filed out. Soon she was the last one remaining, and she slid her bag up on one shoulder.
“Have you got a question about the assignment?” Ronan asked, pushing off the desk and walking toward the neat rows of chairs.
“No.” She shook her head. “Although I’m a little worried that I might not have much to journal as far as the messages go. I don’t use social media, and I spend my whole day working. I can’t remember the last time I watched TV.”
“I think you’ll be surprised what you see, once you start paying attention,” he said. “Even if you’re getting messages from café customers instead of Facebook ads. Besides, I imagine your aunt’s store is full of messages.”
“That’s a good point.” She nodded. “I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t trying.”
“I doubt anyone could ever accuse you of that,” he said. “Your investment in your own learning is admirable.”
She toyed with the strap on her bag. “I’m enjoying this class. It’s giving me a lot to think about.”
“If you’re interested, there’s an event going on later this week that’s kind of a ‘meeting of the minds’ between professors and students. The new Dean has asked all the attending faculty to bring a student guest so they can mingle and share their thoughts on the university and curriculum and things like that.”
“And you want me to be your guest?” She sounded shocked.
“I do.”
He hadn’t planned on asking Audrey, actually. Not because he didn’t want to spend time with her—far from it. But he’d been worried about the optics of a young male professor bringing a female student along, especially if it was clear to anyone they had chemistry. But maybe if more of the faculty got to know Audrey, they might consider giving her flexible options for further study. It could help her situation and, in his mind, that made it worth the risk.
“I would love to, but I’m working at my aunt’s shop on Friday.” Her face fell.
“No chance she’d give you the afternoon off?”
“I could ask,” she said with a nod. “Or maybe I could finish early? I’ll ask her.”
“I’ll leave it up to you, but the offer is there.”
“Thank you.” She looked at him for a moment longer, and Ronan had the sensation that he was standing at the edge of a cliff.
That’s how she made him feel—wild, free, dangerous. He could almost feel the wind in his hair.
Audrey curled her hands over the back of the chair in front of her, as if steadying herself. Or maybe it was as a barrier. They both knew it was wrong to be dancing around each other like this. But they kept drifting together, like magnetically attracted beings unable to resist the pull between them. Did she keep thinking about him the way he thought about her?
Audrey’s lips parted. He wasn’t close enough to touch her—there were two rows of chairs between them. And every part of him ached with the distance. His body shouted at him to get closer, to touch. To kiss her. How easy it would be to close the door to the classroom and flick off the lights so they could pretend nobody was here. He could reach for her in the dark, sliding his hands over her delectable curves and—
The door opened with a bang, and one of the cleaning staff walked in, a pair of earbuds in her ears and her head bobbing to the beat. She looked startled when she noticed there were still people in the room. “Sorry,” she said, plucking one of the buds from an ear. “I thought you were all done.”
Audrey let out a long, slow breath and then punctuated the sound with one of her dazzling smiles. “Thank you for the offer, professor. I’ll let you know if I can make it.”
Professor. Not Ronan.
That was a line in the sand if he ever saw it.
“Thank you, Audrey.” He turned and headed back to the desk. By the time he’d scooped up his phone and stuffed his laptop into his leather satchel, she was gone.
Just as Ronan was walking outside, his phone started buzzing, and Keira’s picture—one of her holding her chubby-cheeked son—flashed up on the screen. He frowned and swiped his thumb across the screen. It wasn’t like his sister to call late.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Ro.” His sister’s voice was tight, tearful. “I’m sorry to call late. I hope you’re not still in class.”