“Sounds practical. I’ll pick up lunch. Same as Saturday. Tuna sandwich, cheddar chips, and Diet Coke.”

She looked up at him and grinned. “I’m surprised you remembered, Benjamin.”

“I remember,” he managed as his hands fisted at his sides, keeping him from admitting that he remembered the way she felt. Soft and warm. He remembered the way her breast felt in his hand. The way she wiggled in her sleep. The way her wet body sparkled in the shower.

Suddenly, he needed fresh air.

Before he reached the door, he thought he heard her say, “If strange had a market value, that man would be rich.”

* * *

An hour later, Jenny rushed down the hall toward Dr. Monroe’s office. She’d forgotten about the late lunch and spent too much time cleaning her lab.

When she hit the door of his office, she rattled the glass in his window.

He stood and frowned at her, making her want to turn around and rush back out, but then she saw lunch arranged on his desk. He’d even gotten her a napkin to use as a placemat.

“I’m sorry I’m late. This was kind of you, Benjamin.” Maybe, for once, the professor was trying to be friendly.

“Not kind, just expedient.” Ben nodded once.

He just stood there waiting for her to take her seat. When she did, he folded into his chair. The desk made an ocean between them. For a few minutes they didn’t talk. They simply unwrapped their meals.

Jenny knew she’d have to be the one to break the silence. “When I was in Italy, I had the most delightful sandwiches. It’s been twenty years, but I still miss the taste.”

“Were you studying there?”

“No, I was about half finished with my doctorate when I decided to follow a dream. A friend encouraged me. So, I dropped out of school and traveled for a year. I wouldn’t have changed one moment of it, even though it meant not finishing my degree.”

“Did you go to Paris?”

“I did, but I only stayed a few days. It seemed filled with tourists. I wanted to stay in small fishing villages and work the vineyard to the north. I wanted to know the people.”

“So you never went back to school?”

“No. By the time I came home I decided I wanted to teach, but the need to wander is still in me. Every few years I move to another college, somewhere I’ve never been. New York, Atlanta, North Dakota. I even taught one year in Alaska.”

“Why here?”

She took a drink and noticed he hadn’t taken a bite. “I always want something different. The nice thing is, students are pretty much the same anywhere. Someone long ago told me this was a nice town.”

“How do you like it so far?”