Page 9 of Kiss and Make Love

Oh no.

Spencer grabbed her phone, opened up her messages, and found one from herself. She read through it as fast as possible, her face grimacing more and more with every line. The very last one struck a different chord, however. He liked her? What would give her that impression? Any memories after the dreaded text messages refused to surface.

After she finished reading her own message, her finger hovered over Mr. Monroe’s name before tapping into their conversation.

Or should she sayBrett.

Apparently, they were on a first-name basis.

Okay. Two hours until class time. She could shower and get ready, have a quick black coffee and scrambled eggs, and still get to campus early. She needed time to apologize toBrett,and his office hours were always before his first class.

Racing through the motions, she readied herself in record time, still managing to look pretty damn hot, if she said so herself. Denim jumpsuit, some gold jewelry, her platform sneakers. Ready for the day. And ready to face her professor and grovel at his feet. She would apologize and look damn good doing it.

She pulled up to the university, found a parking spot, and made it to Mr. Monroe’s office all with forty-five minutes to spare before psych class started. He should still be in office hours for at least another twenty minutes. As long as another student wasn’t talking to him, she’d be able to catch him before they both needed to get to class.

Knocking on his office door, she sent a silent manifestation out into the universe that this would go well and she would not make a bigger fool of herself than she did last night. Damn six-drink Spencer.

“Come in!” Mr. Monroe’s voice called.

Spencer opened the door, and he looked up. When his gaze connected with hers, he beamed and stood up to greet her.

“Hey, Spencer, I was hoping to see you this morning. How’re you doing?” he asked, coming around his desk that sat in the corner of his office.

“Can I be honest?” Spencer said.

He nodded at her.

“A little embarrassed. A lot embarrassed, actually.”

He laughed and motioned for her to take a seat on the green velvet couch on the right side of the room. He shut the door behind him before joining her.

“Well, it’s not every day I have a student text me about my fashion choices, that’s for sure.” Again, that teasing smirk played on his face. He didn’t seem mad at all.

“So you’re not mad at me? What I did was ridiculous.”

“I’m not arguing that. But no, I’m not mad at you. I’m glad I got you home safely.”

“I’m so sorry. I was a sloppy drunk last night, and you didn’t deserve me harassing you at one in the morning. I don’t even remember half the things I said.”

He shrugged. “It’s not a problem. I mean, it was a little funny. I didn’t realize my vests made such an impact.”

“They don’t! They’re fine. There’s nothing wrong with them.” Her face burned. This wasn’t going well. Why couldn’t she keep it together around this man? Resting bitch face was her default, always making her seem untouchable, and the whole working-with-the-dead thing made her feel pretty damn cool. But around Mr. Monroe, she was a bumbling schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher.

He laughed again. A deep chuckle that shot straight to her panties. Shit, even him laughing got her going.

“They’re my teaching clothes. I like to separate my work life and personal life. So, I dress one way here and another in my downtime. It helps keep things defined.”

Spencer nodded along with him. Clothing was part of her personal armour. She used it to project confidence and control how she was seen. Something she’dlearned to do when she couldn’t control things at home with her mother.

“You don’t have to justify anything to me, Mr. Monroe?—”

“Brett,” he interjected.

She looked at him. Really looked at him. His gaze was serious now. A fuzzy memory cleared in her mind. “I thoughtBrettwas for outside of the classroom?”

“Are we in the classroom now?” His voice was low and deep.

There was a charge in the air. She didn’t know where it came from, but it was here now. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Goosebumps pebbled the skin up and down her arms.

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