pressed my lips to the underside of his jaw and hummed.

“You’re implying smell was the worst choice.” His voice was emotionless, but as his hands traced all over my body, I could tell he was amused.

“Objectively, yes.”

“Well then, I’ll just have to focus on the other senses.”

We had kissed enough at this point that I knew exactly where to meet his lips, even in the inky darkness. I hummed in pleasure as his tongue found mine.

“I can see what you mean about the other senses, but I think you’re really discounting how incredible you smell, like vanilla and strawberries.” His lips moved to that spot just below my ear that drove me wild, and I gasped as he lightly grazed his teeth over it. He groaned at my reaction and pulled me tighter against him, my sensitive nipples aching as they pressed against his chest. “But the sounds you make when I touch you drive me completely insane.”

“If you keep doing that,” I whimpered, “I’ll make any sounds you want.”

Jack groaned again and rested his forehead against mine. “Please tell me you don’t have anything else you need to do this evening, so I can take you to bed. I’ve been craving you all day, and I want to eat you for dessert.”

I shook my head, rocking it gently side to side while still keeping contact with his forehead.

“Just this,” I said and pressed my lips to his for a slow, sensual kiss.

My conversation with Ashley over breakfast flooded back into my mind. Maybe I should try harder to stay. Surely this feeling was worth fighting for.

But no. It wasn’t that simple. If I stayed, then it would just mean that he would be the one to leave. Whether or not I got the job—got Newbury—I didn’t get to keep Jack.

I pushed the depressing thought roughly to the back of my mind. Worrying wasn’t going to change anything. I needed to enjoy what little time I had left.

“Then, can I walk you back?”

I found his hand in the dark and interlaced my fingers through his before pulling him toward the door. I blinked in the bright light of the hallway and found none other than Alan standing there, just as surprised to see us as we were to see him.

“Come on,” he groaned. “You two seriously need to be more careful.”

“We are careful!” I protested.

“There was no one around when we came in,” Jack added.

“Then why do I keep finding you two all over campus?!”

“It’s not all over—”

“First it was the wrestling room—which you swore was a one-time thing.” He pointed an accusing finger at Jack who stared back, mouth open and ready to argue. “Then in the stacks at the back of the library—”

“But we—”

“No buts! That is a well-known student make-out spot!”

My cheeks were on fire, and I gripped Jack’s hand like a vise. That was precisely why we had been there. Jack had mentioned a fantasy that he had in high school, and I had insisted on bringing it to life. If my great-grandfather rolled over in his grave while we desecrated the precious library, then that was just a bonus.

Jack stepped forward and laid a hand on Alan’s shoulder. “You’re right. We haven’t been as careful as we should be.”

“Obviously,” Alan grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“And you’re also right. We’ve been relying on you to keep this secret and cover for us too many times.”

Alan shifted his weight and rolled his neck from side to side. “Entirely too many.”

I stepped forward next to Jack. “We really appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”