Page 196 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

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."