Page 95 of Stay for Me

“Speaking of,” he muttered, revealing his briefcase to me, “I brought everything you needed. The cowboy—uh Mags—gave me his WiFi password.”

I didn’t even let myself get excited about what was in his briefcase as he walked over to the bed. “Mags has WiFi?”

Thomas shot me a look. “Apparently.”

I blinked and looked down, focusing on my hands instead of the cuts on my arms. A second later, my Filofax appeared, and I lifted my eyes, giving Thomas a smile. “Thank you,” I whispered, taking my precious baby from him. I opened it up, immediately flipping to next week to double check when my first class started.

Eleven.

Good. Later than last year, which gave me time.

“I was going to call the university and tell them about the accident, but I didn’t know how you wanted to handle this,” Thomas explained.

My head snapped back up. “What are you talking about?”

He gestured to my Filofax. “You know, to cancel your class.”

“Thomas, I’m not canceling this class.”

My paralegal stared at me for some time until, finally, a small smirk appeared. “Okay, good. That was a test, and you passed.” I rolled my eyes as he handed me my laptop. “There’s something else.”

“What’s that?” I asked, logging into my computer, fully expecting him to tell me about something crazy that happened with one my clients.

“Yale called.”

My fingers froze about my keyboard, my breath catching. My eyes met his, and he nodded, excitement beaming. “They want you, Di,” he said.

All the air in my lungs left me on a whoosh as I fell back against the pillows, my shoulders relaxing.

Yale wanted me.

They wanted me to teach.

“Did they say—”

“They didn’t give me any specifics, but I told them you would get back to them on Monday.”

I nodded. Okay. This was good. Okay.

Yale wanted me—they actually wanted me.

Suddenly, I felt young again, remembering the day I opened my acceptance letter. I didn’t have anyone to celebrate with; my parents didn’t support it, and Lucas wanted me under his thumb. I remembered sitting on my bed, tears of happiness streaming down my face, clutching the letter so tight because I’d been afraid it was all a dream.

“I’m proud of you.” Thomas smiled, shrugging as he put his hands in his pockets. “In case no one else says it, Di, I’m so proud of you. I’m honored to work under you.”

“Thomas, don’t make me cry. I’ve had a long day,” I playfully scolded, already feeling the tears forming.

Another knock sounded.

“Can I come in?” Valerie’s soft voice stretched across the room.

Thomas moved, letting me see her. She was chewing on the inside of her lip, her long, dark hair now swept up into a messy ponytail, her cheeks wet with tears.

“Of course, you can,” I told her and then looked to Thomas. “Would you mind giving us a minute?”

He nodded. “Sure. I don’t think the cowboys want to kill me anymore, so that’s a plus.”

I did a double-take. “Wait—what?”

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