Page 125 of A Legal Affair

She nodded. “I’ve given the matter a lot of thought, and I think this is the best decision for me. It was never my dream to become a lawyer—no offense, Professor Thorne.”

Caleb chuckled. “None taken,” he assured her. “You’re a very talented photographer, Miss Kwan. I’ve received a lot of compliments on the photos I bought from you at First Friday.”

She beamed. “Seriously?”

He smiled. “Seriously. I have them hanging in my office.” Except the one of the Majestic Theatre, which still held a place of honor on the wall above his bed. He couldn’t bring himself to take it down, though every time he looked at it, he was reminded of Daniela and the aching tenderness he’d seen in her eyes when she’d given him the framed photo.

It’ll give you something to remember me by, she’d told him. At the time he hadn’t understood the strange note of farewell in her voice.

Afterward it had made sense.

“I’ve been selling a lot of my work,” April was telling him excitedly, “and I’ve recently been invited back to exhibit at First Friday.”

“Congratulations,” Caleb said with a warm smile. “That’s really great, April. But are you absolutely sure you want to drop out of law school now? Why not give the photography a little more time to take off?”

April grinned. “You sound like my parents.”

Caleb grimaced. “Damn. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know what I’m doing is hella risky, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Photography is my passion, Professor Thorne, and sometimes I think you have to follow your heart in order to be happy. Know what I mean?”

Caleb nodded slowly, her words hitting close to home.Too close.

Seeing his grim expression, and mistaking the cause, April grinned ruefully. “I guess that makes me thesecondof your first-year students to bite the dust this semester,” she teased.“First Daniela, and now me. I hope you won’t take it personally, Professor Thorne.”

“I’ll try not to,” he murmured, thinking of just how personally he’d taken Daniela’s desertion. Two months later, he was still taking it personally.

“I’m having dinner with her next week when she gets back from her trip,” April told him cheerfully.

“Where’s she going?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“She’s taking a girls’ trip to Greece. I’m so jealous.” April grinned. “I had been calling and texting her for weeks to find out how she’s doing, but she never returned any of my messages. I finally heard back from her last night, and we agreed to meet for dinner. Before she boarded the plane, she texted that she had something important to tell me—something about her ‘real’ reason for leaving the university.” April frowned slightly. “Do you have any idea what she might be talking about, Professor Thorne?”

Caleb kept his expression carefully blank. “I have no clue.”

April shrugged, then glanced at her watch. “Guess I’d better be heading to class. Professor Adler doesn’t take kindly to latecomers. Although, now that I think about it, she’s been in a much better mood lately. I could probably show up halfway through class and still not get in trouble.”

Caleb chuckled. “Don’t push your luck, kiddo.”

He knew Shara’s good mood stemmed from Daniela’s sudden, glaring absence. He hadn’t told Shara what happened, nor had she asked. She would have previously, but these days they were barely on speaking terms. Caleb had been keeping her at arm’s length, treating her with polite civility. Though her warnings about Daniela had come true, he could never forget that she’d threatened to ruin his career. Jealousy had brought out something ugly in her, a cruel vindictiveness he’d never expected. There was no coming back from that.

Desperate for a distraction, he’d finally agreed to a date with Karina. Not a coffee date. Dinner at a nice restaurant. This Saturday. He knew it was wrong to give her false hope that one night would lead to something more. It wouldn’t. But the reality was that he was lonely as hell without Daniela—in his life, and in his bed. If he could find some relief from his torment, however temporary, then so be it.

As he sent April off to class and started toward the faculty building, she called out, “Professor Thorne?”

He turned back, one brow cocked expectantly.

“Is there anything you want me to tell Daniela when I see her?”

His heart knocked against his rib cage like a fist.

Tell her I wish I’d never laid eyes on her. Tell her the sight of her empty seat in class is driving me fucking insane. Tell her I’ll never look at another bowl of vanilla ice cream, or tiramisu, the same way again. Tell her I can’t close my eyes at night without seeing her face, without remembering the way she fit perfectly in my arms. Tell her that no matter how many times I wash the bedsheets, I still smell her in my dreams.

Tell her I love her.

He said none of those things to April, of course. “Tell her I said hello,” he murmured, because it seemed the only appropriate response he could give without arousing the girl’s curiosity.

Grinning, April gave him a mock salute. “Will do, Professor Thorne.”