Chapter 9
Sophia
My heart was thumping rapidly in my chest as I waited for him to respond.
Admitting that I had been thinking of him was a gamble. I didn’t want to be rejected, but what else could I do? I had to be true to myself and my feelings. If I didn’t take that chance, then I’d never know. Branching out and trying to make it on my own was all about taking chances and finding out who I was. That wasn’t going to happen if I didn’t go and get what I wanted. God knew my father and brothers went after what they wanted with everything they had in them. That’s why they were all so successful.
I was a Marinotti, while that may be bad in many ways, it also meant I had balls. I needed to take chances to achieve my goals and right now my goal was the man sitting across from me. No one had to know, at least not for a while. Not until it was safe.
“Sophia…”
“Look. You can’t tell me you didn’t feel what I felt last night. There was a spark left over from when we had that night together.”
The frown that graced his lips gave me pause. “Regardless of what chemistry we have, the fact is that I’m your professor and you’re my student.”
“Not for much longer.”
“No, but for now I am. And I might be again if there’s courses that you’ll be required to complete at higher levels that only I can teach.”
“Then no one has to know anything.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “While this is a large city, it’s not exactly easy to keep things like this hidden. Gossip has a way of making the rounds and even if there’s no proof, gossip is enough to ruin a career. It’s a damned miracle that no one found out about our one-night stand a while back.”
Shit.With a sigh, I put down the piece of toast that I was about to take a bite from. If I told him what had happened, that he’d been a dare, he’d kick my ass out of here before I could say the word sorority. But what relationship started on a lie? What healthy one? But he’d been a dare, a way to get into a sorority I only attended meetings and events so they’d keep the secret. I couldn’tnottell him, what if the information got out? He’d never forgive me then.
“No one will ever find out. It’s not like I’m expecting us to be holding hands in the quad. I just think it would be nice if we got to know each other better, outside of school.”
“Dammit, Sophia. You know I’m fifteen years older than you.”
“I knew that.” I motioned to his temples. “The flecks of grey at your temples were a little bit of a giveaway. And I may have asked around, a little bit. You’re popular with the girls on campus. I hear them talk while you teach. Most of the girls and even some of the boys go gaga over your fine ass in class.”
“That’s disturbing.” But there was a hint of a smile on his lips that told me otherwise.
“You look more flattered than disturbed.”
Chuckling, he took off his glasses and placed them on the table. “Growing up, I was never a popular kid. I was the nerdy one that liked to read and learn. Learning and school are what I pretty much dedicated myself to. I barely dated through high school and lucked out for a prom date.”
“Lucked out?”
“Yeah the girl I went with… Well, her boyfriend broke up with her two days before the prom. I was one of the only available guys left. I pretty much shut myself down to dating after that and continued to focus on college.”
My heart went out to him. At least by homeschooling my parents spared me from the horrors of high school. Although I was beginning to see that college was just a grown-up version of what I’d perceived high school to be.
I couldn’t even imagine him being the nerdy guy he claimed to be.
“How were your high school years?” he asked.
Laughing, I raised my brow at him. “Are you changing the subject?”
“I’m sure trying to.”
I laughed a little harder. “That’s fair. Well, I was home-schooled through all my school years.”
“Really? Why? No high school, nothing like that?”
“Nope.”
“Why?”