Page 42 of Bait

“You know they’re both going to love you, right?”

“So long as we don’t tell them how wereallymet? Yeah, I think I might have a chance.”

I laugh as I turn to kiss his cheek again. We’re standing in the driveway of my parent’s house—well,manor, if you want to get fancy and technical about it. They’ve known about Oliver for a while, but this is the first time they’re going to meet him. And yes, we’ve got a fake story about how we met at a coffee house, where we were reading the same book and struck up a conversation.

Hey, it’s so cheesy that everyone wants to believe it.

The story is also that Oliver cut it off as soon as he found out I was a high school senior, but that it was me that pursued him, and eventually got him to relent.

…I mean, that part’s half true, I guess.

Yes, my parents were leery at first, but when they found out that Oliver’s in the FBI and not like a professional musician or a painter or something—something “juvenile and rowdy” as my mother might put it—I guess they settled down a bit. The fact that he was my professor isnevergoing to come up with them. Trust me on that.

You see, Winchester Academy was more than willing to bury the entire thing. It was the board who’d first gotten the FBI involved in prying into Kelly’s scheming. Everyone had wondered, but there was never any proof. That was one of the reasons Oliver was brought in, to be eyes on the ground and do some digging from within. Actually, part of his assignment had been todateher—something that makes my blood boil just thinking about—but he declined to. He’s told me it was because his first day there, he saw me an knew it was all over for him.

So, with Kelly fired and arrested, the board at Winchester buried everything about Oliver. To the other students, he left to pursue a teaching job in Europe. Well, all the students except Kempton. But, that’s another whole story in and of itself.

The funny thing is, while nottechnicallya teacher, Oliver could have been. His undergraduatewasin government, and he even has a master’s in education. You see, his mother was a schoolteacher, and his father a cop. Originally, he was going to follow mom’s path, but it was the FBI and law enforcement that eventually wooed him.

I guess therewasa bit of scandal at work for him when him being involved with me was revealed. But what were they really going to do? I was eighteen, and nothing inappropriate had ever happened before then. Well, nothing inappropriate besides me leaving my panties in his desk drawer and him taking them. But, no one has to know about that, right?

Aside from that, he wasn’ttechnicallymy teacher, nor was I technically his student. There might have been some raised eyebrows, and maybe some mutterings and disapproving looks, but you know what?

Screw ‘em.

I found the man of my dreams—my true love, and the one who makes my knees weak every single time.

…Oh, right, and the man who I’m going to marry.

He doesn’t know I know yet, but I know. Idostill have to live on campus until I graduate, but trust me, there’s alotof sneaking out to go stay at Oliver’s place most nights. Kempton’sgreatat covering for me. And it was recently at his place, after he fell asleep, that I was snooping around and found the box with the ring in it.

I’m pretty sure that’s one of the reasons we’re meeting my parents this weekend, so Oliver can get them alone and ask permission. Or at least let them know, which I happen to think is a pretty classy move.

“Alright, shall we go in and rip the Band-Aid off?”

Oliver nods. “Yeah, guess we should.”

I start to walk for the door, but when I realize he’s not next to me, I pause.

“Hey, are you—”

I turn, and my jawdrops.

Because there, on his knee, right in front of me, is the man I love, holding up an open velvet box containing a diamond ring.

“Will you marry me, Anastasia?”

I blink, my lips moving but no words coming to them.

“I—wait… is thatreal?!”

He grins. “All you gotta say is yes, baby girl.”

I swallow, heat blooming through my entire body as I stare at the ring. Slowly, my eyes drag up to his.

“You’re serious.”

“I’ve never been more serious about a thing in my life, beautiful,” he murmurs. “Now, there are conditions.”

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