Compliments by Mari K. Cicero Page B

around him. Instead, he deepens our kiss, and I feel the first pulse of yearning awaken within me, sending a warning signal out to my higher brain functions.
    I know how quickly things can get out of hand, especially in an empty classroom, so I begin to gently coax him back, disengaging his pursuit. He’s breathless when at last he puts enough distance between us to open his eyes and take me in. We plunge back into reality when at last we pull apart, both panting and wide-eyed. Placing his hand under my chin, he leans his forehead against mine.
    “Let’s skip to the part where I’ve already asked you out and you’ve already said yes.”
    I lick my lips. “What?”
    “We’ll keep it to ourselves, if that makes you feel better,” he says. “But don’t expect to stand there and be so damned determined and sexy and not expect me to go crazy over you. Robin, you’re not like anyone else I’ve met before. But why do you hold back? This spirit you have? It’s magnificent. No wonder you could wade through a valley of crap like that at Colorado and still come out resplendent. I can’t wait to see what you do here. You’re going to have everyone under your command.”
    My head cocks to the side. “I am?”
    Hawk takes my hands into his and dots a fleeting kiss to my lips. “Yes, you are. After all, you already have me.”

ّ±7

    In mathematics, rational numbers are any number that can be expressed as the quotient or fraction p / q of two integers, with the denominator q not equal to zero. One over two is, therefore, a rational number, even though being half of anything right now seems the most irrational thing I can think of. I have to stay focused. I also know that nature does not favor isolation. If I keep things in check, I can both be a great student and have a social life, right?
    I consider the next few days a challenge. This is my test, to see if I can control my desire to spend time with Hawk enough to keep at my classes. We set a date for the following Wednesday, and I ask for his understanding that we don’t see each other until then. I have another presentation at an elementary school on Tuesday, and a project is due Monday afternoon to Prof. Harrison. I manage to stay away from the Yang building for the weekend and work from home, turn what I hope is a compelling project in on Monday, and give an Outreach presentation on Tuesday afternoon to the fourth grade class at Trimble Elementary.
    “And was it easier?” Hawk asks me on the phone. Technically, he’s still respecting my request to delay seeing me, but that doesn’t keep him from calling after he’s finished teaching his class.
    “I think so,” I answer, “but then again, I didn’t have an occasion to implement your two-point counterattack. Mrs. Magliazzi’s students were the picture of perfection.”
    “Good to hear, though I’m tempted to run a few more bully drills with you. Your comeback had me stopping dead in my tracks.” I hear the smile in his voice as I feel my cheeks blush over, remembering our first kiss. “Any thoughts on what you’d like to do tonight?”
    A consideration I hadn’t made before suddenly occurs to me. “Wait, don’t you have to work?”
    “I traded a shift with the afternoon janitor. He’ll take my night shift.”
    Sitting in my office, I look up from my book as though I expect him to be standing right in front of me. “So you’re working in Yang right now?”
    I suspect he’s trying to hide it, but I’m pretty sure I hear him laugh. “Later on. Afternoon shift runs from one to seven. If you’d like, I can come by early and we can make it a lunch date.”
    Even though I’m tempering myself and didn’t plan to see him until tonight, and even though I’m really tempted to go against my own self-imposed limitation, another obstacle lies in the way. “I have class at twelve-fifteen, then study groups for qualifying exams until five.”
    “Qualifying exams?” He repeats the phrase like a new