Page 95 of Betting on the Bad Boy

Dante cupped my face in his hands and traced the outline of my jaw with his finger. “What do you say, Faith? Want to ditch the rules and try this thing for real?”

Images crowded my brain... holding hands while walking across the quad, doing prep work together at the library, driving down to Meemaw’s for a Sunday dinner.Don’t lose focus. Guys like Dante don’t stick around. Remember your dad?

My teeth pressed into my bottom lip. “No, I want to keep things the way they are.” The safe way. Where I finished my manuscript and we’d go our separate ways in a couple of months.

He took my hands in his. “You’re scared. I get it. But we’ll figure it out together. Someone once told me that all it takes is one moment of courage to change your life forever.”

“Who told you that?” I’d written that exact statement intoCarnal Knowledge. Could Dante possibly be reading my book? No way. An erotic romance would never find its way onto his bookshelf.

“Doesn’t matter who said it. The point is, take a chance. What have you got to lose?”

“Are we done here?” I pulled the sheet tighter around me and sat up. He had no idea what I had to lose. I could lose it all: my family, my teaching job, my career. If I let him in, if he got close enough, he’d figure out my secret and everything could disappear.

“So that’s it then?”

“I guess so.”

“Unbelievable. You’re right, Faith, I guess I don’t know you at all.” He stood from the bed and scrounged around the floor for the rest of his clothes.

I fisted my hands in the sheets. Every ounce of my being wanted to call him back to bed, wrap my arms around him, and let him love me.

He was right, he knew me better than anyone.

And that’s exactly why I had to let him go.

CHAPTER 47

Faith

I saton a low couch in the Student Center, trying to finish my lecture notes. Dante’s words from the night before made it impossible to concentrate. My phone buzzed, a welcome distraction, and I looked at the screen as I answered.

“Hi, Steph. What’s up?”

“You’re moving up the list, Faith.Carnal Knowledgejust hit the top twenty.”

I’d wished for success, but now that it was knocking down my door, I wasn’t sure I wanted it anymore. “That’s awesome. Thanks for letting me know.”

“When do you think you’ll have that new manuscript done? We want to follow this up with something epic.”

I slid my laptop out of my bag and flipped the screen open. Another page of my manuscript sat on top of my keyboard. How the hell? As my eyes skimmed the print, I relived my interaction at Dante’s apartment, all of it captured on the page in front of me.

The contents of my stomach revolted, and I ran to the nearest restroom.

“Are you there? Faith?” Steph’s voice sailed through the phone.

I barely reached the bathroom before my nerves emptied my stomach. I’d have to call Steph back.

My cheeks cooled with the help of cold water from the tap. I rinsed my mouth and wiped it off with a scratchy paper towel. What was I going to do?

As I stepped out of the bathroom, I saw Jess at one of the tall tables by the coffee bar. I swung by the couch where I’d left my things, then made my way over. I could use a friendly face right now.

Jess looked up from her book as I approached. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Not good. I just got some really bad news.”

“You look like shit. Want to talk about it?” Jess patted the stool next to her.

“Not yet. I need to figure out what I want to do about it first.”