Page 6 of Forbidden Professor
I take him in for a second, my face turning red, before recognition hits me.
The hot guy I’ve practiced my flirting on? The rich heartthrob that I have dreamt about since I moved here? My adopted half-brother’s brother?
That’s exactly who stares back at me, his expression just short of a deer in headlights.
“Carter?” I’m more than a little surprised to see him here. “What— why?—”
“Jesus Eve,” he breaks in. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you wearing any pants?”
I wrap my arms around myself again, my forehead creasing. “I just moved in down the street. I locked myself out of my house.”
“For fuck’s sake. Why did you even come out without clothes?” Carter immediately starts peeling off his jacket, still breathing a little harshly as he offers it to me. His bare arms are something to behold, the muscles bulging a little bit. You know, just enough to make me drool. The jacket is still warm from his body heat, the slick fabric curling under my trembling fingers.
It feels like decadent armor against the prying eyes of the entire neighborhood.
“I can’t take your jacket!” I protest.
He shakes his head, disgusted. He leans down, using his height to intimidate me. And it actually kind of works. “You’re going to take the jacket and you’re going to be grateful about it.”
That stops me short. Carter is one of those guys. Those handsome and rich guys that hardly ever hear the word no. He always manages to be more bossy than me, which puts me on unsure footing.
He’s just lucky he’s hot.
“Thanks,” I say, but I wrinkle my nose as I say it. Wrapping the jacket around my waist, I do my best to act casual. “What are you doing here?”
“Come on.” He grabs my arm, towing me in the opposite direction from the bridge. “I keep a place a few blocks from here. I’m starting a new job close by soon, otherwise I would probably be in Port Angeles like Aiden.”
His hand is warm against my skin. I shiver even though it’s hot as Hades outside. He eyes me sternly.
“I don’t have shoes on,” I say, like it isn’t obvious.
“It’s just another block this way. Don’t be melodramatic.”
I roll my eyes a little. Even though he’s helping me, he’s just so… pushy and domineering about it. Carter is just like all the guys at my father’s golf club. Only he’s hardly in his thirties, unlike all those sixty-something windbags.
Also he’s like… dreamy. Or something.
He stops outside a tall gray house. It’s well-maintained and tidy, with a tiny patch of lawn and a white picket fence. When he releases me and opens the gate, ushering me inside, I resist a little.
“This is your place?”
He scowls at me. “Yes. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get inside before one of us melts from merely standing under the sun. Is that okay?”
Carter doesn’t wait for an answer. He just barges ahead, eager to get inside. I can’t help the pout that takes over my expression. I follow him up the porch steps, watching as he pulls off his shoe and digs the key out.
Then he lets himself in, standing by the door with an impatient expression. I hurry inside, appreciating the instant coolness. He closes the door behind me, leaving me to look around the large kitchen area. I can see a couch, a tv, and a couple doors off to the right. There are stacks of moving boxes tucked away out of sight in front of the TV. There’s also a stairway that leads up to, presumably, bedrooms and perhaps an office.
“Did you just move in?” I wonder aloud.
“Can you tell?” He shoots me a look. “I just moved in a couple of weeks ago.”
“It looks like you’re still in the middle of unpacking.”
I cut my eyes at a jumble of cutlery sitting on the counter and Carter frowns. He points to the phone clutched in my hand, all but forgotten in the excitement.
“Is that working still?”
“Yeah, I—” Glancing down at the screen, I see that my phone is on silent somehow. Not only that, but there are two missed calls from my father. “Shit.”