“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, losing her cool.
“I could help you loosen up a bit, you know.” He winked.
Winked! The guy was hot—she had to admit that—but was he serious? “Are you serious?”
“Only if you say yes.”
She had no words. She rolled her eyes and went back to her computer.
He didn’t leave her alone for long. “I got your mind off your first-day jitters though, didn’t I?”
All she could do was stare at him. Who is this guy?
“I did, didn’t I?” He nudged her arm.
She finally let her guard down and laughed. “Yes, yes, you did, okay? Happy?”
“Not until you go out with me.”
“Not happening.”
“Really?”
“Really,” she deadpanned.
“You sure?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Positive.”
“Friends?” he said.
She glared at him.
He tilted his head, widened his eyes, and pouted, giving her what she was sure was his best puppy-dog face. “Come on, we got the sex out of the way. Now we can keep it strictly platonic.”
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Sex? What sex? There will be no sex!” A few curious gazes settled on Embry. She said that louder than she meant to. She should have been aggravated, but for some reason, Jeremy was making her laugh. And he was right; her first-day jitters were history.
“It’s out of the way. I hit on you, you friend-zoned me, so we’re all good. It’s platonic now.”
“Okaaay,” she said reluctantly.
“That is, until you realize how ridiculously attractive I am and regret your decision. I can’t promise I’ll wait for you, though.”
She rolled her eyes again. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Believe it, baby.”
“Embry,” she stated, pointing toward her chest again.
“Embry-baby.”
“Just Embry.”
“We’ll work on it, Blondie.” He winked again.
He was infuriating, but she couldn’t fight the smile tipping her lips. “Friends,” she agreed. And that was that.
“So, you hear anything about Professor Coleman?” he asked.
“Nothing good.”
He nodded as he tapped his pen on the desk. “You know, after that Oscar-worthy performance by the dean, I’m starting to think this is all just a big setup to make us go running for the hills.”
“Yeah, I thought he was laying it on a bit thick,” she said, searching her bag for her textbook.
“I’m pretty sure it’s all a big act. It can’t be that bad,” Jeremy said.
“Let’s hope …” Embry’s sentence trailed off as the room went silent.
Students craned their necks toward the door to catch a glimpse of the professor. After the rumors she’d heard, Embry expected someone a bit more intimidating. Instead, Professor Coleman was a petite woman, about mid-forties, with librarian glasses, shoulder-length brown hair, and a stylish skirt suit. She glided up to the podium, put down a stack of papers, and headed to the whiteboard.
“I’m Professor Coleman.” The dry erase marker squeaked across the board. “I’ll be your contracts professor. This is my contact information. My door is always open during office hours, so feel free to stop in. We’re going to go over the syllabus and class objectives today. Then I’ll tell you a bit about myself and send you on your way, so you can all let out that breath you’ve been holding.”
The entire class breathed an audible sigh of relief as they realized Professor Coleman was not going to torture them on their first day.
At the end of class, Embry packed up and felt Jeremy’s eyes on her.
“So really, where are you from? What did you study?” he asked.
“Oh. Um, well, I’m from here. I did my undergrad at the University of Florida. Studied political science. What about you?”
He smiled as he gathered his things. “I’m from Rochester. My dad owns a law firm back home and one in the city. I’m going into the family business, so law school was the next logical step. I went to Syracuse.”
Before Embry could ask Jeremy about his father’s firm, Professor Coleman gave a late announcement. “Oh, before I forget. I’m looking for a research assistant for the year. If any of you are interested, come and see me.”
Embry’s ears perked up. The research assistant position would be the perfect solution to her problem. She could make the money she needed and still focus on law. All she had to do was impress the professor. “I’m going to go check that out.”
Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “Apply at your own risk. I hear she can be pretty tough.”
“Thanks for the warning.” She waved good-bye and made her way to the front of the room.
Embry walked out of the classroom in a far better mood than when she had entered it. Professor Coleman seemed nice, and Embry had a good feeling about her chances of getting the position. She was actually excited for the semester to officially start. She fished her phone out of her purse to text Morgan, and when she glanced up, she froze.
Walking toward her was the sexy stranger. He was farther away, and she had time to take in his beauty. He was tall, well over six feet, and wore a tight gray V-neck shirt and faded jeans. His dark hair set off those blue eyes, framed by long lashes. Gorgeous. He was carrying a box, and it must have been heavy because his muscles strained against his T-shirt and Embry couldn’t look away. When she finally dragged her eyes from his biceps, she found his baby blues searching hers. He held her gaze as he walked toward her, causing her cheeks to flush under the intensity of his stare. As he drew nearer, she noticed his lips twisting into an amused smirk.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” he joked, stopping in front of her.
She was momentarily stunned but recovered quickly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were following me.”
“Maybe I am,” he said, and then he smiled. Not a polite smile shared with a stranger, but a real smile. A gorgeous smile. An all-out, eyes-crinkling, dimples-popping, panty-dropping smile.
Something stirred inside of Embry. Her knees loosened, heat crept up her neck, and a swarm of butterflies took up residence in her stomach. Before she had time to acknowledge her reaction, he turned and walked away again. Sauntered, really. As she studied his backside, she realized she was in big trouble.
2
The rest of the week flew by with classes during the day and more studying than was imaginable at night. On top of the overwhelming amount of reading assigned, the professors required that students brief each case in a specific format. Those briefs were then collected randomly to ensure everyone was keeping up with the assignments.
Jeremy had been right about Professor Coleman. She was tough, and Embry was kicking herself for volunteering for the research assistant position. After seeing Coleman tear a few students apart in class, Embry felt extremely intimidated.
Coleman had walked into their second class with a stack of sixty-four index cards, one for each student. On the card was the student’s name and ID picture so that she could learn each student’s name and face. She shuffled the cards and called on students at random. No one was prepared for the interrogation that followed. Coleman easily undermined and embarrassed even the most articulate students.
Embry caught a lucky break at the end of the last class. As Coleman flipped through the stack of cards, Embry got a quick glimpse of her picture. Her card was next up in the pile. She knew she’d be called on first in her next class, so she spent extra time preparing the night before.
As she sat typing up her case briefs, Embry was interrupted by her cell phone vibrating across the desk. She saw Morgan’s name flash across the screen. “Hey, Morgan.”