The stairs loomed before them. “It’s up there, three doors down on the right,” Jen said as if she were showing him Mount Everest. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t take those stairs at a crawl with her in front of him. It was torture. On the other hand, the house was packed and he wouldn’t feel right about letting her walk up in her sodden, see-through costume. All the men in the place would mob her.
“I have an idea,” she said, turning around to face him. “If you’re willing.”
Too willing. He shouldn’t be as willing as he was. “If it can get us up those stairs without tripping and with a modicum of dignity, I’m willing.”
Her blue eyes gleamed with sensual interest and humor. “Wrap your cloak around me and take me away from all of this… Death.”
A breathless laugh escaped his lips and he shook his head. No. She wasn’t charming. She was a student.
She adjusted her skirt and put her arms around his neck. “I’m going to wrap my legs around your waist so you can carry me. You’ve got impressive biceps for a professor, so I know you can do it. Then we can be at Leroy’s room in under a minute.”
If you wrap your legs around me, I might take you on those stairs and show you what else I can do. “Whatever it takes.”
She hopped up and her thighs tightened on his waist. “Is that okay?”
“Fine, Miss Finn.”
His fists clenched to keep from cupping her ass and grinding her against him as he climbed the stairs two at a time. When he reached the top she was staring down at him with a small, slight frown. Why?
Trick was laughing. “Good thinking. Now let’s get her dry.”
Dry is not how I want her.
At least he knew he needed help. That was half the battle.
When they got to the door, Trick dug out her keys and Jennifer pointed to the right one that would open the padlock. Grabbing it, he opened the door and peered inside. “All clear.”
“He’s with Tony this weekend and no one else would dare come in here. We’re safe.”
“Good.”
Trick turned on the light and Declan realized he was still holding Jennifer. He set her down and stepped away, revealing her outfit to his gaze again. Her nipples, which she’d forgotten to cover with her hands again, were taunting him. He couldn’t win.
“Thank you, Professor.” She paused as if she might say more then turned and raced toward the bathroom. They heard cabinet doors open and a feminine shout of victory.
“What is it?” Trick asked.
“Blow dryer.” She leaned her head out of the door and smiled at Trick like she’d won a prize.
Declan took his mask and cloak off and looked away from that smile. The room was pristine. He could eat off any surface, ceiling to floor. It wasn’t a particularly masculine or feminine room, except for the shoes. Lining every wall were expensive, tasteful high heels. Lola, he remembered. “Can’t you just grab a shirt and sweatpants and tell your friend you’ll give them back when you can?”
She looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “Someone in our study group once asked if she could borrow his jacket. It was freezing rain outside and she is skinny as a rail and was wearing shorts. Leroy…” Jen shook her head. “The answer is no. I cannot borrow anything. I can use the blow dryer to make my dress less…less.” She glanced over at Trick. “It might take fifteen or twenty minutes.”
“That’s fine.” He waved her back inside. “We’re not in a hurry, are we, Declan? We’ll just be out here. Not borrowing any clothes.”
“Also the shoes,” she called through the door. “Don’t even touch the shoes.”
Trick walked over to the door and locked the deadbolt that had been installed on the inside, shaking his head. “Leroy must really enjoy his privacy. Or Lola loves her shoes.”
Declan waited until he heard the blow dryer, then strode toward Trick and pressed him against the wall near the door. He braced an arm across his neck to hold him still and glared, at the end of his rope. “Are you fucking her?”
“Damn it, Declan, what the hell?” Trick pushed Declan’s arm down and glared. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me? Eight weeks, Trick. The texts, her buttons… And now tonight.” Tonight Trick had intimidated football players and Jennifer had danced naked. Tonight she’d wrapped her legs around him and given him every opportunity to touch her. Tonight both of the people he wanted were locked inside a small room with him and one of them was still off limits. “What’s your plan? Don’t tell me you don’t have one.”
Trick grinned at him as if he knew exactly what was on his mind. “I had a plan. Actually it was more like a general direction. You actually drinking was definitely part of it, but I have to admit this is working out so far. Jen, you, deadbolts. We’ll see what happens next.”