Being Harrison Bloom’s Girl

Leigh pushed the door open and had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from grinning at the sight that greeted her.

There were books all around, and judging by one column of books on the floor that had been piled far too high, she could see why another had fallen down. The sharper crash had come from a very pretty vase that, she would bet, had always held pens rather than flowers.

In the middle of that scene of minor destruction stood a tall, lean, rangy man wearing corduroy trousers and a flannel shirt, his feet in comfortable loafers, a pair of black-rimmed spectacles on his nose and threatening to slip off at the slightest pretext. His hair was curly, dark brown, and looked very soft. His eyes, as he looked at her, were a little dazed and baffled, and very green.

A very handsome professor, thought Leigh, and she felt some of the tension that had been such a constant companion for the last few weeks ease a little as she looked at him.

“I’m sorry, things are a bit of a mess. I mixed up some of the labels for home and office. Some of those books aren’t supposed to be here.”

Leigh caught sight of what looked like about six Isaac Asimov books and grinned.

“I don’t think so, unless you’re considering interplanetary criminal law for your lectures.”

He grinned at her, and the boyish charm of it nearly made her sigh. He had dimples – very cute dimples. Even the distracted and slightly helpless air about him was appealing. It suited him.

“It would make a nice change, I suppose. At least forensics would be different. I’m Roger Hutton. Are you my colleague?”

Leigh met his eyes, and she smiled at him. It felt like the first real smile she’d managed in too long.

“I’m afraid not. I’m one of your students. You’re obviously not ready to speak to students yet, so I can come back later.”

“Don’t do that, I can hardly turn away my first student here! Does this student have a name?”

Leigh grinned.

“I’m Leigh Wells. I’m here to beg for a chance to redo the assignment that your predecessor graded. It’s definitely not my best grade and it’s not my best effort. I could do a lot better, given the chance. I had a whole pitch prepared, but I don’t think now is the best time.”

He tilted his head slightly as he considered her request, and Leigh realized that she had to look up at him, especially in the sneakers she was getting very used to wearing again.

“How about we skip the pitch and you give me half an hour to help pack up the stuff that should have been labeled ‘home,’ and we’ll say you can do that paper over? Since I don’t even know what paper you’re talking about, I can’t say I mind particularly, unless you make it a habit.”

Leigh chuckled.

“I don’t mind. I would’ve helped even without the little bribe, honestly. Your books look very interesting. And… Oh, what have you done to that poor plant!”

It was very nearly in anguish that Leigh cried out when she saw the almost dead little plant that was obviously new to its surroundings, too.

Roger looked at it and had the grace to look guilty and sheepish.

“Not as much as it deserves, I’m sure. I wouldn’t suppose you’re any good with plants? You could have it, if you are. Or even if you’re not, you’re hardly likely to cause any more harm than I’m sure to.”

Leigh sighed.

“I’m not leaving it with you, so you’ve no choice there. I might be able to bring it back from the brink of death. Which, let me assure you, is where you’ve taken it. Poor little thing,” said Leigh, bending over and checking the soil for dampness. Leigh administered what she thought of as very quick first aid, and then set about helping Roger – no, Dr. Hutton, she reminded herself, he wasn’t a friend – pack up what he needed to.

It should have been a chore, and a very boring one at that, but Leigh found that Roger – it was becoming hard to think of him as her professor – was a fun conversationalist, and extremely easygoing. He was also, she discovered, extremely smart, had eclectic taste in books, and far shrewder than he seemed to be.

“How come you’re teaching instead of practicing law?” she asked, finally, as they taped up a few boxes.

“I needed a break. I think of this as serendipity. Hopefully, it works out well. I started out as a public defender before I decided that I needed to make some money, too. I worked on a couple of very draining pro bono cases recently. I need something less stressful for a while. A colleague who’d taught a couple of semesters was very amused that I was thinking of this as less stressful. Are you really a bunch of hellions?”

Leigh chuckled.

“Well, you’ll find that most of your students are a bit younger than I am. Maybe about four or five years younger, even. I worked as a paralegal for a while before I decided it was time to do law school. It was my plan – I wanted to have an idea of what the practical application of what I was learning would be when I learned it. I didn’t want to absorb knowledge without any real idea of what I was learning.”

Roger nodded.

“That is a very smart thing to do. An excellent and brave choice, really. Now, how do you feel about making another excellent and brave choice and letting me make you dinner? I have spam and canned beans.”

Leigh frowned, wondering how she could turn down spam, which she detested.

Roger chuckled.

“Relax, I was only teasing. I was thinking of takeout. I’m sure you know where we can get the best takeout.”

She really shouldn’t, thought Leigh, but it had been hard work, and she was hungry. She couldn’t quite remember if she’d had lunch, too.

So, she gave in and did what she knew she wanted to do anyway.

“Sounds like a plan,” she told him, and in half an hour, she found herself picking up enough takeout food to feed about six people.

“I eat a lot. Freakish metabolism,” confessed Roger, and she decided that he was even more charming than she’d thought at first. He was going to find himself knee deep in extremely lovely and willing young women.

For some reason, the thought of it annoyed her a little. That was stupid and unreasonable, of course. She had a boyfriend. She had Harrison and she was committed to him.

Besides, it wasn’t like Roger had been anything more than perfectly sweet and friendly.

He wasn’t looking for anything more. Which was a good thing, because she wasn’t in a position to offer anything more. Even if she had been single, she’d never do anything as obviously inappropriate as dating a man who was her professor, if only for a semester.

That was a lot of hogwash coming from somebody who was currently sleeping with her stepbrother, thought Leigh, and was glad that Roger had dropped his keys and not noticed her discomfort.

“Ah, right, got it. Are you sure you’ve got all the takeout boxes?”

“If there’s more, I’m sure we can let it go. But there isn’t. What about your other boxes? With your stuff? We should get them inside.”

Roger grinned.