Chapter 20

I wanted to get as much work done before his guest arrived, so I had spent the hours after getting ready with studying and reading more of the material that came with my assignment. It was when I heard the chime of bells from the door that I looked up from my book.

I guess it was time to be social.

I came down the stairs, just in time to see Harry walking towards the door. He briefly turned and looked at me as I came down, looking my outfit up and down, before turning towards the door and opening it.

I had worn the most decent dress I had brought on this trip and paired it with a cute pair of sandals and done my hair with some loose, beachy waves. My makeup was subtle, and if I did say so myself, I looked nice and polished. Like the average girl-next-

door.

Or in this case, girl-upstairs-to-the-left.

The moment Harry opened the door, I wasn't surprised to see a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair standing in front of the door, but what did surprise me was the large smile and happy look he got when he saw Harry.

He smiled broadly and stuck his hand out.

"Harry! So good to see you again."

If he was a kiss-ass, he was a good one. However, Harry greeted him back with his usual reserved smile and invited him inside.

"Percy. Glad you could make it."

"We both know it's not an invite you say no to, coming to see your dusty lair," He chuckled, to which Harry politely smiled back.

It was right about then that Professor Havers eyes lifted and noticed me standing by the foot of the stairs.

"Oh, pardon me. I believe I'm being awfully rude. You must be Cassandra Berry."

That momentarily surprised me.

I didn't know Harry had told him about me in advance.

"Yes, hello. It's so nice to meet you, I've heard great things about you and your work." I could kiss ass

as well.

I stepped forward and took his outstretched hand with a smile. Professor Havers raised an eyebrow and looked me up at down, but unlike Harry, smiled delighted.

"Pleasure is all mine. I hear that you're quite interested in math yourself, Ms. Berry. It's good to see young people taking an interest in a challenging subject."

I looked towards Harry and rose a brow. Just how much had he told him about me?

"Well. Interested is maybe a bit strong," I modestly replied with a smile back.

"I'm merely trying to understand what makes it so... complex," I looked towards Harry again and hoped he took the hint. His lips twitched.

"Of course. Well, then I hope today will be enlightening for you, Professor Havers smiled, squeezing my hand a last time before retracting his own.

"Yes, speaking of," Harry broke in, already cutting to the chase.

He gestured towards the dining room.

"Shall we?"

We all three ventured towards the large dining room, and I watched as Harry politely pulled the chair out for me while Professor Havers took the seat at the end of the table. Harry himself sat down next to me, but turned all of his attention towards Professor Havers. A load of papers and notes laid on the table before them, on the corner between the silverware.

"Now, I've studied your thesis," Harry begun, just as the maids came in with a pot of tea and an assortment of milks, creams, sugars and Splendas.

They set it all down as Harry continued, undisturbed.

"And there are some points I'd like to go over with you, if you don't mind."

I wasn't exactly sure why Harry decided to invite me to the meeting, but as the time passed and the two gentlemen talked, I realized it certainly wasn't to make friends with Professor Havers.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't get a word in edgewise.

They were so deeply entrenched in their discussion on infinite and finite numbers that I might as well have been part of the decor.

As much as I wanted to leave, though, I stayed for some reason, and I soon realized why.

I didn't understand much of what they were talking about. Most of what they were discussing was complete nonsense to me, but that wasn't really what mattered. What did matter was..

I couldn't stop listening and watching as Harry talked. The way he pushed his glasses up when he got too passionate about a certain subject shouldn't have looked so hot, but it did.

He used his hands to point at certain areas in the texts that laid before them, before dragging them over to the numbers and graphs on the papers that he had provided himself.

Professor Havers animatedly followed his lead with gestures of his own, but even so, my attention couldn't rip itself away from Harry as I watched his every little move.

I noticed his jaw clenched whenever he disagreed about something Havers said. I saw the way his lips pursed when he listened to something that was far-fetched, before he took the word himself and proved the man wrong.

Professor Havers responded with frowns, but ultimately head-nods and some deep hums that indicated what Harry was saying stirred his mind.

But it was stirring something completely else on me.

I didn't realize I was sweating and feeling hot until I crossed my legs on reflex when I felt a sudden ache between them. My eyes looked up at Harry and listened to the way he passionately talked about what consumed his whole life.

He was so driven.

I didn't know what the hell was wrong with me, but listening to him talk was turning me on.

Badly.

Swallowing dryly, I tried to control my hormonal body and instead tried to focus on the plate of half-eaten food in front of me. That became hard when Harry's voice raised and penetrated my ear again, his authoritative voice trying to convince Professor Havers that the thesis needed to get altered on some point because... shit, I couldn't even focus on his words anymore, even if I understood them. I was melting here, and the evidence was in my panties.

No, if and only if the number of triplets of integers-

"I'm sorry," I spoke up, clearing my throat to break into their little exclusive bubble.

Both men looked up and turned their heads towards me and looked at me as if they had forgotten I was here.