Grayson let out a quiet breath through his nose when she rolled her eyes at him. He leaned back slightly against the edge of the desk, watching her with a mixture of patience and restrained amusement. “My job does suck sometimes,” he admitted dryly. “You’re not wrong about that.” When she challenged the lock situation, he shook his head, gesturing lightly toward the door. “I can’t have a lock on it,” he explained. “Policy. If there’s an emergency, medical, safety, anything, staff have to be able to get in immediately. That’s why the knocking rule exists. People knock, I answer, door stays accessible.” When she casually mentioned what she had planned to do on the couch, his jaw tightened just slightly, though the reaction was more controlled restraint than shock. He dragged a hand briefly over the back of his neck before focusing back on her. “Damn, I think I could've worked that into my schedule somewhere.I would opened up a slot just for that." When she pointed at him and called him a party pooper, he gave her a long look. “Tragic reputation,” he replied. “I’ll try to survive it.” As she claimed she had a lot of discipline, his brow lifted a little in quiet skepticism. “Mm,” he said. “I’m sure you do.” He loosened his tie slowly while speaking, mostly because the room felt warmer than it had a few minutes ago. The first button of his shirt came undone, but his attention stayed on her face, watching the way she observed him so openly before suddenly looking back down at her iPad like nothing had happened. “A menace,” he repeated, a faint smirk forming. “That sounds about right.” When she asked about the gap in her schedule, Grayson shifted back into something closer to his professional mindset. He crossed his arms loosely, listening as she explained about the assignment due Friday. He walked a few steps closer to the table when she pulled up her calendar, glancing down briefly at the screen. “If you were one of my advisees,” he said thoughtfully, “I’d tell you the same thing I tell everyone.” His gaze lifted back to her. “Short breaks are useful. They keep you from burning out." When she stepped closer and started toying with his tie, Grayson went very still for a moment. His eyes dropped to her hand, then back to her face. His hand came up and gently, but deliberately, caught the tie just below where her fingers were playing with it, stilling the motion without yanking it away. “Professional advice,” he continued, voice quieter now, “The couch,” he said thoughtfully, “doesn’t get cleaned very often.” His attention returned to her, one eyebrow lifting slightly, before turning to look at the desk behind him. “The desk does.” The comment was delivered in the same calm, measured tone he’d been using the whole time, though the faintest hint of dry amusement tugged at the corner of his mouth.
it wasn’t like zara hated grayson’s job, it was impressive, he was the dean, the head of the university. what annoyed her was how everything in his life ran on a schedule, and by extension, so did hers. he always had to be available, meetings, responsibilities, people needing him, and even if that was attractive in its own way, she hated having to think about it when all she wanted was him. "right… but it still sucks," zara rolled her eyes playfully. she was good at reading him, and as she hinted at what she wanted to do on the couch, she caught the way his jaw tightened, a smirk forming on her lips. when one of his buttons came undone, her gaze lingered, dark eyes fixed on him before she deliberately acted like she didn’t care. when he called her a menace, she just smiled, she’d grown to like that title. as he mentioned her assignment, she nodded lightly. "short breaks are useful," she said with a small smile. noticing him stilling his tie, she let it go, raising her eyebrows at him instead. when he pointed out the couch didn’t get cleaned often but the desk did, she caught the hint immediately. the slight pull at the corner of his mouth didn’t go unnoticed either. her hands slid from his tie to his chest, stepping closer, closing the space between them, her eyes locked on his. she pushed him back gently until he was leaning against the desk. "lean down already," she murmured with a soft laugh, her hands moving up to the back of his neck as she pulled him closer, pressing her lips to his in a slow, deliberate kiss.













