“I know, but I can eat and study at the same time.” She half-turned in her seat. “Nicholas, will you deal with this for me?”
“I can try,” I reasoned. “Gina is a devious bitch.”
“What is it with you two and blackmailing people?” she grumbled, but I took no offense.
Gina and I were, disconcertingly enough, cut from the same cloth.
Was it any wonder we’d been a nightmare together?
“Because we like to get our own way?”
“She’s not having you back,” Phoebe warned, and the fire in her eyes had my cock hardening.
“Fight her for me, would you?” I teased, loving that she bristled at the mere thought. Before she could get too riled up, I pressed my forehead to hers and stated, “I’ll deal with it.”
She swallowed. “I don’t want you to lose your job over this.” I didn’t tell her that I didn’t give a fuck about the job. “I can’t believe she’s been following us.”
“Gina wants what she can’t have, and what she wants, she covets.” I shrugged. “She’s probably had someone following me for a long time.” That Gina might be aware of my proclivities was disconcerting enough, but I figured there was one way to nip this in the bud.
Fighting fire with fire.
Humming at the thought of all the evidence I’d stacked my way over the years, I knew I had enough to keep her corralled. I was going to use it all up on this, do away with all the shit I’d been storing for a rainy day if Gina ever turned psycho on me again, but for Phoebe’s sake, I didn’t mind losing my hoard.
I reached up and cupped her chin. “Are you wet for me?”
Her eyes flared wide, but the pupils fluctuated from thick to thin as though they were unsure how to process the sudden surge of chemicals in her blood.
“Yes,” she said thickly.
I tilted her head to the side with the hold I had on her jaw, and licked a line down her throat.
“How wet?”
A sigh escaped her, and I felt her sink into me a little, depending on me to prop her upright.
“Ver-ry,” she hiccupped.
I hummed. “I want to taste.”
That had her stiffening. “We’re in a park.”
Pulling away with a grin that she responded to with narrowed eyes, I began to shuck out of my light sports coat. When I placed it on her knees, she grabbed a firm hold of it, her knuckles bleeding white with the ferocity of her hold on the fabric.
“Nicholas, we can’t.”
My brow quirked. “Can’t we?” I licked my lips. “Spread your legs slightly.”
Her gaze darted from left to right, but it was a weird time of day. Neither lunch nor rush hour, and though this was the city that never slept and there was always someone around, someone watching via a camera or whatever, I didn’t particularly care.
I wanted to remind Phoebe of something.
She belonged to me. Her arousal, her fears, everything. It was mine. And I protected what was mine.
I could see the tension on her face, read it as her desire to disobey, but also, she wanted me. Wanted my touch. Craved it just as badly as I needed to give it to her.
When she blew out her breath, I knew I had her. Her legs fell open slightly, not wide enough to be noticeable to anyone in particular, just a little farther apart than was polite.
I twisted in the seat and pressed my mouth to hers even as I slid my hand under the jacket. She bunched it up, making it more of a shield, and when I dragged up her skirt, shoved it out of the way, and managed to work my hand between her legs, my kiss broke off as I felt her.
Wet.
Hot.
Liquid fire against my skin.
I gritted my teeth as I pressed my forehead to hers once more. This woman was made for me. Made to burn for me.
Fuck.
“Don’t stop,” she whimpered, and like that, she decimated my control even more.
I’d have fucked her there if I could. Beneath the hot sun, under the blanket of blue sky that was like silk interspersed with wispy clouds, and atop the lawn that landscaped the park…
I had an image in my mind then.
There would come a day when I’d take her like that.
Outside, with nothing and no one to watch us or stop us. Where I could make her mine time and time again.
Because she pleased me, I quickly rubbed her clit, with fast flicks of my fingers that I knew would get her hot. When she clenched beside me, her forehead pushing into mine so she could contain herself, I reveled in her release. Reveled in it and loved that it was mine, just as she was.
Leaning forward, I nipped her bottom lip with my teeth and whispered, “Don’t worry, Phoebe. I’ll handle everything.”
I wasn’t about to sully the moment with talk of Gina, but I’d handle her.
The only way to bargain with the devil was to grow a pair of horns too.
❖
Two weeks later
As I stared at her in my classroom, I watched while she worked on her final exam.
This was it.
Once this was done, we could pretty much out ourselves as a couple.
It was against the rules for faculty and students to be sexually involved, and though I knew of at least four professors who were fucking someone in their classes, it was a rule that I’d never breached before now.
Had never felt the impetus.
But my life was changing with Phoebe and Scottie in it, and for the better.
Even though, technically, we’d still keep shit on the down low, I was going to make my move tonight.
I wanted her to stop working at Crow, and I wanted to hire a full-time nanny so that she could actually do what she wanted without fearing for her brother.
Although, I felt bad for calling him that. Truth was, Scottie was more like her son.
Watching her work on her final paper, I felt pride spill through me. She was still nervous and timid around most people, but she was also getting a tad more boisterous.
I wasn’t sure if it was getting away from her mother, or whether I was good for her… there was no way to tell what put that smile on her face. Hopefully, it was both things, and that was why she seemed like a load had been taken off her shoulders.
My phone buzzed, drawing my attention away from my study of her, and when I saw it was Gina, I rolled my eyes as I rocked back in my seat.
Two weeks ago, she’d threatened to tell the Dean I was fucking a student—how she’d discovered that, I didn’t even want to know—and she’d been trying to blackmail me ever since.
Of course, it wasn’t going to work.
Sure, I liked working here, but I didn’t care if I never worked another day here again. Why would I? I didn’t need the money. I did it because I loved teaching, loved this process, and it would suck to give it up, but fuck, now that I’d met Phoebe, my life could move on.
It was almost like serendipity had arranged this.
I’d come to this school in the aftermath of the wreckage of my marriage to Gina, and I’d been miserable most of that time. But I’d found a semblance of myself here, and as I’d grown, as I’d developed, it was like I’d been waiting for Phoebe to arrive.
I wasn’t a man who believed in love at first sight. Marriage to Gina had been more like love at first glimpse of that ass and those tits. But with Phoebe? She’d changed everything.
And she still didn’t realize it.
Damn well wouldn’t if I had a say in things.
Me: Nice try, Gina. Did your boss like that little care package I sent him?
I smirked when her reply came back almost instantly.
Gina: What the hell are you talking about?
Me: You know what I’m talking about. The statements I have about your bribing my doormen to get into my apartment. Those pictures you sent of Phoebe me and going inside and coming out of my apartment. The fact that you’ve pretty much been stalking me?
Gina: You wouldn’t dare.
Me: Oh, I would.
Well, let me correct that. I haven’t sent shit to your boss yet. But I will. And let’s face it. I have enough to go to the cops, and I have no compunction in that, except I don’t think it will look good for your resume if you have a restraining order against you, will it?
Gina: You bastard.
Me: I’m only what you made me.
Gina: Fuck you.
Me: Never again, thank fuck. Your toxic cunt has burned me one too many times. You leave me and Phoebe the hell alone or I’ll send everything to your boss and to the cops at the same time. You know I can and will, and Christ, while I’m at it, I’ll send it over to Mommy and Daddy too. I’m sure they’d like to see my scars.
I hadn’t been happy at the prospect of revealing them to the world, but I would if it meant getting this sick and twisted weirdo off my back.
Sure, she’d been my wife and the mother of my baby, but she wasn’t that anymore.
Something about us together had created a poison so deep that it had twisted us both.
Yeah, I knew it was the height of hypocrisy for me to be threatening to go to the cops over her stalking me, but fuck, I wasn’t about to let Gina win.
She’d wreck my career in a heartbeat, and I could deal with that. But Phoebe had worked too damn hard to get to this point.
And the irony was that I’d never been that lenient with her grades. Even though I now saw her talent for what it was, I also knew that it didn’t fit the program.
Some writers just didn’t.
Some people had a gift, while others were technically perfect.
It was like a pianist. Someone could play like Beethoven, but if they didn’t have the gift, it was just a random, anonymous piece of music that had no soul or heart.
Writing was like that. Technical or soul deep. There was no in between.
I wasn’t sure if Phoebe would ever develop her writing, but if she did, I was under no illusion that she had the ability to make magic with her words.
Gina: Truce?
I stared at the screen, unsure as to whether or not I believed my she-devil of an ex.
She was definitely the kind of person who liked to lull her enemies into a false sense of security.
Me: You’d better not be bullshitting me.
Gina: I’m not. I’m aiming for ADA this year. I don’t need the past coming back and biting me in the ass.
Me: Why didn’t you think of that before?
Gina: Because you always rolled over before.
Her words resonated with me, and it made me wonder how she’d viewed me.
Why the hell did she want to be with me if that was how she saw me?
As a pushover.
Huh.
I stared at nothing in particular, hearing the scratching of pens—from those who liked to be purist—and the tapping of keys as my students tried to cram as much into their paper as they were able.
But as I stared, I tried to ask myself if I was a pushover, and if that was why I’d responded to Phoebe the way I had.
As I thought about it, naturally, my gaze drifted over to her. She was staring intently at her screen. Her laptop was old. So old it was a wonder it had made it into school. I only ever saw it around the times she was doing exams, so I knew she kept it at home to keep it safe.
I’d never known a woman who was more careful with her possessions, who was so careful with another’s too.
Some days, I wasn’t sure whether I needed to keep my housekeeper on or not. I mean, Phoebe really did do a better job than Mrs. Manifort did, and only the fact that my housekeeper had been with me since college stopped me from letting her go.
The thought occurred to me that it was probably time to introduce Phoebe to my folks.
That would be fun.
Especially since they hadn’t seen me in over two years.
My mouth pulled taut as I thought about how badly that Thanksgiving had gone down.
With my mother telling me I was stupid to let a woman like Gina go, and railing at me for all the things Gina had used against me in the divorce.
I’d ended up storming out of their stupid penthouse on the Upper East Side, and I’d acted as though it were on the other side of the world rather than across town ever since.
I had no real desire to see them, to meet with them, and I gave even less of a fuck about their opinion of Phoebe—and an opinion they’d definitely have.
But she was everything I wanted, and in capital letters.
I rubbed my chin, staring down at the text box that was blinking. Gina’s light was still green, and it satisfied something in me to think that she might be sweating over my response.
I wanted her to. Fuck that, I needed her to.
She’d thought me weak when all along I’d been playing her. Playing her because I’d known there was no way she’d let me go unless she was the one to break us up.
My pride and ego were at war though, but I still tapped out: Truce.
When the double ticks appeared and Gina didn’t reply, I truly hoped that would be the last time I ever heard from her.
I certainly didn’t give a shit if I never saw her again, but I’d be vigilant. She’d pulled this crap once, so there was nothing to stop her from trying to do it again.
When I looked at the clock, a second later, I called out, “You have fifteen minutes remaining.”
At my words, very few people looked up, but Phoebe did, and because I was hoping she would, I shot her a smile.
Hers was weak, but I knew it was because she was tired, had been for the past week since finals had begun. Honestly, everyone looked wrecked, and I was just grateful that I’d managed to get her to agree to cut down on her hours at Crow.
When, twenty minutes later, the hall had emptied, I flipped through the papers that had been handed in and arranged them in alphabetical order, then stared at the documents that had been emailed to me and were pending on my screen.
Technically, I had a faculty meeting to attend before I could go home, but hell if I cared. I sat back, opened up Phoebe’s paper, and started reading, curious as to where she’d gone with it.
❖
The scent of lasagna filled my loft when I made it back, and as I unknotted my tie, I let the warm scent fill me with the sense of home.
Of course, it was twisted that I felt that way when I was on the brink of losing everything.
Until now, this place had been empty in more ways than one. But with Scottie and Phoebe around, it truly was turning into a haven, not just somewhere I laid my head at night.
I had too many bad memories here, but I was glad that those shitty ones were slowly being replaced, and until this afternoon, I’d fully intended on moving out and making a fresh start with Phoebe and Scottie by my side.
Normally, I’d head into the kitchen, go and see them both as they cooked, but tonight? After reading what I had? I didn’t. I couldn’t face her.
She knew.
That was what I read into her final essay.
She knew.
And I didn’t know how.
I dumped my attaché case by the door and shrugged out of my jacket, which clung to me uncomfortably. I felt sweaty and overheated, like no amount of air conditioning would cool me down. Leaving it hanging over the armrest of the sofa, something I never did, I headed out onto the terrace and sucked down some fresh air.
As I stared across the city, looked at the place that had been my home since birth, I recognized how out of touch I felt.
I didn’t want to be here anymore.
That dream I’d had of being in France, just speaking about it with Phoebe had made it surge to life again. Scottie would thrive there, and Phoebe would be away from the rat race I didn’t want her in.
But it wasn’t my decision.
None of this was.
Honestly, I was astonished she was still here, period. Bewildered that I’d come back to the scents of a meal cooking, of lasagna waiting on me for our dinner when she should have been running far and wide.
Why hadn’t she?
Because she needed my help? Financially?
I could deal with that.
I really could.
It would kill me if she left, but I was the master of my own fate, and there was no hiding this from her now. Not when she knew just how strange I truly was.
He’s there, in the shadows. Always watching, always waiting.
Protecting me as he stalks me. Hunting me down with his cherishing stare.
His poisonous tongue bewilders, even as his caressing eyes arouse me. The toxic words overpowered by heat-filled glares and the promises of pleasure.
He’s danger in male form. Peril to a female’s heart. But never is he a hazard to her health. His menace is as tangible as his touch, to which this woman never wishes to be apart from…
As I looked at the tree where my faithful hound, Cara, was buried, I bowed my head as the weight of the world pressed itself onto my shoulders.
Cancer had taken those weary old bones from me, but I’d found a way to bring her back to life by burying her under a tree on my street.
I’d miss that tree when I was no longer here, but I’d miss Phoebe and Scottie more if they didn’t come with me where I wanted to go. She said she never wanted to be apart from me in a final piece of the exam, which was as bemusing as it was talented.
A very personal letter to me, her stalker. From the woman whom I was stalking.
My throat felt tight as I heard her footsteps padding toward me. When the door creaked, I knew she leaned against it, and though I didn’t want to know, I had to.
“How?” I whispered, every muscle in my back straining as I looked over the railing, staring at anything but her.
“The transcriptions. If Gina hadn’t have come, I might not have realized. But you mentioned her name in them. Plus, those jade figurines in your office. I think you started collecting them back then. I remembered the horse and the bull specifically.” She hummed then she moved, and I felt her against me. Her heat so close but not touching. “Also, Jay… I came back one day and he was waiting outside.”
My cousin.
The Professor: A Standalone Novel Page 19