Page 7 of The Wolf Professor

Max did so, and watched the treacly stream of coffee emerge. “So your father, what does he think of you working for a wolf?” he repeated.

“Oh,” another little laugh, “Dad is absolutely fine with it.”

“You said that with a lot more enthusiasm,” Max said, glancing at her.

She smiled. “Dad’s very different from my mom.”

“In what way?” Max guessed all these questions were acceptable; there was a level of getting to know each other required here.

“Mom is the head librarian at Tween Library, she’s kind of prim and proper, whereas Dad is pretty laid back. He’san artisan, a cabinet maker who migrated to Tween from the southern states. He likes Motham City as much as I do, and his sister Eloise apparently once—” She stopped at exactly the moment the coffee tapered out. “I guess we should froth some milk,” she added.

“I take my coffee black.” Max decided it would appear overly inquisitive to pursue her comment about her aunt, even though it intrigued him.

Nor had he thought to ask how she took her coffee.

Gods damn it. What bad manners.

Truth was, his awkwardness was worse around the opposite sex. Despite his trendy shoulder-length dark hair, his razor-sharp cheekbones and sensual mouth—the look that had gained him a reputation as the sexiest teacher at Selig University—he was painfully shy around women.

His first serious girlfriend, a beautiful fae who’d also lectured at the university, had doggedly pursued him, then complained he wasn’t assertive enough in the bedroom. She’d kept demanding he be more wolf, less human, which had made him deeply uncomfortable. His second girlfriend, a stunning elf actress, had expected him to stare into her eyes and adore her, buy her gifts constantly. When she pouted one night that he was more interested in his dusty old texts than her, he’d said in jest that yes, they were far less demanding (or had he kind of meant it?). Very soon after that, she’d left him for a wealthy vampire, and quite honestly, he hadn’t missed her.

Except, damn it, the vampire had been a bit of a slap in the face.

Maybe that was why he was so fascinated by Charlie. He really couldn’t abide women who were vain, And Charlie had an ingenuity about her, an innocence, but also a bubbly sense of fun. It struck him that neither of his exes had made him feellike dating wasfun. But Charlie, with her bouncing curls and her infectious laugh, yeah, he could imagine having fun with her.

What the hell, man? She’s your research assistant, not your date.

“I’m sorry, I should have asked how you take your coffee,” he said, abruptly turning to the fridge.

“White, but you don’t have to froth milk on my account. Cream straight from the fridge is fine.”

“No. I’m determined to get this right. It will likely be the first of many we share.” Feeling an odd warmth in his belly just saying these words, he turned and glanced at her to see her nibbling at her full lower lip. Gods, she was pretty. “By the end of your time here, I’ll be a great frother,” he added, turning the knob vigorously, then watched with horror as the milk spurted over the edge of the jug and splattered all over the kitchen bench.

Charlie laughed as she located a cloth and handed it to him. Despite his embarrassment, Max found himself joining in as he mopped up the mess.

Yeah, it was easy to laugh with Charlie. At least about his coffee-making skills—or lack of them.

When they were both seated in the study with their coffees and some homemade butter cookies Mrs. Bates had left, Max almost sighed with relief to get back on topic. In the big comfortable leather chair with his books and his notes piled high on his desk, his enthusiasm for his subject matter took over. “Let’s get started then,” he said as he grabbed his leather diary, and watched as Charlie went and got her laptop.

“I use an electronic diary,” she explained.

“I much prefer paper and pen. I’m old-fashioned like that,” Max said as he flicked the diary open. “I have a pile of work for you to start collating for me. And tomorrow morning we have an appointment at the library to check out the full collection of the Almanac of Beasts.”

Her eyes formed saucers. “Oh wow! I viewed them as part of my master’s course, but we weren’t allowed to handle them. Will we really get to look at the originals?”

“Absolutely.” Max couldn’t help a smug smile. His name opened doors—and precious books.

“Oh my, that is so exciting.” Charlie had that breathy tone happening again. Another alarming tingle in his groin made Max shift his chair closer to the desk.

“I’m also negotiating a time to access the archives of Motham Palace. I’ve been corresponding with their curator for months.”

“I didn’t think anyone was allowed access to the Palace archives?”

“Very rarely. And not when the Motham family themselves are in residence. They are very private folks.” Max was excited at the thought of accessing Athelrose Motham’s original diaries, which described the building of Motham, and his love story with Amelia, a high-breed human who ran away from Tween to be with him. It had caused an incredible ruckus at the time.

“I arranged to be here while the royal family are away,” he explained. “Fingers crossed it will go according to plan.”

Charlie was shaking her head in wonderment. “I thought I’d just be collating notes all day. But this is going to be amazing.” She beamed at him as if he was a miracle worker.

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