Page 101 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Friday

I walked into my classroom. If Penny hadn’t thought I was a mess on Wednesday, she’d certainly think it today.

I’d bothered to put in my contacts this time, but there were dark circles under my eyes.

I was exhausted. I hadn’t shaved in days.

And I had barely bothered to knot my tie.

I was a disheveled mess. I was in pain. And I didn’t know what to do.

I didn’t know how to stand here and give a lecture when I just wanted to melt into my chair.

Or fucking scream at someone. I really wanted to scream. Which was bad for poor Ray.

Penny didn’t make eye contact with me today.

She was acting like I meant nothing. And the thought that it was possible that I had been reduced to so little in her eyes was starting to settle.

I’d lost her. And I didn’t know how to accept that.

It was like I was starving. I hadn’t known how much I was starving until I met her. And she was all I wanted.

I picked up a piece of chalk and was about to turn to the board when I saw her move in the back row.

I watched her grab her things and push out the back door of the classroom.

She couldn’t even look at me. She couldn’t even listen to my voice.

Whatever she’d found out repulsed her. Which made sense. The chalk snapped in my hand.

***

Another restless night. I knew I had to give her up. I knew it. But I couldn’t. I splashed water on my face.

I’d watched video footage of Tyler going in and out of her dorm after class yesterday.

I knew I was supposed to remove the cameras.

But what did Dr. Clark know? If I didn’t have the cameras, how was I supposed to know she was safe?

How was I supposed to know she was okay while I was fucking falling apart?

I splashed more water on my face. I needed to get a grip. It was one thing to sleep with a student. It was another thing to stalk her. I needed to remember that I just liked to fuck her. Nothing more. That’s all it ever was.

No. I dried off my face with a towel. Now I was just lying to myself.

I’d made love to her in my bed. The sheets still smelled of her, and I kept telling Ellen not to wash them.

It was like I no longer knew how to function without Penny beside me.

I kept replaying moments with her over and over again in my head.

As if the memory of her would somehow steady me.

Keep me going. But the problem was that she wasn’t just stuck in my head.

My body physically ached for her too. Like there was a knife twisting in my chest.

I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

It didn’t matter that I’d been trying to be a better man.

Because I was still me. Everyone knew my past. It was the price I paid for being in the spotlight for so long.

There was no hiding from it. Penny was bound to find out what kind of man I was eventually.

For just a moment though…I’d had it all.

I threw the towel down on the vanity and walked out to my bedroom.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out expecting a text from Rob saying he was back in the states. But it wasn’t a text. It was an email. From Penny. My eyes scanned the message.

Subject: Trying to Protect Me?

Professor Hunter,

I thought that I was naive, but I believe that description fits you better. I don't think that I'm the woman in your life that you should be protecting.

-Penny

What the fuck was she talking about? I typed out a reply.

Subject: You're the Only Woman in My Life

Penny,

I'm not sure what you think you know about me. But I can tell you that I'm falling for you. There is no woman in my life that is more important to me. It's you. I'm coming over now.

-James

She’d finally written to me. She’d just given me a way back in.

And I wasn’t going to hesitate for another second.

I grabbed a jacket out of my closet. I’d wait outside her dorm all night if I had to.

She was going to fucking talk to me. Clearly this was some crazy misunderstanding. My phone buzzed again.

Subject: Don't You Dare

Professor Hunter,

Don't waste your time. Even if you come here, I'm not coming out to talk to you.

-Penny

For some reason I was smiling. I wasn’t sure if it was because it was the first she’d spoken to me in days. Or because she was being impossible yet cute. I quickly replied as I went to the elevator.

Subject: I Do Dare

Penny,

Stop being so stubborn. I'm leaving now. I'll see you in ten minutes.

-James

I made it to her dorm in record time. I put my car in park. It was dark, no one would be able to see us. Besides, it was a chilly night and most of the students were either out partying or snuggled up in their dorms.

But none of that mattered if she refused to come out. I stared at the door. Just talk to me. I needed to know what she knew. I’d done a lot of stupid shit when I was younger. More when I was older. But I was trying here. I was teaching for a reason. I was in Delaware for a reason.

Maybe I can sneak in. How hard could it really be? I just needed to wait for someone to walk out.

I was just about to climb out of the car when the back door opened. And there she was. I breathed a sigh of relief. She folded her arms across her chest as she walked down the steps. When she reached the car, I opened the passenger's side door from the inside.

"Get in the car,” I said.

"But I don't want to go anywhere.”

For fuck’s sake. "I'm not taking you anywhere. I just want to be able to talk to you in private."

She glanced behind her. "There's no one around."

"Penny, get in the car."

She sighed and sat down in the passenger's seat. I breathed in the smell of her cherry perfume. The same smell that had been lingering on my sheets, haunting me. Her just being here instantly calmed me down. That ache in my chest eased.

I drove my car to the small parking lot by her dorm, pulled into one of the last spots, and cut the ignition.

She was here, but for some reason I couldn’t look at her.

I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared out the windshield like an idiot.

I had one chance to fix this and I had no idea how.

My hands were gripping the wheel so tightly that my knuckles were turning white.

Breathe. And since she was sitting there, it was a little easier. I turned to look at her. God she was beautiful. "I thought you weren't going to come out and see me."

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window. "I figured I owed it to you to hear your side."

The pout on her face was so adorable it was hard to pay attention to what she was saying. I just wanted her lips back on mine. "You're cute when you're upset."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked with a stern glare I’d never seen from her before.

"Tell you what?" I swallowed hard. I knew how terrible having to ask her was. How guilty it made me seem.

"How could you possibly not know what I'm referring to? What is wrong with you?"

I took a deep breath. "You looked me up online, didn't you?" I lowered my eyebrows. She’d found everything.

"No! Well, yes. But that has nothing to do with anything. I found your ring, Professor Hunter."

Oh. I nodded my head. Oh. I forgot I even had the ring still. What a fucking relief. That’s what all this was about? I was so relieved I almost smiled, but then I realized that would be the wrong reaction. This was just a terrible misunderstanding. And I knew exactly what she was thinking.

"So you have nothing to say to that?" she asked.

"It's not what you think." I raked my fingers through my hair.

"And what is it that you think I'm thinking?"

I raised my left eyebrow. Her cherry perfume was everywhere.

I finally had her alone again and I didn’t want to talk.

I wanted to fuck her. I wanted to remind her that she needed me too.

But I had to clear the air. This was my one chance and thank God it was just the ring nonsense.

"You're probably thinking that I'm a lying cheater that you want nothing to do with. "

"Am I wrong?"

"Yes."

"Enlighten me."

"First of all, I never lied to you. I withheld information that I deemed unimportant to our relationship..."

"Unimportant? You're such an asshole," she said, cutting me off. She grabbed the door handle.

"Penny." I put my hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place.

"And you did lie to me. At the country club when you said you didn't relish sharing me, you made me believe that I wasn't sharing you either. You even denied having a girlfriend. If I had known you were married..." her voice trailed off as she started to cry.

It hurt me to see her cry. My body physically ached for her. Was that why my chest had hurt the last few days? Because hers was hurting too? "Penny, please don't cry." I reached over and wiped the tears from her cheek.

"Don't touch me." She pushed my hand away. "How could you do this to me? Why didn't you just tell me then? I trusted you!"

"Because Isabella and I are over."

"What? You're divorced?" She sunk into the passenger's seat. "You still could have told me."

This was exactly why I hadn’t told her. Because I needed more time. "It's just a matter of finalizing the paperwork. I would have told you once it was official. I just didn't want to upset you for no reason."

"So you're technically still married right now?"

"Technically, yes, but I've already signed the divorce papers. It hasn't been a smooth process. But I have no connection to Isabella at all. We're done. We've been done for a long time."

She stared at me, waiting for me to elaborate.

But I had nothing else to say on the matter.

Did she need to hear that Isabella was a lying, manipulative monster?

That I’d been tricked into the whole thing?

Probably not. None of that mattered now.

The woman sitting beside me was the only person I cared about.