Page 45 of Forged By Sacrifice

“Hi,” I said, drawing my bag to the front of me almost like a shield.

He looked up from his desk and smiled. It was an attractive smile. One I was sure got him a lot of crushes, especially from the younger students. He had a blond-haired, chiseled look that was probably drool-worthy if I wasn’t already drooling in my dreams over a certain chiseled, dark-haired body. I had a flash of the scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark with the girl winking her “I love you” eyes at Harrison Ford. Professor Collins would have loved to be Harrison Ford.

“Georgie, is it?” He was nonchalant, as if he was trying to recall my name and the reason that brought me to his office. I couldn’t tell if it was an act or real.

He came around the desk, leaning against it, legs out. I fidgeted by the door.

“Fourth Amendment, right?”

I nodded.

“Come on in. I’ll dig up some case studies we’re going to be going over, and you can get a head start.”

He went to a shelf by the windows. Damn Mac and Dani. I pushed away my unease and sat down in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. He came back with a binder in his hands and brushed against my legs with his, as if not paying attention, but returned to his position propped against the desk. I’d worn jeans even though it was too hot for them. I’d spent most of my time in Washington in a series of summer dresses, trying to keep cool. Not today. Not with the stupid conversation going through my head that I was thinking now wasn’t so stupid.

He handed me the binder, our hands touching.

“Think that will get you started,” he said, retracting his hands slowly, eyeing my left hand. My body and brain went on high alert. I would have been on alert by now even without Mac and Dani’s voices in my head. “Where are you from?”

“New York,” I said with a calm voice and straight face that I’d practiced for years.

“What brings you back to academia?”

“It was time to follow my own dreams again.”

“That’s a good reason,” he said with a suave smile. A smile that I wondered if he practiced in the mirror. I looked at his left hand. No ring, but that didn’t mean anything. “What made you give up your dreams before?”

“My grandmother passed away,” I responded. I didn’t know how much I wanted to share with him, because I didn’t like the whole vibe that was in the air.

“You’ll be older than most of the students, but don’t let that put you off.”

I bristled slightly. I was only twenty-eight. Some kids didn’t even finish their bachelor’s till they were twenty-four or more. I wasn’t going to be ancient compared to them, but that was the way he wanted me to feel. I recognized it as an alienation tactic, and I had to stop myself from getting up and shoving the binder back into his chest with a few nasty words.

“If they make you uncomfortable,” he continued, frowning as my phone buzzed and I had the audacity to look down at it. It was an unknown number, but I caught sight of Dani’s name and scanned it quickly.

UNKNOWN: Dani wants me to ask if the meeting with Professor Sleaze went okay.

I smiled and looked up, realizing I hadn’t heard what he’d said. “I’m sorry?”

“Phones won’t be tolerated in class.”

His easy nonchalance took on a bitter tone. I definitely didn’t need to make enemies with one of my first professors. “Oh, absolutely. I know that.”

“As I was saying, if the other students make you uncomfortable, you’re welcome to let me know.”

Building trust. Another tactic.

“Look…” I started to call him out on all his bullshit. To tell him that he wasn’t going to be able to alienate me into sleeping with him. But then, I bit my tongue and looked away, because what if he had the ability and the ambition to stop my studies before they began? What if he said I made a pass at him? Would it matter?

I hated—with every inch of me—backing down from this jerk, and perhaps some of my feelings were floating on the air, because his eyes narrowed. Or maybe he was simply waiting for me to finish the sentence I’d started and had left hanging, which made me seem like an idiot who couldn’t speak.

I swallowed my smart retort and stood, which unfortunately brought me much closer to him than I wanted to be. He stood, too, and we were almost nose-to-nose because I was so tall. I wasn’t sure he’d really realized that before.

“I’m sure everything will be fine, but thanks for all this.” I waved the binder at him, stepping backward. I kept my scathing words to myself because I wanted this more than anything else. More than putting an asshole in his place. I didn’t want to put an end to everything I’d wanted before it had even started.

My phone buzzed again.

UNKNOWN: Dani is worried that you’re lying in a gutter now.

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