Malia knew he would be there. The way the entrepreneurship class was set up was that the mentor attended two classes out of the month with their groups. Then all team meetings were done off-site. Since last week had been all about him meeting everyone, this week could be the first week of attendance. Entrepreneurship met twice a week, and well, as they had already had Tuesday’s class, it meant Zephyr was going to be here today. The last thing on earth she needed. But, if she just kept her focus and eyes to the front of the class, there would be no problem, right? Easy-peasy. She stood next to her teammate Tom, and he gave her a nod. And then the gaze lingered a little too long on her breasts as she sat down.

No, block his ass out. He was a guy after all. And well, she had boobs. There was really no hiding it, so the occasional stare was whatever, as long as he didn't make a total asshole of himself. 

He leaned over at one point when she was clearly looking for a pen and dropped one on the small table in front of her. "Here you go."

She flashed him a grin. "Thank you. I think mine is buried somewhere in the middle of my bag."

He shrugged. "A couple of us are taking bets to see if you'd ask to be reassigned?"

She frowned. "Why would I ask to be reassigned? The internship this year is for Tanashi. This group is being mentored by a Tanashi fellow. I wouldn't leave." Had Zephyr said something to the group? When would he have had time? 

He shrugged. "No, I just saw you arguing with Zephyr. I got the impression you were asking him to leave, because, you know, Becky. If I had your class rank, I'd be asking for a new team myself."  

She sighed in relief. He thought she wanted herself off the team because of Becky. And he'd be right in most cases. Becky was a pain in the ass. She was competitive, cruel, and made a point to make everyone's life a living hell. But she didn't scare Malia. Far worse things scared Malia, so she could deal with Becky. "No. A chance to work with a Tanashi fellow? I'm not leaving. So Becky can deal with me."

Tom grinned at her. "I knew I liked you. And frankly, I like knowing that there are heavy hitters on our team."

"I like knowing heavy hitters are on our team too. You're top of the class in accounting, right?"

The corners of his lip took on a cocky twist. And she thought it made him look somehow sexier. He was fine looking. Dark hair, deep set brown eyes. He'd be cute if his overall appearance wasn't so sloppy. He always walked around like he was four days past a shave but could never actually quite get a beard going. 

"Yep, I'm top of the class for accounting. But I know the class rankings. You're no slouch."

"Yeah well, let's just see what we're dealing with for our products."

He nodded and turned his attention back to his notebook. As their instructor, Professor Lipten strolled into class, she couldn't help the urge to just look around for Zephyr. Well, well, their fellow was late. 

As soon as the thought flooded through her brain, someone slid into the seat beside her. And the scent of ocean breezes wafted over to her. Shit.

Do not look at him. Do not look at him. Do not—She couldn't help it. Her glance slid over, and sure enough, there was Zephyr pulling his tablet and the stylus out of the bag. He turned and nodded at every member of their group before leaning over to her. "Did you get my email?"

She nodded. What she wanted to say was, ‘It didn't bear responding to.’ But yeah, it was a little bitchy. He'd emailed her asking her to confirm her phone number, as all she'd put on the sign-up form was her email address. She didn't have one of those unlimited plans. And honestly, she didn't really want calls from her teammates. They could do most things over email, right? But if he really needed to reach her, she could give it to him. She just wanted to fight it as long as she could. "Yeah, I got your email."

"And you just decided not to answer?"

"I knew I'd be seeing you, so why bother responding?"

His gaze bore into her for a long moment and then he turned his attention to Professor Lipten.

Yes, she was being a brat. She knew it. But honestly, weren't there any empty seats anywhere else in the lecture hall? Why did he have to sit so close? 

And why was she aware of what he smelled like? Why was she so aware of the heat that emanated from his body, and why was her skin covered in goose bumps now? None of this was fair. She didn't want this. She didn't want to feel the pull of attraction to him. She didn't want to keep thinking about his lips over hers. 

She resolutely angled her body slightly away from his. All she had to do was ignore him. And then it would go away. All of these feelings—the feelings that she'd been able to lock down over the last year or so—they hadn't done her a damn bit of good when her parents had died, or when she'd lived out on the street. They certainly weren't going to do her any good right now. 

* * *

She didn't smell like the bar today. No, today, the universe was fucking with him. Today, Malia Adams smelled like vanilla and roses—like she'd smelled on that first night. The night where he hadn't kissed her. The night where he considered it, where he'd wanted to so badly that his hands shook and he'd had to shove them in his jeans. That night he made the decision that he wasn't going to do it. He was going to break the pattern and walk away. Never mind how vulnerable she looked, or the pull of attraction he felt. He'd walked away because he knew that was what was best for him. She made it perfectly clear her life was complicated. He knew all about complicated women.

Like Alice?

But then he'd seen Malia at the bar and she looked far from fragile. Matter of fact, she'd looked like some kind of warrior hopping over the bar with her bat ready to go to town on that asshole. And somehow that was even hotter than the little, doe-eyed, vulnerable look. And that's why he'd lost that tight grip on his self-control. 

No, what happened is you lost your mind for a moment. Yeah, okay, there was that too.

And even if she wasn't his student, he really didn't have time for this. He had work to do. He was trying to shut out all distractions. After everything, he really needed to. 

But as Professor Lipten went on about the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, about identifying the best kind of products, Zephyr's mind wandered. 

She smelled so damn good. Her curls looked soft, touchable. And the deep honey hue of her skin looked soft to the touch. From experience, he knew just how soft she could be. He still remembered his thumb tracing over her skin. 

Oh no. His cock twitched in his jeans and he shifted to adjust himself. Down boy. We are not doing that shit right now.

The problem was he was in close proximity to her. And like it or not, she flipped that switch inside him because she wasn't vulnerable or helpless. He wouldn't have a goddamn hero complex with her. Yeah, if only you could have her, which you can't. 

He tried to force his attention on his work week so far, on what the professor was saying and what he would have the group working on over the weekend—anything to get his attention off of her. 

It was only when Professor Lipten called the fellows down to the front of the room for them to talk about their past projects that he was able to snap out of the haze and spell she'd woven over him. 

While the other fellows spoke, he did his best not to glance up at her. But as he spoke, as he walked around talking about his experience at Columbia, what entrepreneurship meant to him, the companies he'd worked with, he couldn't help but have his gaze flicker over her from time to time.

Every now and then he would watch as Tom, the team accountant, would lean over and say something to her or write something on her notebook. The flare of rage was quick and immediate. She's not yours. Every instinct in his body wanted to scream mine.

But she's not yours, and she can't be yours because she is your student. Get your shit together.

From that point forward, he refused to look in her direction again. She was distracting him already, and that was going to be a fucking problem. Maybe Cooper was right. He needed to find someone hot and beautiful who would take his mind off of her because he couldn't keep going like this.