That merger is mine.” I watched as she pointed an accusatory finger at him, but he stood his ground, unblinking, unwavering.
I peeked at them through the crack in the door. Arlene looked unkempt; her hair was all over her head, her mascara smeared on her face as if she’d been crying, and she did appear quite intoxicated.
“And, then I don't know what you have going on with Addison.” I flinched at the venom she put behind my name, such contempt. “I saw the way you looked at her...like you want her. You used to look at me like that, Reid. What happened with us? You just threw me to the side for the next young thing—”
“That was not what ended us, Arlene and you know it.” Reid sounded irritated.
Us? I thought to myself, were they romantically involved? But, Arlene was married. She was getting a divorce soon, or at least that's what she said.
“You're the reason I'm getting divorced!” she yelled at him. “I thought we could have something. I let my marriage go for you!” she screamed, dangerously teetering on the high heels she wore from earlier in the evening.
“What we had should never have happened; it was a mistake, Arlene,” he countered. “I never told you to leave your husband for me. I never offered you that commitment; you assumed. Your failed marriage is not on me, that is on you.”
“Son of a bitch! You cocky son of a… You did this to me!” Her screams bounced off the walls of his home. She attempted to throw fists at him and none of them connected as she sobbed. “I loved you!” Her jerky movements caused her to stumble.
Reid steadied her in his arms. Looking deep into her eyes, he said, “I'm moved, but I did not love you.”
I gasped, putting a hand to my mouth. His words were so cold and unfeeling, opposite of the man I’d been with just moments ago. The words broke Arlene. I've never seen her so shattered. She was usually so well kept together, but something about Reid ripped through her, and it frightened me. If he did this to her, what would he do to me after it was all said and done? Throw me to the wayside for the next girl? I knew he said it would just be for tonight. I didn’t want to turn out like Arlene.
I knew I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be doing this. I would wake the next morning full of regrets knowing he could treat a woman so callously. Even if it was Arlene, and she deserved what she got, I didn’t want it happening to me.
He needed to get rid of her so I could get my clothes and split.
Arlene didn't hear my gasp, but Reid seemed to as he looked over his shoulder and caught me peeking through the door. I stepped back.
Shit.
I'd been caught. Hands in the cookie jar.
“Arlene, you need to go. You're in no state to talk about this, and I really don't feel like having this discussion with you right now, “ he said, taking his hands off her.
She stepped back and looked at him as if seeing him for the first time, dressed in a robe with obviously next to nothing underneath it. His hard on had gone down a bit, but it was still obvious he was hard through that robe, and Arlene noticed it, too.
“Are you trying to get rid of me because you have a woman in that room with you?” she accused.
Oh, hell. No no no.
I hope to God she doesn't come in here. I’d be royally screwed and not in a good way. I backed farther into the room.
“Who is in my bedroom is none of your damn business, Arlene; never has been and never will,” Reid said with authority.
“It's my business when I’ve been in that room a time or two, you son of a bitch,” she slurred.
“Okay, that is enough. You need to leave before I call the police.” Reid shook his head and started guiding her toward the door.
“You wouldn't dare call the police on me, coward,” she countered.
“You want to test me and find out?” he asked.
“Fine!” I heard the click of her heels on the hardwood floor out in the main living area. I snuck back to the door and peeked again just in time to see the back of her retreat from his house, before he slammed the door shut behind her without so much as a goodbye.
He turned and saw me peeking through the door again. I stepped back from the door, grabbing the comforter from his bed and wrapped it around my body before I walked out into the main living area.
He wasn't going to see me naked anymore. If this was some type of game he played, I wasn't going to be a part of it.
I marched past him into his kitchen and reached for my red dress, snatching it from the floor before I walked back to his bedroom and into the bathroom.
“Hey, hey, wait a minute,” he said, following me into the room. “What are you doing?”
“What the hell does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting dressed so I can get the hell out of here.” I threw my hands in the air. What a stupid question. Did he really think I was going to stay here after that little Oscar winning performance he and the witch bitch just put on out there?
“Why? Because of her? Don't let her ruin our night, Addison. She has nothing to do with you and me.”
“Uh, yes, she does. More than you think. That woman is my boss. If she even thinks for a minute I am stepping into her territory with a man she supposedly loves…” My words trailed off. I couldn't even think of the consequences, let alone say them. That would not go well for me or my career. She would not only put me out on my ass from Eisen, Gold and Blume, she’d make it her mission that I wouldn't find gainful employment in this city again. I shook my head not wanting to even think about it.
“You're worried about your job? Is that it? She wouldn’t fire you because she found out we were—”
“We were what, Reid? What is this one night of? Drunken lust that you’ll check off your to-do list the moment I’ve left your bed and leave me with regret first thing in the morning?”
He flinched as if my words were a punch to the gut. But, I didn’t give it a second thought. I need to protect myself in this situation. He is a grown ass man. He’d be okay.
“What's the story with her anyway? Why is she banging on your door at this hour, belligerent and accusing?” I hugged the comforter to my naked body. “Just another of your one night flings? Am I going to be her a week from now? That is too many questions. Too many what ifs... I'm not going to be pushed to the side because you scratched an itch, Reid.”
He tried to reach for me, but I side-stepped him. “That's not what this is at all, and you know it.”
“Do I?” I tried to escape into his bathroom, but he grabbed my wrist, pulling me against him.
“You're not the only one jeopardizing their career, Addison. You know as well as I do I have no business being romantically or sexually involved with a student. I have feelings for you. I have since you started school three years ago. I wanted to see what was there for us. I needed to let you know.” He shook his head as if it was unbelievable he had to have this conversation with me, but he would have to spell it out like it or not because he wasn’t making sense. What did he mean he was interested for the last three years?
“I don't consider this a one-time thing, not with you, not ever. I'm interested in more than that. You aren't Arlene, not by a long shot, and she's not you. What she and I had was a mistake; something that should never have happened. Now, I can't get rid of her. She's like a stalker. She blames all her downfalls on me. I never promised her more than what we had, and I don't know where she got the notion we would have anything beyond just a quick roll in the hay.”
I closed my eyes at that. I did not want to hear about him in the hay with my boss especially after he had just touched me intimately. I held up my hand so he would stop talking. “How many of your students have you slept with, Reid?”
“What? Have you not heard anything I just said?” he tried.
“Sure, I've heard it all, but you still haven't answered my question. Is this something you do every semester? Find a girl, zone in on her. Tell her she's your one and only. Is that how you got involved with Arlene? Was she your student, too? Though, she
is older than you now that I think of it…”
“Addison, stop this.” He narrowed his gaze at me, nothing like the way he looked at me earlier in the evening. I’d pissed him off; my words had struck a chord. I better stop while the getting was good.
I walked into his bathroom and shut the door behind me. This time he didn't stop me.
Thank God.
I locked the door so he wouldn't decide to come in after me. I pulled the comforter from my body and looked in the large mirror above the sink. My reflection stared back at me. There were red marks over my stomach, my breasts and my neck. My lips were swollen from his kisses. All the erogenous zones he had told me about earlier in the evening were marked by his licks, his sucks, his bites. I closed my eyes as tears started to well. I couldn't trust him. I shouldn't trust him. I should never have been with him like this. My professor...now, I find out, the ex-lover of my boss.
What a cluster.
I wouldn't shed these tears; not here in his bathroom. That would have to wait until I got home. I quickly stepped back into the red dress and shimmied the straps over my shoulders before reaching behind me to zip the zipper. He still had my damn panties. He could keep it as a souvenir, whatever.
I opened the door to him still standing in the same place waiting for me to emerge.
“You don't have to leave, Addison. We can talk about this.” His tone was quiet, pleading.
“No, Reid. I'm good. I'll get my shoes and call an Uber.” I walked past him into his room.
“Hank can take you home.” He turned to me.
“It’s late, and you let him go for the evening. I would hate to have to call him just to take me home.”
“That is what he's paid for. If I needed to go somewhere tonight, he would take me—”
“I'm not you, Reid. I'm not yours.” I threw the last comment over my shoulder as I turned and lumbered out of his bedroom into the main living area. I searched out my shoes near the bench where he had rubbed my feet earlier, slipping into them. I found my purse next to the bench as well, and dug out my cell to order up an Uber. It would be there in five minutes flat.
Thank God for small favors.
I felt his warmth behind me. I refused to turn around, so he spoke to my back.
“I've not done this before, to answer your question. I’ve...not shown interest in a student or even thought to take that risk. Arlene was not one of my students... I’ve known her a while, though. We became reacquainted through the firm at one of the office parties. One thing led to another, and we had a short run. I'm not proud of it, but I can't live my life with regrets.”
He reached for me then, his fingertips at my shoulders as he turned me to him. “I'm attracted to you, Addison. I know everything says I shouldn't; our age difference, our professor/student status.” He shook his head, clearly not wanting to count the other different ways we shouldn't be together.
I already knew them. He didn’t need to say them.
He trudged forward anyway. “But, I still feel strongly about this. I want to get to know you, if you feel the same. Plus our status won't be this way for long. You graduate in a few weeks—”
“Is that why you waited to tell me how you feel?” I asked, searching his dark gray eyes. I could see the emotion there. He meant what he was saying.
“Part of the reason, yes.” He nodded.
“What's the other reason? You were doing the do with my boss when you were supposedly attracted to me?” I knew it was a cheap shot, but you could look all around me for the fucks I gave, and you wouldn’t find one.
“Christ, Addison, you make that sound so much worse than it really is.” He lowered his forehead to mine ready to say more, but the sound of a car pulling up in front of his place caught my attention. I pulled away from him, peering through the peephole in the door.
A shiny red Toyota Prius ran idling outside his condo.
“That’s my ride.” I backed away from the door and turned to him, holding out my hand for a shake.
“Thanks for your hospitality tonight, Reid. I really appreciate it and for your help the other night when I was feeling anxious. I meant to thank you for that, too. But, honestly, I think whatever this is between us... if there is anything between us, it should remain strictly professional. I am your student, you are my professor and mentor; let's keep it at that.”
I spun on my heels, wincing at the pinch, swearing to the Most High I would never wear these blasted, devil shoes ever again. I flung open his front door and marched down the steps. I climbed into the Uber without giving Mr. Matheson a second glance.
Chapter 10
I’d spent the rest of the weekend in an oversized t-shirt, curled in a ball on my coach, marathon watching my back list on the DVR like it was my new career. I wasn’t going out in the world to see or speak to anyone. I wasn’t working. I sure the hell wasn’t looking at anything that had to do with school right now. This was two days to super veg. I turned off my cell, because...screw it.
If Arlene thought she was getting a shred of work out of me these two days, she was sorely mistaken.
By Monday morning, I felt a little more like myself. Reid had said it best, I wouldn’t live my life with regrets either. Though, falling into lust with him was a huge mistake. One I should have never made.
Something about my older, sexy as sin law professor made me lose my ever-loving mind.
I stepped off the elevator on the twenty-fifth floor of the thirty-six floor building and looked for Arlene to ambush me as soon as I walked in the door. I was surprised my phone hadn’t started beeping and buzzing with text messages or emails from me ignoring it over the weekend, but the thing was silent. I’d already double checked it to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. There was nothing but regular interoffice emails, some notifications from the secretaries I read over while sipping my morning coffee.
John had sent some emails with updates on cases, over the weekend. It was beyond me how he got any work done with a small child at home. She was an adorable toddler, one, maybe two years old, that was giving her parents a run for their money already. I had no idea who his baby mama was, but heaven help them. I loved kids...on a picture. Having one of my own, right now, was a no-go.
Though, I was marching toward thirty right now like a runaway train. Might be something I want to consider soon, but not today.
I looked farther down the inbox list, when I saw an email from him.
Reid.
He’d gotten my email when I sent my project for work to him instead of my assignment for class. It wouldn’t have been that hard to figure out anyway, since he knew so many people that worked here. Especially Joe and Arlene.
To: Addison Mitchell
From: Reid Matheson
Addison,
I’m sorry how things ended between us last night. It was never my intention to make you feel any other way than special to me. Please, can we just talk about this? I don’t want you to think last night was a mistake. It wasn’t for me.
Thinking about you,
Reid.
He could not send these types of emails to my office email account. For all I knew, Arlene was reading everything going out and coming in. I wouldn’t put it past her. I noticed at the bottom of his email, it gave his office hours as well as his office and cell phone. I’d call him later, and we’d have to discuss this...this that would never happen, and he’d have to stop emailing…
Before I could finish the thought, I caught sight of his name again. He emailed the last one on Saturday, but he’d sent another on Sunday.
Good Lord.
To Addison Mitchell
From Reid Matheson
Hey,
I promise, I’m not trying to be a stalker or whatever it is I’m sure you are thinking about me right now. But, I really need to talk to you; preferably before Monday when you come into work. I don’t want you blind-sided. And, it would probably be best if you hear it from me instead of…
I didn’t get a chance to
finish his email before Kayla, Arlene’s assistant, came out of her office and stopped me. “Oh good, you’re here. She is on a rampage, so be ready. She didn’t get the news she wanted to hear from Joe this morning. Supposedly the merger deal was handed over to a consultant Joe works with often. Arlene is pissed.” She carried the last word out like it had four syllables. Pissed with twenty S’s just meant witch on her broom to me, per usual.
My ears pricked when she’d said, ‘consultant’. If this person was working with the merger, that meant I’d be working with this person. And, it could only be the one person I did not want to work closely with.
Shit shoot shit.
“This consultant wouldn’t be Reid Matheson, would it?” I spoke, my voice barely a whisper. My throat suddenly rivaled the Sahara desert. Before Kayla could respond, I peered back at my phone and read the last sentence of his email.
And, it would probably be best if you hear it from me instead of Arlene. She will not take this news very well.
Damn it.
I looked back up at Kayla. “Yes, it’s Mr. Matheson. You know him, right?”
I almost choked on my laugh.
Yea, Biblically.
But, I wouldn’t say that, not to this young girl.
“Yea, I know him. He’s one of my law professors. He told me he does consultant work for the firm sometimes. I didn’t realize this case was one of those times.”
“I guess it happened on Friday, but Joe didn’t mention it until this morning.”
No, it was Friday, I thought.
That is why Arlene showed up at his place like a drunken fool. That meant Reid knew about this when he carried me caveman-style to his bed. He knew I’d be working with him. Why hadn’t he said anything? I gritted my teeth. I didn’t like any of this one bit.
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