Page 28 of The Professor's Holiday Surprise

“The second that you are, I need that form submitted with all the t’s crossed and the i’s dotted.” His expression softens a fraction. “And I’d like to speak to this young lady.”

“Not until after her exams are finished.” I shake my head. “I can’t let her think this is an investigation or a problem.”

“The second they’re finished.”

“Deal.” I glance at the torn paper he gave me. “Could I have just printed this off the college website?”

“Probably, yeah.”

“Do you want this copy back for your binder?”

“Get the fuck out of my office.”

“Thanks.” And then I remember I have Paisley’s assignment. “Oh, here’s the first thing to mark. It’s funny. You’ll like it.”

He flips me the bird.

But he still takes it. And as walk down the hall, looking the conflict of interest form, I hear him chuckling to himself and I smile.

Yeah. That’s my girl.

When I get home,my brothers are all in the kitchen, having a beer and shooting the shit. Even Trick, who has his sleeping baby boy strapped to his chest in a baby carrier.

I’ve seen my brother a lot since Sinclaire had their baby at the end of the summer.

Today, I look at him differently. Every fantasy I had about Paisley—dirty, dark, simple, raw—has now been replaced by the much more complicated reality of falling in love with a whole person.

Will she want to have kids?

The thought makes my head spin.

“Hey man,” Trick says. “Pull up a chair. I haven’t seen you in ages. You been busy?”

I think about how my day went, and the ideas currently swirling through my head, and laugh under my breath. I grab a beer and join them. “Yeah, I’ve been busy.”

“Term coming to an end soon?”

“Two short weeks.” I take a long sip of the cold beer and sigh. “How about you? When are you guys heading to Florida?”

Sinclaire’s dad is the coach of Trick’s old baseball team, and even in the off-season, he’s pretty busy with work there. Plus she’s California born-and-bred—while she loves the ranch, the long Wyoming winters aren’t her favorite.

“We’ll fly down after Christmas. Sinclaire wants to spend our anniversary here on the ranch.” Trick pats his baby’s back. This time last year, they were planning their wedding for the winter solstice, and that little guy was a secret they hadn’t told anyone about yet.

It’s crazy how quickly life changes.

I clear my throat. “So, uh, you’ll want to do a family thing on December 21?”

“I was thinking that, yeah. Why?”

I consider the calendar. “No reason.”

Except there is a reason. It’s just not one I want to share yet.

I mean, Iwantto. I want to tilt my chair on the back two legs and grin cockily at my brothers.Guess who’s bringing a date to that anniversary party?

But I can’t. Not yet.

Noah

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