Page 6 of Grumpy Boss in Love

That was why I was so disturbed by the attraction that hit me just now. It wasn’t the first time. I felt it the first day she walked into my class. Maybe it was for the best that we bickered so damn much. The fact that we barely got along helped me to keep her in the student box that I was supposed to keep her in.

For the past year, I’d been able to bury that attraction so deep that sometimes I forgot about it. There was no way I could have shown any sexual interest in my twenty-three-year-old student. It felt wrong… It wasprohibited.

Ben’s face lit with amusement as he opened his mouth to say something.

“Just shut up, Ben,” I snapped. I got up to march in the direction where Ruby had disappeared to. I wasn’t even sure why I went after her.

I barged through a swinging door that led to a narrow hallway. At the end of it was a metal door that led into a dark alley. I found Ruby pacing by a dumpster, still chanting, “Oh my god.”

“Ruby.”

She sucked in a breath as she spun around. Our eyes locked, but not for long. I couldn’t keep my gaze from lowering to take in her hourglass figure again. She just had to be my type. I was a sucker for curves.

“You followed me?” she shrieked. “What do you want?”

“What the hell are you doing in a place like this?”

“Why do you care?”

Good question. I wasn’t sure why that was the first thing I asked her. And why did I want to shrug out of my blazer and wrap it around her to hide her from the pervs inside? Although I was perving her out myself at the moment. It was a struggle to keep my eyes above her cleavage.

“Uh…” What answer could I give without sounding like an idiot? “I don’t… It’s just…”

“I work here as awaitress. You’re looking at me, judging, as if you saw me working a pole naked or something.”

My eyes widened because that visual was… stimulating. Clearing my throat lightly, I said, “I’m not judging. I’m concerned.”

She lifted one perfectly shaped eyebrow and dryly retorted, “I’m touched, but whatever for?”

I just scowled at her because I couldn’t come up with an answer. One that wouldn’t give away my interest in her anyway…

She let out a derisive snort that I was all too familiar with. “Look at you, glaring at me, and we’re not even in class. You just can’t help it, can you?” Ruby sighed. “You’re free to go back inside. I’m embarrassed enough to have my professor see me like this.” She folded her arms around her middle. “It’s painfully awkward discussing my job with you in a dark alley.”

I glanced around. “Yeah… I’m not leaving you alone out here.”

“I’m fine.”

As if my legs had taken on lives of their own, they moved me closer to her. “Why are you working here, Ruby? I mean, this place is…” I analyzed my level of disappointment that she walked around half-naked in a room full of leering men for a paycheck. She was too smart and came off as too innocent… When she wasn’t cutting into me with her sharp tongue that is.

“Hey, you’re supportingthis place,so be careful of your next words,Professor Sinclair.”

“Elliot. You’re not my student anymore.” Thank the good Lord because that outfit she wore had me thinking about doing very dirty things to her. Things she’d like. “And this is my first time here.”

Ruby’s eyebrows puckered. “Okay…” There was a hint of disdain and uncertainty in the way that she looked at me.

The reminder of our tense relationship somewhat curbed the sexual thoughts running amok in my head.

Finally, she said, “Look, I took the job here a few weeks ago because I was tight on money, okay? It’s really none of your business. So how about we just go back inside and forget we even saw each other? I’ll get another waitress to take care of your table.”

With that, she brushed past me, yanked the door open, and disappeared.Forgettingwas going to be super difficult with the image of her in that outfit branded into my brain. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I blew out a long breath and reminded myself of why I’d buried any inkling of attraction I had for Ruby Bennet. Although she was no longer my student, I didn’t do younger women, especially smart-mouthed, combative ones.

3

RUBY

“We’re officially free!” Megan sang as she tapped her glass against mine.

“At last.” I couldn’t help grinning broadly as I looked around the room that was filled with a bunch of recent graduates. This bar was near campus, so it was a hotspot for students. Graduation was two days ago, but the celebration continued. According to Megan, we had to party for at least a month after being freed from the shackles of academia.

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