by Jeannie Watt
Molly’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?” She didn’t know even where to begin refuting and her stomach was in the process of curling into a tight little ball. This was no way to start a new job in a place where she hoped to stay.
“That’s the story. And Mr. Simon is close to Dr. Womack.” Dr. Womack, as in the president of the school. This just kept getting better.
“I understand that the Simons donated some land to the school.”
“They did.”
Molly blew out a breath. “I stand behind my marks. If anything they are on the generous side.”
“That’s the easiest of the claims to refute. Jonas has agreed to bring his papers in for examination.”
“I keep copies of everything, so he needn’t bother.”
“Good. Now...the alleged rudeness.”
“Have you ever spoken to Jonas?”
“Do you mean have I been spoken to by Jonas?”
Molly felt a twinge of relief. The dean understood. That didn’t mean Dr. Womack would.
“No matter how our students speak to us, professionalism dictates a tactful reply.”
“I don’t think I strayed far from tactful, given the circumstances,” Molly said, trying to re-create the conversation in her head.
“In the future try to stray less far. At least until Jonas is gone.”
“I’ll do that.”
The dean uncrossed his legs, looking uncomfortable. “Now...are you having some kind of an amorous relationship with a student?”
“Amorous?” she asked incredulously, half wondering if Jonas had been spying on her last night, because other than going to coffee...and Finn not giving up his tutoring time upon Jonas’s demand...
That little fink.
“Not my word.”
Molly cleared her throat. “I went to high school with one of my students. We’re...friends. We’ve known each other for a long time.” She hoped that the words sounded more convincing to him than they did to her. They were friends. For the most part. Friends who had shared one hot kiss last night.
“You were seen in a bar together a few weeks back and the parent specifically mentioned that fact.”
A few weeks back—as in no one had seen them kissing in the parking lot last night. Relief slammed into her, even if she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Is there a rule against that?”
“No. But there are perceptions and rumors and the snowball effect.”
“You can’t have a student dictating what goes on,” Molly felt compelled to point out.
“You are correct, but we have a unique situation. A high school-aged student in a position to raise you-know-what. The family is wealthy and they’ve donated.”
Fine. She’d just been given a directive to kiss ass.
“Jonas’s parents back him to a fault. I would be careful not to give him any ammunition in any way, other than giving him an honest grade—one you can defend without difficulty. I don’t want the academic standards of EVCC to be compromised.”
But Molly bet that if she fudged As for the kid, the powers that be would be fine with it. He was undoubtedly going to attend a larger, more prestigious college once he graduated from high school. Why not give him what he wanted to keep him quiet?
The dean let out a breath. “This conversation is the extent of my ‘investigation’ into allegations, but in the future...watch out for that kid. You will, of course, be involved in the review of the grades.”
“For the record, are you telling me not to be seen with my friend? Or to not go to bars?”
“I’m telling you that you are a probationary instructor in her first year, and even if it’s not fair, you should be careful of anything that can be used against you by a disgruntled student and his influential family.” His mouth tightened. “If we have another complaint that is at all viable, there could well be some kind of documented investigation. Letter in the file, that kind of thing.”
Which was a lot more serious than a single outlier student evaluation. She’d been worrying about the wrong thing.
“Thank you for the warning,” Molly said faintly. She swallowed drily after the dean had given her a tight smile, then disappeared into the hallway. A seventeen-year-old kid was trying to ruin her life.
* * *
FINN STOPPED BY Molly’s office on Friday afternoon to discuss the paper her was working on, but he was honest enough to admit to himself that he would have stopped by even if he hadn’t needed clarification on some grammar issues. He wanted to see her.
Just...see her.
He wasn’t certain if that was good or bad, and he didn’t have an opportunity to find out because her office was locked up tight. It was barely five minutes after five and Molly always worked late, but apparently not tonight.
Damn. He shouldered his backpack and headed to his truck.
Even though it was Dylan’s night to sit with Mike, Finn could legitimately stop by his grandfather’s house, see if Molly was around, but instead he headed home. He wasn’t about to pressure her. She wanted to be friends. Fine. They’d be friends.
So what if she made him horny as hell? They’d figure that side of things out as they went.
If they went. She may never see him again.
Finn didn’t like that idea. There was something about Molly that made him want to find out more about her—to do what his teenaged-self had been too stupid to do and discover the things that Molly was too shy to share.
But he’d been too much of an arrogant jock back then, and she’d been too closed off. A geek, like Dylan. She still had a touch of geekiness, but it didn’t define her as it had in high school. Molly was not the same girl who had blushed whenever their arms accidentally touched on their date.
Damn but that had been painful, but now he wished he had a do-over.
So how did he handle this situation? He’d promised friendship. He wanted more.
The sensible thing to do was to bide his time, let her make the next move or two. He didn’t want to put himself out there to get slapped down...although that was a novel feeling. Since when had he ever worried about getting shot down in the romance department?
About the same time that he started to find glasses sexy.
* * *
HOW MANY HOT DREAMS could one woman have before she did something about it? Molly had lain awake long after going to bed on Friday and Saturday nights, worrying about Jonas Simon, only to fall asleep and dream about Finn. It was getting to the point that sleeping was as exhausting as staying awake and worrying.
Molly pushed the sheets aside and swung her feet onto the cool wood floor, gripping the mattress on either side of her legs. Her subconscious was sending her a message and it was coming through loud and clear. You’ve been neglecting yourself and you should stop doing that.
Yeah? Well, what’s the next step?
Her subconscious didn’t have an answer for that.
Since it was Sunday and she’d actually gotten her grading done early, she went to the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee from the carafe Georgina had made for her before heading out close to dawn. Molly wasn’t certain what today’s activity was, but Georgina always left a note on the fridge and sure enough, there it was.
Molly took a bracing sip of coffee and then slipped the note out from under the magnet. Georgina and Chase were going otter watching at the river. Molly gave an appraising nod as she attached the note to the fridge again. Sounded like fun.
She, in the meantime, was going to sit at her kitchen table, prep for next week’s classes and try to convince herself that Georgina and Chase would break up soon, so she wouldn’t have to go into protective sister mode. Because damned if Georgina was going to make the same mistakes she had. It had nothing to do with liking or disliking Chase and everything to do
with common sense.
Meanwhile, she was debating about the Finn situation—whether to address their obviously mutual attraction. Hypocritical?
She thought not. She was twenty-nine. She’d learned a few lessons the hard way and was trying to keep her sister from doing the same.
Damn, but she hoped they broke up first.
Molly took another big drink of coffee and set the cup aside.
Ten-to-one that, when push came to shove with Finn, she’d play things safe. Finn would get bored being just a friend and she’d be left with hot sexy dreams.
Molly wrinkled her nose and got back to her feet. Why did a perfectly sane solution to the Finn situation seem so...unsatisfying?
But at least it gave her something to think about other than entitled Jonas Simon and the ways in which he could impact her job.
* * *
FINN WAS GETTING seriously concerned about Mike. He was a rock when Elaine was around, but when she wasn’t there, he sank into silence, staring off into space as if he’d already lost her. Even Buddy couldn’t snap him out of it—but he came closer than Finn.
“You need to come to work,” Finn told him. “Or come to the shop with me. Help me with the truck.”
“I’m fine.”
And surly. Very unlike himself. Even though the outlook for Elaine was cautiously optimistic, Mike couldn’t bring himself to believe the worst was not going to happen again. Even Jolie, who’d once had a similar experience with loss, couldn’t get through to him.
“We should let him be,” she said when she and Dylan met Finn at McElroy’s late Thursday afternoon. She took a sip of her iced tea. Dylan studied the table and Finn debated going to math that evening. He was ahead in that class and could probably get away with skipping and staying with Mike. Unlike Jolie, he didn’t think his grandfather should be alone.
Dylan caught his eye. “I’ll hang with Mike tonight.”
“I think we should let him be,” Jolie repeated as she set her glass down.
“He shouldn’t be alone.”
“Why not?” Jolie asked.
“He gets morose,” Dylan said.
“Maybe we should ask him if he wants company,” Finn suggested.
“I’ll do that,” Dylan said. “When I hang with him tonight.”
Finn pushed his chair back. “I’ve got to run home and get my stuff for math class.”
His English classes that week had been...awkward. He could think of no other word. He’d stopped by Molly’s office after class on Monday and she’d been friendly yet somehow distant. Not in the same self-protective way she’d been before, but...distant. Thoughtful. And he didn’t think it concerned him, so as Jolie had suggested with Mike, he let her be. Wednesday, she’d left the building almost as soon as class was over, leaving him to wonder what the hell was going on. And if he should ask or back off.
He wasn’t going to back off—not until she gave him a direct order.
He was falling for a woman who didn’t want to be fallen for. A woman he could have had if he hadn’t been such a dickhead back in the day. Now some guy had hurt her, screwed with her life—and he’d like to meet the guy, whoever he was. All he needed was a few minutes... He could do some damage in that amount of time. Not that it would do Molly any good, but it might cheer her up a little.
The math class released early, so Finn headed by Mike’s house on his way home. Dylan’s truck was no longer there, so Finn gave a quick knock and let himself in. Mike looked up with a deep frown.
“This has got to stop.”
“Yeah. I agree.”
“No. You guys have got to stop. Give me space. Give me my time.”
Finn blinked at him. “We’re worried about you.”
“You are suffocating me. Let me work through this. Yeah. I’m sad. I’m going to stay sad until I get some time to process, and I’m not getting that with you guys smothering me.”
Finn held up a hand and took a backward step. “We thought...”
Mike’s expression shifted from angry to weary in a heartbeat. “I know what you think. And I understand why. I love you guys. I want your company, but Finn, I’ve lived alone for a while now. I’ll be okay. Just...give me some privacy.”
Finn moistened his lips. “How much?”
“Can you call before you come by? Not forever...but for a while.”
He gave a nod. “We can do that.” Buddy lifted his head from Mike’s lap and Finn had a feeling that the little cat was one reason that Mike probably didn’t need human company as much as he and Dylan had thought he did.
“Did you give Dylan this talk?”
“I did,” Mike said on a sigh. “Cal, Karl and Lola, too. Between all of you it’s been like Grand Central Station over here. I need some time alone. Some time to deal.” Finn opened his mouth and Mike said, “Yes. I know the prognosis is good. Thank you. But it’s still cancer. Elaine is a dear friend. Allow me my worry.”
So Finn left his grandfather to his worries and went home to a few of his own. Was he supposed to just stand back and do nothing while his grandfather refused to sleep or eat? To watch grief turn the guy inside out?
How was that helping anything? He paced through the house, his stomach getting tighter with every step.
He’ll be fine. Mike will be fine.
But he didn’t know that for sure.
* * *
MOLLY HAD A FEELING that the Jonas situation was far from over, since the dean had popped in at least once a day every day this week, staying for fifteen minutes each time. Informal observations were part of the evaluation process, but not on a daily basis. This was not a good sign. If she lost this job...
She wasn’t going to think that way, because she’d done nothing wrong. Let the dean come and watch. She was an excellent instructor. Jonas had an ax to grind because he couldn’t handle the real world and he was the one who needed to change. Not her. This wasn’t a case of trying to be nicer to Denny. If she let Jonas get away with this, she was setting the stage for him to do it again, to someone else.
She had copies of all of his work, as well as that of the other two high school students enrolled in her English Basic Comp class, as well as a sampling of other students. She’d been generous with him. He was smart enough to perform better, but he was also entitled and, even though she hated to say it, lazy. Things had come easily to him up to this point and he’d gotten used to phoning things in.
But even though she talked her way through the situation on a daily basis, it still ate at her. She was, after all, human.
She’d just gotten to her car when she got a call on her cell.
“Hey. It’s Finn.”
She gripped the phone a little tighter. It’d been a week since they’d gone to McElroy’s—a week during which they’d had little contact with the exception of class. But, despite the Jonas fiasco, he’d never been far from her thoughts.
“Hi. What’s up?”
“I was wondering...can I see you tonight?”
There was something in his voice that told her not to say no, even though common sense decreed that no was the only logical answer. She didn’t need to give Jonas any more ammunition.
“I can’t meet you at McElroy’s.” Despite all of her “it’s a free country” speeches to herself, she honestly didn’t want to court trouble with the school.
He sounded perplexed as he said, “Maybe your place?”
“Or maybe I could come by your shop. I feel a distinct need to hammer metal.”
* * *
THE LIGHTS WERE ON in Finn’s shop when Molly pulled into the driveway, so she parked at the edge of the drive, close to the shop. The muffled sounds of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” filtered through the metal walls as she got out of the car, and she hoped that it wasn’t an indication of
something bad. Finn had not sounded like himself when he called. She hesitated, then gave a quick knock and pushed open the door. The music got louder, swelling around her. Finn was at the metalworking station, hammer in hand, but he turned almost as soon as she stepped inside the brightly lit building. He set his hammer aside and wiped his hands on his jeans.
Molly hesitated just inside the door, teetering on the brink of...something. Unsettled business would be settled tonight, at least temporarily. Maybe by talking. Maybe by other means.
She was ready for other means. She’d had a week to think, a week to come to terms with the fact that yes, she was human. She made mistakes and she had needs. But indulging her needs was not synonymous with making a mistake. That had happened once. That didn’t mean it was the only possible outcome.
And something was up with Finn. She’d sensed that during their short conversation and now, as he met her gaze over the hood of the old Ford, she knew that all was not well.
He smiled, a guarded tilt of his lips, making her feel as if their positions were now reversed—he was the wary one and she was the one who had a pretty decent idea of what she wanted.
And looking at him now, all long legs, broad shoulders and lean muscle, she definitely wanted.
“Hey,” she said, her voice barely audible over the loud music. Finn reached out to turn off the radio and the ensuing silence was almost as jarring as the music had been.
“Thanks for coming.” His voice was low, still a touch guarded.
“Not a problem. I wanted to see you anyway.”
“You did?” The statement sounded like a question.
She gave a solemn nod, and then, since he didn’t move, she did, her shoes echoing on the concrete floor as she walked. She needed to do something with all the nervous energy balled up inside her. Crossing the shop would burn a little of it. The rest...?
As she got closer, his smile faded and his gaze remained watchful, as if he wasn’t as certain of himself as usual. He had no reason not to feel certain. Teen Finn had been hot, but adult Finn was blazing. Tonight she felt like getting burned.
Just a little. Just enough to feel.