Santa Reads Romance by Dara Joy Page A

The class applauded the lecture as they vacated their seats.
    Tyber's icy eyes lit on Zanita. “Ms. Masterson. I wonder if I might have a few words with you before you leave?”
    Zanita, who had been slinging her bag over her shoulder, looked up in surprise and nodded.
    Tyber, having got her consent, turned to a colleague who was asking him a question.
    By the time Zanita made her way to the front, Dr. Evans was already surrounded by a group of sycophants who were panting around him like starving academic dogs— not that she wouldn't have liked to pant around him as well, but for entirely different reasons.
    She waited patiently toward the back of the small crowd for the intellectual fallout to clear. After about fifteen minutes, Zanita started getting impatient, as the adoring masses did not seem to be thinning out. She was weighing the prospect of leaving against the slim chance of gaining an interview this evening when Tyber glanced her way and skillfully called a halt to the chit-chat, promising to continue the discussion tomorrow evening.
    The room emptied so fast, you might have thought an air raid siren had gone off.
    Of course, these guys would have gone toward ground zero, not away from it.
    Zanita smiled to herself; it had certainly been an interesting evening.
    Tyber folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the desk. “You didn't like the class, did you?”
    Zanita was surprised. “Why do you say that?” She thought she had managed to hide her confusion very well.
    “You didn't raise your hand when I asked who could make it tomorrow evening. And there was that other thing …”
    “What other thing?”
    “The way you kept crossing your eyes whenever I drew an illustration on the board.”
    Zanita cleared her throat. “All right, I'll admit I wasn't overly enthused, but I did warn you.” She threw her arms up. “Frankly, I had no idea what you were talking about.”
    “So, just because you were lost in a fog you're not coming tomorrow? Really, what kind of a reason is that? Most people go through their whole lives not understanding a damn thing. In that context, what's a few evenings spent in my lectures by comparison?”
    His obtuse reasoning completely escaped her. She blinked. “What?”
    “Tomorrow will be quite different— I promise. No mathematics of any kind. That's why I suggested the restaurant; not having blackboards will keep it honest.” His smile was heart-stopping.
    She decided then and there that nothing would keep her from going tomorrow night— interview or not. What sane woman would forego the pleasure of discreetly ogling him? Besides, whatever made him think she wouldn't come?
    “I never said I wasn't coming. You assumed that because my hand didn't go up when you expected it to. I had every intention of going; I just wasn't in the mood to admit it.”
    Tyber stared at her, speechless. Again. When he did speak, his voice held a note of awe. “You are completely non-linear, Zanita.”
    She waved her hand. “I have no idea what that means, but I suspect it has something to do with the mysterious face of Mars looks I get— see? Like that one you're wearing now.”
    “Fascinating,” he muttered. “So, you are coming?”
    “Yeah. See ya tomorrow night, Doc.” She waved goodbye as she headed quickly up the stairs, before Tyber had a chance to say another word.
    It wasn't until she got to her car that she wondered why it mattered to him whether she showed up or not.
     
     
    “Mills, he is to die for.”
    Zanita plowed her fork into the carton of Chinese take-out she had brought over to her friend's house.
    “We are talking about the physicist, aren't we?” Mills asked around an eggroll. “Somehow I can't quite picture— ”
    “Trust me. To Die For. Of course I can't figure out what he's talking about half the time. I mean, you'd have to be a rocket scientist to understand— ”
    “He is a rocket scientist.” Mills pointed out.
    “Oh, yeah.” Zanita