“I think this is fate, baby girl.”
“No. I’m not your baby girl.”
“Oh, no? You had no problem with me calling you that on a hot summer night when I was all in your guts.”
“Why are you here?”
He spread those beautiful arms out at his side and tilted his head slightly. “What does it look like? To finish my education.”
“Finish?”
He chuckled. “Yeah.”
“I thought you were against college.”
“Never said that. I argued against it because we were debating lots of shit that night.”
“So, you were in college then?”
“Yeah.”
“Here? At this school? I would have seen you.”
“No. I just put in for my transfer for my final year at the end of last school year.”
“But why? Did you know that I was here?” It sounded crazy, even to my ears. He had never known my name, what I did for a living, or where I lived. I had not once told this man that Ilived in Georgia or that I was a professor at Cherokee Springs University.
Yet, it still created panic inside of me. I had a stalker before, and I didn’t want to go through that experience again. Patrick Stenson was a guy I went on three dates with, when I was nineteen, during my freshman year of college. Unfortunately, I learned a little too late that he wasn’t a student at all. He was a much older man who worked in one of the coffeehouses. When I learned that he lied to me about his age and who he was, I told him that I didn’t want to see him anymore.
He started following me around campus, waiting outside of my dorm, and showing up in the most unexpected places. He became obsessive and threatened anyone who came near me. I got a restraining order to keep him away.
I prayed that this wasn’t about to be a similar situation, especially considering all I had been through with a student two years ago.
“No. I didn’t know you were here. Hell, I didn’t even know that you were a professor until today.”
“I never gave you my name. So how did you realize that your professor was the same woman from this summer?”
“I didn’t. I saw a flash of movement, and where I’m from, . . . you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. So, when I see people moving quickly, I take heed. They were parting like the Red Sea for ya li’l fine ass. Don’t get it twisted, Professor. I don’t make a business of remembering the shape and form of every woman I’ve been with through the years, but that little Pisces tattoo on the back of your neck was very familiar. I followed you through the crowd from a distance.”
He licked his lips, and I grew warm. I recalled him outlining my tattoo with his fingers while he fucked me from the back. He had leaned in and licked it, causing my arousal to grow strongerand my nipples to harden. Today, I wore my hair in a high, side ponytail. It was easy for anyone to see my tattoo.
“This isn’t going to work.”
Shrugging, he challenged me. “Why can’t it? The only way it won’t work is if you and I decide that it can’t work. No one can dictate that except for us.”
I thought about his words, and while I knew he had a point, I had something heavier weighing on my shoulders.
“You’re a professional, we’re both adults, and it was one night. We can handle ourselves beyond that. It’s not like I’m here trying to have a repeat. My focus is to finish school, get this degree, and then I’m out.”
I carefully weighed his words, the sincerity of his expression, and the earnestness of his tone. “Okay. Please, don’t tell anyone about what happened between us, Sig. The fallout would be devastating for me.”
He smirked. “It’s Salem.”
“Huh?”
“Like Pisces was a pseudonym for you, Sig was for me.”
“Pisces wasn’t. It’s my middle name.”