Before I knew it, the two months had flown by and it was nearly time to go back to the States. Sitting in my cozy little room that last evening, I thought about just how great my time had been here. I'd learned a lot, and working with Evan and the rest of the archeologists from other schools has given me plenty of useful experience that I know will come in handy as I continue along in my career.

I couldn't stop thinking about that night at the bar, that night that it seemed like Evan wanted to kiss me. I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't thought about what it would be like to kiss him, some nights even secretly hoping that we'd have one drink too many at the pub, then come back to the cottage to have a quick nightcap of a couple of glasses of wine, only for us to want to keep the night going…

But he was my professor; it would be insane for me to jeopardize our working relationship by getting involved like that. Not to mention the fact that I was still a virgin; I wouldn't even know what to do even if we did end up in bed together. But I'd never felt this strongly about a man before. Guys like Paul, the guy that I'd been seeing the last few weeks of fall semester, the one who I'd used Evan to ditch, they were fun for a time, but I'd never felt the urge to…go all the way with them. Evan, on the other hand, made me want to just give myself over to him. I couldn't explain it; we hadn't even kissed and I was already fantasizing about him taking my virginity.

It was stupid, though. A guy like him with a great career and a wonderful daughter probably wasn't the slightest bit interested in an undergrad like me. The best thing to do would be to just put all of that out of my head and go our separate ways once the trip was over.

"You about ready to go?" asked Evan from the hallway.

I got up and walked over to my door. To my surprise, Evan was standing at the entrance to his own room, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. His sculpted body of wide, strong shoulders and sculpted, tight abs was on full display, and his jet-black hair was slicked back behind his ears. As soon as he saw that I'd seen him, his blue eyes went wide and he ducked back into his room.

"Sorry," he said, "I thought you were just gonna yell from your room."

"Um, uh, no problem," I said, my face hot as I ran back into my room. "Yeah, I'm almost ready!"

That was…a hell of a body for a professor, I thought. He must be really putting that free campus gym membership to good use.

I couldn't believe that I'd seen Evan like that. Aside from the shock, now I had another mental image to fight off when thinking about him. Catching my breath, I finished getting ready and headed downstairs, where Evan was waiting for me. He was dressed in a sharp outfit of black jeans, a well-tailored white dress shirt with the top two buttons undone, and a pair of black Chelsea boots. He looked extremely handsome.

"Ready?" he asked.

Soon, we were at the bar, where the rest of the site team had planned a last-night get-together to celebrate the successful summer. The place was rented out for the evening, and as we stepped in, we saw that it was already packed full of the two dozen or so professors and interns that I'd worked with over the last few months.

"The usual?" asked Evan, gesturing towards the bar.

"Sure," I said.

He went off to grab our pints, and I scanned the room. As I did, I caught the attention of Sam, a dusky-haired intern from Iowa State. We'd gotten along over the summer, and I felt like there might've been a little something between us, though I never acted on it- was too busy with work, not to mention occupied by thoughts of Evan. But the smile he flashed me sent the signal that he might be interested in getting to know me a little better this last evening in town.

Evan soon arrived back and handed me my beer. But before either of us could say a word, a tall, strikingly beautiful blonde woman approached us, a wide smile her face, her brown eyes locked onto Evan.

"Professor McCall," she said in a posh English accent, throwing her arms around Evan.

"Professor Aldington," said Evan, his eyes slightly wide in surprise.

"Fancy meeting you here," she said, letting him go and looking him over.

"No kidding," he said, "I thought you'd be in Wales this time of year."

"I was, but I was actually in town to meet Professor Williams; we're heading to Scotland tomorrow for another dig."

The woman's eyes flicked over to me, giving me a judgmental once-over.

"Ah, this is Roxanne James, my intern," said Evan. "Roxanne, this is Professor Elizabeth Aldington from Oxford."

"Oh, nice to meet you," I said, extending my free hand."

"Charmed," said Elizabeth, clearly not impressed with me.

"These Midwestern girls are just so…cute," she said, her emphasis on the word making it clear that it wasn't a compliment. "Anyway, we must catch up. Come have a drink with me on out back."

Evan turned to me as if to ask, "do you mind?"

I nodded, and they were off, already in lively chatter as they left. I sighed, Elizabeth's class and beauty fresh in my mind. And Oxford. She was the type of woman that I would expect Evan to be interested in, not some young nothing like me.

I made my way the bar, finding the group of students from Stanford and passing an hour or so with them. But as time went on, I couldn't help but want to talk to Evan. I was so used to his company that being away from him, even for a little while, was strange. Not to mention the little pangs of jealousy that I was feeling towards Elizabeth.

Finally, my curiosity got the better of me, and I went looking for the two. Pint in hand, a buzz swimming in my mind, I set out for the back porch. There were a handful of people out there, and I peeked my head past the door.

My heart sank when I laid eyes on Evan.

He was sitting with Elizabeth, her hand on his thigh as she leaned in close him as they spoke. She was clearly flirting, and little peals of laughter sounded out from her every now and then. They looked to be about five minutes from getting it on then and there.

My stomach in a small knot, I headed back inside. I took a long swig of my beer and scanned the room for Sam. Spotting him in the crowd, I walked towards him, my strides long and purposeful.