Page 17 of All Mine

“Or at least a few moments of utter confusion.”

“Keep ’em on their toes. Where’d you go to school?”

“I went to Cornell.”

“What was the mascot?”

“The Cornell Bear.”

Lauren threw her head back, laughing. The soft curve of her neck immediately drew my attention.

“What’s so funny?”

“You talk about Big Red when your school’s mascot is a teddy bear.”

“Not a teddy bear… like a grizzly bear with teeth and claws. It’s more fearsome than a blob.”

“I don’t know. Everyone knows what a bear’s attack moves would be. But you have no idea how to defend yourself against Big Red, ‘cause you don’t know what’s coming.”

“I suppose you could look at it that way.”

“But you don’t agree?”

“No. It’s a ridiculous premise,” I said, laughing.

“Agree to disagree. So did you like the fancy school?”

“It was great. But why is it fancy?”

“It costs a boatload to attend. Why is that?”

I shrug and throw a grape at her. “They have a great architecture program, and a quality education was my top priority.”

“I’m betting you could have gotten the same education at a much cheaper rate.”

“Perhaps. But there’s prestige attached to certain names that give a person an advantage.” There was no way it was the same education, but I didn’t want to argue with her. She was too far away. I scooted closer to her, the blanket rumpling underneath me.

“But it is an undeserving advantage based solely on how much money one’s parents can drop on an education?” She said, her eyes dropping to my lips.

“I paid my way through with no parental help,” I said, my gaze dropping from those deep brown eyes with flecks of gold glimmering in the late day sun to the precise v shape in her top lip.

“How?”

“Like most… scholarships and loans. I worked for it.”

“And you’d paid a lot less for a non-Ivy League school.”

“True, but the quality of the education and the name scored me a lucrative job.”

“People hire you to make them buildings based on the name of your college?”

There was far too much talking, and I wanted to kiss her. “Cornell certainly got me noticed by top architecture firms so my talent could land my first job. From there, I built a foundation that I could transition to starting my own business. Now people hire me based on what I’ve done.”

“Yes, based on the quality of your work, and not the name of your alma mater.”

“Now they do, but not when starting out.”

“That’s sad. I’d say most colleges provide an excellent education. It’s up to the student to take the initiative to learn.” Her gaze raked down my body, landing on my chest and over to my bicep.

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