completely equal. I was a far better runner than he. So I had that.
I rubbed my hand over my face. “Maybe I’m not cut out for university life. I’m just not that good about figuring out the unspoken rules and then following them.”
“What else do you want to do?”
Good question.
“I’d love to go back to France and bum around. Get a little bartending job or something like that. Meet a little hottie…”
Benno glanced at his wall clock. “Hey, I have a student coming by in a bit. But I have a thought for you. Jamie’s talking about opening a bar.”
Jamie? A bar?
“I thought he was happy as a pig in shit teaching his math classes.”
Math. Never my strong suit. I was a language guy through and through. I lived for the humanities, even though I knew they would never lead to a decent-paying career. I didn’t need much though. I’d grown up in the foster system, never knowing my real parents, so a little stability was all I was really after.
“He does like teaching math. But because of his, you know—family history—the new department head has indicated he’ll never be more than an associate professor. He’s holding all that shit his father did against him.”
Wow. Guess I wasn’t the only one with career problems.
“So now he’s talking about opening a bar? Does he know how much money that costs?” I asked.
Benno shrugged. “He seems to. But he has the dough, so there are no issues there.”
Christ. I knew Jamie had money from his previous life, but never knew he had that kind of money. I couldn’t begrudge him, though. He’d been through the wringer with a shit ton of family drama.
Benno started organizing papers on his desk. “We’re meeting Jamie later at the fitness center. We can see what he’s got in mind. I know he’ll be looking for people to work with him, and who can he trust more than you?”
“That’s interesting—” I started to say.
But I was interrupted by a knock. It was office hours for Benno, and time for me to hit the road. I stood to leave when he hollered come in. When the door opened, however, my feet were glued to the ground.
“Hi, Professor Adler.”
“Come on in, Senna. Do you know Professor Baldwyn?” he asked, gesturing toward me.
“I’m not actually a professor yet,” I started to say.
But she interrupted me and extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Professor. Are you in the English department, too?”
Jesus, would that I were. This woman was fucking beautiful with her glossy chin-length black hair. Her sunglasses were pushed up on her forehead, drawing attention to her glittering blue eyes and high cheekbones.
She wore giant hoop earrings and the skinny jeans that were the style of most undergrads, but she was also dressed in some sexy, over the knee high-heeled boots and a leather jacket with fringe. She was more rock ’n roll chick than college chick. And that was fine by me.
Shit. My kryptonite. A hot girl with brains.
Benno cleared his throat to break me of my staring. But if his student was uncomfortable with my male idiocy, she didn’t show it.
I cleared my throat. “Um, I teach French. In the foreign languages school,” I said, unable to look away.
With her heels, she was almost my height, and a quick and hopefully discreet glance told me she had curves for days.
I think what really got me though, was that she was sexy without trying. Like she was just being herself, and anyone who didn’t like it could take a hike.
“Oh. French,” she said, politely.
“Ever study a foreign language?” I asked her.
I glanced over at Benno to see if he was ready to boot me. But he just wore a small smile on his face.
He knew I was taken by her. What man wouldn’t be?
She looked down for a second as if she were thinking how to answer.
Which struck me as strange. Either you’d studied a language, or you hadn’t.
“Well, the high school I went to had Spanish at one point, but they’d gotten rid of it by the time I went there. My school district was pretty broke.”
“Well, that’s a shame.”
She hesitated, then added, “I do need to add one more class, though…”
Damn. Even the shitty schools I’d gone to had French and Spanish. Thank god, too, because languages were the only things I’d ever been good at.
Maybe I could get her to join my course. “Well, think about French 101. My class still has room in it.