Page 5 of Trusting Tanner
“I see myself in the mirror every morning. I don’t need to be told how I look.” He grinned.
She shook her head. “Well, I can promise that won’t be an issue.”
“Ouch.” He chuckled. “So you don’t think I’m hot?”
“You just got done telling me not to call you that, so I guess you’ll never know.” She propped her elbow on the table and dropped her chin into her hand.
He’d walked right into that one. Before he could say anything else, Dr. Shaw cleared his throat, garnering the class’s attention. “Welcome back. Now that you’re all paired up…”
Everyone in this class had had Dr. Shaw at least once before. He was one of the only doctors on staff who taught labs. Thankfully he wasn’t one of those professors everyone hated. His classes were tough but fair, and Tanner respected him.
“This is the syllabus.” Dr. Shaw held up a stack of papers. “The last page is a quiz. It’s a review of what we learned last semester. For those of you who manage to answer all the questions correctly, you’ll be given a free pass on the first written lab. Feel free to work with your partner, and consider this an exercise in getting to know each other and how you’ll work together for the rest of the semester.”
The girl sitting at the table in front of them turned and handed Juliana the papers. She took one, handed one to Tanner, and then passed the others back. Flipping to the last page, she skimmed the questions. He watched in awe as she breezed through the first few questions, never once hesitating.
Clearly she was as smart as she was beautiful. A lethal combination in his mind. He tried to focus on the questions but… What if he sounded stupid to her? Would she think less of him because she was smarter than him? He shook the thoughts away as silly. Just because she was working through the questions faster didn’t mean she was necessarily smarter. It just meant she wasn’t nearly as bothered by his presence as he was by hers. He frowned.
“Hey”—Tanner leaned over and glanced at her paper—“what did you get for number four?”
She whispered, “C.”
If she turned her face half an inch, their lips would almost be touching. It was wrong of him to hope she would, but she didn’t so much as flinch. Hell, he wasn’t sure she was even breathing. “Thanks.” He nudged her with his shoulder and then moved away.
There was a long, slow exhale, and he smiled to himself. Maybe she wasn’t as immune to him as he’d originally thought. “What about number nine?” he asked.
“A.”
“When you’re finished, you can leave your quiz on my desk. Please get your lab books before our next class and read chapters one through four. You’re free to leave when you’re done,” Dr. Shaw said.
Tanner hesitated and peeked at Juliana’s paper. She was finished and could leave. But she wasn’t moving. Maybe, if he went slow, he could prolong their time together. As crazy as it was, considering he’d just met her, he didn’t want to part ways yet. Maybe he should ask her to grab some coffee after class. Or maybe he could take her to lunch. He chewed on the tip of his pen, contemplating his options. From the corner of his eye, he saw her watching him, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed. Sweet Jesus, those lips.
“Done,” he announced a moment later, earning him a few dirty looks from students still trying to work. “What’s your next class?”
“Medical Ethics.”
“With Donaldson?”
She nodded.
“I took that last semester. Donaldson likes to take test questions from the critical thinking pages in the back of the book, so study up on those.”
“Thanks.” She stood and carried her quiz to the front of the room.
Tanner followed and set his paper on Dr. Shaw’s desk. Juliana was already out of the room, and he caught up with her in time to see Devon fling his arm around her shoulders, but she promptly shoved his arm away.
“Hey, Tanner.” Devon nodded.
“Hey.”
“You take care of my girl during class?”
Juliana elbowed Devon in the side, and he laughed, rubbing right below his rib cage. Tanner’s gaze settled on Juliana, who was doing a hell of a job avoiding looking at him. Again.Shit. Are they going out?
“You gonna be at the party this weekend?” Devon asked.
Nodding, Tanner said, “I plan on it. You?”
“Of course, I live there, remember?”
