Free Study Partner by Rebecca Leigh

 
     
     
    Study Partner by Rebecca Leigh
     
    Breathless Press
    Calgary, Alberta
    www.breathlesspress.com
     
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
    persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

    Study Partner
    Copyright© 2011 Rebecca Leigh
    ISBN: 978-1-926930-81-6
    Cover Artist: Dara England
    Editor: Denise Lewis
    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in reviews.
     
    Breathless Press
    www.breathlesspress.com
     

     

     

     

     

     
    The dark red brick building that housed the campus library stood in stark contrast to the slate gray sky. Carla frowned. She missed the brilliant orange and pink hues that accompanied sunset back home in southern California. Winter in the northeast was nothing but lifeless snow-covered landscapes stretching monotonously into the overcast horizon.
    It wouldn’t be long before she could leave the dreary sunsets behind her and return home. Her third year in law school would end in a month. A few more tests, graduation, and she’d be off to work at Pennybaker & Smith, L.L.P. Soon she’d be Carla Montes, Esquire—attorney to the rich and elite who inhabit Orange County.
    She walked straight to her study carrel and opened her casebook. She was in for another long study session filled with ancient cases, stale facts, and unsurprising legal decisions. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy her studies or the prospect of being an attorney—but the late night study sessions had begun to wear on her. She dug into her purse for the glasses she only wore when she studied and put them on.
    «Carla?» The sound of her name jolted her from a case-law-induced stupor she hadn’t even realized she’d slid into.
    «Yes?» She looked up to find herself staring into the eyes of Edward Gardner.
    Men come handsome, but none more so than Edward. He was tall, at least six-four, and toned to perfection from his head to his toes. She’d never exercised much once she’d started law school and wondered where he found the time. His muscles danced under his white t-shirt as he shifted from one foot to the other. His dark brown hair fell in sexy wisps over the sides of his face, with a slight curl against his sharply defined cheekbones. A girl could get lost in his eyes, dark as midnight and bottomless as an abyss.
    He was every female law student’s wet dream. Including Carla’s. She’d spent many nights curled up on the couch, watching a romantic movie, and fantasizing about Edward. And what he could do with his big, Texas-grown hands.
    The things she dreamt of Edward doing to her were downright naughty. But Carla knew her fantasies would never come true. Edward and Carla occasionally studied together and he’d never shown interest in anything more than her class notes. He was oblivious not only to her, but also to the power he held over her.
    «Oh, Hi Edward.» She had to choke down the lump in her throat.
    «Are you studying for the big torts final?» Edward was all about business. He didn’t seem to have a clue what his deep, masculine voice did to a girl.
    «Yeah. You?»
    «Tryin’ to.» He crouched down so that his head was level with hers, so close now she could smell him. He had a naturally musky scent that made her sex buzz. «Wanna be study buddies again?» His long southern drawl made her heart melt.
    «Sure.» Carla smiled as she thought of what she really wanted to say to Edward. Study buddies? How about sex buddies. She giggled before she realized what she’d done.
    “Somethin’ funny?”
    “No. Just thinking about a case I just read.” She could kick herself for that response. There wasn’t a funny fact in any of the cases they were assigned to analyze for