Words of Lust by Lise Horton Read Free Book Online Page B

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    “A plus. Definitely.”
    “Good. Now we can have dinner without all that expectant tension.”
    “Tension?”
    “You know—wondering if we would be good together.”
    “I see.” She licked her now sensitive lips. “Anticipation?”
    “Damn straight, Professor. I’ve been hard for you since Monday when you twitched that fine ass and pouted at me. Now, let’s eat.” And he pulled her back into the restaurant.
    The waitress was waiting at their table with great patience and a smirk. Serafina let him order for her, both because he said he’d had everything on the menu, but also because she was completely unable to focus. Good? Kissing him had been earth-shattering. All she could think about was getting back in his arms as soon as humanly possible, hoping he wanted to do wicked things to her, preferably with his impressive cock. The feel of his body, the taste of his kiss, his strength. If she’d been the swooning type, she’d be swooning for all she was worth. Her fingers still tingled from the feel of his flesh beneath her hands, and her body came alive in a way it never had before.
    She took a breath. Smiled. Had a sip of Chianti and used the time while he went through their order to try to regain some balance.
    After the kiss, it was as if nothing happened. He chatted about work and his family. He asked her questions about her classes, about Gia, and quizzed her on how she liked just about every bite she was eating. If he noticed her distraction, he didn’t comment. He made her laugh with stories of his own college anecdotes and eventually, with some wine and a wonderful meal, she got herself under control again and was able to actually participate.
    “Sounds as if you had a stellar academic career. Why choose construction over architecture? Don’t get me wrong. I can certainly see the allure of not being cooped up in an office.”
    They’d reached the dessert stage and he was spooning up his tiramisu. “That was actually part of it. I chose architecture as a major because I’ve always wanted to build stuff. I’ll show you the tree house I built when I was fourteen that’s still in the big oak behind our house. But after I graduated and got my first job, I discovered I loved the doing of it more than the planning of it and I didn’t want to spend my life in a shirt and tie dragging blueprints to clients who didn’t get my vision.”
    She was off balance. He’d made several comments about her meeting his parents and seeing his old tree house. Did he want to take this further than just an apology dinner? The blossoming of hunger inside her had nothing to do with creamy desserts. Instead, the thought she could have more opportunities to feast on Nick Stellato outweighed her nerves.
    He merely drank his espresso and continued.
    “Because I have the degree, and because I did construction all through college for spending money, I was a hot commodity. So I’ve moved up fast and I love what I do. Sure, just like any job there are boring and annoying aspects, but I’m happy. How many people can say that?”
    “You sound very grounded and self-assured. That’s nice to hear. I do love teaching, but the academic world has some serious downsides as well. It’s a snake pit of people vying for a good schedule, for publication, for tenure. I hate the academic politics, and the whole publish-or-perish thing creates such a lot of unpleasant competition, so I focus on what I love doing—teaching great books and literature. I love introducing students to the power of the written word. So often they’ve been bored to tears by the same old books high schools have been teaching forever, and they come to a literature class expecting more of the same. So I do everything in my power to make it exciting for them.”
    “Well, you must be doing it right. Gia loves your class. She couldn’t stop talking about it the other night at our family dinner.”
    “She’s got a terrific mind. She’s a great writer too.