Chapter 4 - The Surprise

EPOV

I was giddy and impatient the entire way back to my apartment.

Could it really be this easy? I asked myself, wondering why looking online never occurred to me before.

Arriving at my apartment building, I practically sprinted up to my door. I opened it and tossed my keys on the dining room table, then spun around and slammed the door shut. Then I ran to my bedroom, launching myself onto the bed and reaching for my laptop at the same time, which was perched on top of the bedside table. I silently wished for success as I opened Firefox and typed in the university's website.

Three hours and close to 500 pictures later, I dropped back onto my bed with a 'humph', reached for a pillow and yelled my irritation into it.

She wasn't a faculty or staff member; not in the English department, or any other department for that matter. I couldn't believe I spent all that time and ended up exactly where I started – completely clueless.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. I now knew she was either an undergrad or grad student.

With that new bit of knowledge came the moral question I had avoided since seeing her – Could I date a student, knowing it might spur some repercussions for both me and her? It would be immensely easier if she was a graduate student. There would be fewer raised eyebrows at that situation.

I stopped questioning my teacher ethical code and backtracked.

Wait, date? Who said anything about dating?I just want to meet her.

My emotions were on a constant rollercoaster, never finding a middle ground.I growled in frustration, wanting to either curse or hit something really hard. I decided to go to sleep instead, hoping to feel better tomorrow.

RPOV

Just make it home and you can have a hot, relaxing bath, I promised myself, rolling my neck in another futile attempt to get those stubborn cricks out.

I took my time gathering my stuff and walking out to my car. It had been a long day, especially the past couple of hours. I was ecstatic the football season was now officially over, giving me a break from situations like the pro bowl game ending just two minutes before the eleven o'clock news broadcast started, leaving me to get last minute editing or recap scripts written just before going on the air. Now it was just basketball to report, and very soon, my favorite sport – baseball.

Thinking about baseball brought to mind a certain guy who had flitted in and out of my thoughts since yesterday. Deep down, I knew it was more than the stress of the past couple of hours that had me so tense; it also had to do with that rather large, almost bearish, handsome man and the daydreams I kept having since then, starring him, and me, engaged in various unseemly and sweaty activities.

Feeling the need to hurry home before doing something stupid, like indulging in my fantasies in the middle of the parking lot, I picked up my pace and dropped my eyes to the cement to get to my pride and joy – my red convertible M3 BMW – without further distractions. I was so busy trying to not concentrate on my thoughts that I failed to notice the same man from my daydreams, leaning against my car, until I was only a few feet from him.

I gasped as I caught sight of his sneakers, before running my eyes up his jean-clad legs, crossed at the ankles, showing off the lines of his muscled thighs. I couldn't help giving in a split-second to my need to linger where his low-slung jeans met the bottom of his sweater, imagining the defined 'V' of his hip muscles, before continuing upward, over his sweater, to his broad shoulders, up to his mischievous smile, finally stopping at his burning brown eyes, which caught mine in a gaze that melted me all the way down to my toes.

I may have staggered a bit, once my eyes met his. I wasn't entirely sure though, since it took everything I had not to grab him and shove him on top of my car in order to have my wicked way with him. If I could have envisioned the man that would lead to my undoing before yesterday, it would have been him.

You're better than this! Get a grip. I thought, chewing myself out.

His smile turned into a grin, growing wider with each passing second I stared at him, too flustered to say anything.

I took a deep breath, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to obliterate my dirty thoughts and the obvious effects they were causing throughout my body.

"It was Emmett, right?" I said curtly, speaking in my haughtiest bitch voice, and pursed my lips, trying to regain the upper hand.

His eyes flashed with something akin to recognition. "It sure was. You know, for some reason, I knew this was your car," he said, stroking the hood of my car as he spoke.

My gaze locked onto his hand as it moved back and forth against the red paint. I swallowed down a moan, trying to block the images that flashed in my mind of his hand moving that way up and down my overheated body.

Okay, just get home – alone – and you can have that very hot, relaxing bath you promised yourself earlier.

I looked back up at him. I needed to let him down easy and send him on his way. I knew it was the right thing to do, even if my body was screaming for something else entirely. Getting involved with a guy was breaking rule number one for me. No men, period. I knew firsthand what it was like to be tossed aside by so many guys before, that my emotional health warranted this rule in order to maintain my sanity.

I knew I was beautiful and that men wanted me. Being a very sexual person myself, it didn't help matters, but that changed once I realized sex was all they wanted from me. My heart couldn't take it anymore, so no more men. I was just fine focusing on my career and releasing any pent-up sexual frustration with my lovely, always there for me vibrator.

"And how did you know that?" I queried, bringing myself back to the conversation at hand.

"It fits you."

"What you do mean 'it fits me'?" I warily asked, unsure if I should feel insulted or not.

"Well, it's beautiful and at first glance, you can't keep your eyes off it, but upon closer inspection you realize there's more to it than its outer beauty," his grin faded as he stared deep into my eyes. "I know there's more to you than just your looks, Rosalie. And I wish you would give me a chance to get to know you."

"Why would you want that?" I breathed.

"Because you're different than other women. And you affect me more than I want to admit, mainly with my need to see you," Emmett explained. His hand reached up and stroked my cheek, sending out little waves of pleasure throughout my body. I damned every traitorous nerve ending I possessed.

"You can see me every weekend on the news," I rebuffed, not letting my resolve give an inch.

He sighed, "You know what I mean." He looked so sad, standing there looking down at his feet, that my heart and mouth acted before my brain could stop them.

"You might, perhaps, affect me more I care to admit, too," I mumbled.

His head snapped up, his eyes lit with triumph. A smile slowly grew back across his face. "Really?"

I barely lifted my head in a nod, reluctant to admit I had said that, but he caught it anyway.

"Does this mean you'll go out with me?" he asked, looking at me with wide, hopeful eyes.

I silently cursed, Now look what you've done. Stupid heart.

"No, it doesn't," I frowned.

His face fell, disappointment evident in his eyes.

My resolve slipped. How could it not with those sad, puppy dog eyes looking at me?

"But maybe…," I trailed, hesitant to continue.

"Yeah?" he encouraged.

"There's a coffee shop around the corner from where I live that I tend to frequent every morning around 9 am. I couldn't stop a person from entering this place, nor would I ignore said person if I happened to know him or her."

Emmett's brow puckered in confusion. "Okay…so, not a date. We just happen to bump into each other?"

I smiled, delighted he had caught on, somewhat. Maybe every jock wasn't a Neanderthal after all. "What you choose to do with the information I have provided is entirely up to you."

"So, where do you live?"

I held up my hand. "That is one thing I do not disclose to the public," I teased.

He looked thoughtful for a second. "Looks like I have some research to do then."

"I guess so," I shrugged. "Now, would you mind moving away from my car? I don't want any scratches on the paint." I crossed my arms and jutted out my hips to one side, trying to look impatient.

"Sure," he pushed himself away from my car and stepped around me.

I got out my keys and walked the few steps to the driver's side door.

"Oh, Rosalie?" he asked, right before grabbing my waist and spinning me around so my back was now pressed against the cold, hard cover of the top. Emmett wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned into me, pressing my butt even more into the side of my car.

I was having trouble breathing. Some people might have said I was panting, but I refused to acknowledge that word. I was simply having trouble breathing, there was no panting here.

His gaze went from my half-lidded eyes to my mouth.

That's when I started panting.

Kiss me. Oh, please, kiss me, I begged him in my mind, hoping the sentiment was expressed through my eyes.

He leaned his head an inch closer to mine.

I nearly died from lack of oxygen.

"I just wanted to tell you good night," he breathed against my parted lips. Then he was gone, walking away from me to a large, black truck parked three spaces down. The only vehicle left in the parking lot, besides mine.

When did everyone else leave? I didn't recall seeing anything, or anyone, other than Emmett.

My breathlessness turned to incredulous as my brain received more oxygen. How could he just leave me like that? I felt just how much he wanted me when he pressed himself against me.

I sighed in frustration, turning to get inside my car. I had a sinking feeling a bath and some alone time with my vibrator wouldn't be enough tonight.