Page 61 of Forbidden Professor

My feelings of Eve seem to all surge to the surface and my mother’s short-sightedness rings crystal clear in my head.

That’s when I know.

I am stupidly, profoundly in love with Eve Moreland.

Not just that… I mean, that part I already knew. But today I realize that someday, I’m going to marry that girl. I would be a damn fool not to.

“I’m already half in love with her, Mom. You can’t stop me. Nobody can.”

She glowers at me.

She snorts. “I should never have let you go to that boarding school, Carter. I should have kept you close, mothered you more.”

I shrug. “I’m sorry that I haven’t met your standards. I think by now, my personality is what it is. It’s about time that you figure out what you are going do about it.”

Her expression tightens. “I could cut you off. Leave you with nothing.”

I turn away. “If that’s your choice, so be it. Doing that would certainly send a message. But then, I would need to carefully consider whether I wanted to be involved in your life or not.”

My mom moves toward me, her expression growing pinched. “What does that mean? Carter? I only want what’s best for you, you know.”

“Goodbye, Mom. Call me when you can be less judgmental.” I shake my head, heading toward the back door. As I make my way back through the house and out the front door, my words ring in my head.

I’m already half in love with her…

It’s true. But it might just be an understatement. Eve has stolen my entire heart. And I want to love her fully, and forever. Halfway won’t do.

As I drive back to Seattle, I list off every reason we shouldn’t be together. I decide that none of them are worth losing Eve over. Nothing is impossible to overcome. And if I lose my job, so be it.

I’ll still be a wealthy man because I’ll have Eve. But before I torch my entire life, I need to do one thing first.

ChapterTwenty-Five

Carter

The next weeks are busy.So busy, in fact, that I nearly run headlong into Eve herself as she waits for me on my doorstep.

I run right into her, stumbling over her and grabbing her arms to keep from throwing her to the ground. She looks up at me, her blue-green eyes wide and her lips already parting on a laugh.

“Where are you going, looking so serious?” she asks.

I use the momentum to dip her backward and then kiss her. She lets out a bark of laughter against my lips. Slipping her hands around my neck, she grins.

God, I feel so incredibly lucky that I’m the man she’s beaming at. I straighten with a sigh.

“Hi.”

“What was that for?” she asks.

“I’m just happy to see my girlfriend.”

Her mouth opens. For a second, she looks stunned. “Is that what we’re calling it, then?”

I chuckle, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “If you agree, then yes.”

Eve raises up on her tiptoes and hugs me tightly. “Carter… of course. I would love to be your girlfriend.”

I hug her back, inhaling her scent as we stand pressed together in the sweltering summer heat. I glance over her shoulder and see a little hard-sided animal carrier sitting on my porch.

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