What the Heart Desires (Contemporary Erotic Romance) (6 page)

He held out a large white Styrofoam cup.  Kimberly recognized the logo – it was from the sandwich kiosk on the second floor of the university. 

“Um…thanks,” she said, taking the cup from him.

“No problem.  But I have to warn you, it tastes like shit.  I’m afraid we’ll have to go to a
real
coffee joint to get something decent.”

“I can’t,” Kimberly replied.  She took a sip and wrinkled her nose. 
Garrett was right, the coffee
was
kind of disgusting.

“Why can’t you?”

“I need to go to the campus library,” she informed him.

“What, you don’t have enough books here?”
Garrett asked, eyeing her armful of large hardback textbooks incredulously.  “Blech, reading.”  He reached out and took them from her.  She let out a sigh of relief, as carrying the heavy books had been starting to make her back ache.  He held them with ease, slinging them under his arm casually as though they were nothing more than a bag of feathers.

“I need a specific book.”

“Well okay.  We’ll go for coffee after we hit up the library,” he said agreeably.

“But I can’t.” 

“And why is that, Kimmy?”  She wasn’t sure if she liked or hated his nickname for her.  Sometimes it seemed like a term of endearment and other times it struck her as being condescending. 

“I have a boyfriend,” she reminded him, feeling somewhat sheepish as the words left her lips.  It was one of those things she wished she could take back immediately after blurting it out.

“Is that all?” Garrett smirked.  “I asked you to grab a cup of coffee with me, Kimmy.  I didn’t invite you to my hotel room for coffee and fucking.  Relax.”  He leaned over as though about to reveal a secret, and conspiratorially stage whispered, “Even girls with boyfriends are allowed to drink coffee, Kimmy.”

Kimberly felt her face go red. 
Garrett seemed to have that effect on her; he could make her blush at the drop of a hat.  She felt silly for protesting about the coffee. 

And that was how she found rushing to the campus library alongside
Garrett Strong, whose long stride allowed him to match her hurried pace with ease.  Once she got her book, he confidently assured her that he’d take her to the best coffee joint in the city.

~~~

“Um, excuse me,” Kimberly said, trying to get the campus library assistant’s attention.  He was a young, bored looking college kid with a ridiculous haircut and jeans so baggy they looked like they might fall down at any moment.  He seemed more interested in texting on his phone than helping her.

Garrett
let out a loud whistle that caused everyone within earshot to look up.  “Hey, buddy,” he said, not caring who was looking, “she’s talking to you.”

Reluctantly, the less-than-helpful college kid looked up.  “What is it?” he asked.

“I’m looking for this textbook,” Kimberly said, pointing to the title on her course syllabus.  “The online catalog says it’s checked in, but it’s not on the shelf.  Can you help me find it?  It’s really important.”

He shrugged, indifferent to her plight.  “It was probably shelved in the wrong place,” he said.  “Or maybe someone took it without bothering to check it out.  That happens a lot.”

Kimberly was so frustrated that she wanted to shake him.  As Garrett took a menacing step forward, she held up a hand, signaling that he should back off.  She was afraid Garrett might actually shake the guy, and she was a firm believer that one can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

“Please,” she begged, giving him her most charming smile.  “I need your help.”

Her plea must have had some effect, because the library assistant reached for her syllabus.  “What was that name again?” he asked, looking at the paper.  Then he retreated to the far end of the counter and picked up a phone.

His conversation was out of Kimberly’s earshot, but when he returned he looked rather pleased with himself.  “The public library has it,” he informed her.  “B
ut they close at 7:00 p.m. on Fridays, so you’ll have to hurry if you want it tonight.”

“Shit,” Kimberly muttered under her breath. 

Garrett looked very amused to hear the prim, proper young woman swear.  “Oh?” 

“The next bus isn’t until 6:45 p.m. – there’s no way I can make it to the library in time.”

Nothing seemed to faze Garrett.  “So we’ll call a cab,” he said, pulling out his phone.  “It will be fine – relax, Kimmy.”

“A cab will cost a fortune,” Kimberly replied.  “We need to go halfway across the city!”

Again, Garrett was unconcerned.  “It’s on me,” he said, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.  “But that means
you’re
buying the coffee!”

And that’s how Kimberly found herself in the backseat of a cab with
Garrett Strong.

~~~

When Kimberly emerged from the library, book in hand, she was surprised to see Garrett casually leaning against the cab.  He was having a smoke with the cab driver. 

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” she said as he opened the back door and motioned for her to get in.  “I could have caught a bus.” 

“Believe me, you don’t want to do that in this part of the city,”
Garrett replied, climbing into the cab beside her.  “It gets dangerous here at night.  Cabbie here and I will take you home so you can write your paper and we’ll do coffee another time,” he told her.  “Where are we headed?”

“Grey Street and 47
th
Avenue,” she replied.

“Well at least you live in a decent area.”

“I take it you’re from here?” Kimberly asked as she idly flipped through her library book.

“Here, there…I’m sort of from everywhere.  But I know which parts of every major city are the dodgy ones,” he boasted.  “It’s mainly because I frequent them.”  He chuckled when he saw Kimberly’s expression of alarm.  “
Relax.  It’s not like I’m a drug dealer or anything.  It’s just that the dive bars in shitty parts of town tend to be where the talent is.  The world’s fucked up like that.”

“Oh.”

Garrett grabbed the library book from Kimberly’s hand and turned it over to study the cover.  “So why so much panic over what looks like a boring as hell book?” he asked.

“I need it to finish a
forensics paper that’s due tomorrow.”

“Your paper is due on a Saturday?”

“Yes.”

Garrett
eyed her curiously.  “So then why did you wait until Friday night to get the book?  Are you a procrastinator, Kimmy?”

Kimberly blushed.  “I’m not usually a procrastinator,” she said, inexplicably eager to defend herself.  “But I
guess this time I was.  I’ve been…busy.”

Garrett
clucked in disapproval.  “Naughty girl,” he said.  “You ought to be punished.”  Then he flashed Kimberly another one of his cocky yet endearing grins to let her know he was just messing with her.

Even though Kimberly knew
Garrett was joking, his words sent a shiver up her spine – and to other places.  She couldn’t help but wonder what sort of punishment he had in mind.

“We’re here,” the cab driver announced as they pulled up in front of Kimberly’s apartment.

“Oh!” Kimberly had been so engrossed in her conversation with Garrett that she hadn’t even noticed.  “Just a second,” she said, rummaging through her purse in search of her wallet.

“I’ve got it,”
Garrett said, leaning forward and handing the cab driver a wad of money.

“I can’t let you do that,” Kimberly protested. 
“You already paid for the cab ride to the library.”

“Yes you can.”

Garrett’s words had a quiet authoritative quality to them.  Kimberly didn’t dare argue with him because she could tell he wasn’t the sort of man accustomed to losing an argument.  Instead, she thanked him profusely and hurried into her apartment to finish her paper.

~~~

“Is everything okay?” Felix asked when he heard Kimberly come in.  “I thought your class doesn’t finish for another hour?”  He was sitting in the living room playing chess on his phone.

“Yeah,” Kimberly assured him,
“but I forgot about a paper I have to write.  I’m sorry.  I know I said we’d hang out tonight, but…”

“
I understand,” Felix said.  “Go.  Write.” 

As Kimberly holed herself up in her spare room with her laptop and a pile of textbooks, she reminded herself how lucky she was to have Felix.  Even if they’d temporarily run out of things to say to one another, he was still a caring, understanding boyfriend. 

Or at least he pretended to be understanding.  Kimberly had a feeling Felix wasn’t the type to ever let a deadline creep up on him.  He was more responsible than that.  He was the type to have an assignment done well in advance.  Sometimes she didn’t know how he could be so damn perfect.

He crept into the bedroom some time later.  Kimberly barely looked up.  “What time is it?” she murmured, engrossed in her work. 

“After midnight,” he replied.  He looked at the bed.  It was covered in textbooks, spreadsheets and notes.  “I’ll sleep on the couch tonight,” he said nobly, plucking a pillow off the bed. 

“Thanks,” she murmured, the words hardly registering.  “Goodnight.”

~~~

The next morning, Kimberly dragged herself to campus to turn in her paper.  She wished she could just submit it online, but her professor was about five hundred years old and very much behind the times.  Online submission wasn’t permitted.

When she approached her classroom, she was only half-surprised to see Garrett sitting down the hall.  She quickly deposited her paper on top of the pile on her professor’s desk and then approached him.

“You look like hell,” he said, not mincing any words.

“Gee, thanks,” she replied wryly.  “I’d like to see how
you
look after staying up all night!”

“I bet you would,” he agreed with a cheeky grin.

She reddened.  She hated the way he twisted her words, usually into sexually inappropriate innuendos.  She knew he did it just to get under her skin.  He seemed to enjoy making her squirm.  She scowled at him.

“Grumpy this morning?” he inquired innocently.

“And exhausted,” she agreed.

“Coffee will fix that,” he informed her.  “Come on…after all, you owe me!”

Part of Kimberly wanted to go home to bed, but another part of her didn’t want to deal with Felix.  He lived a structured life.  He was always up at 7 a.m. regardless of whether he had someplace to be.  Sleeping during the daytime was simply not an option unless one was ill.

She knew he wouldn’t say anything to her if she went home and crawled back into bed, but deep down, she’d know he was secretly judging her for it. 

Maybe coffee was a better alternative. 

“Okay,” Kimberly conceded.  “We’ll have coffee, but it has to be quick.”

~~~

Kimberly had to admit the coffee at the place
Garrett took her to
was
pretty amazing.  She made a mental note to take Felix there when he visited.

The coffee was also exactly what she needed to pick her up after staying up all night to finish her paper.  As the caffeine surged through her system, she found herself almost giddy with inexplicable happiness.

The conversation was strange.  Garrett asked her the usual questions about herself, but gave her nothing in return.  Every time she tried to ask him something personal, he managed to deflect in the most charming way.

Kimberly found herself transfixed by his dimples.  Every time he smiled – or sneered, rather – they made an appearance.  Pretty soon, thanks to all the coffee and her overtired state, she had to fight back giggles when she saw them.

On the surface Garrett came across as an asshole with a huge sense of entitlement.  But maybe he wasn’t actually so bad.  After all, he’d helped Kimberly and Felix out at the Thai restaurant and he’d generously paid for Kimberly’s cab the previous night.  Maybe he was actually a good guy who just had an abrasive personality.

“So you live here,”
Garrett said, planting a sugar canister on the table, “and Not-Husband lives there,” he motioned to a spoon.  “And you’re telling me there are no plans for either of you to relocate?”

“I…no,” Kimberly admitted.  “We’re both kind of stuck where we are right now due to our careers.  But it won’t be that way forever,” she added quickly.  “We’ll figure it out.”

“How do you make it work?” Garrett wanted to know.

“
We call each other a lot…”

“Ah, good old
fashioned phone sex,” Garrett flashed his dimples once again.

“No!” Kimberly
objected defensively.

“No?”
Garrett held up his hands in surrender.  “Okay fine, put your guns away, Kimmy.  I wasn’t trying to insult you.  There’s nothing wrong with a little raunchy, filthy phone sex.  In fact,” he whispered, leaning forward so that his forehead was nearly touching Kimberly’s, “I think that guy over there might be having phone sex right now.”