Sweet Chemistry Read online

  “I’m gonna come.” Her words flowed out of her mouth in a single long breath.

  He growled again as she spoke and slammed into her harder and faster than before, sending her careening over the edge, filling the room with her scream until it shattered his focus.

  “Fuuuuck.” He drew out the word with a long exhale. His hips jerked erratically and tiny grunts escaped his mouth as his body convulsed.

  She closed her eyes and smiled. “Wow…that was…wow.”

  He sighed. “Yes it was.”

  She kissed him again. “That was better than I thought it would be.”

  James chuckled. Apparently, they had a lot in common, sex fantasies being at the top of the list. “You were planning on having sex with me?”

  Kate blushed. “Well, no, I mean, I was hopeful.” She looked over at his nightstand. “You must’ve been planning on it too, since you were excessively prepared.”

  “Hopeful.” He grinned. She had a point. He was excessively prepared. The drawer in his nightstand held an economy size box of condoms, which was also his brother’s suggestion. He made a mental note to thank him, but at the moment, he needed to get rid of the condom still covering his dick.

  Their bodies shuddered in unison as he pulled out of her. He scooped up his pants so he could get dressed after he disposed of the condom in the bathroom. His mouth fell open when he was confronted with his reflection. Satisfaction. Where had that been all these years?

  By the time he came out, she was dressed and leaning against the doorframe. “It’s late. I’ve got a busy week ahead of me.” Kate’s black hair was tousled and her skin was flushed, making her blue eyes sparkle.

  James nodded and his eyes fell to the ground. What had he expected? That she would stay the night? “Me too. Can I have your number?” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

  Kate smiled. “Sure.” She rattled the string of numbers off to him. “Can I have yours?”

  She pulled her phone out of her front pocket and entered the information.

  “Can we see each other next weekend?” Just thinking about being with her again made his dick stir in his pants.

  “Sure. I’ll call you and let you know how it’s looking, closer to the weekend. Unless you, um, want to call me.” She blushed.

  “Until then.” James walked over to her and kissed her shiny lips, savoring the feel of them and the sweetness that still lingered. He dug his fingers in her hair, trying to hold onto her one more time before she left.

  She was smiling when she pulled away. “Okay, see you soon.”

  Kate had been gone for about five minutes before James realized he hadn’t offered her a ride home. He paced his bedroom while he dialed her.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi Kate, it’s me. James.” He exhaled. “I just realized I didn’t offer you a ride home. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

  Kate laughed. “It’s fine. I’ve got it taken care of.”

  “But I…”

  “Don’t worry about it. I can take care of myself.” No hostility, just honesty.

  James sighed. “I had a really good time tonight.”

  “I did too.”

  He could hear the smile in her voice.

  “Thanks for checking on me. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  * * * *

  His first semester as a professor was about to start. James had worked tirelessly for the past nine years—undergraduate school, graduate school, and a teaching assistant position—all perfectly planned, and here he was, on the cusp of achieving his life-long goals and all he could think about was Kate.

  James looked at the clock next to his bed. It was one in the morning. He desperately wanted to call his brother, but knew he would have to wait until tomorrow. Jeff was already up enough with his eight-month-old baby, he didn’t need James disturbing his sleep too.

  The sweet scent of her perfume lingered on his sheets, and he thought of her as he fell asleep. That night, he dreamed of her, and when he woke on Sunday, he was exhausted and giddy. He couldn’t wait to tell to his brother. The previous night replayed in his head on the drive to his brother’s house.

  James’ leg bounced through dinner as he waited for a moment alone with his brother. “I talked to Kate again last night,” he whispered as soon as he and Jeff were alone and cleaning up after dinner. James washed the dishes and Jeff dried, just like they did after every Sunday dinner.

  “What? You did?”

  “Yep, and we did more than talk. Thanks for the, um, suggestions.” He lowered his voice. “The condoms, I mean.”

  “Holy shit.” Jeff’s mouth hung open. “I didn’t think you had it in you, what with all the pussyfooting around and stepping on her and whatnot. Don’t spare the details. Listen bro, with a baby sharing our bedroom, there’s not a lot happening, if you know what I mean.”

  James shook his head. “She has black, jaw-length hair and eyes the color of cobalt.”

  Jeff rolled his eyes. “You mentioned that.”

  “And the sexiest smile I’ve ever seen. She also looks vaguely familiar for some reason.”

  “Probably because you’ve been stalking her for weeks.” Jeff laughed and then leaned closer to his brother. “So you made her smile?”

  “Mm hmm. A lot.” James pushed his lips together.

  “You’re killing me. Thanks a lot. Got any other news you’re not going to tell me about?” Jeff scowled.

  “I’m just not willing to share more. That’d be weird. What if you meet her?”

  Jeff’s mouth hung open even wider. “Seriously? Do you even know her last name?”

  James grimaced. Why hadn’t he thought of that last night? “No…but I could ask her when I call. I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  Jeff laughed. “Be cool man.”

  “Be cool about what?” Heather asked from the doorway, their son Miles on her hip.

  Jeff wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “James talked to his dark-haired girl last night. He likes her. A lot.”

  Heather ran across the kitchen, making Miles giggle as she jostled him, and then she kissed James on the cheek. “That’s great! When do we get to meet her?”

  “What the hell’s wrong with you? He just met her.” Jeff shook his head.

  Heather shrugged. “There’s no harm in pursuing a girl if you like her. Call her, James. Don’t wait. Call her and tell her you want to see her again.”

  “Thanks, Heather. I will.” He stuck his tongue out at Jeff.

  “How old is she anyway?” Jeff asked.

  James shrugged. “I don’t know, early twenties.”

  Jeff snorted. “Can’t find anyone your own age? Gotta prey on young girls?”

  “She’s not that much younger than me. Unless you forgot, I just turned twenty-eight. You make me sound like a repugnant perv.” James scowled at his brother.

  “If the shoe fits…”

  “Boys, play nice,” Heather called over her shoulder as she left to put Miles to bed.

  “Fine. But just remember it was me who told you to leave your dumpy apartment and go hook up with a girl.”

  “My apartment isn’t dumpy. It’s close to campus and it’s got covered parking. You should know you helped me move in last weekend.”

  “I’m sure that comes in handy, since you ride your bike to work. And your apartment is dumpy. You don’t even have a couch.” Jeff elbowed his brother. “Seriously, I’m glad you met someone. It’s about time you got over Tina.”

  James exhaled. “Tina was really something.” It was only in the last year James could say her name out loud without seething.

  “Well, Tina left your sorry ass three years ago, and you need to get over it. Sorry bro, but you can’t expect a woman to wait around while you work fourteen hours a day. You’ve got to sweep them off their feet with flowers and chocolates, and then trick them into marrying you before they change their mind.”

  James scoffed. “That’s your advice? Remind me to stop t
alking to you about relationships.”

  The truth was James was envious of his brother’s life. Not the part where Jeff took over the family business running a construction company. James had that opportunity too, and the day he passed it up for graduate school was the day his father stopped being civil to him. James worked for Baker Construction plenty of summers growing up, and had no desire to deal with lumberyards or contractors for the rest of his life. For as long as he could remember he wanted to be a professor, and he sacrificed a lot to make it happen. While James spent the last six years working on his PhD, his little brother got married, learned how to run a business, and had a kid. It seemed like no matter how hard James worked, he never got to the point where he got the whole package, and every time he saw his brother with his family, he knew he wanted it too.

  * * * *

  James rode his bike to Hatch Hall, which housed the offices of the college of science faculty at Bowman State University, early Monday morning. He tucked his bike against the wall in his office, changed into a fresh shirt, and visited the bathroom in the hopes the water would lift the dents in his short hair from his helmet. He was ready for his first day.

  The department chair, Lloyd Moore, had been kind when he created James’ schedule, allowing him time to adjust to the demands of his new teaching position. Introductory Chemistry and General Biochemistry were his two main classes, and Lloyd padded the rest of his teaching credits with independent student research and thesis advising, both of which only had one student each.

  Despite his relatively light load, he was nauseous as he faced a hundred students in his intro class. The lecture hall sloped up and away from the projection board behind him, and even though he practiced last week, he couldn’t get his laptop to sync with the equipment, so he ended up reading off of his computer screen. By the end of the hour, he had obviously lost the attention of the students in the back rows, who were talking almost as loudly as he was.

  Between classes, James collected his mail from the main office where the department office assistant, Carrie, gave him an encouraging smile. He was tempted to sit and chat with her about his awful morning for a minute, but it was obvious she was working with someone in the back office, so he didn’t stay.

  As James ate his lunch in his office, he went through the Tenure Requirements package Lloyd had given him with the set of keys to the building. He was surprised by a knock on his office door.

  Lloyd walked in. “Doing a bit of light reading?”

  James smiled around a mouthful of sandwich and showed him the packet of papers.

  “Next semester, we’ll get you on the right track for tenure.” Lloyd frowned as he glanced around James’ disheveled office.

  James swallowed hard as a piece of sandwich got stuck in his throat. His desk was covered with books and lab manuals. Even though the semester had started, he was still putting his classes together. “How am I supposed to think about next semester?”

  “It would serve you well to start thinking about how to stay on track. Excellence in teaching is only part of the requirements. I know from your teaching assistant position at UC Santa Barbara, you are no stranger to lab work, and I would like to make sure you have every opportunity to work on something meaningful here. Undergraduate research is a wonderful way to get your name on publications.”

  James nodded. “I was going to ask about lab space.”

  “You’ll have to write grants for supplies and instruments if we don’t have them already, but space is not an issue. We have a research lab in the basement where Alice and Sam are currently working on projects with students.” Lloyd smiled. “Sam is attending an undergraduate symposium in the spring, where he and two students are going to present their research.”

  James sighed. The information wasn’t new to him. It was just another thing that made his head pound. Managing teaching and grading was enough to keep him busy every waking moment. Adding research and student symposiums to the mix would surely kill him.

  “And of course,” Lloyd went on, “we’ll be sure to get you on the right committees. Being a tenured professor for Bowman State requires a certain amount of commitment. We need to know you’re going to be around for the long haul before we invest in your future.” He nodded solemnly. “It’s all about give and take…and making sure we’re a good fit for you.”

  So far the folder designed to hold his tenure package held his curriculum vitae and the Tenure Requirements document. Before he turned forty, this folder would supposedly be bulging with syllabi, teaching evaluation data, awards he’d won, research publications, conference presentations, grants he’d been awarded, student research projects he’d supervised, committees he’d served on, letters from students and colleagues pointing out how great he was, and above all else, a tenure statement, which would make his case for tenure. That was going to be the hardest part of all. When he wrote it, he planned to use excerpts from others to make his case. Now he just needed to start building relationships within his college so someone would say good things about him.

  He flipped through the pages in the packet without seeing them. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do any of those things, especially after the disaster with the projector this morning. If he couldn’t manage to connect an HDMI cable properly, how was he supposed to attend conferences and give presentations on research?

  “I won’t let you down, Lloyd.” James shook his hand, and hoped he was right.

  James was looking forward to his biochemistry class, which had only fourteen students, most of which were majors. He had checked the online enrollment page last week, trying to familiarize himself with these students. Perhaps he would find someone he could start a research project with and get him “on the right track” for tenure. Lloyd would be thrilled.

  The classroom was much smaller, which did wonders for his nerves. “Welcome to General Biochemistry, my name is Dr. Baker.” He made his way to the front of the class and turned to face the small group.

  His face froze as his gaze fell on Kate. No wonder her face looked vaguely familiar: she was his student. Fuck my life.

  Chapter 3

  Kate was sitting in the front row next to her friend Tim. She turned to follow the sound of Dr. Baker’s voice. “Ho-ly shit.”

  Tim furrowed his brow. “What is it?”

  Kate was taking quick shallow breaths. James was frozen too. How much time had passed? Could everyone in the classroom hear her pounding heart?

  “Take a deep breath, Katie,” Tim whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

  Her cheeks burned and she broke her eyes away first, looking down at the notebook on the desk in front of her. She wrote his name. James. She shook her head and added Dr. to the front and Baker to the end.

  James finally started talking, turning his back to the class to write his contact information on the whiteboard.

  Tim glanced at her paper. “How do you know his first name?”

  “Shh, I’ll tell you after.” Kate’s cheeks flushed again, prickling where his beard had rubbed her skin raw two days ago.

  When he turned to face the class, Kate looked at his lips. She shivered and could almost taste his tongue in her mouth. At that moment, she knew this was going to be the hardest class she had ever taken.

  At the end of the hour, as James packed up his supplies, he looked at his roll and then to her. “Miss Rhodes, would you mind following me to my office? We need to discuss your enrollment.”

  Kate nodded quickly, hoping no one but Tim was close enough to see her jump when he said her name.

  “See you later?” Tim asked, looking expectantly at her.

  “Mm hmm. Later, Timmy.” Kate couldn’t look at James. She knew if she did, she would want to kiss him. And that would be bad. Wouldn’t it?

  The class dispersed and Kate followed James down the long hallway to his office. Once they were inside, he closed the door. The same tall bike with skinny tires she had seen in his apartment was wedged against the far wall, and a
helmet and reflective shirt hung from the handlebars.

  “What the hell? You’re my student?”

  Kate scoffed. “As if I knew who you were.” She didn’t mean to be defensive, but what other option did she have?

  James covered his face. “If anyone found out…” He shook his head. “I didn’t know.”

  She touched his hand reassuringly. “Hey, neither of us knew. It’ll be all right.”

  His hands fell away from his face. “Oh. Will it?” he snapped. “What am I supposed to do?”

  Kate’s shoulders fell as his words stabbed through her. “You’re it. You’re the only prof who teaches biochemistry. I am a chemistry major, I need biochemistry to graduate.”

  “I have to spend fifteen weeks talking to you?” He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his jaw.

  Kate gripped the shoulder strap of her backpack, making her knuckles turn white. “Sorry to inconvenience you.” She turned on her heel, jerked the door open, and stormed out. He didn’t stop her.

  Tears began to well up in her eyes, and she ran as fast as she could out of the building so she wouldn’t cry in front of her friends. She normally took the shuttle to the dorms, but not today.

  Hot tears streaked down her cheeks as she chided herself. So stupid. She shouldn’t have gone home with him. What possessed her to be so bold in the first place?

  She went right to Meg’s room on the first floor of their dorm building. Meg was at her desk when Kate went in and flopped face down on her bed.

  “Kate, what’s wrong?” Meg sat down next to her.

  “It’s him,” she said between sobs. “My Biochem professor is James.”

  “Wait, wait, wait, wait. James from Addiction?”

  “That’s the one.” Another sob escaped her lips. “And he doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

  “Oh, Kate, I’m sure that’s not true.”

  Kate sat up and faced her, wiping her cheeks. “He said, ‘I have to spend fifteen weeks talking to you?’ What am I supposed to think?”

  Meg’s eyes narrowed and her lips formed a hard line. “What a dick. I guess you’re supposed to forget about him. They’re not all like that. There are some good ones out there. You’ll see. Don’t let one bad experience sway you.”