Page 19 of Masked

“What about you? How is your PhD program going?”

Reva frowned and looked away. “My department lost some funding, and it got to where I couldn’t afford tuition unless I took out a student loan, so I’ve been saving money to go back. The price you quoted me for rent on the apartment will really help with that.”

“Why the hell didn’t Parker help you? He charged you rent, wouldn’t pay for school, and he was cheating on you? I clearly didn’t discipline him enough as a teenager.”

Reva laughed so hard she snorted, and it made him smile. She was striking all the time, but when she was laughing, it was hard to look away. “Some of that was my doing,” she said when she recovered. “I’ve always been independent, Dr. Jasper. I didn’t like the idea of my boyfriend paying my way through school. The only reason I moved in with Parker was because my place was being sold, and the new owners were renovating. It was that or transfer schools and move to a cheaper state. He offered, and it felt wrong not to pay rent. Especially when we were still so new in our relationship. I kept going on my program for another two years, but then the loss of funding happened.”

“How much is tuition?”

Reva ducked her head, but Noah leaned across the table and tucked a hand under her chin. “How much?”

“A lot.”

He frowned. She would not get out of giving him an answer. “If you don’t tell me, I’m just going to use my connections to find out.”

She sighed. “About twenty grand a semester if I take a light load. But that just makes it cost more in the long run.”

“Do you work?”

“I was offered a job at the ACSL, but Parker wanted me to turn it down because of his politics. I’m regretting that now. It was just an office manager position, but it would have helped. When I’m back in the program, I’ll be able to take a TA position.”

He nodded. “I have contacts at the ACSL. Let me see what I can do.”

“Darci Givens?”

He blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Darci Givens is your contact at the ACSL? She was at the funeral.” Her voice trailed off, and she lifted her glass of water. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Noah smiled. “No. It’s fine. I can talk about her, you know? And yes, Darci is a friend. Though being the daughter-in-law of a former president forced her to step back and then she just had a baby, so I’m not sure how much work she’s doing for them anymore.”

Reva grinned. “She’s coming back next month. I got to meet her at my last interview. Really cool woman. She’s probably the biggest reason I regret not taking the job.”

Noah smiled. “Darci is special.”

“I heard a rumor that she used to write a kink blog, but I’ve never been able to find it.”

Noah cleared his throat. “Yeah. The secret service made her take it down during the campaign.”

“That makes sense. People are still such prudes.”

He snorted. “Yeah. You could say that. Why are we talking about this? I wanted to discuss you and your plans for the future?”

Reva shrugged. “I told you about my job offer, and one thing led to another. My plans are to keep saving money. I have almost enough to cover the next two semesters. That was my goal. I should be able to re-enroll next fall.”

Noah frowned. “No. You should enroll now.”

“But I want a full year of tuition in the bank before I do that.”

“You’ll have it. How close are you?”

Reva shrugged. “A few thousand. It will take me a couple months to save up once I find a job.”

There was no way she was putting off enrolling for another semester. He knew little about her, other than she was brilliant, and he wanted to see her achieve her goals. Now to get her to accept his help.

“I’d like to cover this semester. The enrollment deadline hasn’t closed. Call your adviser.”

“I can’t. This is ridiculous, Noah. You’ve done too much already.”

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