by Ellie Danes
She pushed away from the table and stood up. "You asked my advice and now you can do whatever you want."
What I wanted did not include sleeping on the couch. But Hannah was angry and, in the end, she always got her way.
Chapter 4
I didn't know if the little sports coupe made up for my outburst at the ski lodge. Hannah had feigned a pleasant make-up with me in the morning and then flown off to meet with her friends in Spain in order to 'keep up appearances.'
The rest of spring break, I had brooded in the snow. A few quick phone calls and my connections at the airport had the new car waiting for her when she touched the tarmac, but Hannah never called.
I wondered if she'd found the brand-new set of luggage in the back.
When Hannah walked into the lecture hall, my heart took off at a gallop. She pouted at me and then allowed some other co-ed to distract her. Even the other students in class could see Hannah was different. The girls all stared at her with jealousy and awe, fawning over her with bright smiles when she deigned to look at them.
And the clumsy college boys had no idea what to do with her. Hannah's curly blond hair, angelic face, and pouty red lips were enough to attract any heterosexual man within in a twenty-mile radius. But it was her high gaze, her cultured style, and her supreme confidence that made them all falter.
Except me.
Hannah held the world to very high standards because her father had expected even more out of her. And now that Walter Barton had had a change of heart, his overachieving daughter was disappointed. Her disappointment was spilling over to me, and I couldn't have that.
I wanted Hannah as more than my prized student or my sexy secret. I wanted her admiration. I wanted to show her that I could take her father's place and provide for her better than her old man. I had always been the risky investment, the thrill of chance was exactly what had brought me into business in the first place, and I was determined to sell Hannah on me.
She teased me all through the lecture, her slow-moving hands roving over the same cashmere sweater that had brought us both such pleasure at the ski lodge.
"Hannah Barton, can I have a minute?" I called her back to the podium after class was dismissed.
"Yes, Professor?" Her eyes dropped to the very obvious reason I was still behind the podium. "Is there something you need?"
"How about a ride?" I asked.
Hannah's eyes widened and then she let out a surprised giggle. "You mean in my new car? A wealthy admirer overheard me talking about it on spring break."
"He's got good taste," I said.
The last student filed out of class and Hannah finally relented. "Thank you, Chase. I'm sorry I was so on edge at the lodge."
"You know stress reduction is something I encourage all my students to explore. Many of the top CEOs these days have solid meditation routines," I said.
Hannah smiled. "Somehow I don't think meditation is your style."
"What if I said I think you are my style?" I asked.
Hannah's eyes flicked to the door. "What if someone hears you?"
I grinned at the empty lecture hall. "And what if they did? Graduation is just around the corner. Who's to say we don't reconnect off campus?"
She shifted and looked at the door again. "I guess we'll know more when I've accepted a job offer."
Hannah planned to work after college not because she had to, but because she knew it gave her and her family name power. A successful female CEO was the new standard for elite American families, and Hannah was determined to be the best.
I stroked the curve of her hip and the top of her thigh, the closet I could reach behind the privacy of the podium. "I've been thinking about that. Plenty of power positions in my companies here."
She pulled a face. "Everyone here knows about my father's fire-sale. He's talking about living in a yurt, for god's sake."
I picked up my things and moved away from the podium, stung that Hannah had no concern about whether I wanted her near me or not. "Then I guess I'll see you at the alumni meet and greet dinner," I said.
Hannah caught up to me and slipped her fingers inside my suit coat. "Oh, Chase. I'd love to go! If you introduced me around, maybe people would forget about my father."
"Sure," I said.
Hannah's eyes twinkled with excitement and I was jealous that I was not the cause.
She noticed and brushed a quick, daring kiss across my lips before we exited the lecture hall. Hannah led the way to my office, glancing over her shoulder as she bounced down the hallway in front of me.
"Do you have office hours now, Professor?" She stopped at my door and wet her lips. "I could use some advice about networking."
"Networking? With a name like yours?" I unlocked my office but did not invite her in. "You'll be fine without my help."
"What if I want your help?" Her eyes began to glow. "Would you help me, Professor?"
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Me? Help someone of your status?"
Hannah had the good grace to wince at that. Then she wiggled past me and slipped into my office. "At least let me thank you for all the help you've given me this year."
I shut the door behind me. It felt impossible not to tell Hannah how much I wished she would stay, how much I had come to care for her, but she stopped my spluttering attempts with a blazing kiss.
"You know, I could fail you," I told Hannah. "Then I'd have to tutor you again and again all next year."
She wrapped her arms around my neck, her breasts rubbing against my chest, but she shook her head. "Sorry, Professor. It's time for me to graduate and become a real businesswoman."
The thought thrilled me as Hannah lay down across my office desk—after graduation I could claim her as my own.
Then we could really get down to business.
Chapter 5
"Check again, Jake," I snarled. My assistant bent over his laptop again then paused and shook his head.
"Sorry, Chase. Hannah hasn't applied for any Velocity Capital positions. Not even local partner companies," he said.
"Check again!" I let loose a string of expletives as Jake followed my directions and came up with nothing again.
"Perhaps she's embracing her father's new outlook?" Jake asked.
He was lucky he was the best assistant I’d ever had, or I would have cracked him over the head with his own laptop. "Hannah Barton is not going to move into a yurt and become one with nature. She's going to take her billion-dollar inheritance and join the competition."
The thought did excite me. Competing with Hannah over new investments would make for some of the best business meetings I could imagine, but the pleasant fantasy was interrupted by reality.
I was losing Hannah.
She had been distant since spring break but it wasn't just finals and all the farewell parties. Hannah already acted as if she had moved on. The last time we were together in my office turned out to be the last time she visited me there.
A sudden paranoia that we'd be discovered gripped her and Hannah made sure to keep her distance. Except for daily reminders about the alumni meet and greet.
"Can't wait to see you there," was her signature line and it meant that for the two weeks leading up to the big event, I didn't see Hannah at all. She even skipped my class in favor of some architectural talk my colleague Albert gave.
When I finally saw her in the college reception hall, my pent-up desire and need steamed up so suddenly I blinked as if it clouded my eyes. Hannah was politely chatting with her most presentable friends and I couldn't help but interrupt. I even pushed past some of my colleagues to get to her.
"Ms. Barton, a word?" I caught Hannah's elbow in a vise grip and nodded at the man next to us. "Hello, Albert. Visiting from California again?"
I didn't wait to hear what my colleague said as I steered Hannah to a private alcove. The reception hall's arched ceiling gave way to a wall of multiple arched doorways, some that lead to other rooms, some to the kitchen, and some that were small
semi-circle rooms meant to invite conversation or highlight a valued piece of art from the university's collection.
Hannah ignored the small Picasso and hissed at me. "What do you think you're doing?"
"You're avoiding me, Ms. Barton. Not very professional." I told her in a stern voice.
She gave an impatient sigh. "I don't have time to play right now, Professor. Some of us still need to secure our futures."
I moved us farther into the privacy of the alcove. "That's what all this is about? Security? Then why didn't you apply to any of the open positions at my company?"
Hannah frowned. "I don't need you to give me a job."
"But it would secure your future. You could find a place of your own, between the city and campus. We don't have to live together right away." I slipped an arm around her waist.
Hannah twisted away from me. "Live together? That's not what I'm looking for."
I smiled and stepped closer. "Oh? Is this whole thing just a ploy to get me to propose?"
Hannah gave a disgusted sound and escaped through a narrow door that led to the coat check room. Because it was a warm, dry spring, the coat check room was empty and she was cornered in an even more private place.
"We can talk here, Hannah. Just tell me what you want." I pulled her close and kissed her forehead.
I felt her sharp intake of breath. "Oh, god," Hannah moaned. "Why do you always have to smell so good?"
I slid my hands up to massage her shoulders. "Take another deep breath. You're letting all this graduation stress get to you."
I felt her falter. Hannah appeared as pristine and flawless as porcelain, but underneath there was a river of molten lava. If I had the rest of my life with her, I would never grow bored of pushing her from prim to passionate. I would consider it my life's best work.
I worked at her tense shoulders, over the satin spaghetti straps of her cocktail dress. Then I noticed that she was showing more skin tonight than she normally did. The demure little black dress had been replaced by an haute couture creation with a plunging back.
"How about one more lesson?" I whispered against her lips. "My best advice to be an un-ending financial success."
Hannah let the spaghetti straps fall, her teeth nipping at my bottom lip as she nodded. "Hmm, yes please, Professor."
I shuddered with pent-up desire. Hannah's breath was coming in hot little pants. She was so close to ignoring the cocktail party and all the business connections. If I could get her to forget all about that just for a few minutes I might have a chance.
If Hannah thought with her heart rather than her head, she just might pick me.
I dropped my hand to the hem of her skirt and began to work it up slowly. My fingers spun hypnotizing little circles as I traveled between us to the soft cleft of her thighs. Hannah shifted, letting her high heels spread farther apart, then she caught herself.
"I can't." Hannah brought herself up with a sharp shake and then tugged her dress straps back in place. "This was fun. I mean really, really good, but I can't do it anymore."
"Do what?" The crisp way she talked, almost as if I wasn't there, felt like a bucket of ice water over my desire. "Me?"
"Exactly. Now I'm graduating, and it's time to move on," Hannah said.
"And you can't do that with me?" I asked.
She put one hand on my cheek and gave me a pained look. "We're just not from the same circles. Our lives are too different."
Our lives were too different? She meant my life was too different from the life she wanted. My life wasn't good enough…and neither was I.
Chapter 6
By the time I had caught my breath and cleared my head, Hannah was gone. I got lost going out the wrong door of the coat check and ended up reentering the alumni reception from the main hall again. It was crowded, but my eyes immediately found her. Hannah attracted me like no other woman ever had.
I took a step forward, but then my good sense kicked in and I detoured to the bar. Had she really just broken off our affair?
I ordered a stiff drink and calmed myself down by casually chatting with a few of my former students. They had all gone on to become successes and were now looking for new talent themselves. It had long been an alumni secret that the best hiring was done just before graduation and exclusively by personal recommendation.
I made a few career-defining introductions, sipped my drink, and tried to keep Hannah out of my eye line. She was just as intent on ignoring me, or so I thought, until I looked up and caught her gaze.
She raised one slender hand in a subtle wave—a graceful and somber goodbye. Except I wasn't sure I could leave it alone. If only I could get close to her, let her feel the attraction I knew we shared, then maybe she'd give up this cold act.
I could heat her up.
The drink was going straight to my head and I made an effort to try some of the appetizers. Slowly, I made my way across the reception hall. Hannah was standing in a tight knot of her biggest competition, a group of equally privileged and intelligent women.
"I heard he spent summers with the Rockefellers as a child," one woman said. She looked at Hannah with jealousy.
"Now he summers in the Hudson River Valley," Hannah said. "At his family's historic estate."
"Is that where you plan to get married?" another woman asked Hannah. All the girls tittered.
"Well, I have to get the job first. Then he'll realize my family's still worth a merger," Hannah said.
"Merger? More like the wedding of the century," the first woman said, the jealousy now plain in her voice.
I held my breath and my head spun. Rockefellers, historic estates, and weddings—what exactly was Hannah talking about?
The girls suddenly scattered and I was left frozen, facing Hannah. She saw me and then smiled past my shoulder. The warm greeting went past me, through me like a hot knife. I turned around to see who was so lucky to get that smile from her.
Albert. Of course.
My colleague from California was not only a real estate mogul but one of the richest men on the West Coast, and he was the heir to a family fortune that had rubbed elbows with the likes of Hearst.
He was also looking for someone to head the outreach division of his oldest and most successful venture.
"Chase! You're a hard man to track down these days," Albert said. He nodded at Hannah but turned from her to shake my hand. "So, when are you going to help me find the prodigy I need? Or am I going to have to try to steal Jake away again?"
Hannah peeked over his shoulder, her lips pouting and pleading.
I slapped Albert on the back, probably harder than I should have. "Don't worry. The competition was steep this year but I've weeded out the snakes for you."
"Excuse me, Professor Kerns?" Hannah interrupted with an icy smile. "I couldn’t pass by without saying hello."
Albert beamed. "So nice to see you again, Hannah. I won't ask about your father, though I did tour his yurt recently. How are you?"
"Oh, isn't that Bethany Wright?" I pointed Albert toward one of our more successful alumni. "Let's see if you can convince her to sit at our table."
Albert grinned and led the way, but Hannah's hand stopped me cold.
"What are you doing?" she hissed.
"Stopping you from throwing yourself at an heir. Aren't you better than that?" My voice was tight and quiet though I felt like screaming.
Hannah's eyes narrowed, the diamond-blue turning icy. "You're not going to recommend me for the California job?"
"You're not the only talented student here, Hannah," I snapped.
Her chin lifted a notch and her whole persona changed. I wondered if all the charm and flirtations had been an act, with the burst of passion being nothing more than a pleasant side effect of her plan. The diamond solitaire necklace I had given her winked coldly at her throat, like it was mocking me.
"Let me be clear, Professor. Either I get the California job or everyone finds out you slept with your student all year."
"Y
ou wouldn't," I snarled.
Her eyebrow lifted. "Why not? Leverage was one of the many good business strategies you taught me, Professor."
All the other things I had taught her flashed through my mind and my blood boiled. Had it all been an act? Had Hannah never felt anything for me at all?
I wanted to grab her, kiss that frosty look off her face, and prove to her that I was the only one who could turn her body into flowing honey. I was the only one who could make her lose control. I was the only one she really loved.
But all Hannah loved was far above me, the kind of high society that made my billions looked like crumpled, dirty bills. Hannah wanted more, and she wanted me to hand it to her on a silver platter.
If I said anything to Albert, a man who had come to trust my opinion over many successful business dealings, her grand plans would be ruined. Then again, so would I. No one would do business with a man so weak he slept with a student in his class.
I had no choice but to take Hannah's arm and escort her across the room to Albert. After my personal recommendation, he offered her the job on the spot. Hannah's career was launched and mine was safe.
I told myself it was over, but the pain had just begun.
Chapter 7
"Just please return it all and don't ask." I told Jake over the phone.
My assistant tried again. "Some of the art is really wonderful, true classics. Are you sure you don't want to keep a small collection?"
I groaned. Buying up swathes of art in an attempt to become cultured had seemed like a good idea but, then again, I'd been drunk for the last three days straight. After waking up on the stone floor of the ski lodge, I had finally decided to sober up and the hangover was just beginning.
"Art's not my style. I don't have any style. Why can't I just buy style?" I asked.
"I could make enquiries," Jake said politely.
I heaved myself to sitting and grabbed my head. "Just give me a few days to die in peace," I groaned.
"Sorry, sir."
The front doorbell rang, followed by a brisk knock, then Jake swung the door open. He carried in a box of groceries with the phone still tucked under his cheek. Our conversation reverberated as he carried the food past me to the kitchen.