“Do you have a moment, Professor Swift?”
Briony Swift glanced up from the Algebra papers she was grading, then stifled a sigh at the sight of the two men filling the doorway of her office. Oh Lord, not Nic Potter and Leo Phelps. She beckoned them inside, not really having much choice since it was technically her office hours for five more minutes.
Taking a deep breath and summoning a smile, she tried to tamp down the instant attraction that hit whenever she saw these men, two of her students.
“How can I help you, gentlemen?” she asked. She’d like to help them in ways that would get her in trouble with the administration of Culver Rapids College. How could she not have scandalous thoughts when the two-for-one-special-of-hot stood before her clad in cotton button-down shirts and well-worn jeans? The soft fabric clung lovingly to their hard twenty-something bodies. She figured the pair for twenty-seven or twenty-eight—older than her regular students but still off-limits. With their floppy, black hair and light-blue eyes, they could have been twins. In fact, their body structures were similar, as well, but she knew they weren’t related.
They glanced at each other then stepped inside. Leo meandered to the old couch she’d placed on one side of her office and sat, sprawling his legs in front of him. Nic closed the door and leaned against it. The intent look he gave her sent panic through her.
She folded her hands on her desk and summoned her professor persona as a tremble of awareness clawed up her spine.
“Boys?” she questioned.
Nic frowned. “We’re not boys…Briony. We’re adults and not that much younger than you.”
She raised an eyebrow at both his tone and the implied challenge in his words.
“Can I help you?” she asked, adding an edge to her voice. Forcing composure, she leaned back in her chair, resting her arms on the rests, and crossed her legs. As she smoothed her long skirt, she wondered if perhaps she should reach for the phone and call security.
You’re being silly, she told herself. The two were seniors, good students, and didn’t have a record for causing trouble. She didn’t need to worry. Midterms approached and it wasn’t abnormal for students to visit for help.
Nic reached in his back pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. “I’d like you to sign this,” he said as he walk toward her, then placed the form on the desk.
“It’s a drop class request…” Well, duh, Briony. Surely he knows that. Pushing a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear, she scanned the form and found it blank. “It’s late in the term to drop a class.”
“Yes, but it seems the best thing to do.”
“Are you leaving school? You have a solid A in the course.”
He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t need the class and it’s…a problem.” Turning, he beckoned to Leo and his friend produced a similar form. “Leo’s dropping, too.”
She blinked at the second paper, also blank. “I guess I don’t understand. Since you’re both A students, what kind of problem is it? A time conflict? Difficulty with another student? My teaching style?”
Nic shook his head dismissively as she spoke.
“My limp?” she added. Some students were distracted by her jolting gait and the cane she used for support. It was hard to disguise since she spent a great deal of time standing at the white-board demonstrating equations.
“Yes,” Nic answered. “But not in the way you think.”
“Smooth, Nic,” Leo muttered behind him. He looked at her. “Haven’t you noticed us watching you? Ever?”
Well, yeah, she had. It always made her tingle right down to her toes. She had to tell herself repeatedly that they were students and intent on her lessons. The reminder served as a splash of ice water on her arousal. Two hot guys like Leo and Nic wouldn’t be remotely interested in their gimpy, older math teacher. Their attention had nothing to do with her as a woman.
“Yes,” she replied cautiously. “But I’m your teacher. You’re supposed to pay attention to me.”
“Briony, we’d pay attention to you even if you weren’t our teacher. I haven’t learned a thing in your class because I’m too busy watching you and thinking of—” He broke off with a sigh. “Just sign the form, okay.”
She wanted to know what he was thinking.
It was probably better not to know. It would only get her in trouble.
She reached for her pen. “You should know that even if I sign these, they will still have to be approved by the Mathematics Dean. Records will send the paperwork to him when you submit the drop forms. You’ll need a very good reason for leaving the course this late into the semester.”
And as of yet, she hadn’t heard a good reason. And neither of them offered one though they both looked down at her as if she should know. She swallowed at the sight of their smoldering blue gazes, again tamping down the quivering reaction she always experienced in their presence. It was crazy. She’d noticed attractive students before but she’d never been attracted to them.
It’s too early for a midlife crisis, so what’s this? she wondered. Her hand shook slightly as she moved to sign her name. Seconds later, she thrust them toward the men. “There you go. Good luck. You graduate soon, right?”
Nic’s smile was brilliant as he took the papers while Leo looked more…nervous. Nervous? Why?
“Yeah, in June,” Nic replied. “Your last class is done, right? And after your office hours, you can leave for the day?”
Briony blinked at him, suspecting that if she had a stupid-o-meter on her forehead, it would be flashing in bright neon. Dear God. Was he…hitting on her? The absolutely foreign idea took her aback and she stared at him for a moment as the cogs started falling n place and she added up what was going on here.
“Yes,” she finally answered.
“Do you have plans for the evening?” Nic asked.
“For dinner?” Leo quickly added.
Plans…um, plans…well that would be her favorite chick flick, flannel jammies and one of two bachelorette dinners—microwave popcorn or pizza rolls.
She nodded, indicating she had something going on that evening. She couldn’t go out with a student—or two students, as the case might be. How crappy was that? They were the best offer she’d had in…well…ever. And it did seem as if they were both asking her out. Strange. A date with two men at the same time. Her pussy tingled at the thought.
You’re crazy. Stop thinking it! she told herself. College students did not ask out teachers like her. Proposition, perhaps. Yes. Especially if they thought they could sleep themselves to a better grade, but ask out to dinner? Not hardly.
She glanced at her watch. “My office hours are over. So I’m going to pack up and get on with my Thursday night. Good luck with the rest of your term—”
Briony broke off in shock as Nic rounded her desk and gently pulled her from her chair. Her leg protested slightly at the movement, but it was so common, she barely noticed it—especially when she stood inches from a wide male torso. His smell wafted to her, a mix of pine she’d never forget. His arm was solid around her waist, both supporting and trapping her. Her hands came up on his chest to push him away and landed on hard, warm muscle. Even through his shirt there was no disguising how powerful he was.
“Mr. Potter,” she snapped, the sound coming out much more breathy than she wanted. In about two seconds, he’d find out exactly how attracted she was to him. That just wasn’t acceptable. “Release me and go.”
His other hand slid up her back. “No.”
“Please don’t make me call security. You have too much to lose.”
Nic stared down at her. “Too much to lose? Perhaps.” His lips pressed together and his head angled slightly as he considered her. “We’ve seen the way you’ve looked at us.”
Oh God. She’d thought she’d hidden her desire better than that. Crap.
“And I bet if I were to run my hand up your side and over your breasts, I’d find your nipples hard as rocks.”
Double crap! She didn’t dare look down to see if they were pressing against her silk blouse. Desperately, she tried to pull from his embrace.
She froze as Leo came up behind her and smoothed his hands over her shoulders. The heady scent of dark spicy cologne accompanied him. As spice and pine wafted around her, she was lost in the intoxicating scents and the warmth prickling over her like a sultry blanket. Her pulse raced, but not from fear. She wasn’t afraid of these men. She was afraid of herself and what she might do. College professors did not succumb to their students’ advances—not college professors who wanted to remain employed.
“Relax,” he murmured. “We won’t do anything you don’t agree to and want.”
And there lay the crux of her dilemma.
“Just come to dinner with us,” Nic urged.
“I can’t. You’re students.”
“Not your students,” he returned as Leo’s warm hands continued to slip over her shoulders. “Not anymore.”
The technicality of her signature on a dotted line didn’t change her position of authority.
Taking a shaky breath that she hoped wasn’t apparent, she gathered every shred of discipline she could muster. “You are,” she reiterated, adding ice to her tone. “Release me and leave my office now or I’ll report your behavior.”
Both men backed up so quickly, she stumbled slightly. Grabbing the edge of the desk, she held herself up on wobbling legs. Nic rounded the desk, stopping directly opposite her. He planted his hands flat on the surface and leaned toward her.
“We’re going to fuck you. Of that you can be sure,” he promised.
“Jesus!” Leo exclaimed, punching him in the shoulder. “Watch your language. She’s worth more than a crass fuck.”
Briony stared at them, her mouth slightly dropped open. “Get out. And you’d better not let me see you on my way out of here tonight.”
The fingers on one of Nic’s hands curled into a fist upon her desk. Neither man looked happy with her demand. Too bad. They all had their futures at stake.
Resisting the urge to grope for her cane or sink into her seat, she stood firm even as the bones in her right leg began to hurt from the exertion.
Nic and Leo looked at one another. Leo seemed to say something with his eyes and jerked his head toward the door. Nic glanced at her again, then released an exasperated sigh. Without another word, he turned and left the office. Leo gave her a small smile then followed. Only when he’d closed the door quietly behind him did Briony give into her weakness and drop heavily into her chair.
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