Page 34 of Notorious Park Avenue Prince

“Yes.” Zac glanced at me as I made my way to my desk. “There was a last-minute change needed, but it’s all in there now.”

“Thank you,” I said as he handed over the papers. “I’ll go over it in a second.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The words coming out of Zac’s mouth were nothing but professional. But there was an underlying clip to them, a tense undertone that he was doing his best to hide in the face of this new situation we found ourselves in.

I settled in at my desk and opened my laptop, and as it powered up I ran through the detailed schedule in my hand. It was perfect, of course—Zac rarely turned in anything that was less than, which was why he made such a terrific TA. He was conscientious, studious, smart as a whip, and I wouldn’t let himspend the last couple of months feeling uncomfortable around me.

“This all looks great,” I told him, holding the papers up. When all I got was a cursory glance in my direction, I decided on a different approach. “Did you do anything fun this weekend?”

Zac’s shoulders stiffened slightly as he brought his head up.“No. I had pretty big night out Friday, so I decided to stay home and recoup.”

“I see.” And I did, in vivid images flashing through my mind. I’d never thought of Zac as anything other than another one of my students—a highly capable and intelligent young man who would go far in whatever he chose to do.

But when he’d confessed to wanting me, when East had spilled Zac’s deepest, darkest fantasy out for me to see, it’d been like the filter I’d been looking at him through was removed. It was as though I was seeing him for the first time.

Or another side of him.

“What about you?” Zac shifted in his seat. “Did you do anything exciting?”

The move was slight but the undercurrent pulsing between us told me his mind was on the same thing as mine.

“No. Like you, I had a big night Friday and took the weekend to grade some papers.”

“Oh?” A frown pulled between Zac’s brows. “I could’ve helped you with that.”

“At my house?”

“I… No, of course not, sir. I just meant I could have collected them and taken them to my house to work on.”

Zac being anywhere near my house after I’d come all over him and East was a monumentally bad idea. But try telling that to the dick now throbbing between my legs.

“You could have,” I said, and thanked God for the desk shielding me from his direct stare. “But I managed on my own. I can do a lot of things on my own.”

Twin spots of color hit Zac’s cheeks as my double meaning hit, and when a knock sounded on the door, both of us startled.

“Come in,” I called.

A freshman from my upcoming lecture this morning—Holly—stuck her head inside the office, looking back and forth between Zac and myself.

“Oh I’m sorry. I can, um, come back.”

“No, it’s fine. Come in, Holly.” I gestured her inside and watched the nervous way she fidgeted with her hands as she looked anywhere but at me, and I already knew where this was going. “What did you need?”

“I… Well, the assignment for class this morning?”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t get to it and I was wondering if I could maybe get an extension?”

“Is there a reason why?”

When her eyes dropped to the floor and she gnawed on her lower lip, I had my answer—no. Clearly we weren’t the only two who’d had a busy weekend. Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t known for my leniency. But that was only because I wanted the best for my students. I wanted them to succeed. I wanted them to get the most out of their education here at Astor. They were paying enough for it.

“Without a reason, there’s no extension. You know the rules, Holly.”

“But—”

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