Nick rubbed his tummy. “That tiramisu was over the top.” He should’ve stopped after the linguine.

Ruth forked a little piece and put it in her mouth. “I have the perfect remedy for that.”

“Sex?” That was all he could think of during dinner.

Hell, he was a fairly intelligent guy, and usually he had a lot to talk about, but not this evening. Ruth’s comments from before had been taking up all his not too shabby bandwidth.

“Strong, black coffee,” Ruth said. “I’ll make us some.”

Typically, Nick would’ve offered to help, but he needed a few quiet moments to think. “I’ll do the dishes later if you don’t mind. I have to digest first.”

“Take your time.”

Commanding, but not aggressive. What the hell did it mean?

He needed to pay better attention to tonight's movie. Apparently, girls noticed things that guys ignored. Who the fuck cared about a voice? The dude could’ve been the best-known newscaster in the world, and Nick would not have noticed anything special about him.

Aside from her throaty moans, he couldn’t care less about the actress’s voice either. Maybe guys were more visual, and women were more auditory?

Well, duh. All guys saw in a porn flick were tits and asses. No one paid attention to what the actors said to each other.

Who cared?

Evidently, women did. They actually cared about the story. He’d read somewhere that women read four times as many fiction books as men.

Aha!

Suddenly it all clicked into place.

To Ruthie, the story was more important than what was happening on the screen. That was why she’d gotten so turned on the other night.

Well, that and the actor’s voice.

Damn, he had to find another good movie with the same ugly actor who apparently sounded sexier than he looked.

Go figure.

Nick pushed his chair back, got up and walked over to the coffee table where Ruth had left her laptop. He should’ve realized why it was there the moment he’d gotten in.

“Do you want to drink your coffee on the couch?” Ruth asked.

“Yes, please. I want to find us a good movie to watch.”

Ruth’s cheeks were flaming red, but she pretended to be all cool. “Here you go.” She handed him the small cup. “It’s very hot, so give it a minute or two to cool down.”

He took the cup and put it down on the table. “Aren’t you going to sit with me?”

“I’ll clean up while you search.”

Crap. He’d promised to do that. “I’ll help.” Nick started to push to his feet, but Ruth put a hand on his shoulder.

“I don’t need help to clear the table. Find us a movie.”

Talk about a commanding tone. “Yes, ma'am.” He sat back.

After a long search, he finally found what he was looking for. Turning the volume down almost all the way, he let the movie run for a few moments to make sure he remembered it correctly. He’d seen so many porn flicks that it was hard to remember what happened in which, especially since he hadn’t been paying much attention to the stories.

The only reason he knew girls liked them best were the comments they’d left.

“Why did you start without me?” Ruth sat next to him on the couch. “I want to see it from the beginning.”

“I don’t remember what the movie is about, but I think it’s in the same series about the professor and his students.”

Ruth arched a brow. “There was a series? I thought those were full-length independent movies.”

“They are. But if one was a hit, it made sense to continue with the theme.”

“I see.” Ruth took a small sip of her coffee. “You didn’t drink yours.”

He’d forgotten all about it. “Let me cue the movie to the beginning first.”

When the titles started, Nick lifted his cup, leaned back, and wrapped his arm around Ruth’s shoulders.

A student wearing a traditional schoolgirl outfit, including a plaid skirt, knee-high white socks, a tie and a jacket, walked into the professor’s office with a leather satchel slung over her shoulder. He’d fast-forwarded that part before, skipping over the uniform. Was the movie about high-school girls this time?

That was bad. The actress was obviously not a teenager, but Ruth might have a problem with that.

“Does it bother you that she is supposed to be a high-school girl and that he is her teacher?”

Ruth tilted her head. “Did they employ underage girls in the porn industry back then?”

“No, of course not. And this one is probably in her mid-twenties, which means that she is fifty-something now.” He grimaced.

“What’s wrong with a fifty-year-old?” Ruth sounded offended for some reason.

Women were strange. “Nothing, as long as she looks good. So are you okay with the movie or not?”

Ruth waved a hand. “I think I’ve already proven that I’m not a prude. This is a schoolgirl fantasy that is reenacted by adults.”

“That’s true.” He put his hand on her knee and slowly slid it upwards, stopping on her inner thigh. “Did you ever have a crush on a teacher?”

She smirked. “Once. He was a very young substitute who happened to have a great voice too.”

Again with the voice. “Was he handsome or ugly like this dude?”

She shrugged. “He wasn’t ugly, but he wasn’t handsome either. He was skinny and tall and had terrible posture.”

“So it was all about the voice.”

“Yes.”

This was ridiculous. Maybe instead of losing weight and developing muscles, he should’ve taken voice-coaching lessons.

Well, it was never too late. He could still do that.

On the screen, the actor assumed the pose he had in the other movie, leaning against his desk and crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ve been late submitting your homework assignments every day this week, Kimberly. Is everything all right? Do you need help with anything?”

Kimberly chewed on her bottom lip, lowered her gaze to her ballet flats, and shifted from foot to foot. “Um, maybe?”

“Is it a yes or a no?” the professor said in a stern tone.

“I get easily distracted,” the student whispered. “I want to do my homework, but I have all these thoughts going through my head, and before I know it, I’ve been daydreaming for an hour, sometimes two.”

“And what are you daydreaming about?”

She lifted her eyes and smiled coyly. “You, professor. I daydream about you.”

“Is that so?” The actor’s voice dropped an octave.

“Yes, it is. I can’t stop thinking about your hands.” She glanced at them and licked her lips. “I imagine them all over my body.”

“Tsk, tsk, Kimberly. You know it’s wrong to have naughty thoughts like that about your teacher.”

“I do. Are you going to punish me, professor? Like you punished Heather?” She looked at him from under her lowered lashes.

As Ruth’s lips parted and her breathing became faster and shallower, Nick contemplated his next move. Skirts were very convenient for snogging, but it was too early for more than just resting his palm close to Ruth’s heated center.

“Aha, I see. You’re craving the same correction Heather got.”

“Yes.”

“Very well.” The professor pushed away from the desk. “Sit on the couch.”

“Yes, sir.”

The guy took his jacket off, draped it over the back of his chair, and then started rolling up his sleeves, revealing very hairy forearms.

How Ruth could find the dude sexy was beyond Nick. The guy was hairy like a monkey. Even his knuckles were hairy.

Yuk.

The actress playing Kimberly was hot, but in a slutty way. Well, duh, what did he expect from a porn star? To look virtuous?

The whole scene was ridiculous. What was the professor going to do? Spank the girl?

Smirking, Nick glanced at Ruth.

Apparently, his Ruthie found the scene arousing, which once again proved that women were not only strange but loony. Her eyes glued to the laptop’s screen, she licked her lips and squirmed a little.

Well, well, it seemed like his shy girlfriend had some naughty fantasies. She must’ve read those Fifty Shades books that had been all the craze a while back.

Could he fulfill them without laughing his ass off, though?