A/N: I almost wasn't going to be writing this week thanks to a complete lack of inspiration, but once again my precious muse helped me out and let me talk out what I wanted to do with this chapter. Sorry it is so late in the day (at least for me).

Campus Liaisons

Chapter 11: Waiting

It took another six hours and several of Alice's ear shrieking squeals before I managed to shuffle her out of my house as well. During that time, she told me everything about Jasper I would ever need to know along with many things I never wanted to know.

Alice had always been one to overshare and this case was no different. She detailed practically every second from the two of them met at the bar to the minute she left his apartment.

Of course, Alice also took turns to pump me for more information about Edward as well.

When I let it slip that he was Mr. Sexy Times I think she just about burst my eardrums with her yelling. She was bouncing on my couch so hard that I thought it would break.

"I can't believe you didn't start with that! Guh, Bella. I should throttle you for not telling me sooner!" Alice hollered.

"Ooops?" I said meekly.

"Seriously, you confound me sometimes," she replied and rolled her eyes at me. "You've been lusting over this mysterious guy who you couldn't seem to remember and he was in front of you the whole time. How do you manage to get your pants on both legs in the morning?"

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes on her.

"I do just fine, thank you very much," I snipped.

"Whatever, just don't leave something like that out again," she replied and wagged her finger at me.

Alice settled down and finally left with the promise that she'd call me later to find out how my promised call to Edward went.

I fluttered around the house for awhile before I finally built up the courage to call Edward. The little Post-It was still on the coffee table and I sat in the couch staring at it for several minutes before finally picking up my phone and dialing.

"Bella?" Edward answered excitedly after a couple rings.

"Yeah," I said breathily into the phone.

Just the sound of his smooth voice seemed to calm the earlier nerves racking my stomach. Really, I didn't need to be this nervous calling him. I mean, we'd had sex three times. This was just a simple phone call. One that I was even making from my own phone this time.

"I'm glad you called me. I was getting nervous because it was getting late," he said.

"I had some things to do," I answered.

"So how did those go?"

"Well …" I responded, trailing off. "I got distracted and had to call someone to help me think through a few things."

My answer sounded sufficiently vague enough to me. No need to tell Edward that I was still struggling with the fact I'd essentially started to date one of my own students.

"Did they help?" he asked.

"Um, yeah. I got things cleared up."

He chuckled for a second and I couldn't stop the grin from spreading across my face. Edward's laugh was really one of my favorite sounds in the world already.

"Good. Are you free tomorrow?" Edward said after his soft laughter died down.

I eyed the large stack of papers in front of me and bit my lip. There was nothing more in the world I wanted to do than be with him all day, but realistically I had work to do. There was a possibility that he could come over while I was doing my stuff … but that probably wouldn't work. I'd just get too distracted.

"So are you busy?" he asked again after my moment of silence.

"Um, Edward. I'd really love to spend my Sunday with you. I really would. But I didn't get anything done today with my friend being over and I really think I'll be buried under paperwork all day. I'm sure you would be bored stiff watching me work," I lamented.

"Bella, I could never get bored watching you work. I'm never bored around you. There's always something I can find to hold my interest," he said, his voice dropping somewhat.

I swallowed hard and my pulse sped up. Even without him next to me he still managed to affect my thought process.

"Okay," I mumbled.

"Well, I'll leave you be to do your work then," he said and I could hear the sadness in his voice.

Something pulled at my heart again and this time I paid attention, recognizing the feeling.

Guilt.

I was guilty for doing this to him. Kicking him out earlier when he obviously wanted to stay. Guilty now for putting him off in favor of piles of paper.

There was that part of me again that wanted to throw everything away and just be with him. To lock the doors to the outside world and forget every one of my responsibilities.

"Edward, I'm sorry I hustled you out earlier," I said quietly.

He was quiet for a moment and I could hear his soft breathing on the other end of the phone.

"It's okay, Bella. I understand, I really do. It's a lot to take in at once. I'll be here. In any way you want me. I'm not going anywhere."

Edward's tone was soothing and it brought tears to my eyes. My brain was screaming incoherencies at me and obviously trying to bring something to my attention.

I knew what it was.

But still I pushed it off.

He was saying it without saying it.

The meaning was still the same.

"Thank you," I whispered into the phone.

"I'll do anything for you," Edward said. I pictured him sitting in his apartment, perched in one of the expensive looking armchairs. I could almost see the half sad, half pleased face he probably had and tears again flooded my field of vision.

"I should probably go," I answered and my voice cracked from my emotions.

"Have a lovely Sunday, Bella. I'll be thinking about you all day tomorrow," he said.

I bit my lip. I wanted to keep him on the line. Hell, I wanted him to come over. Or go there. Just to be with him. Just to see his face and smell his smell and just be with him.

I could do this. Thirty six hours until class. I could do that.

Right?

I could wait until class to see him, even if it wasn't the setting I wanted to see him.

The image of him sprawled across his bed, bedsheet covering his legs, flashed across my mind.

That was a much preferable way to see him.

Thirty six hours.

I could definitely wait that long.

Or I could try at least.

Edward and I said our goodbyes and hung up. I stared at my phone in front of me on the table for a good five minutes after that, just thinking.

He was there for me. Any way I wanted.

How much did I really want?

A relationship, that's for sure. Images of the stereotypical white picket fence splashed through my head. Two bronze-haired children, one boy and one girl, played in the yard with a golden retriever puppy. Edward and I sat lazily on a swing on the wide porch, just watching the picturesque scene in front of us.

A future. Maybe our future.

I shook my head clear of the image and my head sunk to my hands.

I was hopeless. I couldn't believe I was letting him affect me like this. I was level-headed. I was intelligent. I was college educated and had a Master's.

But Edward … was Edward.

He had the power to turn my knees to mush and clear my head of any logical thought. He could look at me and instantly all my thoughts were about him.

His touch made my blood boil and his breathe made me pant for more.

The connection was there, that's for sure.

And then all the pieces fell into place suddenly.

Alice's words hit me like a ton of bricks. "It will work out," she'd said.

It would work out.

My world had irrevocably shifted. The whole universe had tilted on its side and thrown us together, for better or worse.

There was a reason I got drunk at that bar that very first night. There was a reason I woke up by myself. There was a reason he was in my class.

And there was a reason we'd found our way back together.

Maybe not anything as hokey as destiny or fate, but there was definitely a reason.

And I would just have to hold onto that.

Saturday night was painful. I kept rolling over, expecting Edward's warm body to be there in bed with me. But he wasn't. My bed was strangely empty. I couldn't find a comfortable position and I tossed and turned all night. There was something comforting about how I'd curled into his side and pressed myself into him.

I finally gave up and hauled my sorry butt out of bed at 6 a.m.

I showered slowly, trying to prolong the experience. All I could think about was Edward being in there with me, his body slick with water. I leaned my head into the tiles and tried to cool off my overheating skin. No such luck. I switched the water to cold to dispel the images and yelped at the sudden change.

The trick worked.

Sunday passed slowly. I trudged through my papers, slowly reading each one. Some of them were better than others. I couldn't stop the laughter from coming out at a few. Did these kids really think this was good writing?

I tried to be as fair as possible and saved Edward's for the last. My bias towards his work was unfair to the rest of my students. Even before last night. Even before knowing who he was.

His words stirred something in me. The power they held was second only to Edward's own physical power.

Every five minutes or so I'd check my phone, to see if he called me. I contemplated calling him myself, just to hear his voice, but I held back.

Why?

I didn't really know, to be perfectly honest. Sure, I wanted to talk to him, but I knew if I got him on the phone I'd want to be next to him right then and my work would be forgotten.

Or maybe it was because I had promised thirty six hours, which was now down to roughly sixteen.

I wasn't counting. Really, I wasn't.

Damn, I was counting. Stupid clock.

The hours ticked by, one less I had to wait.

But with each click of the minute hand, it seemed my nerves grew. Could I really manage to stand up in front of the classroom, knowing what I knew now? Could I look at him and not see him naked? Not see the beauty he'd exposed to me?

Could I hold myself together long enough? Could I not just throw him down in the middle of class, rip of his pants and impale myself on him?

I was a terrible professor, that's for sure.

That wry thought continued to amuse me all day.

Sunday night was just a repeat of Saturday night. The same tossing and turning, but this time my nerves joined the lonely party in my bed. My stomach lurched all night and there were a few tense moments where I thought I might actually throw up.

I managed to keep it together, somehow.

Monday morning dawned and I trembled through my shower. Through getting dressed and doing my hair.

All the way to the doorway of my classroom.

I stood there in front of the door, listening to the clamor behind the door.

He was in there, I knew it. He had to be. He was waiting for me. I couldn't wait to see him. To see if he really looked the same. If he had that same glint in his eye and if he still wanted me almost two days later.

Because goodness knows I still wanted him.

By this point it was almost primal for me. I had gone too long without the taste of him on my tongue. Without the smell of him filling my senses.

I needed him again.

I needed all of him again.

Damn him for being so irresistible. Damn him to hell.

After a few more calming breaths I turned the handle to the door and walked in.

Everybody was already there and waiting for me. I slowly walked my stack of papers over to the table and set them down. I shuffled them around a few times, building up the courage to look up.

I can do this. He's just Edward. He's just a student when we're in here, I thought. Anywhere else he can be sexy and seductive and hot as hell, but in here he's just a simple student who happens to be fricken' brilliant.

I finally looked up and instantly my eyes locked with his. It was like the other students weren't even there. It was just him and me.

I fought to control my breathing and the pounding in my head. My notes looked like a jumbled mess and I could barely make them out through the haze of my thoughts.

My voice was painfully unsteady as I talked about the importance of metaphors in The Heart of Darkness and exactly what Conrad was trying to allude to with the jungle. I sounded unconvincing even to myself. A few snickers sounded here and there, signaling that even my students caught that I wasn't completely up to par either.

Damn him. He was distracting me.

I looked up again and my heart just about stopped. I stopped midsentence and stuttered.

Edward's fingers were playing with the top button on his shirt. He was biting his lip and his eyes were alight with something. Passion. Desire.

Shit.

Did he understand what he was doing to me?

He nodded his head just a bit.

Oh, he understood perfectly.

The cheeky bastard Edward was back. He was playing me. Trying to get me to come unglued in front of my class.

I swallowed the uncomfortable lump that had formed in my throat and averted my eyes. God, I even swept them back and forth across the front row of students. Annoying Tanya was there of course, snapping her gum and watching the sideshow I was putting on. She was probably enjoying my discomfort.

After all, she liked to make professors cry.

And at that moment, I certainly felt like crying. I wanted him so bad. My body ached to be next him, to feel his fingers running along my skin and to just simply consume him.

Another ten minutes went by and I managed to keep my eyes off of Edward.

But then I looked at him again.

He had three buttons undone.

Dammit.

Three damn buttons.

I could see his chest peaking out from between the fabric and I stopped midsentence again.

No, I could do this.

In class, he's a student.

In bed he can be Mr. Sexy Times. In here he was Edward Cullen, Professor Swan's student. He wasn't a sex god.

He undid another button.

Aw, fuck. He was a sex god everywhere. Edward never stopped being a sex god. It was his nature apparently. Just like it was in my nature to give in to him. To allow myself to be consumed by my thoughts of him.

Class was long. Very long.

By the time I was done probably butchering everything I planned on saying, he had five buttons undone.

How did nobody notice? I'm not really sure. Perhaps they were too preoccupied watching the shitshow known as Professor Swan's Complete Meltdown. That explanation was probably much more likely.

And it was a good show. Forty five minutes into class I had broken out into a cold sweat and I was shuffling back and forth on my feet, trying to keep them behind the podium. I had to grip the sides to keep myself from lunging through the rows of desks to the back of the room.

He was good, that's for sure. But Edward was always good at turning me into a complete and utter pile of mumbling goo. This was no different.

I mumbled the reading assignment for the next class and everybody started to pack up their things. Students started filing out of the room and I stayed where I was.

The risk was still too high. I busied myself with something or other on the papers in front of me. I answered a few questions about the papers they'd just turned in.

No, I wasn't done grading, I said. Yes, I'd probably be done soon.

Then everybody was gone. The room was empty except for me.

And Edward.

He still sat in his desk in the back of the room, legs spread open under the desk. His eyes were trained on me and I felt the intensity of his stare in my very bones.

"Mr. Cullen," I said, attempting and probably failing miserably to keep my voice calm.

"Professor Swan," he answered.

"Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" I wavered again.

"Not at the moment."

We stayed like that, him sitting there and me standing behind the little podium. It was our own little stand off. Who could crack first?

I did, of course.

"Mr. Cullen," I finally said.

"Yes?" he answered, his eyes still boring into me.

"I believe there's a matter I'd like to discuss with you in my office, if you'd follow me," I said.

I couldn't believe I managed to get that all out of my mouth without stuttering like a fool.

Edward smiled coyly at me and stood up. He gathered his few things and slung his messenger bag over his shoulder. His eyes never left mine.

I moved toward the door and he followed me.

The normally short walk to my office was entirely too long suddenly. I could feel his gaze on my back, probably gaping openly at my ass. I put an extra sway into my hips and heard a soft moan from behind me.

Oh yeah, I could play too.

I fumbled with the keys to my office and hoped Edward didn't catch it. He already knew I was flustered, no need to further prove that point.

The door swung open and I motioned for him to go in first. He smoothly breezed past me and I caught a whiff of his smell.

I very nearly came undone right there.

He stopped in the middle of my office and stood with his back to me.

I closed the door and locked it.

I had waited long enough.

I also want to promote the Dirty Talking Edward contest again. Details and how to enter can be found in my profile. You know you want to enter ...