Page 70 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Thursday

“Are you sure there aren’t any extra credit options?” Noah asked as he leaned forward slightly and bit his bottom lip.

You’ve got to be kidding me. It was bad enough that most of the female students flitting through my office hours didn’t have any real questions.

Now I had to worry about my male students too?

“I’m sure, Noah. Classes just started. There’s no need for extra credit when no grades have been assigned.

And if that changes, I’ll make sure to mention it in class .

” I hoped he got the hint. Also, I like women. One woman in particular.

I tried not to grimace when Noah kept looking at me seductively. I picked up my headphones instead and gestured toward the door. “See you in class.”

Noah sighed and stood up. He bit his bottom lip again, like that was somehow going to convince me to switch sides.

I focused my attention on my computer screen, even though it was off. Leave. Leave. Leave. Finally, I heard his footsteps. I breathed a sigh of relief as he left the room.

Sometimes I wasn’t sure I was a good professor. If I was, maybe I’d have real questions during my office hours instead of whatever the hell that was. Or maybe I was such a good professor that none of my students had any questions. I pulled on my earphones. That was a much better option in my mind.

***

The last half-hour had flown by when I didn’t have to entertain any students’ ludicrous flirting.

And my office hours were almost over. I was going to make it to the end without any more awkward encounters.

I paused from my work and rolled up my shirt sleeves, loosened my tie, and even undid a few of the top buttons. Much better.

I had written down a few ideas of how I could convince Dean Vespelli to let me cancel office hours for the remainder of the semester.

He’d probably say no. But it certainly wouldn’t hurt to ask.

Besides, office hours were a little old-fashioned.

If a student had a question for me, they could easily just email me.

Now that was an option I could get behind.

I could promise Vespelli that I’d answer every email within a few hours.

It’s not like I had anything else to do when I was at home.

Honestly, it would make my nights go by faster.

There was a knock on my door.

What now? I was almost free for the day.

Free to go home and do whatever I wanted.

Which meant staring at my phone waiting for Penny to text me or thinking about her in some other illicit way.

As soon as I finished this office hours proposal, I’d go back to focusing on how exactly to go about seducing a student. Willfully.

I looked up and everything about me wanting to cancel office hours flew out the window.

Penny. I could handle the rest of the harmless flirting from other students if it meant I even got a minute of Penny in this room.

But with her standing in the doorway, the space suddenly felt too small.

Intimate. Perfect. I pulled off my headphones and set them on the desk.

“Miss Taylor, come in," I said. It would have been more professional of me to tell her office hours were over and to come back another day. I knew I couldn’t trust myself around her. And yet…I was inviting her in anyway. Clearly I wasn’t very professional.

For just a few minutes, I wanted to be alone with her.

I needed to be alone with her. I walked over to the door and closed it behind her.

Every bone in my body wanted me to lock it.

But that was inappropriate. I turned to look at her.

Those big innocent blue eyes were staring back at me.

Yup, definitely inappropriate. I shoved my hands into my pockets so I wouldn’t lock the door.

Or worse…reach out and touch her. "I didn't expect to see you. "

"I didn't expect to be here." No smile on her lips. No reaction to being alone with me at all.

I’d fucked this up before I’d even gotten a chance for it to begin. "You're angry with me.”

"I'm not." She pulled off her backpack and leaned against my desk, looking way too comfortable in the confined space.

Jesus. I looked down at my watch to prevent myself from walking over to her and pushing her down on top of my desk.

I’d been dreaming of doing just that for days.

Breathe. "My office hours are almost over." I didn’t actually want her to leave. But as the seconds ticked by I was losing more and more restraint. She’d look perfect with her legs parted, her back on the middle of my desk.

"I tried to come the other day when they first started, but you had quite the line."

I ran my fingers through my hair and watched her eyes follow my hand.

She liked when I did that. Noted. I walked over to her so that we were only a few feet apart.

"Part of the duties of being a professor.” I shrugged, hoping to keep the conversation light.

I didn’t want her to run away. What I wanted was to run my fingers up her thigh… Breathe .

"Right." She picked up her backpack and pulled out my gray sweater. "I came to return this."

For some reason the idea of her giving me my sweater back felt like an ending instead of a beginning. And this was not going to be the end. I let my eyes trail from the sweater slowly up her body, until our eyes locked. Her face immediately flushed. No, this was definitely the beginning.

"You can keep that,” I said.

She shook her head. "It's yours.”

"Certainly it looks better on you." I knew it for a fact. One of my sweaters paired with some leggings and rain boots? The image did something to me.

She placed the sweater on my desk.

I closed the distance between us, reached around her, and picked it up.

Her body was so still that it didn’t seem like she was breathing.

I grabbed her hand and placed the sweater on her palm.

But I didn’t let go. I kept her hand cradled in mine as I stared down at her.

And I felt more aroused in this simple touch than I had in years.

Fucking years. I wanted to pull her against my chest. I wanted to taste her lips.

But it was too soon. I didn’t want to scare her away.

This was a game of cat and mouse. And I was definitely the cat, because I was seconds away from devouring her.

"It's a gift, Penny."

"I like when you call me Penny."

Breathe. Her alluring cherry scented perfume invaded my senses.

Or was it her shampoo? Or just…her? Usually it was easy to breathe around her.

But today I couldn’t think about anything but her legs spread wide on my desk.

And that thought was dangerous when my door was closed.

When we were all alone. When I was on school property.

Shit. "Miss Taylor, you should probably go. "

She glanced down at my tie and I imagined her pulling it, drawing my mouth down to hers.

Instead she gripped the desk with her hand that wasn’t trapped in mine and leaned back ever so slightly.

Her breathing grew shorter and more sporadic.

And I knew that she wasn’t going anywhere.

I was going to have her on my desk. And she was going to beg me for it.

But then a knock sounded on my office door.

Damn it. My hand instantly fell from Penny’s, and I took a step back.

I stared at the ground for a moment, trying to clear my head.

All I could think about was the fact that I wish I had locked the door.

When I looked back up at her, I still felt that same heat.

That hunger. I needed her. I needed her like I’d never needed anything before.

My eyes drifted to the sweater. Take it back.

I needed her to keep it. For some reason, if she did, it meant that this wasn’t over.

It was like she could read my mind. She picked up her backpack and shoved the sweater back inside.

I smiled to myself. I had Penny just where I wanted her. I walked over to the door like I hadn’t been about to tear off a student’s clothes and opened it just as Penny pulled her backpack over her shoulder.

Professor Keane walked in. I had completely forgotten about the faculty meeting.

And I’d definitely forgotten about walking over with her.

She was wearing a charcoal pencil skirt and matching blazer.

Her high heeled shoes made her almost as tall as me.

And her bright red lipstick just made her look…

unnatural. Her sophisticated ensemble did nothing for me.

All I wanted was to see Penny in my sweater again, staring up at me sweetly, if not a little apprehensively.

"Ready to go, James?" Professor Keane asked, and then she spotted Penny. She glanced down at her watch. "Sorry, I thought office hours were over. I can wait outside." She smiled at me.

"We just finished up," I said. "I'm ready to go.

" I tightened my tie as I turned back to Penny.

"See you tomorrow, Miss Taylor." I said the words without really looking at her, because if we had made eye contact, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to control myself. No, I knew I wouldn’t be able to control myself.

Penny walked over to us. "Thanks for your help, Professor Hunter.”

God, I love when she says my name like that . I tried not to stare at her ass as she walked out of my office.

“So sorry about interrupting,” Professor Keane said with a laugh. Which made no sense, because what she said wasn’t even funny. She proceeded to touch my arm.

I pulled my arm away and watched as Penny disappeared from view. Professor Keane was saying something else to me, but all I could think about was that I had been so close. So freaking close. And I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing that we’d gotten interrupted.

The professional part of me was thankful that Professor Keane had walked in. But the rest of me? I was still a man. And the part of me that wasn’t worried about my job was really pissed. I’d almost had Penny. Right here. I’d been seconds away from kissing her. Touching her. Damn it.

“Are you okay?” Professor Keane asked as she touched my arm again.

“Fine.” I grabbed my satchel, again making her hand fall from my arm. I didn’t want her to touch me.

“Rough office hours? I’m always telling Vespelli that we don’t need to sit here for hours. I barely ever get any students stopping by. And when I do, it’s always just a simple question. Email would suffice, don’t you think?”

Now this was something I could actually talk to her about. “I was just thinking that myself.”

“Really? We should bring it up at the meeting today.”

“Yeah…maybe.” Did I really want office hours to be cancelled? Office hours could mean more one-on-one time with Penny. Time I was aching for.

“What, don’t tell me you’re scared of the dean? He’s a big softie.”

I wasn’t scared of Vespelli. But I did want to remain on his good side.

Because I was going to sleep with a student.

It wasn’t even a question anymore. It was just a matter of when it was going to happen.

And if Vespelli ever found out…I wanted him to like me.

As a backup plan so that he wouldn’t unleash hell on me.

I didn’t expect anyone to ever find out though.

“I know he’s a big softie,” I said. “I just don’t want to step on his toes.”

After all, Vespelli had done me a favor by giving me this job. I wasn’t qualified. And I certainly didn’t deserve a second chance after what happened in New York. He’d taken a leap of faith on me.

“But who ever got anywhere without stepping on a few toes?” she asked as we made our way downstairs.

I shrugged. Not me. I’d created a handful of enemies in my early twenties and I hadn’t cared at the time. But my life wasn’t as black and white as it used to be. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It’s a saying for a reason.”

“And what am I? A friend or an enemy?” She smiled up at me.

An enemy. Everyone at this school was an enemy.

Because any one of them could potentially betray me once I finally got Penny where I wanted her.

Even Penny herself. But this was the perfect opportunity to make my intentions clear as far as Professor Keane was concerned.

“Friends,” I said. “That’s all I need right now. ”

“Well, at least I’m not an enemy,” she said with a laugh. But this time she didn’t touch my arm. Hopefully that meant she got the hint. “Any chance you want to go out for drinks after this, buddy?”

Or maybe she hadn’t gotten the hint. The addition of the word “buddy” didn’t convince me. “I can’t, I have plans.” It was a lie. I never had any plans. Just a routine, and it was better if I didn’t break it.

“Maybe some other time, then.”

I walked into the room where the meeting was occurring instead of answering her. We sat down in the back because it had already started. I looked around at all the other professors. All the ones that knew how to keep it in their pants.

Anyone else in my position would follow the rules. But I wasn’t like everyone else. There was a reason I was going to therapy. There was a reason why I’d stopped talking to everyone from my past. There was a reason I was alone. And it all went back to the issue of self-control.

As Vespelli droned on, I pretended to snap my wrist with an imaginary rubber band.

A few professors laughed about something Vespelli said. I could feel Professor Keane’s eyes on me. She probably thought it was odd that I hadn’t laughed. But I wasn’t paying attention. And nothing about the situation I was in was humorous.

I was spiraling. I thought I was getting better. But with Penny? Whenever I saw her, all my self-control went out the window.