“I don’t want anyone else to touch you ever again. I don’t want anyone else to flirt with you. I want everyone to know that you’re mine.”
“I am yours.”
“Then marry me. We can go to Vegas right now.”
“James, I can’t just marry you. I want my parents to be there. I want my friends to be there. And what about your family? I haven’t even gotten to meet any of them yet. I want them to be there too.”
“I don’t want a big wedding. I’ve already done that.”
“That’s not what I said. I don’t care about having a big wedding. I just want a few people besides us to be there.”
“So that’s a definite no?” He put his hands on my knees.
Did I just reject a proposal from Professor Hunter? I hadn’t even meant to do it. I wanted to marry him. But not like this. Not when he was mad. “No. I want to marry you. Just not… today. This was hardly a romantic proposal, Professor Hunter.”
He looked down at my left hand again and ran his thumb along my ring finger. “Romance, got it. Next time I ask, you’ll definitely say yes.” He smiled at me.
“If you hadn’t said we should go to Vegas right now I probably would have said yes.”
He pushed some of my hair behind my ear. “I wish I hadn’t mentioned Vegas then.” He smiled at me.
“Maybe we should just go somewhere that no one knows us, though.” I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck. “I was prepared for other students being mean. I never expected my professors to…” I let my voice trail off.
“You won’t be going back to his class. We can transfer you into a different one. Or you can withdraw from that too. I’ll call Joe now.”
“He’s not going to let me do that. He’s going to expel me.”
“He’s not going to expel you.” James moved his hand to the side of my neck. “And if that creep wasn’t on tenure, I’m sure I could get him fired.”
“But are you sure you even want to stay here?”
“If this is where you want to be, then yes.”
“Can you wait to call Joe? Maybe we can see how we feel on Monday?”
“Okay. Penny, I’m so sorry.”
“You like to apologize when you’ve done nothing wrong.”
He laughed. “I guess you’re rubbing off on me.”
His phone started buzzing in his pocket. He kissed my forehead before pulling his phone out of his pocket. “It’s Rob. He’s here early.”
“We should probably go then.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? Are you sure we’re okay? I thought you might be mad at me. I can’t believe I gave them the fuel they needed for the investigation. I never even thought about them searching my office. I can’t believe how careless I was.”
“Wait, what? What are you talking about?”
He lowered his eyebrows slightly. “Joe didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” What is he talking about? What did the detectives find in his office? He didn’t actually seduce those girls, did he?
“About the paper with the bad grade on it that I gave you? The one that you crumpled up and threw at me in my office. I kept it. It was in my desk. With the cute note you left me after we had sex.”
“Oh.” Oh. That’s how the detectives knew what had happened between us. Of course. “Why did you keep that?”
“I just… I didn’t want to forget. I thought it was just going to be a one time thing. And it killed me that it had to be a one time thing. I thought it was the only thing I could hold on to.”
I looked up into his eyes. “That’s so sweet.”
“And stupid.”
“No, it’s sweet. Wait, didn’t they need a search warrant to go into your office?”
“I would have thought so too. But the university gave them permission. My office at the school is technically their property.”
“So that’s how the detectives knew?”
“I think it was easy to figure out what happened after seeing those two pieces of paper. Especially since the white out on the paper with your grade on it wasn’t even well done. And if they did a black light test…”
“That’s embarrassing.”
James laughed. “Yeah, it is. But it all makes sense now. I think I know what happened with the other girls too. “Did the detectives promise you anything if you cooperated with them?”
“Yes, they did. They said they could get my scholarship back.”
“I think the detectives did something similar with the girls they interviewed. I think they told the girls they would get As in the class if they agreed with their story. I’m not sure if the detectives knew about the school’s policy or not, or maybe they were just bluffing. But I think they pressured those girls into agreeing with the story that they told them. A story they inferred from your grade and the note you left in my office. All those girls had to do was say yes.
“That makes sense. The detectives told me what had happened with the other girls and were just trying to pressure me into agreeing it was the same way you seduced me. Those assholes. We have to tell the dean.”
“I already told Joe that. He just wants this to disappear, Penny. And so do I. I don’t want you to keep having days like this. I want it to get better, not worse.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t…”
“I’m sure.”
“I’m not mad at you for saving the note I left you. It’s ridiculous that you think I’d be mad about that.” I smiled up at him.
“So we’re okay?”
“Yes.” I kissed him and slid off my bed. “I love you so much, Professor Hunter.” I let my hand run down his naked torso.
He smiled. “Try to remember to call me James in front of my brother, please.” He lightly slapped my ass.
“I’ll see what I can do. I’m so excited to meet him. Give me a second though, I’m sure I look like a hot mess.”
“Just hot.”
I laughed and walked over to the mirror on the wall. I quickly wiped away the smudge marks from my mascara and added some concealer under my eyes so they wouldn’t look as puffy. “I’m kind of nervous.”
“You don’t have anything to be nervous about. He’s going to love you.” He wrapped his arms back around me. But his body felt stiff. He still seemed on edge.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.