Tempting Her Teacher: Student-Teacher romance

XXI - Resisting

[RECAP: Juliet is singing her first gig with her new band, and who should be in the audience but... her hot teacher Carl Spencer!]

Fhemie spotted Carl and gave Margot a sharp nudge. It was hard to hold a conversation above the music so she had to gesture towards where their teacher was sitting.

Margot looked over and saw their Latin teacher watching Juliet. To be fair most of the room was watching Juliet given she was on a stage with lights on her, but Mr Spencer looked kind of frozen.

The band were about to take a break for half an hour and as soon as they did, Juliet's friends rushed up to her. "Guess who's here?"

For a moment Juliet had a sense of dread that Aunt Mary had stopped by, then was both thrilled and mortified to realise who they meant. She had looked towards where they were indicating and of course caught his eye immediately.

"You should go and say hi," Margot told her.

"Yeah, maybe give him your autograph," Fhemie said.

Juliet was on something of a high from the singing and couldn't help but notice how incredibly good looking Mr Spencer was, over at the bar. He was queueing to buy drinks.

"Hello." She had felt bold before approaching him but when she got there, she couldn't think of anything to say.

"Juliet." He greeted her. "You sing really well."

"I wouldn't have thought it was your kind of music."

"It's not something I'm very familiar with, but I liked it," he told her.

Juliet was trying to figure out if he was here with his fiancée. She looked around but couldn't see her. "Are you here with people?" she asked him.

"Just a friend," he said.

"Oh." She assumed he meant Rebecca and her heart sank a little.

Carl read the disappointment in her eyes. He knew he was tempting fate, but he couldn't help clarifying. "Dan, whom you may have met at my church."

"Oh!" The light went on in her eyes again and Carl felt his heart flip. "Your fiancée isn't here?" Juliet asked.

This really was playing with fire. The spectre of Rebecca was one of his last defences. "There isn't a fiancée any more. Rebecca and I broke up."

Juliet tried to suppress a spark of joy. "I'm sorry," she told him. As she said it she found that she was genuinely sorry, she didn't like to think of Mr Spencer being hurt.

"It wasn't working," he told her. Out of old loyalty to Rebecca he had wanted to avoid stating who ended it, but Juliet guessed from his tone that he was the one who had finished it.

Her spark of joy turned into a flash of guilt. "This wasn't because of Hallowe'en?" she asked him.

Carl knew what she was referring to. "Nothing to do with that. We simply weren't suited."

"Did you mind?" she asked.

"Mind what?" He was momentarily confused.

"That I kissed you."

Carl had to take a couple of seconds to steady himself. With her words Juliet had brought the whole event rushing back. It didn't help that she was once again standing in front of him with half her breasts showing, her skirt revealing most of her thighs. It took every ounce of his self control not to reach out for her.

"Were you angry?" she asked him. She had thought he was from the way he had seemed to avoid her since that night.

"No." He barely voiced it but she read his lips.

"Would you be angry if I did it again?"

The number of people and the crowd at the bar had pushed the two of them closer, nearly touching. Carl had to work on his breathing to remain still: he was a hair's breadth from being right against her. He couldn't take his eyes off her lips. "We can't, Juliet. It would be totally inappropriate."

She gave him a seductive smile. "But you want me to?" she said, her voice almost a whisper. They were so close she could smell the trace of cologne he was wearing, smell the raw maleness of his skin. She thought she had never wanted anyone so badly.

He briefly closed his eyes, trying to keep himself together. "I'm your teacher. We can't have this conversation." The rote phrases were the only thing keeping him from stepping over the precipice.

"So if you weren't my teacher...?" The question hung in the air.

"Juliet..." He couldn't answer. He couldn't lie convincingly and to admit the truth was impossible.

"Do you want me?" She was leaning even closer, millimetres from his body. Pretty much any other guy in the bar would kill to be in this position. Carl dreaded to think what Dan's reaction must be. He couldn't bring himself to look over.

"More than anything." He could hardly believe he had admitted it. She had him transfixed. "Right now, being this close to you is like torture. But it's wrong and nothing is going to happen. Even if you weren't my student, I'm far too old for you."

As he spoke he managed to get his composure back. To bring himself back down to earth.

"I'm eighteen. I'm above the age of consent."

Just this phrase nearly knocked Carl off balance again. He could only imagine the sweetness of actually taking her. But he was resolved. He picked up the drinks. "It makes no difference." His voice was firm.

Juliet had to get back anyway for the second half of the show. "I'll see you at school then?" She looked directly into his eyes and they held one another's gaze for a moment.

"I'll see you at school." Carl had a feeling this was far from over but he would steel himself into more careful behaviour in future. Juliet slipped off to the band and Carl return to Dan.

Dan looked at him quizzically. "That looked like a cosy chat. Do you know her?"

Carl couldn't lie, Dan might well find out anyway. "She's actually one of my students."

Dan whistled under his breath. "That's some serious jailbait. Are they all like that?"

"She's a good student." Carl found himself defensive of Juliet.

"With a serious teacher crush," Dan countered.

Despite himself Carl felt uplifted at this. After all Juliet was young and beautiful and pretty much every guy in the place would have had his eye on her that night, wearing her outrageous outfit and singing like an angel. Even though it was completely wrong, he was flattered to think that she found him attractive.

Glancing around and seeing other hungry male eyes on her, Carl had to fight his instinct to grab a coat and put it around her.

The guilt would doubtless hit him in the early hours, as he had yet another dream of her, and he would struggle to get through the weekend alternately missing her and trying not to think of her.

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This is a trailer for my new book, Forbidden Study (Forbidden Love #2) - out 29/2/16. I have review copies available so pm me your email if you'd like one!