The baby in the stroller started crying. Without pausing or taking his eyes off of the kid he was talking to, he reached into the stroller and lifted the chubby baby. He kissed her forehead and bounced the cute baby on his knee.
The cup slipped out of my hand as my ovaries exploded.
“Man, Lou. You sure this chick knows what she’s doing?” Trayvon asked.
“Sorry.” I frantically cleaned up the mess.
I didn’t like this, not one bit. What happened to the snarling Cooper I ran into the first day of class? I couldn’t handle this Cooper at all. I had a hard enough time trying to forget how annoyingly sexy he was.
Great. Now he had the baby against his chest and was patting her back. I was never going to get that picture out of my head.
I handed the iced coffee to Yolanda and watched as she made her way back to Cooper. When she reached him, she said something to him laughing and pointed back to where I was standing.
I froze when Cooper’s eyes locked with mine. He was looking at me. Oh my god! He was actually looking at me!
His face was a mask for a moment as we stared at each other. Then his lips curled into a sexy smile.
I held onto the counter, praying that I wouldn’t pass out. He gave me a slight nod before he turned his attention back to Yolanda.
Look away from the hot professor. Look away.
My eyes refused to move away from Cooper and the baby snuggled against his chest.
There was no use denying it. I was attracted to the man. And there was nothing I could do about it. I was a freshman in his class, and he was an award-winning professor. I might as well have been attracted to the man on the moon.
Yeah, I was screwed.
Chapter Ten
Crap! Late again! And this time I couldn’t blame Greg. Well, technically, I could. I didn’t realize how much I relied on him to wake me up in the morning for Cooper’s class. The only reason I didn’t sleep the morning away was because of Penny’s relentless pecking on my window, looking for Greg.
I rushed through the crowds of students, my uncombed hair flying everywhere. I didn’t even have a chance to brush my teeth. I probably still had bed wrinkles on my cheeks.
True to his word, Greg had had enough of the early Monday morning class and decided his social life was much more important than actually learning something and he’d dropped the class. That was his excuse. I think he just hated the fact that I was making better grades then him. If he actually paid attention in class and stopped the playing around with Travis, he wouldn’t have had a “C” average.
“Excuse me. Sorry.” I elbowed my way through a group of parents with their kids touring campus. A few of them mumbled in angry tones as I rushed past them.
Just as I was getting close to the building, a squirrel ran across my path and stopped in front of me. Yelping, I stumbled and slammed into a soft wall. Papers went flying everywhere. The soft wall turned and, between a white cloud of papers, I gazed into pools of blue.
Cooper. My breath caught as I drowned in those beautiful eyes of his.
Then I felt it. The pull, his gravity tugging me into him. Leaning, I inhaled, taking in the delicious scent of his cologne. My heart fluttered as his dark lashes lowered and studied my lips. I was afraid to breath, afraid to move.
Slowly, his hand reached up to my cheek and his lips parted.
Oh my god! Was I dreaming again?
“Nicole.” His fingertips brushed over my jawline.
It wasn’t a dream. It was real.
Damn it! I should’ve brushed my teeth.
I licked my lips, remembering the exquisite taste of his mouth in my dreams and wondered if it would be the same. Not caring that we were in the middle of the quad, I moved in closer, my lips a breath away from his.
There was buzzing sound and he froze. His eyes fluttered as if he was waking from a dream. He jerked back, schooling his face into a mask.
He pulled a Blackberry from his pocket, clicking a few buttons as he spoke. “Ms. Ashford, I see that we’re running late again.”
What the hell? First the man ignores me for almost the entire semester. Then he’s about to kiss me. Did he do this to all his female students? What game was he playing? It was hard to believe this was the same kind man at Jitters who bought an entire class ice cream and kissed babies.
“You’re late too.” I snapped.
His eyes flicked to mine.
Oh, shit! Maybe I shouldn’t be yelling at my professor in the middle of campus.
“I’m the instructor. The class can’t go on without me and can surely go on without you.”
“Well . . . I . . . it’s unprofessional to be late.”
Shut up. Shut up. Where was all this bravery coming from?
He pursed his lips, which made him look even sexier. It was so annoying. And distracting. I wanted to stay pissed at him.
“That’s a matter of opinion.” He bent down to retrieve the papers scattered across the ground.
“I’ll help you.”
“Your time would be better served by getting yourself into the classroom and preparing for today’s lecture. Or are you waiting for your boyfriend?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend, and that’s not any of your business.”
His shoulders stiffened, a hand paused over one of the papers as he took in the information. He was quiet for a moment, and then continued. “Will Mr. Miller not be joining us today?”
“He withdrew from class.”
“I see.” He stood up and shoved the papers into his briefcase. “Nonetheless, class begins in five minutes. See to it that you’re not late.”
Stunned, I watched the back of his incredibly broad shoulders march away and disappear into the building.
Now that was the bastard I wanted to see.
Feeling better about hating Cooper again, I dashed into the auditorium and settled into my seat. Cooper placed the stack of papers neatly on the lectern as he took his place. Scanning the auditorium, he waited for the class to quiet down. And of course, he avoided looking at my section of the room.
I folded my arms across my chest and huffed. Good. Things were back to normal. He didn’t like me, and I didn’t like him.
So, why couldn’t I take my eyes off him? It was really annoying. Why couldn’t I be like Travis and doodle funny cat pictures all over my notebook?
And why was steam coming out of my ears watching Gianna sink her manicured claws into Cooper in front of the entire class. Good grief did that girl ever wear clothes. She had on heels so high it looked like she was walking on her tiptoes. The mini skirt she was wearing barely covered her ass. And her tank top was so low if she made any sudden movements, everything was going to pop out. Fake boobs and all.
Cooper nodded, shifting through his papers as she talked to him, smiling and touching him. At one point he stopped and said something to her that made her squeal. She literally bounced to her seat. And when I say bounced, I mean everything.
When she sat, she gave me a smug look.
We’re not in competition, sister. You can have him.
“So where’s the Gregster?” Travis sat in Greg’s empty seat.
“He decided to drop the class.”
“Oh really? I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it. I have to give him a call.” Travis leaned over and placed an arm on my desk. “So are you and Greg an item?”
He asked the question so loud, half the class heard it, including Cooper. He glared at Travis, his jaw tensing.
“No, we’re just friends.”
“Cool. Maybe we can hang out sometime.” He smiled, flashing his dimples.
I thought about what Greg said about Travis liking me. He wasn’t really my type, but it could be fun. “Sure. Sounds like fun.”
There was a loud bang. I jumped in my seat and turned to face the front of the class.