Page 13 of The New Girl

The Office of the Chancellor was plush, expensively furnished and panelled in dark glossy wood.

I took the seat he offered me across from his desk. There was about a thirty-year age difference between us but the gap seemed to evaporate when he met my eyes.

“I’m glad to see you again, Miss Aire—this time with your clothes on.”

My cheeks flamed with heat.

“I was on a date in a private room with a consenting adult. You had no right to record what we were doing. I’m going to lodge a complaint if you can’t explain what happened.”

He smiled. Antony Westfield had brown eyes that were almost black. His black hair was turning to steel but it only made him more desirable. His physique in the dark blue suit he was wearing was impressive. His shoulders were broader than any academic I’d ever seen. He must work out every day to have shoulders like that.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, Lysander’s hands were down my panties and here I was ogling his stepfather. I was assailed by guilt.

“You are welcome to lodge a complaint,” he was saying, “but it won’t be heard. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is at St. Swithins College. You should have read the fine print. You were not permitted to be in the men’s dormitory under the conditions you agreed to when you accepted the college’s generous bursary.”

“You said my bursary was safe!”

“And it is as long as you are compliant. You were not coerced last night and from what I saw, you enjoyed yourself. Unless I’m wrong about that and you are just a very good actress. Are you a good actress, Miss Aire? Or did you enjoy the sensation of my stepson’s fingers stroking you to climax.”

The room spun. I gripped the chair armrests, releasing the neckline of my sweater. The V-neck plunged, exposing my cleavage. It was thin, white, and too small, but it was the only thing I had left in my closet that was clean. I was wearing a plaid skirt that came up above my knees with knee high socks that were also white.

In hindsight, I think Alexis was right and I unconsciously dressed to appeal to him. Maybe I thought if he saw me as a school girl, he would be less severe.

He was standing at eye level across from me, leaning against his desk, casually. His eyes raked over me from worn saddle shoes to the barrette in my hair.

Chancellor Westfield had an erection.

The bulge under his expensive blue trousers was unmistakable.

I squeezed my legs together to control the throbbing sensation building there—without success.

His eyes darkened as his pupils dilated. “I’m going to lock the door while we talk. Is that alright with you?”

I nodded and stared at the window, trying to think.

“You have questions about last night,” he said, returning to his position against the desk. “Ask me anything. I’m at your disposal.”

My mouth dried. I tried to swallow.

“Who was Belinda?”

There was the slightest look of surprise that passed over his face and swiftly disappeared.

“She was my daughter.”

Not the answer I expected but it proved that Lysander hadn’t lied to me.

“Who told you about her? Was it Lysander?”

“Yes, but then my roommate contradicted his story and I had to come to see you, to find out the truth. He said you were responsible for her suicide.”

Antony crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. “I suspected that was the story he’s been telling. It is reassuring to have it confirmed. He feels guilty. I’ve tried to help him but he can’t let it go. When he met you, he told me about it. I encouraged him to take you out on a date—go to a movie—something normal. His first date with you was anything but normal, but from what he told me, he had no choice. You came to the Club meeting of your own volition. Is that true? Did you join a secret sex club of your own free will?”

My breasts looked fuller and more prominent in the sweater. I wanted to pull the neckline up to hide my cleavage but at the same time, I didn’t want to call attention to my chest.

“I thought it was a poetry slam. ‘All that glitters is not gold’ was the password. I’m a Shakespeare geek. I could have walked out when I found out what it was, and I probably should have, but—“

“But you saw Lysander and you couldn’t leave after that. You are attracted to him.”

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