Janet lit the candles and poured the wine. She turned on the radio — a little Quiet Storm to set the mood. She checked her reflection one last time. The nightgown and robe shimmered in the low light; the flowing satin would romanticize any figure.

Then she sat down on the couch and waited.

Not for him to show up — she had no illusions that he'd actually keep his word. And not for the inevitable phone call about his office or his car or his wife. No. Janet waited for the moment when she could convince herself that she was wasting her time on a man that didn't love her. That couldn't and wouldn't ever love her. Janet waited for her heart to join her mind and push him out of her life. For that fire that had burned so hot to burn out.

She had been reading in the library when she realized that someone was watching her. It was odd; nobody watched her. Nobody usually even noticed her except when grades were posted. She looked up, pushed her glasses back and glanced around. The only person near her was handsome — that movie handsome that girls dream about but never meet in real life. She glanced around again. She was at a table in the back corner with nothing but a wall behind her. She looked back at him; he was still looking at her.

"Did you need something?" She asked.

"No." He answered smiling.

"Oh. Ok." She tried to go back to reading but couldn't when she realized that he was still there. "What?"

"Sorry." He laughed. "I guess I'm just surprised is all."

"About what?"

"You."

"What about me?"

"Just you." He laughed again. "You don't recognize me at all, do you?" She shook her head. "I'm Jake Black. I teach Communications 201. You're in my class."

"Oh." She tried to remember who taught what but in truth, she never was good with people. Generally, she tried not to take on campus classes but she had to come in for her Lab work so it was convenient to get a class out of the way at the same time. "Sorry."

"Don't be. It's ok. You're allowed to be in my class."

"Oh." It was just a little awkward, sitting there being stared at by a handsome man. Men didn't usually notice Janet; she'd spent a great deal of time cultivating anonymity.

She tried to go back to reading again and ran into the same uncomfortable feeling of being watched. "Um, did I do something?"

"You blew my curve."

"Your what?"

"My grade curve. You blew it. First assignment. Phft! Right out of the water."

"Uh. Oh. Uh. Sorry."

"You should be. Now I feel bad grading on a curve and I've got to re-structure how I plan to grade this semester."

"Oh. Uh. Sorry."

"It's very inconvenient."

Janet wasn't at all sure what she should do here. "Do you want me to re-write my paper?"

"Would you? That would be very helpful."

"Ok." That was easy enough. "Is tomorrow ok?"

He laughed loudly. "That was a joke! Of course I don't want you to redo the assignment!"

"Oh." She waited until he stopped laughing. "Then what do you want me to do?"

He started to speak and then stopped. "No, I'd better not say that. You might not think it's a joke."

She wanted to be indignant but the truth was that she frequently missed the joke. "Was that a joke?"

"Only in part." He smiled. "Are you going to read that whole book here?"

"I hadn't planned to. Why?"

"Well, I thought maybe if you weren't busy tonight that you could help me plan a grading scale that you won't ruin for the rest of the class."

"Oh. Sure." She closed the book and began gathering her study materials. "I can do this later."

"Great. Hey, have you had dinner yet?"

"No."

"Great! Why don't we go off campus? I know this great little Italian place..."

Over dinner, Jake complimented her work and her knowledge. He told her she should participate more in class — that she had so much to share. After, he took her back to his house and they had a glass or two of sherry. He told her that she should take her hair down, get contacts and show off those lovely eyes — has anyone told you how lovely they are? — and to stop wearing those unattractive sweatshirts.

"You're too pretty to be so lost in the background." He said. "You should be in the front. The center of attention. You've got my attention, for sure."

And then he kissed her.

It wasn't that Janet had never been kissed before. She had. She wasn't even a virgin technically. She'd done it once with a friend in high school. Neither of them had dated anyone else and neither wanted to go to college 'untouched'. So, they'd relieved each other of that burden. It had been fun, mostly, but a little clinical as neither of them had been sure of what they were doing. There was a lot of 'is that it' and 'does it go there' and not so much 'yes, yes, oh god yes' involved. Still, it had given her the basics.

It had not prepared her for Jake. It had not prepared her for 'oh god I want you' and 'don't stop, don't stop, don't ... jesus'. It had not prepared her for waking up the next morning in the arms of her professor and discovering his wife's photo on the nightstand.

"She doesn't understand me." Jake claimed as Janet dressed in a hurry. "I'm going to divorce her. We shouldn't have gotten married in the first place." he grabbed Janet's arm. "I wish I'd met you first."

That kiss led to another that led to her undressing again and them trying more things that high school hadn't prepared Janet for.

They arrived for class separately but left together.

"Listen, Janet, I want you to know that I don't do this kind of thing." Jake looked serious as they stood in the parking lot. "I'm not this kind of person. I don't seduce students."

"Then why me?"

"Why you?" he combed her hair with his fingers. "Do you look in the mirror often? I don't know who could resist you."

"Everyone." She pushed her glasses up.

"You really have to stop believing that. You're beautiful." He kissed her softly. "Beauty and brains." He kissed her again. "Let's go back to your place." He whispered.

"Why?" She asked. She didn't really believe he wanted to do it again. But he followed her back to her apartment — shared with three other girls — and he made love to her again. He ate her this time — which was something she thought was made-up for adult videos. The orgasm left her weak and shaking and terrified that she had done something wrong.

He laughed at her response. "No, sweetheart, that just means I did something right. Did it feel good?"

"Oh yes." Heart-stopping-ly so.

"Good. Want to return the favor?"

He guided her through eating him. It was strange, putting her mouth on his organ. Tasting him in that way. But he seemed to enjoy it, he did cum. And after, he kissed her deeply.

"Oh God, I hate this, but I have to go."

"Go?"

"She's coming back tonight." No need to say who 'she' was. "I have to be home when she and Bobby get there."