Page 95 of Tempt

Possibly two—

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

The alarm.

Its insistent blaring makes me groan.

“Andy will be up any second,” I manage, reaching to silence the clock.

He doesn’t let up. “Then come fast.”

I am coming. Pleasure chases through me all the way to my fingertips.

He shifts up my body to brush his mouth across mine. “We’ll pick this up later.”

I slide out of bed and grab my clothes, tossing on the robe from the back of his door. “So now that we’ve slept together, you think you can tell me what to do?”

“Aresleeping together. Present tense. We have done and we will again. I will also make you breakfast and take you out.”

I turn back to him, knotting the tie on the robe. “That’s what you do for women you sleep with?”

“It’s what I do for you.”

My heart skips. “You are a terrible negotiator.”

He grins, triumphant.

“I’m not, because it sounds like you agreed.”

I want to wake up to this forever. Tohim.

God, I’m losing it.

I try to shake off the thought as I sprint down the hall to my room.

* * *

“I’m sorry I’m late, Professor,” I say when I run into group three minutes before the start.

Dr. Trainor looks over from where she’s talking with another student.

I go to grab more chairs, but the other students beat me to it.

Participants begin filing in, and I smile at each of them.

My professor pulls me to the corner and lowers her voice. “A master’s degree is about preparing you for practice. It’s not inherently competitive. However, there are a number of students interested in my support, and in the limited number of spots.”

“I get it.”

“I reviewed your personal statement, and I don’t think you do.”

Her tone makes me blink. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s a personal statement, Katrina. You wrote that you want to be part of the program. But it’s seriously lacking in details as to why. I suggest you take today to get some clarity on that or you’re wasting both our time.”

The door starts to close, and numbness washes over me.

I stare down the long hallway.

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