“Are you high?”
Incredulous, Callie Sullivan stared at the man in front of her, barely able to keep her pottery wheel going at a steady speed.
“No.” He held up a hand. “And before you ask, yes, I’m completely serious.”
The man was insane. Insane and breathtakingly gorgeous. And, as an adjunct professor, completely off limits.
“Absolutely not.” She shook her head and sighed in annoyance when loose strands of hair drifted across her vision, catching on her glasses. Scowling at him, she shoved her hair from her face using the back of her hand and felt a cold, wet smear of clay streaking her forehead and temple.
“C’mon, Callie, I wouldn’t ask unless I was desperate.” Seth’s chocolate brown eyes were pleading as he pulled another chair around and straddled it, facing her.
She couldn’t help but notice the way the worn denim of his jeans pulled taut over his muscular thighs. He folded his arms across the back of the chair as he leaned toward her, a lock of nearly black hair falling into his eyes. Shaping the clay by feel, she watched as he looked like he was about to launch into another round of verbal coercion.
“No. No. And no.”
Seth shoved a hand through his hair and scooted closer. Close enough for her to smell his warm, male scent over the heavy odor of wet clay. “It’s like this,” he began. “My model went into early labor and I’ve checked everywhere. I can’t find anyone else willing to do it.
“Try harder. There’s got to be someone else.” It wasn’t as if she had a problem with nudity—she used nude models in her sculpting classes all the time. She had one coming in for tonight’s class, but she also knew the woman attended graduate level classes before coming to the art studio. She wouldn’t be available to pose for Seth’s class too.
Callie frowned, feeling bad for him, but she couldn’t imagine stripping down in front of an entire room full of people—especially if Seth Granger was one of those people. He was the first…well, the only guy she’d been interested in since her divorce from John two years ago. Unfortunately, Seth was a colleague and at least six or seven years too young.
Besides, she knew firsthand what getting involved with a good-looking professor entailed—scores of attractive co-eds all wanting to be teacher’s pet. With that kind of temptation, it didn’t take long before the guy eventually gave in. Her ex hadn’t even lasted a year. Too bad she hadn’t found out about it until several years after that and at least a dozen students later.
Pushing aside the memories, she focused on Seth. “I’m not about to get naked in front of a classroom of students. It’s not gonna happen.” She glanced at him through her lashes as she worked.
“Okay, how about if you get naked in front of just me?”
An image of Seth bending her over one of the sculpting tables and taking her from behind filled her mind. Her breath stalled in her throat and her pussy clenched. She closed her eyes as her hands convulsed on the barely formed pot, crushing it. Cold clay oozed between her fingers as she glared both at him and her overactive imagination.
“Not funny.”
He shrugged, his snug T-shirt pulling across his well-defined chest muscles. “I wasn’t trying to be.”
“Uh-huh.” Balling up the ruined pot, she dropped it into the bucket of watery clay at her side. Taking a freshly kneaded ball from the side of the tub surrounding the wheel, she centered it and started over, keeping her gaze on the clay where it belonged.
“Look, I’ve been dying to sketch you, so I’d prefer to have you model, but if you won’t, do you know of anyone who might?”
She glanced up at him, expecting to see his one-dimpled grin and laughter in his eyes, but he was completely serious.
“Why?”
“Um…so I don’t have to cancel a class for students who are likely already on their way—not to mention I don’t want to throw off my lesson plan.”
She shook her head, dropping her gaze back to the wheel before peering at him through her lashes. “No. Not that.”
“Why do I want to draw you?” he asked as understanding lit his eyes.
She swallowed hard, unable to bring herself to respond.
“You fascinate me.”
She snorted.
“It’s no secret I find you attractive, but you’ve kept me at arm’s length—or farther—since I started here.”
His firm lips had turned down and his eyes had taken on a solemn cast. She had no idea what to say. Sure he’d flirted with her, but she’d never taken him seriously. She wasn’t the kind of woman men like Seth went for. She was average at best—bordering on boring. Not at all the kind of woman he typically dated. But looking at him now, he seemed completely sincere. Her stomach fluttered nervously as his gaze dropped to her mouth before traveling leisurely back to her eyes.
“There’s a certain vulnerability inherent in allowing another person to sketch you.” He shrugged. “I guess maybe I’d hoped to get to know you better.”
She forced a smile. “There’s not that much to know.”
“Somehow, I sincerely doubt that.” He reached out and wiped the now dried clay from her temple, his touch more of a caress than anything else.
Callie felt her cheeks flush. “It’s true. I’m boring as hell.”
He rolled his eyes. “Right. Will you at least consider—”
Her ringing cell phone cut him off. His hand drifted away from her face, skimming along her cheek and setting her belly to fluttering again. She missed his warmth already. Looking around for her phone, she gestured with her slurry covered hand toward the old couch she sometimes crashed on.
“Can you check the ID and see who it is?”
“Sure.”
He leaned toward the couch, his T-shirt riding up and baring his tight abdominal muscles. Her mouth went dry at the sight. If anyone needed to be a nude model it was him.
Scooping up the phone, he looked at the screen. “It says Courtney Davis.”
“Crap, that’s my model for tonight’s class. Can you answer it, quick?”
Flipping open the phone with long nimble fingers, he brought it to his ear. “Professor Sullivan’s phone, one moment please.” He stood and walked to stand behind her, enveloping her with his warmth. Carefully, he tucked her hair behind her ear and held the phone to her head so she could hear.
“Hello?”
“Professor Sullivan?”
“Yes, hi Courtney, what’s up?”
“I’m so sorry, but I won’t be able to make it to class tonight. My partner, Amber, just went into labor, and the midwife is going to be here any minute, so…”
Stifling a sigh, she focused on what the other woman was saying. She’d forgotten that Courtney’s partner was expecting. “No worries. I’ll figure something out. Good luck with the baby!”
“Thanks. I’ll keep you posted.”
As Courtney disconnected, Callie straightened and pulled away from Seth, who closed the phone and resumed his seat across from her.
“So?”
She sighed. “My model canceled, too.”
As theatre grad students, both Courtney and Amber made extra money modeling for the art department—in fact, they were the primary models for the university art department. It would be next to impossible to find someone at this point.
“I’ll model for your class if you’ll model for mine,” Seth offered.
An image of him stripping off his clothes formed in her mind before she could stop it. She cleared her suddenly dry throat. “I’ve got a full nude session scheduled for tonight.”
He shrugged. “I’m good with that.”
“Of course, you are.”
He grinned unrepentantly at her. “How about if we make a deal? You come in, sit with your back bared for me, and I’ll do starkers for you.”
Despite racking her brain, she hadn’t been able to think of another model. She glanced at the clock. Canceling class wasn’t really an option. They were behind as it was. If nothing else, Seth might give up his ridiculous flirting after seeing her naked. She tried to push away the nervousness. She was a professional, for God’s sake. She could do this.
Seth Granger watched Callie’s face intently. He could practically hear the thoughts rattling around her head. Her eyes closed, and she dropped her chin to her chest.
“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll do it.”
He fought the urge to whoop and holler like a…well, like a drunken college student. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded. He wasn’t lying when he’d said he wanted to get to know her better. But yeah, he wasn’t going to complain if he managed to get her naked, too.
As staidly as possible he said, “Excellent. Room two-eighteen at three-thirty.”
“I’ll be there.” She stared at him, her pale green eyes wide.
He watched as she worried her lower lip between her teeth. What he wouldn’t give to taste the soft flesh. If nothing else, he wanted to break through the barriers she kept throwing up and get to know her better.
“What time is your class?” he asked.
“Six o’clock.”
“Great. Let’s grab supper between classes.”
She nodded, before a look of horror crossed her features. He stifled a laugh at her nearly transparent thoughts and guessed she was already regretting her decision. Deciding to leave before she changed her mind, he headed for the door. Grabbing the door handle, he turned to look at her one last time.
Her head was bent, and she was ostensibly watching the pot growing under the guiding pressure of her hands. However, he suspected she was watching him through the wavy strands of honey-brown hair. Some of it had fallen free from the haphazard pile pinned to her head with what looked like chopsticks, decorated with dangling beads. It occurred to him that he’d never once seen her with her hair down. That would change with tonight’s modeling session.
His gaze dropped to the spinning wheel and the hypnotic way the clay rose and fell with the gentle force of her fingertips. It was impossible not to be entranced by the fluidity of her movements and the ever-changing shape of the clay. He suspected she could coax to life anything she wanted. Hell, the mere thought of her had coaxed him to life more times than he cared to admit.
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