Academic Affections

The hook:
Mina's breath hitched, her back pressed against the towering bookshelves as Mr. Stan closed in, the heat from his body mingling with the cool air of the library. His gaze was intense, a stormy ocean that promised to sweep her away. "Are you sure you want this?" he whispered, his voice a velvet caress that sent shivers down her spine. He leaned in, close enough for her to catch the roughness of his stubble just inches from her skin, the faint scent of his cologne enveloping her. With a daring tilt of her chin, their lips a breath apart. "Mina," he breathed out, his voice a low rumble, and their lips brushed together yet so apart, a torturous tease of what was to come, and then... Read more to find out!

Summary:
In the bustling urban landscape of New York City, Mina Marchetti embarks on her academic journey at the prestigious NYU. With dreams as vast as the city's skyline, she supports her ambitions by moonlighting as a waitress and honing her passion for photography. Despite the city's millions, Mina's world is a solitary one, shadowed by a fractured relationship with her family and the absence of friends in this new chapter of her life.

On campus, Mina encounters the enigmatic Sebastian Stan, a professor whose scholarly facade belies a turbulent heart. As their student-teacher relationship blurs into something more intimate, Sebastian is caught in a tempest of emotion, wrestling with the professional boundaries that keep him from expressing his growing affection for Mina. Each lecture becomes a battle against his own desires, a test of wills as he struggles to maintain the decorum expected of him.

As the narrative unfolds, the magnetic pull between Mina and Sebastian grows stronger, threatening to upend the very foundations of their worlds. In a city that never sleeps, their forbidden romance asks the question: Can love truly conquer all, or will it fall victim to the rules that govern their existence?