“It just seems like you’re trying to impress me with all your travels around Italy.”

“What if I was?” he asks me calmly. “What if I were trying to impress you, hypothetically?”

“I don’t know what to do with that information,” I whisper. “I mean, you don’t even know me...”

The professor smiles like he’s figured me out. “Oh, I know you. I am very perceptive, Miss Weldon.Very.”

It’s very dark, mysterious, scary, and yet enthralling.

“This is more than just a study session,” I reply, not falling into his trap. “Isn’t it?”

“We can’t study on an empty stomach, Olivia,” the professor explains calmly. “This is just a simple meal before we get down to business.”

“Sure,” I reply, very much not sure.

“Let me plate this up, and then we can get into the boring study session you want so much.”

We sit down and eat. The pasta is creamy and simple and...just simplygorgeous. The flavors hit me all at once. I can’t deny it, the man is a chef. I soak it in.

“Feels like I’m eating in Italy,” I remark.

“The view from the Amalfi Coast is a little better than the one from my place in Crystal River,” the professor replies.

“The view’s pretty good from here,” I say, looking at Spencer. And I immediately regret it. I don’t know why I let the sensual words tumble from my lips. I blush, but the professor stares at me, evidently amused.

“Here, let me clear your plate,” he says. He takes a step over so that he’s standing above me. He leans down slowly so that he’s bending by my side. “How was it?”

He asks me that in a near whisper. His lips are inches from my ear. He isveryguilty of tempting me, there’s no denying it.

I have a strong suspicion this study session will not happen at this rate.

And I don’t care anymore.

“Good,” I say, trying my best to rein in my voice from breaking in nervousness.

“Tasty?” he asks.

“Very much so,” I reply.

The professor takes a strand of my hair and delicately tucks it behind my ear.

Oh, God.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he says. “Would you like that, Miss Weldon?”

I simply nod.

And then he kisses me.

We’ve both given in, and it’s the biggest relief in the world. It’s like the moment when you strike a match and it flashes into flame. That satisfyingwhooshof excitement.

The moment you know your life has changed, and you can never ever go back to the way things were.

We’ve really crossed the threshold now.

With his touch, my entire being seems to roar into being, and everything else appears to drop away into insignificance.

I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve neverallowedmyself to feel like this before.