very good at talking about internal GPS systems and guiding other people through their wants and desires, but you never talk about yourself.”
“I’ve told you more about my life than anybody else in this town.” Or Cambridge. Or Harvard. Or before all that. In fact, if there was a career in being a closed book, Ronan would be an industry leader.
“More doesn’t necessarily mean a lot,” she said.
“Maybe there are other things I’d rather be doing than talking about myself.”
They were dancing around it, neither one willing to pull the trigger. But Audrey had made her desires clear, even if she didn’t quite agree with whatever was lurking in her dream apartment.
But she needed to be the one who gave the go-ahead. Because even if he wasn’t her professor or her boss or anything else, the last thing Audrey needed was one more person dictating her destiny.
“If you want this, then I’m all yours,” he said. “I will walk you out of this library right now and take you back to my place. We’ve been trying to avoid this for weeks, and I’d like very much to see where it goes. But I’m not moving a damn inch unless you say so.”
Her breath came quicker, her eyes wide and cheeks and neck flushed pink. She ran her tongue along her lower lip. “You want me to be the boss, huh?”
“I want you to be in control of what happens next.”
She nodded, her breath hitching as she reached out to touch his hand. “This isn’t some game you’re playing, is it? You’re not trying to teach me a lesson about the future?”
“I wouldn’t be here unless I absolutely wanted this for myself.”
“I’m not looking for someone to fix me, okay?”
“Audrey…” He let out a breath. “You don’t need fixing. You don’t need a white knight. Which is good, because that’s not what I am. I’m just a man.”
“That’s all I want,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Just a man. Just you. No promises or lies or games. Just you.”
Ronan got to his feet and held out his hand, and Audrey slid her palm against his. “Then let’s go.”
Chapter Sixteen
A person can be 3 times more likely to have a heart attack during or immediately after sex.
Audrey felt like they were a pair of thieves in the night, walking quickly and quietly; the only sounds they made were of quickened breath and the whisper of shoes over wet grass. The campus was quiet, but it was still warm. Muggy. The aftermath of summer rain and the chirrup of insects made it seem even more romantic somehow.
Even more real.
Was she really going to do this?
Ronan’s hand gripped hers as they headed to his place. There was a building way back behind the newer portion of the college’s campus. It was a small apartment complex, with only three stories and a single entrance at the front.
Ronan pulled the keys from his pocket, and Audrey stayed close to him, her cheek tucked against his arm even though they had nothing to hide. But there was something about coming here with Ronan that felt…fraught. Not because she was worried about him being a professor, but because she knew people would look at him, then look at her, and be confused.
Why on earth would a man like him—a smart man with a future tinged with gold—want a going-nowhere small-town lifer like her?
Ronan might not know exactly what his future held, but it was full of possibility. Audrey, on the other hand, knew exactly what the next five years held for her. Beyond that, well…it wasn’t like she’d be able to move to a big city, no matter how the lights had shined in her fantasy. Putting her lack of savings and education aside, she didn’t even have marketable skills. No gold stars on her résumé beyond making a wicked coffee.
But it hadn’t stopped her from imagining it…and him. When she’d walked through the fantasy bedroom door to see a man lying on her bed, no shirt, muscles rippling and a smile sexier than sin… Lordy. The fact that it had been Ronan had shaken her to her core.
But not as much as the gold band on his finger and the diamond perched on hers.
Ronan pushed the door open and tugged her inside, sweeping his blue eyes down to hers for the briefest second. That one glance blanked any and all worries from her mind. Tonight wasn’t about the future; it was about now.