Page 201 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

I laughed. “Do you usually think I’m not mature?”

“Honestly, when it comes to real relationships, it seems like you don’t have that much experience. Also there’s the fact that you lied to me. That was rather immature.”

“I thought you’d tell me I had to stop seeing her.” And I knew I couldn’t. This whole time…I just knew I couldn’t stay away from Penny. We went from if to when faster than I even had time to process what I was doing. I was done for as soon as she fell into my arms in that coffee shop.

“I may have suggested you stop seeing her. But I also may not have. Like I’ve been saying during our last few sessions…youseem happy when you’re with her. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

He’d probably think it was wrong that I got off when Penny called me Professor Hunter. But that was a conversation for a different day. I had no idea why her calling me that made me instantly hard. Right now I didn’t care though. I just wanted to enjoy myself for once in my life.

“Have you told her about your past yet?”

“That’s what our disagreement was about. She found my wedding ring when she slept over. But I told her about the divorce. Why I married Isabella in the first place. I told her about Rachel and how I lost it in college and hit rock bottom. I even told her about how my parents controlled my life and that I got fired from my last teaching job.”

“That’s all a good start. But it’s not everything.” He stared at me, willing me to continue my admissions.

“I’ll get there.” Geez, a person could only handle so many confessions in one day. I’d tell Penny everything soon. Slowly. So she wouldn’t run away screaming.

“Was that all you told her about hitting rock bottom?”

I tried to think back to the conversation. “Yeah, but I think she got the gist. A few nights ago I also told her I was drunk most of college and had a lot of sexual partners. She knows I used to be a mess.”

“James, that’s not the whole story and you know it. You have to tell her everything. We already talked about this. Just because she’s a student doesn’t mean she can’t handle the truth. You trust her, right? Or else you wouldn’t have risked your job to be with her?”

I didn’t even need to think about it. “I do trust her.”

Dr. Clark threw his hands in the air. “Now that’s a reason to celebrate. You trust someone new! James, that’s a big deal.”

I smiled.

“Did you have her sign a confidentiality agreement?”

“Nope.”

“That’s good,” he said. “That’s a really good step. You trust her!”

I laughed. It was strange having someone so excited about something I did. It was the affirmation most kids got from their parents. But I never got that from mine. “I do.” Trust seemed like such a simple concept. But it was hard for me. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Now, since you lied to me for weeks, I get all the details. Tell me all about her.”

I smiled. I could do that. This was the easiest therapy session of my life. Once I started talking, it was like I couldn’t stop. I sounded like a sappy idiot, and I didn’t give a shit.

Dr. Clark looked almost as happy as I was. Until I let something slip about the cameras I was using to spy on her.

“James, we talked about this. You have to remove the cameras.”

“Yeah, I’m on it. I’ll tell Ian to do it later today.” It was a lie. I had no intention of ever removing the cameras. Penny was mine. And I needed to keep her safe.

He gave me a hard stare. “Are you actually going to tell Ian that?”

“It’s honestly not even my fault. This was all his idea.”

Dr. Clark shook his head. “You just told me that you trusted Penny. If you trust her, you should allow her her privacy.”

“I don’t have cameras in her dorm room or anything. I’m not a creep.”

“She might view it differently.”

“I’ll add it to my list of things I still need to confess to her.” Honestly, Penny kinda loved the thrill of being almost caught. I bet she’d love that I watched her. I thought about how our waiter kept interrupting us at the country club. She was into that. God, I loved how naughty she was.