Page 6 of Professor Next Door

“I’m fine, really. No big deal. Relax.” I waved to a chair on the other side of the table. “Join us if you’d like.”

“Oh, that’s so kind of you, but, oh, I guess I need to get myself some more lunch and get to my next class. Thank you for not killing me!” She scurried away before I could say anything else and I turned to Amanda.

“That woke me up. I guess I should go home and get a shower.” I didn’t have any more classes so it was as good an option as any. “Do you want to come over later? We can do some more work on that assignment?”

“Sure! Don’t get upset if I stare out of your windows at your neighbor the whole time, that man is irresistible!” Amanda gave me a goofy leer, wiggled her eyebrows once more, and we both laughed before I went out to my car.

Life had changed already, and I hadn’t even been at university a month. I had a friend in my life that I hoped would turn out to be a lifelong friend. She’d sat next to me on my first day of class and had not shut up since. There was no question of whether we would be friends, the cheerful chatterbox next to me had determined that we would be and that’s all there was to it. I smiled as I turned into my driveway, thinking about her.

The man I sometimes saw with Professor Elliot’s daughter had the little girl outside as I drove up, a blanket and toys protecting them from the grass as they played under a tree. They were playing with a soft ball and the little girl was screaming with laughter as I got out my car.

I waved at them before heading to the mailbox and I could feel the man’s gaze lingering on me. He was a handsome looking guy so the attention was nice, but I wasn’t interested. My heart was still throbbing for Professor Elliot after Amanda’s story.

“Hey, you wouldn’t be free tonight by any chance, would you?” I heard a rich voice calling to me from across the grass and looked over to see the professor standing beside of the other man with his little girl in his arms. I think my ovaries released a lifetime supply of eggs.

I stopped in my tracks, rooted to the ground by his question. Had he just asked me out?

“Uh, maybe, why?” I’d completely blanked his tall, dark, and handsome companion, but I couldn’t help it. Professor Elliot was about to ask me out!

“Well, I thought if you were free…” he paused, giving me time to yell yes, yes, yes, a million times silently in my head. “I thought maybe, if you don’t mind…” He paused again, looking over at his friend with a squinty look I couldn’t interpret. He even shuffled his foot on the ground a little before he continued.

“It’s just I notice you don’t party, you don’t go out much, and you seem like a grounded person.”

I am so grounded! Grounded to the spot where you’re about to ask me out! I was almost bouncing with glee, which would probably make me sick later as I realized how silly I’d become over a man, but for now seemed like second nature. What happened to that stoic girl, the recluse, the one with few to no social skills? I’d chucked her under the bus the minute he called out to me!

Then I noticed he was staring at me awkwardly, as though he’d paused to wait for me to respond.

“What? No, I don’t have a lot of time for anything but unpacking and studying right now. I have a pretty big mountain to climb with one of my final assignments.” I thought it was a good way to slip in that I was going to the university he taught at.

He looked blank for a second and then seemed to realize what I was saying.

“Oh, you’re in my class?” His cheeks turned red as he spoke and then realization dawned that he’d just admitted he had no idea I’d ever been in his class. “I mean, it’s a big room.”

“No problem, and no, I’m not in your class. Although, if I was, I doubt you’d see me. Those rooms are huge. I just going to the same school is all.”

“Yes, they are big. So, listen. If you’re free tonight, I just wondered…” He looked at his friend again but turned back soon enough. “Would you mind watching Rikki for me for a few hours? John has to play tonight and I have an evening class I can’t miss. I’d pay you of course.”

My jaw started to drop before I stopped it, my own cheeks now turning red. Probably fire engine red, or the “look at the idiot turning red” kind of red. The kind that you could feel red.

“Oh! Uh, sure. I have a friend coming over to study later, but yeah. Oh. Um.” I turned away from his steady gaze, looking for an escape from the hell that had been my nightmares lately. I swiped at my mouth, relieved that I wasn’t drooling at least. “What time?”

I looked back at him, wanting to sink into the asphalt driveway. I am the idiot, the total-not-a-doubt-about-it idiot. I shot a glance at the sky, hoping for a freak bolt of lightning to strike me down. No such luck.

“Around six? Actually, I’ll come early, give you the rundown. Thanks, uh, what’s your name?” He gave me that charming, totally disarming grin of his and I lost myself in it for a moment.

“Name?” I asked, rather moronically. You go, girl!

“Yes, I’m Galen Elliot, but your name is?” He looked doubtful for a moment then hid it.

“Oh, shit, my name!” I slapped my hand over my mouth, my eyes huge as I realized what I’d just said. My first swear word! “Tara, my name is Tara. Sorry for swearing, it’s not something I do often.”

“No worries,” he said with a chuckle. Such beautiful eyes! Eyes that could eat you up if they looked at you right. “So, around five-thirty?”

“Yeah, great. I have to go now. See you then!” I turned before he could speak again and all but ran to my front door. I wanted to get away as fast as possible before I gave him any more reason to doubt my mental abilities. Wait until Amanda finds out, I thought as I closed the door and sank back onto it. She’s going to scream!

I went to my couch and stretched out, still smiling as I remembered the way he smelled. I knew the cologne but couldn’t think of the name. I closed my eyes, remembering it, remembering him. I relaxed as I sank deeper into the cushions, my tension easing away.

That’s when he walked into the living room, his chest rising and falling rapidly, and stared down at me.