I suppose that's his polite way of saying I'm too bloody old for this rubbish. He seems younger than Siobhan, though honestly, I have no idea how old she is. Thirty, maybe?
"Yes, I am a mature student," I tell Sanjay. "But Dr. Griffin is helping this decrepit specimen get through the semester. She's my adviser."
"She's an exceptional person. You can't do better than to have her guiding you." He glances at Siobhan. "I'd better get back to my office. Let me know if I can be of any help, Mr. Hunter."
"Call me Nick."
"Only if you call me Sanjay." He nods toward Siobhan and seems to be trying not to smile. "Dr. Griffin doesn't approve of faculty and students using each other's first names. Maybe you can convince her it's not a sign the world is ending."
"I'll do my best."
Sanjay leaves, and Siobhan rests her arse against the edge of her desk, arms crossed.
"What have I done now?" I ask.
"Nothing." She smiles just a touch. "You're much better at socializing than I am. Maybe I'm a little jealous."
"I have no idea whether you play well with others, but I'm intimately acquainted with the way you play one on one." I move in front of her, laying my hands on her hips. "You're bloody brilliant, Siobhan. At everything, not just sucking me off like an industrial vacuum. That's a compliment, by the way. Admittedly not the best metaphor, though."
"Let's have dinner together. At a restaurant."
"We can't be seen together in public, remember?"
She fingers the collar of my shirt, her gaze riveted to it. "We can if we go somewhere farther away from campus. Santa Fe is an hour away, and I know several good restaurants there. What do you say?"
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
"Yes." She leans in, splaying her palms on my chest, and speaks in a sexy purr. "Nick Hunter, will you have dinner with me tonight?"
"A tornado couldn't stop me. That means yes, Siobhan, I would love to be your date."
"I'll meet you at your apartment, eight o'clock." She glances over her shoulder at the papers on her desk. "I really do have a class to get to now."
Maybe I shouldn't like that she sounds disappointed, but I do. She'd rather stay with me. I'm positive she would, and for sure I'd rather stay here with her.
If we're dating now, which she says we are, then I feel like I need to know something. "I hope you won't be offended if I ask, but I'm wondering how old you are. I'd guess thirty."
She tries not to laugh but winds up snorting instead. "That's flattering, Nick, but no. I'm forty-two."
"Perfect. I love older women. And younger women. And women my own age."
"You're not picky, are you?"
"No." I kiss her cheek. "See you tonight."
Then I walk out the door.
Women don't often surprise me, but Siobhan keeps doing that again and again. I might've had some…preconceptions about her, and I'd been wrong. She portrays herself as an uptight schoolteacher, but underneath, she's a passionate, inventive, wild, and amazing woman.
And I can't wait for our first date.
Chapter Twelve
Siobhan
Why am I standing in front of the full-length mirror on the back of my bedroom door, studying my outfit like I'm about to meet the President of the United States? I'm having dinner with Nick. It's no big deal. Is it? Sure, we can't let anyone from the university see us together, but this is still just a date. Since we've already had sex, and I went down on him in my office, I don't know if I can still claim this is only a date. It seems like more than that, though I have no idea why.
I love being with Nick, but that means nothing.