Undercover Lovers (10 page)

He wondered if someone would
rat her out to the dean for the screaming O today. Not likely, but
even if they did, there was little the man could do about that.
Aside from the fact that she was smarter than he was and could talk
circles around him, at the end of the day, statistics didn’t lie.
Students flocked to her classes, their grades were consistently
above par and when they moved on the next level course, they were
better prepared than most. She was unorthodox, but she got the job
done. 

 “
I think I want to
change majors,” one of the kids in the back row said, dragging him
back to reality.

The other students chuckled,
some nodding their agreement.

“
Hey, hey. Science can be
just as fun as human sexuality,” he protested.

“
Yeah, right. Even you don’t
believe that, Prof.”

True that
.

“
Seriously. The two subjects
actually go hand in hand in a lot of ways. For instance,
attraction, or what people refer to as ‘chemistry’? Those are
measurable physical manifestations of hormones in your bodies.
That’s all science.”

His class seemed riveted now
and he continued, their enthusiasm fueling his. “You wouldn’t even
feel that attraction if it weren’t for those natural chemicals
running through your bloodstream. Then neurotransmitters take the
wheel and start firing all over the place. Adrenalin pounds through
your veins from the rush, dopamine and serotonin flood in from all
the pleasure. Oxytocin is released as you complete the—” he cleared
his throat, “act.”

Again, his students
laughed.

“
Then finally vasopressin
sneaks in, making you want to snuggle and maybe stick around for
the long haul.”

“
I don’t think I have any of
the last kind,” one of the boys in the front row deadpanned to
another round of chuckles.

“
Maybe you just suppress
yours, Baxter. Okay,” Tuck continued, totally enamored with the
topic as the kernel of an idea began to form. Maybe it was time to
test his mettle after all. “I’m liking this track we’re on and it’s
clear you guys are more interested in this discussion than any
we’ve had so far, so let’s explore those connections in a deeper
way. As you all know, the syllabus calls for a research paper next
month.”

He put up a hand to silence
the chorus of groans. “I know, I know, so here’s what we’ll do.
Let’s make it a research
project
instead. A project on the relationship between
science and human sexuality.”
And, more
importantly, the relationship between him and Doctor Cricket
Malloy.

“
If you still want to do a
paper, go for it. If not, use your imagination. You can do a
PowerPoint presentation, charts and graphs, create a survey or a
video.”

Snickers swept the
room.

“
Not
that
kind of video. I mean a video
chronicling your research. I’ll allow you to work in groups if
you’d like, no more than three members per group so we still get a
wide variety of topics and mediums. You’ll have three weeks to work
on your projects and then we’ll spend the fourth week on presenting
them to the class so we can all benefit from one another’s
efforts.” He smiled at them. “This time next month, we’ll all be
enlightened.”

The students chattered
excitedly about their new assignment. While he was quickly building
a reputation as a nice professor, he wasn’t on the short list of
“cool” ones, so they were all amped about this turn of
events.

“
Each group should come to
our next class with three possible ideas for my approval and we’ll
go from there.”

As they put groups together,
Tuck’s thoughts flipped again to the doctor in the next room, his
plan coming into sharp focus. Despite every instinct warning him
off, the prospect of getting close to Cricket Malloy sent his whole
body tingling. The time was now.

A familiar but almost
forgotten tightness took over his limbs. A surge of power thrummed
in his blood. A hum of energy skimmed along his senses. The riot of
heady sensations assailed him, pulling at him, urging him to get
closer to the forbidden prize…sensations he hadn’t felt since the
last time he was on the grift.

And damn, it felt
good.

***

Cricket splashed some Irish
Cream into her coffee then gave it a stir. Today’s lesson had been
a fun one. The kids had really seemed to get it too, which was
always validating. After two years she was starting to feel at home
at Westfield and for the first time in her adult life, thought she
might want to stay in one place for a while.

“
Hello there, Dr. Malloy,
welcome to Adams Hall.”

She turned to see Professor
Tucker Lamb stroll into the staff lounge area. “Hello yourself. And
thanks for the welcome. It’s not the same as home, but it beats the
hell out of getting stung to death by a swarm of bees.”

She didn’t know him all that
well, just from various union meetings and school events. He was
always very polite, but reserved. Almost shy.

A little over six foot,
sandy hair and nice hazel eyes, he was quite handsome. With just a
little effort, he could have the better part of the school’s female
population, students and teachers alike, wrapped around his finger.
But he seemed entirely unaware of his appearance and was pretty
much all business, so the initial response to his looks wore off
fast. Instead of campus hottie, he was known as a good but tough
professor.

She eyed him speculatively
and wondered if he ever let loose, took off the tie and maybe used
it on a pretty woman’s wrists. God, he’d probably be mortified by
that thought. She could almost picture his face flushing with
embarrassment.

Despite her lascivious
thoughts, she vowed to be on her best behavior and not tease him.
He wasn’t her type, anyway. She didn’t like jerks, but she did like
‘em bad. Not cheat on a woman or steal her money bad. More like
spank her ass or ride a Harley bad. Too bad those guys mostly liked
to cheat. She sighed and focused again on Tucker.

“
I suppose that’s true,
death by bees is not on my top ten list of ways to go.” He cleared
his throat then said, “So, we, ah, heard your lesson today…” He
trailed off, shifting his gaze away from hers.

She smothered a chuckle at
his obvious discomfort then decided to put him out of his misery.
“Oh, that. That wasn’t me. I was giving a lesson on the psychology
of the fake orgasm. I rolled out the DVD of
When Harry Met Sally
and let Meg Ryan
help me with the last part. That scene is classic and the boys’
faces were priceless. Up until that moment, I think they honestly
believed they’d never had a girl fake it with them.”

His cheeks did flush at
that, but he gave her a polite smile anyway. The devil in her
smacked down the angel who had just convinced her to be good. “Did
you know studies show that eighty percent of women have faked
orgasm? And fifty percent admit to doing it on a regular
basis?”

“
I, uh, I did not know that.
Interesting.” He pulled up a chair and eased his long frame into
it. “And the psychology behind it?” He leaned in, as if he was
truly interested in her answer.

She warmed to her subject
quickly. “Surprisingly, or maybe not, a woman’s need to nurture
often comes into play. She doesn’t want to hurt her man’s pride.
Then again, sometimes it’s just that she wants to get it over with.
Maybe she’s tired but didn’t want to disappoint her lover by saying
no. There are a lot of different reasons. Suffice it to say, it
happens. A lot.”

“
And what about you,
Professor?” He met her gaze with his own and a jolt ran through
her. “Do you think those are valid reasons?”

For a second there, she had
thought he was flirting with her. And since he’d never looked
directly at her before, she’d never noticed how downright soulful
his hazel eyes were. In fact, he sure didn’t look nervous now. Very
interesting.

She took a long sip of her
coffee before responding and in the meantime, the devil took hold
of her tongue once again. “I don’t think there
is
a valid reason. And, in case you
were wondering, I don’t fake it. Ever.”

He didn’t break eye contact
this time and she thought she saw something in his face. Not
embarrassment, but something hot. She looked harder and it was
gone, replaced by his typical shy smile.

He cleared his throat and
sat back. “Yes, well, it does seem counterproductive. And you’re a
smart lady, so it stands to reason that you wouldn’t.”

She’d wondered if he would
take the bait, but he’d chosen to retreat instead. It was kind of a
letdown, but kind of cute at the same time. He was a bit of a
puzzle and damn if that didn’t have her heart kicking up a
notch.

She almost laughed out loud
at her own reaction. She knew a sign when she saw one and if a
nerdy professor
not
flirting with her was getting her all hot and bothered, she
had obviously gone without a man for too long.

 
She mentally started
to calculate the months and was on eleven when Tucker spoke
again.

“
Actually, I’m glad I ran
into you. I have a proposition for you,” he began.

Her eyes snapped to his.
Maybe he was going to surprise her after all.

“
Do you have any wiggle room
in your syllabus?”

Okay, maybe not.

“
Depends.”

“
Your lesson got my students
talking. They were so animated and engaged for the first time this
semester. I felt like I needed to seize the opportunity to have a
real moment with them. I’ve challenged them to do a project on the
correlation between human sexuality and science. I wanted them to
see that the science is a huge field and can be applied to almost
any discipline. They were so enthralled by what was going on in
your classroom, I figured what better way to make my point than
with a topic they’re so enthusiastic about.”

“
I’m intrigued.”

“
I was thinking maybe we
could do companion lessons. So your class could do the same type of
project. Then we could get the classes together to share
presentations and see how the classes differ in their approaches,
do some cross-pollination, so to speak. What do you
say?”

She took a deep sip of her
coffee as she mulled over his proposition. It could be a great
experience for the kids. And if she was being totally honest with
herself, she had to admit she was more intrigued by Tucker Lamb
with every passing minute. It couldn’t hurt to spend some time
around a nice guy for a change, could it?

Oh, what the
hell.

“
It sounds like fun and the
kids will probably learn something new and different. I’m
in.”

It did sound fun and she was
always down to shake things up a little. And along the vein of
shaking things up a little…

“
Hey, maybe we should do one
too. A project, I mean.”

He stared at her for a
second, nonplussed.

She tried to keep a straight
face as she continued. “We’ll do one together. To present to the
kids. How about… myths and truths of aphrodisiacs? I’ve always been
fascinated with them, truth be told.”

“
What—” He paused and
cleared his throat. “What would our research consist
of?”

She was definitely getting
to him now. The pulse in his neck beat strong and she quelled the
urge to close her teeth over that spot.

Oh yeah, way too
long.

“
We could set up controlled
experiments using stimuli purported to create or increase sexual
arousal. Sounds, tastes, smells and so on. We’ll measure deviations
in pupil dilation, vitals and other data, depending on what
equipment we can wrangle up. Obviously, we won’t tell the students
who the test subjects were,” she said with a chuckle. “That would
only start tongues a-wagging. But even at that, they’ll get a kick
out of the results.” She shot him a grin. “So, what do you
say?”

She wet her lips as a bout
of nerves set her stomach jiggling. His hazel eyes had darkened to
the color of a stormy sky and the sudden heat they gave off settled
in the cradle of her thighs.

Tucker stared at her mouth
for a long moment before responding.

“
Yes. I say yes.”

Two days later, Tuck stood
in the shower, still contemplating the strange workings of
fate.

He couldn’t believe his
luck. He’d wanted more time with Cricket, but never dreamed it
would be so easy. And even better, she’d done the work
for
him. He hadn’t even
needed to broach the subject. Talk about great minds thinking
alike.

He bent low, letting the
steamy water sluice over his head and down his back. When he’d
thought to include her and her class in the lesson, he was just
hoping to go on a few lesson planning dates with her. He’d never
even dreamed they’d be doing hands-on research. Using aphrodisiacs,
no less. It was so suggestive, so ripe with
possibilities.