After the last student submitted the final exam and wished her well, she sighed. She shouldn't feel such sorrow. She had taught dozens of introductory classes. She should be used to interacting with a group of people and then never seeing them again. She sighed again, gathering up the exams and her briefcase. The semester was over, that's all that really mattered. After she graded the exams and submitted their final grades, she could get some rest.
Except she wondered how well she would rest considering she thought about him all the time. Those blue-gray eyes, the stubble of his five-o-clock shadow on that dimpled chin, the sculpted muscles of his arms, the expanse of his chest...she couldn't shake the thought of him. He was older than she and married. His life was heading in a direction that had nothing to do with her. She was a professor and taught at a university a hundred miles away. She was moonlighting at this police academy, doing her part to help these officers get their degrees. This was probably the last time she would work with such a group. God, she couldn't believe she would never see him again.
He had been unable to take the final exam tonight because he had to attend a conference. She had given him a take-home exam days before. She would never stop him from participating in an activity that could further his career. How could she? This was only an introductory class. The conference was essential for promotion. But she had to admit she'd been reluctant to let him skip the exam...she'd been reluctant to let him go at all. Tonight would have been their last night. She would never see him again. She sighed for the third time.
Not that anything could happen between them. He was married, she reminded herself, and she was in a committed relationship with a woman. Although she had once considered herself bi-sexual, the thought had not crossed her mind for years. For the last 12 years she had only been attracted to women. Why was she so intrigued by this man? This uneducated cop. This nobody.
But he wasn't a nobody. He was a doctoral candidate trapped in cop's body. The way his mind worked was fascinating. He sprouted advanced theoretical concepts as if he had studied for years. He had been such a delight all semester. Such an unexpected treat. She felt they'd bonded. They had IM exchanges about the class late into the night. And after class, he always waited to walk her to her car so that his voice was the last she heard before her two-hour drive home. There were a few nights she thought he wanted to kiss her, but he always retreated. And now he was gone.
She switched off the classroom lights and caught a reflection of herself in an oversized window. Who was she kidding anyway? She was a dark-skinned, slightly overweight, five-foot-five African America college professor. He was six foot, white (although he admitted there was black in his family), exquisitely built police detective. She found herself wondering about the old adage, if a fish and a bird fell in love, where would they live? Not that she wanted him to leave his wife. And not that she wanted to leave her life partner. But she could fantasize about what ifs, couldn't she?
She shook her head, jumping as the door to the building slammed shut behind her. The parking lot was deserted for the most part, only her car, and a few cars all the way at the other end, occupied the lot. There was someone standing beside her car, but it didn't appear to be one of her students. She hesitated. Although she was on the lot of a police academy, anything could happen. It was 9:30 at night after all. And there was no one around to hear her scream. She approached the car slowly.
"Can I help you?" She called from some feet away.
When the figure turned, she could feel her heart stop beating for just a moment. She should have realized who it was from the breadth of his shoulders and the muscled thighs clad in form-fitting jeans. She had burned the image of him into her mind after all. But when he turned and she took in that chest, the shadow on his jaw, those piercing blue-gray eyes, she could do nothing to prevent the slow smile from spreading across her face. She tried to gain her composure, forcing herself to decrease the intensity of that smile. She was, after all, still his professor.
"I thought you were at a conference." She asked casually as she approached the car, unlocking the door to dump her bag and papers in the back. Her fingers were trembling, what was he doing here?
"It was canceled. I found out Sunday morning. But since I had already taken the exam on Saturday, I didn't think there was a reason to show up for the final exam."
