Page 88 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Saturday

Penny ran her fingers through her hair. "Do I look okay?" she asked as she stepped out of the golf cart.

"Penny, you look stunning." Truly. She had that just fucked look I was growing increasingly fond of.

"I mean, does it look like we just had sex?" she whispered, even though no one was around.

I looked at the way her tousled hair fell unevenly on her shoulders. Her dress was wrinkled and a little damp from the dew on the grass. She started to smooth the fabric with her hands to no avail.

I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Penny, it looks like I just fucked your brains out."

"Professor Hunter!" she lightly pushed on my chest.

"That's how I prefer you to look." I straightened my tie.

"Now, I believe I owe you a piece of cake.

" I lifted her into my arms and carried her back to the terrace.

She was so light in my arms. And for a moment, I thought I really could be good for her.

I could protect her. I could actually have a positive influence on her life instead of a negative one.

I set her down on her feet and draped my arm across her shoulders as I escorted her back into the restaurant.

She kept her eyes downcast. It seemed like she was embarrassed like she always was in class.

Why? Was it because she was worried she had sex hair?

Everyone was staring at her because she was gorgeous.

And she didn’t even realize it. I wanted to help her with that.

Because she had nothing… nothing to be embarrassed about.

"Let's eat dessert out here," I said and slid into a booth.

Her eyes grew round as she stared at me.

She needed to ignore everyone else. It was just us. Screw the people staring. I wanted her to be so comfortable around me that she stopped caring about everyone else. And a part of me wanted to make sure her attention was always trained on me. Like mine was trained on her.

Finally, she sat down across from me.

Jerrod came over with a smile. "Ah, I thought I'd lost you two."

"I just wanted to give the Mrs. a tour," I said and winked at Penny. But the game didn’t seem as fun anymore. Eventually she’d discover all my demons.

She’d leave. Just the thought made my throat feel tight.

Maybe we weren’t a one-time thing anymore.

But each time we were together like this could be the last. She’d run away from me eventually. Everything good did.

"Of course. Did you two still want the chocolate lava cake?"

"Yes, Jerrod. Thank you."

"We kept it warm for you. I'll be right back."

A moment later Jerrod came back carrying the cake and two glasses of water. "Anything else I can get for you?"

"That will be all for us this evening."

"It was a pleasure meeting you both. I hope to see you again soon."

"Have a good night, Jerrod," I said. I took a bite of cake and watched Penny as her lips wrapped around her fork. How was it possible that she could even make eating look sexy?

"There is one more thing we need to discuss," she said.

"And what is that?"

She leaned forward slightly. "My grade.”

I smiled. "What about it?"

"You gave me a C- when I deserved an A."

"Penny, it would be very unprofessional of me to give you favoritism." And according to Ian, a surefire way to get fired.

"As unprofessional as what you just did to me on the golf course?"

I set my fork down on the plate. "Touché."

"So you'll change it back?"

"Penny, I've always had it recorded as an A."

Her eyebrows pinched together, creating an adorable v in her forehead. "But. My paper. It said C-."

"And you think if I wanted to whiteout every single word on a sheet of paper I wouldn't just get another one?"

"You were just trying to upset me?" She glared at me.

"No, I was trying to seduce you."

"So everything played out just like you wanted?" There was no longer lust in her eyes. She looked genuinely pissed. And I didn’t really understand why. The ruse had worked. We were sitting here because of what I’d done.

Regardless, I didn’t want to finish our date this way.

Even if what I’d said was true. I pulled my wallet out of my pocket.

"No. Not at all. Like I told you before, I can't stop thinking about you.

I thought if I let myself give in to the temptation then I could move on.

But I'm more addicted to you than ever." The words just slipped out.

Addicted to her? I clenched my jaw for a second, but immediately relaxed because she looked so relieved.

She liked that thought. Me being addicted to her.

My eyes fixated on her lips again for just a moment. If only she knew.

I set a hundred dollar bill on the table for Jerrod’s tip.

"I guess I should get you home. Your roommate is probably wondering where you are." Hopefully. If Melissa Monroe was a good friend she’d be very worried indeed. But I’d found Penny in perilous situations before that could have been avoided if she’d had a good friend looking out for her.

I needed to find out more about Melissa, that was for sure. I helped Penny to her feet.

As we waited for the valet to grab my car, Penny began to shiver. I took off my suit jacket, draped it over her shoulders, and pulled her in close. "Maybe your roommate will find your story more believable if you wear this back to your dorm."

She leaned into me. "I barely believe that I'm dating you, so it'll be hard to convince someone else that it's true."

I rested my chin on the top of her head. Another perfect fit. I could have stood there keeping her warm in my embrace for the rest of the weekend. But the valet pulled up. What little private time we had was over.

We were both quiet as I drove back to campus.

It felt wrong that on Monday we’d have to pretend tonight hadn’t happened.

That she’d have to just be one of my students.

It wasn’t what I wanted. I moved my right hand to the center console.

She immediately slid her hand into mine.

We intertwined our fingers and I had a feeling she was trying to hold on to this moment too.

"What will happen if someone finds out that we're dating?" she asked.

"It's frowned upon, but the university's policy isn't explicitly stated in their handbook. It's more a question of ethics than anything else."

"You've looked it up?"

I glanced at her. "Yes."

"So you won't actually get in trouble?"

"That depends on a lot of things."

"Like what?"

"Well, if there was even a whisper of sexual harassment, I would get fired. Or if someone in your class found out about us and thought you were getting favoritism, they could file a complaint. Or..."

"I'm not going to tell anyone, Professor Hunter."

"Then I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"Would you still have pursued me if the university's policy was explicitly against it?"

I’d already started pursuing her before Ian had looked up the university’s policy.

I couldn’t stop myself. And if I had looked it up beforehand and it had been against the rules?

I doubted I would have stopped. I’d already tried to walk away.

I’d tried to tell myself this was wrong.

But here I was anyway. "Yes.” I squeezed her hand.

"Even though you could get fired?"

I didn’t need this job. But I loved being a professor.

I’d taken a lot of risks in business. It was about figuring out if the risks would pay off.

And with Penny, I knew she was worth it.

Any time I had with her was worth it. I took a long slow breath.

One of the easiest ones I’d ever taken. Yes, she was worth this feeling.

"I know that you want this just as much as I do. I believe that my ethics are sound, so no one can make me question them." But I knew it wasn’t that simple. If we got caught, I wasn’t sure if anyone would buy that.

This was wrong no matter how right it felt.

We drove in silence for a few minutes.

"What did your startup company do?" she asked.

"Tech."

"What happened to it?"

These were the kind of questions I didn’t want to get into. I just wanted to live in the moment rather than being clouded by my past. "I sold it. But I still have a seat on the board."

"Then why are you teaching?"

"For the same reason I left New York. I needed a change."

"And if it wasn't because of how loud and busy the city was, then what was it? A midlife crisis?"

I laughed. "How old do you think I am, Penny?"

"Actually, I thought you were probably a grad student when I met you in the coffee shop. You can't even believe how shocked I was when I found out you were my Comm professor."

I laughed again. When we met, I’d hoped she was a grad student too. If only life had been so simple. "So take a guess," I said.

"Well, professors have to go to grad school and then get their masters to teach, right?"

"Yes, but I didn't do that. I was busy running a company in my early twenties. They granted me an honorary degree at the last university I worked at if I agreed to teach a few entrepreneurship classes in their master's program. I have the same arrangement here."

"So, maybe you're…29?"

"Close. I'm only 27." It was a relief that she guessed that I was older. It made me believe that the age difference didn’t bother her. She was only six years younger than me. That wasn’t a big deal. In any other situation it wouldn’t be a problem at all.

The issue we were facing was solely the fact that I was her professor.

And that wasn’t lasting. In a few months, she wouldn’t be in my class anymore.

But she stayed completely silent. Maybe the age difference was a big deal to her. I pulled up outside of her dorm and cut the ignition. "What, you're sad that I'm not older?"

She laughed. "No. No, that's not it. I just..." she paused, searching for the right words.

But I knew exactly what she was thinking.

This was going to be hard. She had nothing to worry about though.

If our relationship did go public and there was any backlash, I’d take the blame.

My life was already fucked up. And I was determined not to fuck hers up too.

I leaned in and kissed her. God, her exhales were sweeter than air.

"Like I said, you have nothing to worry about. "