Free Memoir in the Making: A May-December Romance by Adrian J. Smith

paper I’m grading when I’m grading. I don’t see the name. I flip all the papers to the second page, and then I go through and grade them all. I’m not aware until I either finish grading or even sometimes until I input the grades into the computer. I graded your paper without knowing it was yours.”
    Ainsley flicked her thumb over one of the zippers on her backpack, not making eye contact with Meredith. Meredith’s heart was in her throat as she waited for any type of reaction, but she didn’t get one right away. Silence filtered through the room, the only noise was the steady strum of the clicking clock above her door.
    “So…so I deserved that grade?”
    “Absolutely,” Meredith said.
    “You sure?”
    “Yes, I’m sure.” Meredith smiled at Ainsley, who looked far younger than normal as she sat across from her in the office.
    Ainsley sat up a little straighter. “You—you weren’t just giving me the grade because I said you were beautiful?”
    The color dropped from Meredith’s cheeks. Her stomach plummeted further down than she had known it possible to go. Closing her eyes, she gathered her senses before looking at Ainsley to answer her.
    “You remember that?”
    Ainsley nodded.
    “It’s not because of that. I’ve been called beautiful before, even by students.”
    “Not drunk students you pick up on the side of the road.”
    “Well, that’s certainly true.” Meredith chuckled and relaxed back in her chair. The question was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask it. If Ainsley remembered the kiss, then she would certainly remember that they were supposed to talk about it. Regretting her decision once again to shut her office door, Meredith waited out the time and the gumption Ainsley clearly had.
    Ainsley let go of her backpack, putting it on the ground. The tension in the room was rising, and Meredith was doing nothing to stop it. Each second that passed added another pound of sexual tension on top of the rest. Ainsley was beautiful and in her office; Meredith couldn’t deny that fact.
    Ainsley’s chestnut hair was smooth and sleek as it ran down her back from the messy bun at the base of her neck. Her eyes were the most compelling though. They held a wisdom a twenty-year-old should never possess, a wisdom acquired rather than given. Her cheeks had a blush to them, but Meredith was sure that was new rather than something always there. She longed to reach out and brush her fingertips over Ainsley’s tinted cheeks.
    Each time Ainsley breathed, her chest rose up and her breasts pushed against the top of her t-shit. Meredith’s gaze drifted down when Ainsley took a particularly large breath, and she flushed when Ainsley caught her. Their gazes locked again, and the silence in the room was becoming unbearable. Meredith had to get out, had to have the weekend to herself with Sam and get Ainsley Jacobs out of her brain for just a few more days.
    “I remember most of that night—well, most after being picked up on the side of the road.”
    “Do you, now?” Meredith licked her lips and struggled to breathe. Ainsley was sitting right in front of her, in her office at the school of all places, and teasing her. Ainsley had to be teasing her—there was no other explanation for it, and Meredith was falling right into line.
    “I do.”
    “Do you remember not being able to tell me where you lived?”
    Ainsley pursed her lips, and Meredith chuckled.
    “I didn’t think so. I asked several times, drove around for more than an hour while trying to wake you up, and you still couldn’t let me know. But now that I do know, I can certainly bring you home next time.”
    “Who said there was going to be a next time?”
    Meredith shrugged and leaned back in her chair, needing to do something to work the tension out of her muscles and needing something to distract her from the ball of sexual energy across the tiny room from her.
    “I told you if you ever needed me to pick you up