Page 10 of The Professor's Holiday Surprise

That voice has given me more orgasms than these Sunday night feeds have.

I stare in confusion as he stands up and walks out of view of the camera. I try desperately to look at the room for more clues, but it’s absolutely generic.

The feed cuts out, the live stream ending, and it’s gone.

Did I hallucinate that???

I climb off the bed and do up my pants, the slow burn of arousal that had been coursing through me gone now. Allthat remains in its wake is confusion—and a painful, dawning awareness that I cannot go to my final class.

Chapter 5

Noah

“And here’sthe last slide for today. A reminder about our practical labs. There are three scheduled over the next two weeks. You can attend all three if you wish, but they are optional, and intended for you to get extra documentation time if your plants need extra time. They will all be assessed using a 360 model, with self, peer, and supervisor notes from the lab teacher on duty that day. So if you could use a few more marks for lab technique, then attending all three and getting those checkmarks might be worthwhile!”

That gets me the laugh it’s intended to. I take that beat to scan the seats again, wondering why Paisley isn’t here.

“After you have completed your practical lab, you will need to write up a formal report and submit that before your final exam. I will be available in regular office hours and by email if you have any questions.” I give the full classroom a reassuring smile. “You’ve all been very diligent this term. Apply everything you’ve learned so far and you’ll do just fine on the final assessments. Class dismissed.”

The clatter that follows quickly grows into a din of noise, but even through all that, I hear her name.

“Did you catch the second point he made about monoecious versus dioecious plants? I was taking notes for Paisley and missed it.”

“That’s the flower vs the sex difference. Umm?—”

I stride over to those two students. “The slides are posted on the class site already.”

“Oh! Right.” They both look slightly embarrassed.

I move on to the most important point. “Is Paisley sick?”

They exchange a look. “I think just…behind on work? She’s here. Upstairs on the third floor. She was working on her computer and said she couldn’t come down.”

There is no way that my star pupil is behind on work. I grab my computer bag and head up the closest stairwell, two steps at a time.

Paisley is always the first student to walk through the classroom door. But today I didn’t get the update I’d been craving about how her other classes are going. I didn’t get to justseeher and listen to her voice. Bask in her sunshine.

If she deprived me of that, it must have been for a good reason. Maybe she’s helping a classmate.

I frown at another thought. Maybe one of my colleagues has been too harsh on her.

Fuck.

I speed up, taking the last flight of stairs three at a time.

There are some study desks in an open space at the near end of this floor, but she’s not at any of them. I stride down the corridor, and it’s not until I see a denim-clad knee peeking out from a deep window seat at the end of the hall that I realize I’ve been holding my breath.

I close the distance between us, then lean against the wall by her feet. Her head is bopping along, to music I assume, although she only has one earphone in.

When she doesn’t look up from her computer right away, I adjust my glasses, then cross my arms over my chest, and say, “I missed you in class today, Paisley. Whose ass do I have to chew out for that?”

She jumps. “Dr. Lowry!”

She glances up as she says my name, but then immediately looks back at her computer, her cheeks turning red.

“I was worried you were sick. But now I suspect someone has made you feel like their work should be your priority during my class time.”

Fumbling a bit, she shoves her computer in her backpack. “That’s not it. I’m sorry I missed.”

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