Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“Are there any other job openings?” I ask instead. I need to make sure I have something solid in place. I don’t want a handout from Noble.
“We can only give out one job per student.”
“No, I mean a different one.”
“A different one? This one is now the highest paying on campus, and I’m guessing Noble must think you’re excellent at your job being his room was off the cleaning list until you got personally assigned to it.”
“Okay.” I stand and begin to gather my things, seeing that this isn’t going to go anywhere. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t really do anything, but you’re welcome.” She laughs, standing with me. We walk back out of the office. I pause when I see Noble sitting where Dax had been.
“Hi, Noble. We were just talking about you.”
“Really?” He gives Amy a bright smile. She freaking blushes. I fight not to roll my eyes. “Good things, I hope.”
“Not really,” I say dryly. Amy’s eyes widen, bouncing between the two of us. A moment of silence hovers around us all.
“Did Dax leave?” Amy asks, finally breaking the tension in the room.
“Yeah. He found a job,” Noble responds.
“Thanks again, Amy,” I say before I head out of the building.
I bite the inside of my cheek so that I don’t smile when I hear the quick thud of steps coming up behind me.
“Did you do something to Dax?” I keep walking as Noble comes up beside me.
“I gave him a job.”
“Is that job to stay away from me?”
“Little bit.” I stop walking and turn to glare at him. It’s really hard to stare someone down that towers over you. “You told me to.”
“I told you to?!”
“Your text. You said that no one wants to watch their person cozy up to someone else.” I gape at him. “Before you say I’m not your person, I am.”
“You’re crazy. You know that.”
“Yeah, Kitten. Got hit with a case of it about a week ago.” When we met. I drop my head, a small smile escaping me. He’s persistent. I’ll give him that.
“Noble, I can’t do this.”
“Because you don’t like to be touched?” I shake my head no.
I find I rather enjoy his touches. Growing up in the system, there were always people jammed together. Now since getting away from that, I enjoy my space. In fact, sometimes if there are too many people crammed together, panic starts to rise inside of me. That fear of being sucked back to where I felt like I had no say in my life rises to the surface. It’s irrational, but I can’t stop it.
“Then why can’t you do this? I swear that girl wasn’t anything.” I want to believe him so badly.
“I’ve got trust issues, Noble. Hell, I’ve got all kinds of issues. Why would you want anything to do with this mess?”
He steps in closer. “I don’t think you’re a mess, but if that’s what you want to call it, then fine. But I want everything to do with all your messiness.” I swallow a lump forming in my throat.
“Noble.” I whisper his name. His hand comes up, his thumb and forefinger gripping my chin gently.
“I’m going to kiss you, Kitten.” I lick my lips as he continues, “Anyone ever kissed you before?”
“No.” He’s making his intentions very clear.
“Good, because I’ve never kissed anyone,” he says before his mouth claims mine right in the center of campus.
CHAPTER 9
NOBLE
“Get a room!”
“Someone take a video!”
“Is that Noble Patton-White?”
“Is this a prank?”
“My turn next!”
It’s the last shouted phrase that causes Autumn to wriggle out of my grasp. I scowl at the girl standing directly behind her. She grimaces and slinks away into the crowd that seems to have gathered while I was kissing Autumn.
I dismiss them from my mind and return my attention to the girl in front of me. Her lips are wet, and her cheeks are rosy. If the crowd wasn’t here, I’d eat her up, lick her from the tip of her forehead to the bottom of her feet. She tries to move, but I hold her in place.
“I need your protection,” I say.
“From what?”
I direct her gaze downward where my thick shaft is bulging against the denim.
“Oh,” she says with widening eyes as she realizes to what I’m referring.
I let out a small rueful laugh. “This is an actual dilemma. If you move, everyone is going to see my hard-on, and if you don’t move, my erection isn’t going away. Thoughts?”
“I could punch you in the nuts.”
“Drastic but probably effective. Let’s try a little space.” I move her back two steps and wave my arm toward the crowd. “Show’s over, everyone. Go back to your regularly scheduled programming.”
There are some grumbles, but the crowd disperses enough that the entire campus won’t be talking about my woody by dinner.
I jump up and down a little, re-adjusting myself as surreptitiously as possible. After about ten seconds of thinking of the most gruesome things possible, I say, “I think I can walk now.” Autumn’s cheeks are still red. I guess knowing that she turns me on is embarrassing for the little virgin. I slip her hand into mine. “Where to? You have another class? Dinner? Workout?”