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  Theo’s eyes widened and my heart pounded as Jack’s words hung in the air. You two behave. What on earth did that mean? Theo shook his head, clearing away the spell as he stood.

  “While you’re waiting for your notes, I have some papers you can grade,” he said.

  “Sounds great,” I rushed. Whatever just happened felt too awkward and I wanted out on the other side of the moment. Grading papers sounded wonderful. Nice, boring, predictable papers. I’d be occupied, unable to carry on a conversation, and I could drift away into the work.

  Theo led me into his home office. It was a sunny room full of bookshelves. A leather couch with two flanking leather armchairs faced a fireplace. In one corner sat an enormous desk piled sky high with papers. I blinked at the mess.

  Theo shrugged and waved his hand. “Papers are different,” he said. “I work my way through them, they go back to school, and there they are organized.”

  I turned around in a circle, admiring the wall-to-wall books and the smell of paper, books, and leather. A smaller desk sat in the other corner of the room — its surface was pristine like no one usually used it.

  “This is where you’ll work,” Theo said, indicating the smaller desk. He rushed to pull out the chair for me, and not knowing what else to do, I plopped down into it. Stiff and uptight in our normal dealings, Theo would never do something so chivalrous on campus. No, Professor Whitman was stiff-necked and… well… kind of a dick. It was interesting to see another side of him.

  Theo rubbed his hands together and walked a little too quickly back to the larger desk. I leaned back in the chair, testing the way it swiveled back and forth and reclined. This was definitely a nicer spot to work than in his office at the school. Sunlight streamed into the room and little tiny particles of dust floated through the air, sparkling in the light.

  Theo bent over his desk and rifled through his files. I couldn’t help but notice his incredible ass. Tight and round and not your typical professor at all. It made sense that Jack was, well...jacked. But Theo was a mystery.

  Don’t ask him if he works out. Don’t ask him if he works out.

  His shoulders rippled under his shirt, and his broad chest reminded me of a swimmer or a gymnast. How did he do that?

  Theo turned around and his expression told me he’d caught me looking. He frowned and carried the stack of files over and dropped them on my desk. “I don’t expect you to get this all done today,” he said. “But this is what is backlogged, and you can get a good start on it.”

  I nodded, unable to speak, my cheeks burning. Sure. Just stare at your gay boss’s ass, in his own home, when he’s taken you in from the streets. Good move, Kara. He handed me a black pen and a red pen and went back to his own desk, digging into his own pile of work. Okay, so I guess we wouldn’t be talking, just working. Good.

  Work will save me. I can just grade papers and not think about how awkward I am.

  I threw myself into the task, and the clock on the wall ticked back and forth.

  My absorption didn’t last long as I became keenly aware of Theo’s eyes on me. I glanced up, and he looked down. The air hung between us, thick and full of possibility. I bit my lip and leaned over my work, determined to focus.

  I felt his eyes again. I won’t look up. I won’t look up.

  This time Theo sighed loudly, loudly enough I couldn’t pretend to not hear it, and put his papers away. “Come, Kara. Let me show you my garden. We need to stretch our legs.”

  He wasn’t wrong, and I’d been perched on my chair in a most un-ergonomic way, but this friendly gesture didn’t seem like the Dr. Theo Whitman I knew. Who was this guy? There was definitely more to him than I’d realized. What was he up to? I followed him into the dining room, trying desperately not to stare at his broad and muscular physique.

  Eyes up, eyes up. Up on... those shoulder and arms. Gah.

  I was wound way too tight. I needed a drink. Living with someone else—drinking might not be an option for a while. I just needed a little something to help me. To help me not be awkward. Or to help me not realize I was being awkward. I’d take either.

  Theo paused in the dining room. Deep in thought, I almost crashed into him. He turned to me, amused. “Would you like a glass of wine?”

  My mouth dropped and Theo raised his eyebrows before I could rearrange my face into a more detached and carefree expression. I must have succeeded in looking insane, based on Theo’s reaction. “Something wrong?” he inquired.

  I shook my head and swallowed hard. Don’t tell him you were looking at his muscles. Say something else! “No, I was just thinking I’d nearly murder for a glass of wine.”

  Sure, joke about murder. Because that’s better.

  Theo chuckled. “I appreciate the passion, as I feel the same way about a good wine, but murder won’t be necessary. I very much enjoy breathing, and I’d very much enjoy sharing a bottle of wine with you. I hope you don’t mind red. I’m afraid I don’t have any white chilled right now.”

  I shook my head in the negative, mesmerized by the elegant glassware and bottles organized into the dining room cabinet. “Red is fine,” I breathed. “I don’t know that much about wine, so I’m not picky.”

  Theo saw me looking and grinned with pleasure as he pulled a bottle of red out of the wine rack in the dark cupboard. “I love initiating newbies. Let’s start with a Pinot Noir.”

  I swallowed hard. Initiating newbies.

  Theo continued. “I admit I’m a bit of a snob, but it makes the experience that much richer. I just found something new—I want you to try these glasses I found.”

  He produced two immaculate goblets and wiped them with a white cloth he’d magicked from the cupboard. I’d never seen anything quite like them. They had long elegant stems, a wide bowl, and long straight sides angling in.

  “I know that different wines go into different glasses, and believe me, I have them all.” He indicated the vast collection lined up in his cupboard like trained and glistening multi-sized soldiers. “But I’ve discovered these Zalto universal glasses, and I must admit I’m a tad obsessed. I’d love to hear what you think.”

  My heart bloomed. Theo was so animated, so natural and raw. This was the real him, taking delight in something so pure and real as the shape of a wine glass.

  “I don’t know a lot,” I said, wanting to drive that point home. Inside, I was begging him to not ask me any more questions I surely wouldn’t have an answer to.

  Theo looked at me sideways, with a lopsided grin on his face. “That’s precisely why I want to hear what you think. Your impressions will be raw and honest. Untouched by preconceived notions or affectations.”

  He produced a shining corkscrew, and expertly popped the top off the bottle, his cheeks flush with the ritual pleasure. He pulled out an aerator and slowly decanted the wine. It was almost reverent, like a prayer, or a ritual. My cheeks flushed feeling as though I were witnessing a private, almost intimate moment. My heart sped up as the light red wine bubbled into the container.

  “This helps the wine breathe and allows the flavor to become what it was meant to be. Have you ever had an Amarone?”

  I shook my head no, fascinated by the wine flowing into the sparkling container. It had been in the dark all the time, and now it was glowing in the sunlight—a light almost thin red color that sparkled like a freshly polished ruby.

  “Do you have a favorite kind?” Theo pressed. “Something you prefer to buy? There is no wrong answer here—unless you say Yellow Tail.” He winked at that last part.

  My mind went blank and my cheeks burned. We didn’t drink that, but it was like my brain had stopped working. “Uh,” I stammered. “I usually buy what I can afford, which isn’t much.”

  Theo’s dark eyes crinkled around the corners with what looked like...kindness? “Ah yes, the plight of the college student. I was there myself once. But not all good wine is expensive, and not all expensive wine is good. Don’t be shy. Is there a kind you prefer?”

&nbs
p; What did I buy? Sitting in the apartment with Syd and Lauren, what did we usually drink? “Lauren prefers white, and I prefer free, so that’s what I usually drink. Free. But when I buy on my own, I usually like blends, or wines from Australia or Argentina.”

  I had no idea why I liked wine from those places and prayed he didn’t ask me. Of course, I was working on my dissertation. If I hadn’t learned to bs my way through a high-minded conversation, what were all my years of school good for?

  “Blends are good,” Theo said, thankfully not interrogating me. He picked up the now-aerated decanter and poured a generous amount into each of his special goblets.

  “Every grape brings something to the glass, and sometimes having more than one or two gives you something that is greater than the sum of its parts. And three, well… sometimes combining three kinds of grapes can give you something quite extraordinary—something beyond what any traditional blend or single grape could ever provide.”

  He turned, holding the full glasses, and his eyes searched mine. I fell into their dark intensity, and despite my efforts to prevent it, my breathing quickened. Just when I thought I would pass out from the tension, Theo handed me a glass and announced, “Before you drink, I want you to smell it, like this.”

  He swirled the wine in his glass, dipped his nose into the opening, and inhaled.

  How on earth would I pass this test? But I did the same, and the aromas filled my senses.

  “What do you smell?” Theo pressed. “First impressions.”

  “Cherries?” I glanced up at him.

  “Good, good,” Theo crooned. “What else?”

  I sniffed again. “Berries? Like...not strawberries. Raspberries.”

  Pure pleasure flushed on Theo’s face, and a matching heat bloomed through me. Why had I never done this with wine before?

  “Anything else?” Theo asked. “If not, it’s okay. You’re doing great”

  This time, instead of nervousness, I fell into the sensual indulgence with gusto. I knew this. It was easy if I focused. “Cranberries,” I breathed.

  “Fuck yes,” Theo’s eyes burned through me, and his lips parted. “Now we drink. Tell me what you taste, Kara. Don’t hold anything back from me.”

  He held up his glass and clinked it oh so lightly with mine. The goblets made the most exquisite sound. I felt naked, vulnerable, and completely alive. His attention had never been so completely on me before, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I avoided Theo’s gaze and focused on tasting my aerated special decanted one-of-a-kind goblet Pinot Noir.

  The acidity rolled over my tongue. I’d never had wine this good, I was sure of it.

  I dragged my eyes back to his, watching me taste and swallow. He stared at my lips and bit his own. My core blazed. “What do you taste?” He asked.

  “It’s tart, like lemonade, but not lemonade flavor,” I stammered.

  Theo moved closer. “On the front of your tongue?” he reached out and touched my lips with his finger. A shiver ran up my spine at the foreign touch. He’d never so much as seemed to notice me in the past, and now the intimacy of this moment was almost more than my nervous system could handle. I inhaled and nodded.

  “Don’t be shy, Kara,” he whispered, and withdrew his finger. “What else? List them off, without thinking.”

  I tasted again. So many flavors. I closed my eyes, rolling the Pinot around in my mouth. “I taste what I smelled, the berries. And... vanilla.”

  “You’re a natural,” Theo breathed. He was so close, I could feel his gravitational pull.

  “Something spicy. Like, clove. Or, leather?” I opened my eyes and checked with Theo.

  He was beaming. “That’s my girl,” he said.

  My girl? I blinked and took a step back. Theo raised his hand, as if it were no matter.

  “Come with me,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye. “I have something to show you.”

  I followed him onto an immaculate patio surrounded by a lush backyard. White gravel walkways wound around plant and water features and led to a rolling green lawn. A formal rose garden featured prominently on one side of the property. I wanted to get closer and smell them all.

  “Those are my babies,” Theo said, pointing to the thorny beauties.

  “I love roses,” I breathed. “People think they are cliché, but I love them.”

  Theo grinned and slid his warm palm into the small of my back, and for a moment my heart skipped a beat. “I’d love to show them to you.”

  We crunched along the walkway, and a bird sang in the near distance. It was hard to focus with Theo’s hand in the small of my back. It was such an intimate and possessive gesture.

  Why was he doing this to me? He was gay and taken, not to mention my professor. Maybe it didn’t mean anything to him? Maybe I was reading too much into it because he was so attractive, and being so nice to me, and this wine was giving me a pleasant happy glow?

  I didn’t have too much time to think about it, because before long I was absorbed in the details of Theo’s rose garden. He chattered happily, telling me about each one, and what made it special and unique. He also told me how to prune them, which I already knew, but he had some tips and tricks I’d never heard before. He knew some things that even my grandma didn’t know, and gardening was her passion.

  I noticed a jacuzzi in the other corner of the yard. It was sheltered under a gazebo and looked like the perfect spot to wind down after, well, any kind of day. Knowing how conscientious Theo was with his roses, and his wine, and the kitchen, and his job, not to mention Jack’s construction skills—I had no doubt the jacuzzi would be in top working order.

  Noted. I wondered how often they used it.

  Theo never took his hand off my back during the whole yard tour. Maybe it was a gay thing I didn’t know about, or just, I didn’t know. A Theo thing. A possessive Theo thing. He probably did it to all the girls who stayed in his house after narrowly avoiding death by wrecking balls.

  All I knew was that I liked this new and improved Theo, probably a little too much. I could handle his hotness when I thought he had a terrible personality. But this connoisseur, this eager teacher, this appreciator of all things beautiful, and most importantly his desire to share these things with me, made him off-the-charts hot.

  Willingness to teach and share made him the opposite of a snob. How could I possibly not fantasize about him now? In the past, I’d easily pushed aside any attraction I’d felt because he was a dick. But now? I didn’t have it in me to pretend—even if only to myself—that he wasn’t sex on a stick.

  I wanted him to teach me anything and everything.

  His touch on the small of my back burned through my clothes, and the blaze traveled up and down my core. My panties were drenched. I was so aroused, with his wine nose, I worried he could smell it on me.

  But he was gay, right? He’d be impervious to that.

  I stood with my legs pressed together, willing my clit to stop throbbing. That just made it worse.

  What the hell was wrong with me? Theo was my boss and my professor.

  “You seem distracted,” Theo said. “Are you all right?” He leaned over me and by instinct, I stepped closer to him. He moved his head closer to mine and inhaled deeply.

  That thick feeling fell over me, and all I wanted was for him to take me, to be as close to me as he possibly could.

  “Kara,” he breathed.

  I tipped my head and looked up at him as he stared down at me. He examined my lips and then dragged his lower lip through his teeth, dampening his mouth. Was this happening? This was really happening. My breathing went jagged as he bent down and pressed his full lips to mine.

  Exhilaration zipped through me like a shot, and my panties went from wet to soaked. I wanted to drag him closer to me, I wanted to grind myself against him, I wanted to throw us both off that cliff and freefall into naked ecstasy.

  But I couldn’t. I couldn’t do this. What was happening? How could this be?

  I pulled back j
ust as he’d begun to gather me into his arms and held a trembling hand to my mouth as I stared at him in shock. Theo seemed like he was still in the moment, still searching for more kissing.

  I opened my mouth to say something, anything, when I heard a voice. “Now, isn’t that a sexy thing to come home to...”

  Chapter Five

  Jack

  Right after I interrupted Kara and Teddy’s kiss, a phone rang.

  “It’s mine,” she flushed. She fumbled in her pocket, and then rushed past me into the house.

  Amusement bubbled up in my chest. I leaned against one of the patio pillars and folded my arms. “Looks like young Kara was saved by the bell,” I teased.

  Teddy shot me his yeah, right look. “She’s not that young,” he grumbled, trying to hide a smile.

  “No? How old is she?” I laughed. Teddy always gave me such a hard time when I picked the young ones. I couldn’t let this go by without giving him grief over it, and he knew it.

  Teddy shrugged. “I don’t know. I think twenty-five?”

  I chuckled. “Mmm, twenty-five. Definitely legal. Still, she’s a decade younger than us. That qualifies her as young.”

  Teddy met my gaze and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, but what do you think?”

  “I think I want to know if her lips are as soft as they look,” I said, moving closer to my sexy boyfriend. My cock stirred just thinking about him kissing her luscious lips—and the possibility of me doing the same.

  Teddy grinned hard, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking over my left shoulder.

  I lowered my head and grinned back. “Let me guess. She’s standing right there?”

  “She is,” Kara said from behind me. “Would someone explain why two gay men are discussing how my lips felt when one of them kissed me?”

  Unable to control my mirth, I turned and faced Kara. “Yeah, Teddy. Explain to young Kara why we were discussing her lips.” Usually, Teddy let me do most of the picking up and socializing. No way was I going to let him off the hook. Not when my high-minded professor got to her first.