Living in Shadow (Living In…) Read Online Free Page A

knot in the center of her chest.
    He had one arm against the doorframe, the posture drawing attention to the sharply defined lines of his biceps, left bare by the black T-shirt he was wearing. It was…distracting.
    “I’m sorry I missed the class today,” he said. “I had an appointment.”
    Eleanor looked away from him, fussing around with the laptop cords. “That’s okay. You didn’t miss much. I’ll be putting the notes up on the class web page anyway.”
    “Well, that’s good.”
    A small silence fell. Then his voice, much softer and much closer this time. “Did you even notice I wasn’t there?” He’d come into the lecture theatre proper, was now standing not far away from her, hands thrust casually in the pockets of his jeans.
    She glanced at him but all he did was stare back, a strange, intense glint in his eyes.
    Christ, what did he want from her? If he thought she was going to admit to the fact that, yes, she had noticed, he needed to think again. Something told her that admitting any kind of weakness around this man would be a mistake.
    Feeling threatened, Eleanor turned away, resuming tucking the cords away into her laptop bag as if nothing were bothering her in the slightest. “That’s an odd question to ask.”
    “Is it?”
    “Yes. And no, I didn’t notice, but thanks for letting me know.”
    There was a weirdly taut silence.
    She continued to fuss with the cords, feeling the weight of his stare on the back of her neck like the touch of a hand. Jesus, he really needed to go the hell away.
    “You’re one hell of a good liar, Professor May,” he said softly.
    Ah Christ. This was ridiculous. Of course she knew what he wanted from her. She’d known it the moment his gaze met hers. And she was too old for teenage, flirty games. Actually, shit, what did that have to do with age? Even when she’d been younger she hadn’t had the patience for it. Whatever she’d done to deserve his attention, one thing was clear. It had to stop.
    Slowly she closed her laptop bag then straightened and turned to face him. He stared back at her, his beautifully cut mouth unsmiling. The uncompromising look on his face, hard and stern, made something hot clench inside her. Something she wasn’t prepared to acknowledge.
    This is how it started with Piers…
    Forcing away the thought, she said bluntly, “I’m thirty-eight.”
    His straight, black brows arrowed down. “So?”
    “How old are you?”
    “Twenty-five. But what’s that got to do with anything?”
    Twenty-five. Christ. Older than the average student, but still. “I think thirteen years’ age difference speaks for itself, doesn’t it?”
    “Does your age bother you?”
    “No.”
    “Good. Because it doesn’t bother me either.”
    “Well it should.” She twisted to pick up her laptop bag and briefcase. And when she turned back he was standing right in front of her. Not too close but enough that the sexual awareness she’d been telling herself for days she didn’t feel gathered tighter inside her.
    “I don’t give a shit about your age,” he said. “So if you’re trying to warn me away you need to think of something else.”
    She took a slow breath. “Ah, so we’re going to have this conversation, are we?”
    “What conversation?”
    “The one where you tell me you’re attracted to me and I tell you that this kind of conversation is inappropriate. That I’m your professor and liaisons between staff and students are prohibited.”
    He didn’t say anything for a moment, standing there with his hands in his pockets, motionless. “You sound like you’ve had it before,” he said eventually.
    “More than once.” With a couple of younger guys looking for a mother figure and settling on her. Those occasions had been easy ones to nip in the bud, the kids embarrassed and easily deflected once she’d spoken to them.
    And you didn’t want them.
    She didn’t want Lucien either. No. Definitely not. She pasted on her usual smile, ignoring