Page 15 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
A knock sounded on his office door.
Professor Hunter's hand fell from mine instantly, and he took a step back. He looked at the ground for a moment, and puthis fingers through his hair. With his hand still in his hair, he slowly tilted his head back up and looked at me from under his thick eyebrows.The hunger.Then he glanced back down at the sweater.
I swallowed hard, picked up my backpack, and shoved the sweater inside.
He walked casually over to the door and opened it as I zipped my backpack and pulled it over my shoulder.
A girl walked in. She was wearing a charcoal pencil skirt and a matching blazer. Her high heeled shoes made her almost as tall as Professor Hunter. She was wearing bright red lipstick. "Ready to go, James?" she asked, and then spotted me. She glanced down at her watch. "Sorry, I thought office hours were over. I can wait outside." She smiled at him.
"We just finished up," he said to the mystery girl. "I'm ready to go." He was tightening his tie when he turned back to me. "See you tomorrow, Miss Taylor." He said the words without really looking at me.
I walked over toward them. "Thanks for your help, Professor Hunter," I said and made my way out of his office.Who the hell is she?I glanced back at them. She was laughing about something and she touched his arm. My stomach churned. She wasn't a girl, she was a woman. And clearly, she was his girlfriend. They were both dressed for a fancy date.
***
I added Austin's new number into my phone and then tossed the scrap of paper in the trash. Melissa insisted that I needed adate for Saturday. Austin was a good option. Tyler was persistent and I didn't want to string him along, whereas I could just go on this one date with Austin and I'd probably never hear from him again. Two days seemed like a good amount of time to ask for a date. Not so far in advance that I seemed like a lonely loser, and not too close to the date that I seemed desperate.
Or maybe I should invite Tyler. I believed that he was sorry. Plus, he had been so sweet recently. I placed my face in my hands. This was so dumb. All I wanted to do was invite Professor Hunter. But he had a girlfriend. And he was myprofessor. I was so pathetic.
I looked up when Melissa walked into the room.
"Great news," she said excitedly.
"Will I think it's great?"
"That depends."
"On what exactly?"
"On if you already have a date for Saturday."
Oh no, what did she do?I just looked at her, hoping she would continue. When she didn't, I said, "I don't."
"Well you do now. I ran into Austin again, and he's coming."
I didn't want to see him. I felt sick to my stomach. "Where do you even keep running into him?"
"First of all, you're welcome. Coincidence? Fate? You can decide on Saturday." She sat down at her desk and opened up a book. She seemed mad at me.
"Sorry, Melissa. I'm sure Saturday will be fun. Thanks for asking Austin for me."
She turned around with a big grin on her face. "No problem," she shrugged, and went back to studying.
Crap!I lay back on my bed. I should have invited Tyler when I had the chance. Josh and Tyler were in the same fraternity. They were probably friends. There was no way Josh would fail to mention to Tyler that I had been on a date with another guy. Tyler was going to hate me. For a second I thought about calling Austin to un-invite him. That would feel so rewarding! I smiled to myself. I wanted him to feel rejected like I had all summer. Too late now, though. A part of me, even if it was rather small, did want to see him again.
Temptation - Chapter 11
Friday
I couldn't compete with the mystery woman from Professor Hunter's office. There wasn't anything to really suggest that they were together, though. Maybe it was just one date.Could I compete? Did I even want to?
The woman had been sophisticated. She had even been wearing nylons. I rolled my eyes to myself. She had been sophisticated, but that didn't mean that I needed to be. I opened up my backpack and pulled the sweater out. Luckily Melissa was still sound asleep, because I didn't want her to judge me.
I pulled his sweater over my head. It was pouring outside, so I slipped my red rain boots on and grabbed my matching red umbrella. He had implied that he thought the sweater looked better on me. I took a deep breath and walked out of my dorm room.
When I reached class, Tyler was already sitting in the desk next to mine.
"Are you feeling better today?" I asked him as I sat down.
