Page 10 of Forbidden Professor

Eve

“Are you waiting for Cell Biology?”

I look up from where I’m parked in the third-floor hallway of the med school. A dark-haired pretty brunette looks down at me, her expression curious. She’s holding a stack of books in her arms, dressed in black skinny jeans and a black hoodie. Her hair is tossed up in a casual ponytail.

“Yes,” I say with a nod. “I’m here super early, so no one is even here yet.”

I couldn’t sleep last night and decided to go to campus early, hoping a change of scenery would help me stop thinking about Carter, and the way he’d looked in his suit and tie yesterday.

I couldn’t deny that I was super into him, on so many levels. He was smart and sophisticated and handsome, to put it mildly. All the traits I found attractive in a man, Carter possessed. It’s hard not to think about him.

Hell, his Levis are still draped over the chair in my bedroom. The flashes of desire I’d seen in his eyes when we were flirting were something I couldn’t stop seeing in my head.

I'm thankful for someone to talk to and a much needed distraction.

“I’m Violet. Well, Vi,” she says. “I’d shake your hand but my arms are full. Do you maybe want to open the door of the classroom for me?”

“I’m Eve. And sure.” I climb to my feet, picking up both of my bags. Then I pull the door open, standing back to let her pass. She flips on a bank of lights on the wall as she enters, illuminating the whole place.

I stop for a second in the doorway to take in the space. It’s large, with student desks set up in multiple alternating rows, stacked high like an amphitheater. Down at the center of the room is a desk, stacked haphazardly with medical textbooks. Behind that is a chalkboard.

After all the wheedling and begging it took me to get here, I feel a giddy sort of rush.

I did it.

I’m here, not back in New Jersey, living under my father’s thumb.

I’m free… sort of.

My freedom comes with all kinds of strings, but at least I have the whole country between us now. I can breathe easier.

Vi is making her way down to the front of the room, wrinkling her nose as she puts her books down on a desk in the third row. She glances back at me, which makes me realize I look like an idiot, staring around the classroom like it’s an alien environment.

Clearing my throat, I head down to the same row where Vi has planted her flag. “Do you mind if I sit in this row? I like being in the middle of all the action.”

Vi waves her hand. “Sit anywhere. I’m going to talk to you no matter where you end up.” She fishes a pack of gum out of her pocket as I slide into a desk, popping a piece out. “Gum?”

Shaking my head, I frown. “No thanks.”

I start pulling out my pens and the binder I have prepared for this class, then stack them neatly on top of the three textbooks that are required. I pull out my digital recorder last, fidgeting with it while I look around.

“I don’t remember seeing you last year,” Vi says. She looks at me curiously.

I turn toward her, smiling slightly. “I’m transferring from a school back east. When I first applied to the University of Washington, they accepted me… only for my father to mess up my admission at the last minute by being… well… like he is.”

Vi’s dainty eyebrows rise. “How is he?”

I consider my answer for a second. Normally I wouldn’t tell anyone what I think of my dad, but this is a new start. All the whispers that might get back to him back home… well, they have lost a lot of their power here. I blow out a breath.

“He’s controlling, to the point of being draconian,” I say, a mocking smile on my lips. “I applied and was accepted to begin last year. But my dad refused to finish filling out the financial paperwork until the last minute. By the time I heard back, my spot had been filled.”

Her brows hunch. “I didn’t think that U of W took transfers.”

I hesitate, shaking my head. “I hate to out myself like this, but I think a very large donation had something to do with it.”

“Ah.” Vi nods, giving me another once over. She bites her lip. “I’m here on a full ride scholarship. So basically… I thank people like your dad for the education.”

Her bluntness catches me off guard. “Oh! Well… He has more money than he even knows what to do with. It’s better spent here than whatever other nefarious things he’s cooking up. Trust me, I don’t take after him at all.”

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