Valentine's Theory by Shara Azod Read Free Book Online Page A

this. And by the time they were through, she was going to finally admit they belonged together.
     
     
            Misha hoped her brusque departure from the room looked as if she had actual purpose elsewhere, and not like she was running. Which she was. Of all the insane ideas that could have popped into her head, she had to pick a Valentine’s Day experiment? Really? Why couldn’t she just come out and tell Theo how she really felt?
            “Because you are a rotten coward,” she muttered after she’d barricaded herself in her office.
            Ten years. Ten long, excruciating years waiting for Professor Theodore Sullivan, but he’d never made a move. He had poured her into bed when she was too tired to move after working a little too long, had forced food down her throat when she occasionally forgot to eat..okay, those two happened a lot. But he had always been there. He acted like her damn husband. Honestly, she liked it. Loved it, really. Loved feeling cared for and adored. The man had greased her hair, which was amazing considering he was a white dude from a tiny town Minnesota who had never seen hair grease before their third year in grad school. Now he walked into her house like he lived there, ordered her to sit between his knees and went to work on her hair because he knew she’d forgotten. Again.
    And not once in all these years did Theo make the moves on her. At first she had thought he was gay. Weren't all extremely hunky, sensitive, caring men on the other team nowadays? However, a brief affair with Denise Hunt had disabused her of that notion. It had been the absolute worst month in her life, watching the other woman with her hands all over the man that Misha had begun to think of as her exclusive property. And he had liked that shit too, damn his hide. Loved it when Denise ran her witchy fingers through his thick golden brown hair. Misha had no idea why their “thing” ended, but thank God it had. Being nice to denise for Theo’s sake had taken just about all she could bear.
    But that had been like seven years ago.  Theo hadn’t dated anyone since. And Misha knew this to be fact because she called him at all hours for odd things and he was always there. She let herself into his condo whenever she chose because she could and he was always alone. Okay yeah, it was perverse, but damn it, Theo was hers!
    This was a huge risk. Although she knew without a doubt Theo cared for her, she had no idea if his feelings were sisterly or if, like her, he wanted to finally move their relationship to a new level. Misha had wracked her brain trying to figure out a way to bring up the subject. The pitiful truth was she had always spent far too much time in books and research and very little trying to get to know those around her. If it weren’t for Theo dragging her to university and departmental events, she probably would have no social life at all. No, no probably to it. It was amazing she and Theo were so close.
    It was all Theo’s doing. He was the one who had refused to be rebuffed by her standoffish manner. For reasons Misha couldn’t begin to guess at, Theo had decided she needed a keeper, and he was the perfect one for that role. Surely he had to feel at least some of the aching desire she felt every time he put his hands on her. She couldn’t be the only one whose body heated whenever they were close, or who throbbed with a soul-deep need late at night wishing one of them would finally take the initiative.
    Sick and tired of the constant state of arousal that only got worse with time, she simply had to come up with a plan. Something that was plausible and wouldn’t cause her too much embarrassment if all the desire was one-sided. Her research seemed like the perfect solution. Screwing up all the courage she could, she had marched into this lab, dropped her little bomb, and then stalked away, just like she would with any other experiment. The whole videotaping thing seemed a little