Hot For Teacher (48 page)

              Savannah shook her head. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

              It took all her self-control to keep her eyes closed against the silence that followed. But then he spoke and she slipped under the spell he weaved with his words.

              “Imagine … your family’s livelihood is suddenly in jeopardy, your entire world about to be stripped from you. All the boys in your neighborhood are eager to fight to protect your way of life, including your brother, who goes rushing off to war. But it’s a war between neighbors, between families. And most of those boys never make it home.”

              “You’re giving me way too much credit, Jake,” Savannah admitted softly. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Preston, but… well, never mind.”

              “Alright,” Jake sighed. “Imagine you’re a mother, worrying day in and day out about whether or not your sons will return from war. They finally return, but as deserters. Patrols made up of your neighbors execute them for abandoning the cause.”

              “Now you’re giving mothers
way
too much credit,” Savannah argued, emotion thick in her throat. Damn him for making her feel, even if not in the way he’d intended. “My mother could care less if I lived or died.”

              “That’s not the woman I knew.”

              “Then clearly you don’t know my family as well as you thought,” she grumbled. “I learned to shut my emotions off a long time ago. It hurt less than feeling ignored and unloved all the time.”

              “The family I remember loved you very much.”

              “Yeah, well, shit happens. You of all people know that.”

              Jake’s breath hitched, failing to release as he sat in stunned silence. He jerked away from her, as though slapped. He sat there in pained silence for what seemed like forever, when at last he spoke. “You’re right. I do.”

              He cleared his throat, his words coming slow and steady, as gentle as a lover’s caress. “Imagine this then… the man you love more than life itself goes off to war, armed with a picture of you and a promise that you’ll wait for him. But the months and eventually years drag by with no word of him. Life falls apart around you. The
world
falls apart around you. Yet still he does not return. You believe him dead and yet still wait faithfully for his return…”

              “I don’t believe in love, Jake,” Savannah admitted quietly, cutting him off. “So, there’s nothing you can say that I can relate to.”

              “I don’t believe that for a second,” he whispered. “You believe in love. You’ve just forgotten what it feels like.”

              “I… I… I don’t know
how
to feel anymore,” Savannah stammered. “Honestly, I’m not sure I want to.”

              The rough skin of his knuckle gently grazed the line of her throat, slowly caressing her from ear to collarbone. “I think I could change your mind.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I’m an excellent teacher.”

              Savannah swallowed with an audible gulp. “Prove it.”

              Jake moved from her side and her body mourned the warmth of his closeness. Savannah eyed him warily as he scribbled on a post-it note and ripped it from the stack. He held it out to her with dogged determination gleaming in his eyes. “My place. Seven o’clock. I’d offer to pick you up, but I don’t want to give the other students more cause to talk about you than I already have.”

              Savannah wanted to protest that she didn’t care what the other students thought. But the man had a point. Instead, she nodded and accepted the yellow sticky note without argument. An address was scrawled in his bold, masculine print. Savannah knew the neighborhood, not far from the library across town.

              “You’ll come?” Jake asked, hope and need trespassing into his voice.

              That sliver of vulnerability cracked the icy shell Savannah had built around her heart. True, going to a teacher’s private residence was a recipe for educational disaster. If discovered, she’d risk investigation into her academic performance.  The last thing she needed was to be accused of trading sex for grades. Not that she couldn’t prove herself, but a scandal of that magnitude wouldn’t exactly pad her medical school applications. All that aside, he wasn’t just her teacher. He was Jake. And she would do anything for that man, no matter how taboo.

              Stuffing the note into her pocket, Savannah gave a sharp nod.

              “Good.”

              Before she could change her mind and tell him where he could shove his ‘lessons,’ she gathered her books and bags and made a beeline for the closed door.

              “See you tonight, Savannah,” Jake called to her retreating back. The delicious, unspoken promise in his words rocked her to her core. For the first time in forever, Savannah looked forward to something that wasn’t a far off goal in the distant future. She would live in ‘the now’ and have no regrets.

***

              Jake knew inviting Savannah to his house was asking for trouble. He knew better. Student-teacher relationships were forbidden, even at the university level. If he was caught having anything other than a professional relationship with Savannah, he would not only lose his shot at the coveted tenured position, he’d lose his job altogether.

              Even knowing that, he hadn’t a doubt in his mind that Savannah was worth the risk. The kid he’d known and loved like a sister had grown to be the most beautiful, intriguing, and infuriating woman he’d ever met. Intelligent and fiery, Savannah had the world at her feet. She could do anything, be anything. Jake couldn’t understand how such a vibrant person had walled herself off so effectively from human emotion. But she had. The girl was missing life, letting it fly by without a thought for anything but her future. A real friend couldn’t stand by and let her throw her young life away without intervention. Or so he’d justified to himself over and over.

              True, Jake wanted her. He was honest enough with himself to admit that much. But more than anything, he wanted to help her.  He was certain her closed off nature was a direct result of the aftermath of Preston’s accident. So, he couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for it.  

              For all his noble intentions, Jake couldn’t help but feel like a gawky teen, waiting for his Prom date to come down the stairs, as he prepped his apartment for Savannah’s arrival. He tried to see his apartment through the fresh eyes of a young girl. What did Savannah think of the man he’d become? Did she see him as wasted potential? A poor college professor who threw away a professional football career to teach history? Or the traitor who’d ruined her brother’s life?

              Brushing the unwelcome thoughts off, he nervously tidied and nitpicked until he’d rearranged the same furniture so many times there was nowhere left to move them. The doorbell peeled and his heart leapt in anticipation. She was there. Jake had never imagined being so excited about having Savannah Bradshaw back in his life. Then again, he’d never imagined his life without her before the accident.

              He strode over to the door and yanked it open. There she was. Standing in his porch light, as beautiful as the first day of class, with her dark hair tucked beneath an over-sized hoodie and her long legs encased in faded denim. Her full lips parted into a shy smile that tied Jake’s gut into knots.

              “Hi.”

***

              Savannah stuffed her hands in the pouch of her hoodie and bounced nervously on the balls of her feet as she waited on Jake’s front stoop. She shouldn’t be there. Someone could see her. Jake could get in a ton of trouble. So could she. She should turn around and go right back to her dorm. But she’d already come this far.

              Before she could change her mind and run for it, Jake tugged the door open. His face lit up the moment their eyes met. And all thoughts of running evaporated. Jake was safety and comfort. Jake was home.

              “Hi,” she said softly, smiling shyly up at him through her lashes.

              Gone were the dress shirt, tie, and slacks. A cotton t-shirt boasting his alma mater and sweatpants that looked impossibly soft had taken their place. Savannah liked comfy Jake. He reminded her of the boy who’d lounged around watching Saturday morning cartoons with her and Preston.

              “Hi back,” Jake said with a soft smile, stepping aside to let her in.

              Savannah bent to pull off her sneakers, cast a glance at his adorably bare masculine feet, and stripped out of her socks too.

              “Please, make yourself at home,” Jake chuckled, nodding at her newly bared feet.

              “Hey, it’s only fair,” Savannah protested. “You didn’t specify this was a pajama party. I feel uncomfortably overdressed.” She indicated her jean-clad legs with the sweep of her hands.

              “That’s an easy fix,” Jake laughed, disappearing into a room off of the main living area. He reappeared, brandishing a pair of flannel pajama pants certain to be several sizes too large for her. He held them out to her with a grin. “Bathroom is the second door on the right. You can change there.”

              Eyeing the bundle of flannel warily, Savannah considered declining, but thought better of it. Comfort always won out in her mind. With a sigh, she snagged the pants from his hands and marched in the direction of the bathroom.  Behind the closed door, she stripped out of her jeans, folded them neatly, set them on the counter, and stepped into Jake’s pajama pants.  Cinching the large waist and rolling the band down, she was able to make his giant-sized clothing stay on her much smaller frame.

              Doffing her hood, she gave her hair a little fluff in the mirror and padded back out into the apartment. Much like his office, Jake’s apartment had a simple, yet masculine air to it. Bookshelves lined two walls of the main living area, chock full of hard cover texts. An overstuffed sectional took up the rest of the room, facing a big screen television beneath a sign that read ‘man cave.’ The space was well-maintained and impressively tidy, although she suspected from the usual condition of his office desk that he’d cleaned in anticipation of her visit.

              Jake smiled at her from the kitchen as she strode out into the living room and stood uncertainly beside the enormous sectional. “Damn, Vanna, you even make my old flannel look good.”

              The buttery scent of popcorn filled the air as he shook a bag of microwave popcorn into a big glass bowl. Saliva flooded Savannah’s mouth, not just for the delicious man, but the salty treat he prepared. The only thing better than buttered popcorn was buttered popcorn with M&M’s mixed in. If Jake remembered her weakness for that combination, she swore she’d throw herself in his arms and kiss him right then and there.

              He opened a drawer and out came the familiar glossy brown bag.
He remembered.
Jake hummed contentedly under his breath as he shook the bag to sprinkle the colorful candies over the popcorn. Savannah watched the rainbow of bright colors fall from the bag and licked her lips, unsure which she craved more -- the chocolate and popcorn or the kiss she’d promised herself in a moment of ridiculousness. No way was she throwing herself at him. No matter how kissable he looked. Not even when he looked at her like
that
– all smoldering blue eyes and knowing smiles.

              “So… ” Savannah cleared her throat and tried to brush away the unwelcome fantasy of kissing Jake until they were both breathless and wanting more. “What’s the lesson plan tonight,
Dr. Anderson
?” This time when she called him ‘doctor,’ she stressed the title teasingly, affectionately, knowing full well he would correct her as before.

              Jake tipped his head to the side and studied her, amusement dancing in his azure eyes. His lips twisted into a devious smile. “Well, Miss Bradshaw, I thought
you
could get a head start on next week’s reading, while
I
enjoy popcorn and a movie. I’m thinking a Die Hard marathon.”

              He popped a handful of colorful candies and fluffy white kernels into his mouth, chewed slowly with his eyes closed, and released a low
Mmmmm
that made Savannah tingle from head to toe.

              She gasped and his eyes fluttered open. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want some, Miss Bradshaw?”

              “I think you know I do,” Savannah confirmed in a throaty temptress voice that would’ve made her high school drama teacher proud.

              With a seductive saunter, she closed the space between them, reveling in the way he watched her like a hungry animal on the hunt. Stopping as close to him as possible without actually touching, she rose up on her tippy toes and leaned in until her lips were a mere breath away from his. Feminine pride filled her when his breath caught in his throat. Just when her lips were about to brush his, she delved a hand into the bowl of popcorn and hastily retreated with her prize and a throaty chuckle.

              Jake groaned, a low guttural sound in his chest. “What happened to the pig-tailed kid I used to know?”

              Savannah smirked and shrugged.  “I grew up.” She tossed a candy and popcorn tuft into her mouth and savored it with the same overdramatic zeal he’d done earlier, eyes closed and lips slightly parted. “
Mmmm
, that is s
o
good.”