The Professor Next Door (Cider Bar Sisters Book 3) Read online

  He would think of something else.

  Food. Yes, food.

  Those long, cheesy noodles disappearing into her mouth last Sunday. Her lips wrapped around the straw in her drink, and then around the single cherry...

  Yesterday, she’d gotten pizza for their Friday dinner. Pizza with extra cheese. Nicole loved cheesy and creamy foods, and whenever she ate cheese, she moaned in appreciation.

  It drove him mad.

  He thrust his fingers through his wet hair. It had been a while, but he remembered cold showers being more effective than this. Tonight, however, he still felt unhinged.

  But when he was with Nicole, he tried his best to be calm and composed. He didn’t let on how sensual he found it when she ate. Didn’t let on how badly he wanted to kiss her.

  What if she’s thinking the same thing?

  No, he doubted it very much.

  David might be the sort to silently crush on someone for months and months—this hadn’t changed much from his school days—but Nicole wasn’t.

  He was quiet and introverted, though he didn’t generally consider himself a shy person. However, when he didn’t think his feelings were reciprocated, or had no idea, he was shy.

  Despite being in the shower, he was still able to faintly hear a moan.

  Fuck.

  He couldn’t see her. He could only hear her...barely. Why did it turn him on so much?

  He wanted to see her with her lips around his cock, enjoying having him in her mouth as much as she enjoyed those egg tarts.

  No, no, don’t think of her giving you a blowjob! She’s your friend.

  Usually, the fact that something was wrong didn’t turn David on.

  But now...

  He made the shower even colder. As cold as it would go. He wasn’t as hard, and he was practically shivering, but he still couldn’t help his lustful thoughts.

  She thought he was a kindly academic, and instead, he was getting aroused when she put food in her mouth. Fantasizing about sinking inside her body and grabbing her plump ass.

  He felt like a fucking horny teenager. He couldn’t take this anymore.

  Annoyed, he turned off the shower, dried himself off, and by some miracle—really, it was a miracle—managed to fall asleep.

  When he awoke the next morning, he decided he’d have to tell Nicole the truth.

  Part of it, anyway.

  * * *

  David had thought something without melted cheese would be less sensual, so he’d gotten red curry from a Thai restaurant.

  Unfortunately, Nicole kept making expressions of delight that he still found erotic.

  He figured he’d wait until they were done dinner to say what he needed to say. He’d just let her know that the walls were probably thinner than she thought, and he could hear her; she could adjust her behavior as she desired. That was it. He didn’t want to shame her.

  And then he’d figure out how to stop his dirty thoughts about her, once and for all. He felt incredibly guilty about his lack of control over his imagination.

  “David?” she said.

  Oh, had she asked him a question? Shit.

  “Sorry,” he said. “It’s been a long week. It was Reading Week before that, but now it’s back to teaching and the midterm was on Wednesday.”

  He wasn’t sure she believed his excuse, but she let it slide. They hadn’t known each other long, and they didn’t push answers out of each other.

  When they finished their meal, he cleared the dishes and brought out dessert.

  “Happy As Pie,” Nicole said, reading the logo emblazoned on the box. She opened it up. “You got us a whole pie?”

  “Pear ginger crumble pie,” he said, his voice scratchy. “You can take the extras home.”

  “Oh, no. I couldn’t take them all. We’ll split it.”

  “I bought ice cream, too.” He grabbed the vanilla ice cream from the freezer and took a deep breath. Okay, this was it. “I have to tell you something.”

  “Yes?”

  “I can hear you. Having sex, I mean.”

  Chapter 9

  “You can hear me having sex.” Nicole had been about to cut them each a slice of pear ginger crumble pie, but now she dropped the knife.

  “Yes.” David set down the pint of ice cream and raked a hand through his hair. “The walls are thin in this building, and I hear when you shower, and when the guy on the other side of me blasts The Hip, but I can also hear when you have sex. As your friend, I thought you should know. So that if you don’t want anyone to hear, you can be quieter or move your activities to another room, that’s all. Maybe shift your headboard farther from the wall, not that this would stop certain...noises.”

  David was stumbling over his words and turning red.

  She found it incredibly cute.

  Then she looked down at his forearms. He’d rolled up the sleeves of his blue button-down shirt. His arms weren’t huge, but they were somehow especially pleasing.

  “Does the noise bother you?” she asked.

  “I, well...it’s not like it’s super loud. If you don’t want to change anything, it’s fine, just know that I can hear.”

  “Do you listen?”

  “What? No. I leave the room. It would be wrong for me to listen.” He spoke forcefully, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

  She couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

  The other day, she’d found herself strangely turned on when he’d put on his glasses, and now, she was feeling turned on again.

  She didn’t understand it. He wasn’t her type, not at all. She normally went for more muscled guys with broader shoulders. Guys who weren’t at all uncomfortable talking about sex.

  David seemed to be struggling, though. Conversation was usually easy between them, but now he was setting out small plates for dessert and trying not to look at her.

  And somehow, she found this adorable?

  She gulped her tea and was suddenly very aware of his long fingers, placing the ice cream scoop into the pint. She felt unsteady in a way she hadn’t in a long time, but then a thought snuck into her head.

  The reason David looked so nervous was because he wanted to listen...right?

  Ooh, she could have fun with this.

  Feeling more confident, she cut them each a generous slice of pie, and he scooped out the ice cream. They worked as a team in silence.

  She slid the first bite of pie and ice cream into her mouth.

  “Mmmm.” She drew out her sound of pleasure. Just a slight exaggeration—it really was good pie.

  David’s eyes were laser-focused on her lips...and then he looked away.

  “Thank you for telling me,” she said at last.

  “You’re welcome,” he mumbled.

  “I think you want to listen.”

  His gaze snapped up to hers.

  They usually sat beside each other, but after getting the plates, he’d stayed on the other side of the counter, standing, as he ate his pie.

  “I...” He shook his head.

  She was reveling in her power.

  But then something occurred to her. “Wait a second. Is that why you wanted to get to know me? Because you could hear me having sex, and you could see men leaving my apartment, and you thought I was easy? Is that why you brought me that ube cake?”

  He looked horror-struck by her words.

  “No, no,” he said. “I liked talking to you, and it’s nice to spend time with someone in the evenings. This isn’t all a plan to... No.”

  Nicole started to relax. She believed him, and she didn’t think she was naïve to do so. She’d spent quite a bit of time with David over the past few weeks, and she couldn’t see him lying about something like this. Plus, he seemed so gosh darn uncomfortable with the conversation.

  A burst of laughter escaped her lips as she tried to imagine David talking dirty.

  He raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

  Very much a David response.

  She wasn’t a
ccustomed to sleeping with people whom she considered friends; she tended to keep friendship and sex separate. But sex with David would be very convenient, if it could be a regular thing. Convenience wasn’t something she used to care about as much, but in her mid-thirties, it sounded awful nice. He was right next door.

  Nicole looked down at her dessert. Usually, she inhaled the desserts that David bought, but today, she’d been lost in thought. Her vanilla ice cream was melting.

  She put a bite of pie in her mouth and tilted her head. When she slid the spoon out of her mouth, she did it very, very slowly.

  She was good at this shit. She knew she was.

  And David wasn’t immune. His inhale was quiet, but she could hear it nonetheless. She’d become attuned to little changes in him, and affecting this kind, calm man...it was thrilling.

  “You do want to listen, don’t you?” she said.

  “Um.”

  “Are you always a bit of a voyeur?”

  He shook his head decisively.

  Interesting.

  “Well, if you hear me having sex again,” she said, “I give you permission to listen and jerk yourself off. Picture me naked. Whatever you like.”

  The thought of David lying in bed, wearing those cute glasses because he’d been reading...

  Why were the glasses doing it for her? They’d never been a turn-on for her before.

  Anyway, she pictured him reading in bed at midnight, then hearing her next door, setting his book aside, and reaching down to stroke his cock.

  Oh, God.

  It had only been a week, but she so needed to get laid.

  “What about the other person?” he asked.

  “I’ll let him know that my neighbor will likely hear and enjoys listening, don’t worry. If he doesn’t like that idea, there’s always the couch.”

  For the past several months, although Nicole had still enjoyed sex, she’d been tired of the chase. Tired of flirting.

  But now, she was excited again.

  * * *

  “Is something wrong?” Rose asked Nicole. “You seem a little distracted today.”

  Nicole sipped her passionfruit peach cider. She loved this one. Passionfruit tasted good in everything, and the sweetness—though it had a nice bite, too—offended Charlotte.

  “No, I’m fine,” Nicole said.

  There was nothing wrong, that was true, but yes, she was a bit distracted. She kept scanning the cider bar, looking for the right man to seduce.

  Fuck, she was horny.

  It had taken her a while to get ready tonight, and she’d eventually settled on a ruched, deep blue dress and silver jewelry. She was more dressed up than everyone else at the table—particularly Charlotte, who was wearing jeans and a big sweater.

  Charlotte’s boyfriend, Mike, was here tonight, as was Amy’s husband, Victor, and Mike looked at Charlotte like she hung the moon in the sky or some such nonsense.

  Though for a moment, Nicole wished someone would look at her that way, too...

  No, what she really craved was for someone to fuck her up against the wall.

  A group of men sat down at a nearby table, and she gave them a perusal. One was similar to the sort of man she usually went for, but nah, he wasn’t quite right.

  She returned her attention to her friends.

  “So, you all want to meet Colton?” Sierra asked.

  “Yes!” Amy screeched, then put a hand over her mouth. “I’ve been begging you for weeks.”

  “Well, he wants to meet you all, too. I’ll figure something out soon.”

  Although Nicole was curious to meet Colton, she couldn’t help worrying about this privileged, rich white dude. Then she reminded herself that Sierra had better taste in partners than she did. Calvin had been a supreme douche, but Sierra’s ex-husband had been a decent guy. Not the right man for Sierra—he was happily married to someone else now—but not a bad person. Plus, Sierra had assured them all that Colton was good to her.

  Even if that was true, Nicole still feared that Colton would change Sierra, that she would lose a bit of herself to the relationship.

  Though that hadn’t happened to Charlotte. She was still an antisocial grump, which was nice to see.

  “Here you go, dear sister.” A waitress placed a glass of cider in front of Charlotte.

  Their waitress tonight was Julie, Charlotte’s younger sister. She couldn’t stay and talk, though, as the bar was quite busy—it was usually busy on Saturdays.

  Yet there were no men who interested Nicole.

  “You know what you should do,” Amy said to Sierra. “Since Colton’s so rich and well-connected, you should ask him to get tickets to the world premiere of your movie.”

  They called it Sierra’s movie because Sierra shared her name—first and last—with the main character. The movie was based on the first book in a very popular urban fantasy series, which just so happened to be Amy’s favorite series ever.

  “Make sure he gets a ticket for me,” Amy added.

  As they talked about the casting in the movie, Nicole’s eyes drifted around the bar again.

  That was when she saw him.

  A big white guy, maybe a few years younger than her, sitting at the bar with a couple of friends. He had sandy brown hair, a big beard...and glasses.

  She didn’t dwell on why the latter was really working for her. Instead, she adjusted her dress and stood up.

  “Excuse me,” she said to her friends with a wink.

  She strutted toward him, and when he looked up, she ran her tongue over her upper lip.

  His gaze was riveted on her.

  Oh, yes, Nicole Louie-Edwards was back.

  And she had the mild-mannered professor next door to thank for this.

  * * *

  Thump. Thump.

  David had been lying in bed and reading for the past hour, waiting for that noise while simultaneously telling himself he was not waiting for it, even though he’d been thinking about it for the entire day. Nicole didn’t have sex every Saturday, after all...

  Thump. Thump.

  “Ohh.”

  It was slightly louder than usual. Was she doing that for him?

  He shouldn’t flatter himself.

  But she’d turned up the sex appeal last night. She’d been purposefully eating her dessert in a seductive manner—and he already found it hot when she wasn’t trying to be seductive.

  That wasn’t how he’d expected her to respond when he revealed what he could hear. Maybe a little giggle and an, Oh, I didn’t realize the walls were that thin. I’ll keep it in mind. Unlike him, she wouldn’t stammer, and maybe she’d be a bit embarrassed, but not too much.

  Instead...

  After setting down his book and glasses, he slipped his hand inside his boxers. It felt like he was doing something illicit, and David wasn’t used to feeling this way. He was a play-by-the-rules guy.

  But she’d told him he could listen, so this wasn’t wrong, and for once, he wouldn’t try to rein in his thoughts.

  He fisted his cock, imagining it was her hand on his cock instead, and she was naked, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. She’d beg him to touch her, not at all shy about what she wanted, and he’d comply. He’d find her wet, so wet for him. She’d offer him her breasts, and he’d suck on her nipple while his fingers were buried in her pussy.

  God, yes.

  Then he’d fuck her hard with a toy—he bet she had a nice collection to satisfy her needs—while he licked her clit, and she’d take it. She’d love it when he gave it to her good. She’d make those sounds, those moans...

  Like the ones he was hearing right now

  They were followed by more thumping.

  David imagined he was on top of her, fucking her. Her hair fanned out on the pillow, her lips parted, her breathing hard.

  The expression of absolute pleasure on her face.

  He wanted to know exactly what she looked like when she was in the throes of passion. Fuck, he’d give anything to see
it.

  This woman who loved sex...he bet she’d be fucking gorgeous.

  “Ohhhh. Yes.”

  That was her. Climaxing?

  He stroked himself more furiously.

  Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

  And then...silence.

  He was still stroking himself, because he’d been holding off, not wanting to finish too soon, but now—

  Then there was a knock on the wall.

  A fucking knock, different from those thumps.

  He spent himself in his hand.

  Chapter 10

  The next day was a Sunday, which meant David went to the pool.

  He’d never been much for sleeping in, at least not in the past decade. Back when he was a teenager—a horribly long time ago now—he might have been able to sleep until ten.

  But now, sleeping in was seven thirty.

  It was a twelve-minute walk to the pool, and he was there by eight. As he came out of the change room, he nodded at the older gentleman whom he regularly saw swimming laps, then climbed into the pool.

  Swimming usually helped clear his mind, and today, he desperately needed that. Ever since Friday evening, his thoughts had been filled with Nicole.

  As he started swimming, his brain was still consumed with her, but a half hour of exercise should be enough to get her out of his mind, right?

  She knocked on the wall.

  He still couldn’t get over that, and he wondered how much she’d been thinking of him yesterday, when she was with another man.

  It wasn’t the idea of her being with someone else that turned him on; he just wanted to see her enjoying herself.

  Preferably with him.

  David had always considered himself a poor flirt. He worried not only about making a fool of himself, but also about making the other person uncomfortable, and so flirting was just something he didn’t do.

  But he could do a very good job of making out and having sex—at least, he liked to think so—because he was good at paying attention and listening.

  He just didn’t get to that point often. For example, in the four years since his divorce, he’d been with one woman.

  What did Nicole want? Did she want to sleep with him? Or was she just turned on at the idea of someone listening? Was she a bit of an exhibitionist?