Free Save the Last Dance by Roxanne Rustand

staying near the top of her class.
    Her scholarships and plans to go on to surgical residency depended on it.
    Sometime, maybe in five years, she’d be able to slow down and try for some semblance of a social life. Until then—
    “Hi, there.”
    Startled, she looked up and saw Jared standing at the other side of the table. A thick dusting of early-November snow clung to the deep waves in his hair and to the shoulders of his navy ski jacket.
    “I…wondered if you might have time for a cup of coffee somewhere.” A self-conscious smile tipped one corner of his mouth. “I know it’s been a while…”
    He had the most mesmerizing eyes. Smoky gray and sensual, yet with a glint of humor that captivated her every time. She averted her gaze. “I can’t.”
    “Maybe another time?”
    The temptation before her was like facing a display of her favorite caramels and milk chocolates in a candy store window—an all-too-enticing opportunity that could lead to her downfall. “Honestly, I am so swamped with classes and homework right now that I barely have time to sleep.”
    He pulled out a chair and settled into it, folding his arms on the table. “I want to apologize for not showing up a few weeks ago. I’d forgotten about a family commitment, and there was no way I could back out of it. I tried calling you, but the line was busy every time.”
    “I was home.” Kate shrugged. “But I don’t remember—maybe Leesa’s new cat was playing with the phone again and knocked it off the hook.”
    Could that have been the case? Probably not. There was no point in being difficult, but that didn’t mean she was going to be available just because he now had some time on his hands. And she couldn’t afford to stop cramming for her test, either.
    He reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a small brown paper sack and pushed it across the table toward her. His smile turned sheepish. “I saw this at my favorite corner store a few weeks ago while I was doing time there. It isn’t much, but it made me think of you.”
    “So you did go back there.”
    He lifted a shoulder. “Had to.”
    She hesitated, then reached into the bag and pulled out an object wrapped in tissue paper. Inside, she found a glass figurine of a golden retriever. “It’s darling. But—”
    “It’s just something small. Not a big deal. And in case you’re wondering,” he added with a tip of his head, “it isn’t a bribe to try to make amends.”
    The retriever was almost a perfect rendition of her beloved Emma, who’d died last year, Kate’s dearest friend in the world. A coincidence? She felt her eyes burn.
    Jared seemed to read her thoughts. “I saw the photo of you and your dog on your desk, the night we shared that pizza.”
    “Thank you,” she breathed, cradling the dog in her hands. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”
    He glanced at her stack of textbooks and pushed away from the table. “I guess I’d better be going, so I can hit the books, too. See you around.”
    He’d followed through and kept his word to a store clerk. He’d been thoughtful enough to see a little figurine and think of her. And he’d apparently kept a family commitment above a casual social commitment of his own…which she could understand. “Wait—”
    At the nearby tables, students looked up and frowned at her, but she didn’t care. With the vet school on the Saint Paul campus and the law school over on the Minneapolis campus, maybe she’d never even see him again.
    She caught up with him at the door to the stairway. “I…just wanted to thank you for thinking of me. And for coming all the way over here.”
    “No problem.” He zipped up his jacket. “Good seeing you again.”
    There was an invisible barrier between them now, and she didn’t know what to say. “I—I’ll be free after my exams tomorrow. In the evening…”
    He shrugged. “I have to be with my study group. Tax law.”
    “Maybe we can study together some other