Page 4 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Wednesday

Penny was staring at me like I’d lost my mind. And hell, maybe I had

"I'm coming,” she said firmly.

And I could hear my therapist’s voice in the back of my head, telling me that Penny and I needed to be a team. To work through things together. Dr. Clark was right. And so was Penny.

I nodded. "Well, we need to get going soon if you insist on coming, so eat."

She picked up her fork and took a bite of the eggs.

I swallowed hard as I watched her. There was just something about the way she wrapped her lips around a fork that did something to me.

"Ellen, these are fantastic,” she said.

Ellen smiled over at us. "I'm glad that you like them. Eat, James."

I hadn't realized that I was just sitting there.

"Are you okay?" Penny asked.

"Yeah." I smiled at her and began to eat too. We ate in silence. And it felt so…normal. Like we’d done it a million times before. Like we’d do it a million times more.

When Penny finished, I stood up and stared down at her. It was time to leave our bubble. But I still wanted to protect her from all this. "Do you want to wear a hoodie or something?” I asked. “I don't want..."

"I want to be with you. No more hiding. Besides, everyone already knows."

Fair point. But she wasn’t used to being photographed leaving her home. This wasn’t going to be easy. I knew we were a team, but I still wanted to take care of her. "I'd really prefer if you let me do this by myself, Penny. There's no reason why you should be there."

"I'm going to get in trouble too. I have to be there."

I lowered my eyebrows. "You won't.” I wasn’t going to let her get expelled. “But if you insist, let's go do it then." I held out my hand for her and she immediately grabbed it.

"Good luck," Ellen said to us as we stepped onto the elevator.

When the doors closed Penny looked up at me. "I like her. She seems really nice."

"She is."

Penny looked down at her shoes. "Are you nervous?"

I took a deep breath. I already knew how this morning was going to go.

And I was calmer than I thought I’d be. I was happy with my decision to resign.

I knew it was the only way. I wanted a future with Penny more than I wanted to keep teaching.

It was going to be fine. "Not really. I have everything that I want.

Teaching doesn't define me. Like I told you on our first date, I don't think we're doing anything wrong. This feels right to me."

"It feels right to me too. It's weird, you know. I never in a million years thought I'd be in this situation. I didn't even have my first kiss until last semester. And now I'm embarking on this big scandalous affair with my professor. I'm not even sure my parents will believe me."

I laughed. "You should have called them already. This is just going to get worse as the day goes on."

"I'll call them later. I need to know what the dean says first." She squeezed my hand.

She was procrastinating. She was dreading telling her parents. I got that. I did. But I didn’t want her to be embarrassed by our relationship. I didn’t want her to suddenly change her mind about us. What if they told her she had to break up with me? What would she choose to do then? Breathe.

"What did you vandalize?" she asked.

I laughed, relieved at the change of subject.

I couldn’t believe the paper put shit about my past in the article though.

"There was this professor I hated. I had him for an 8 a.m. The night before one of his classes my friends and I broke into the classroom and drew...vulgar things all over the chalkboard." Mason, Matt, Rob, and I had each been trying to draw the biggest dick. We couldn’t stop laughing. I’d also been very, very high.

All of us were. Or else we wouldn’t have been drawing dicks on my professor’s chalkboard.

"With chalk?"

"Yeah."

"Is that really vandalism?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think so. And I didn't get arrested for it either. It was a harmless prank. Hilarious, but harmless."

"So another lie."

"Mhm." Senior investigative reporter Bill Fuckface Raffer was supreme at his job.

"And were you arrested for underage drinking?"

"I got a warning. They had a three strikes policy like they do here.

I only had two strikes, one for that and one for the chalkboard thing.

I was never arrested while I was in Harvard.

" Although, I probably should have been for that other thing.

I smiled, remembering the four of us running from the cops.

The elevator doors opened and we walked over to my cars. Part of me wanted for us to climb into my convertible and just get the fuck out of here. But if Penny wanted to keep going here, we had to face the dean. I opened up the door of my Audi for her.

I closed the door behind her and took another deep breath. This would all be over soon. I climbed into the car and started the engine.

"Well, you're lucky I don't hate you,” Penny said. “Or maybe I would have pulled a prank like that on you. I wonder what you would have done if you came into class and there were obscene things all over your chalkboard?"

"I probably would have thought you were giving me suggestions of what I should do to you next." I raised my eyebrow at her and she laughed. That was one of the many things that made this all worth it. I was pretty sure I was obsessed with the sound of her laughter.

I pulled the car out of the parking spot and exited the parking garage. As soon as my car emerged on the street, cameras started flashing.

Penny held her hand up in front of her face. "So are they here because you're a rich, eligible bachelor or would this really normally be that big of a deal?"

"I don't know. I'm sure my name doesn't help the situation.

" I maneuvered around the chaos and sped off down Main Street.

It was early and there was barely anyone out.

But soon the campus would be filled with gossiping students.

"I want you to let me do the talking, okay?

I'm going to fix this for you. That's my top priority." I pulled into a spot outside the dean’s office. There weren't any news vans outside. If the reporters actually cared about the story, they’d be here too. This wasn’t about a breaking story. It was about me. And I hated that I’d dragged Penny into this shit.

"I wish you had just been a student,” she said.

I laughed, even though it was forced. "I think you love that you're dating your professor."

"I do. Let's get this over with." She reached for the door handle.

"Hey." I grabbed her chin in my hand. "We got this, okay?" I pressed my lips against hers. It really was going to be okay. As long as the two of us were okay.

I started to pull away, but Penny grabbed a fistful of my hair and deepened the kiss. She needed reassurance. That this was real. I’d give her all the reassurance she needed.

God, but the way she was kissing me… I groaned and pulled back. "We need to stop or I won't be able to go in there. Having an erection during our meeting with the dean would probably be frowned upon."

She laughed and kissed my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you." And that’s all that mattered. That’s why we were going to get through today.

I climbed out of the car and walked around to her side.

I put my hand out for her and she grabbed it.

We continued to hold hands as we went into the building.

It was the first time we’d done something like this on campus. We were done hiding now.

We entered through the side door and made our way through the lobby and down the hallway.

I dropped her hand, opened a door, and gestured for her to walk through.

Joe’s receptionist looked up at us. She smiled at me, but then her face fell when Penny grabbed my hand again.

Like she’d just remembered why I was there.

I cleared my throat. "Hi, Becca. We have a meeting with Joe."

"Yes. Joe is expecting you." She picked up a phone on the desk and punched in a few numbers.

"Your 7 a.m. is here." She looked over at Penny.

"Yes, she's here too." She paused again.

"Okay," she said and hung up the receiver.

"He'll be right out." She stared at us for another second before her eyes drifted back to her computer screen.

I escorted Penny to some chairs and we sat down. As each second passed, Penny squeezed my hand tighter and tighter. I was pretty sure I was about to lose circulation. I leaned toward her and whispered in her ear, "Penny, you're hurting me."

"Oh, geez, sorry." She stopped gripping my hand so tightly.

I rubbed my thumb along her palm and leaned toward her.

"Don't worry,” I whispered. “The dean likes me. I think everything's going to be fine.” Joe didn’t like me that much. But he’d been thrilled when I asked him if I could work here.

And he’d be thrilled now when I gave him my letter of resignation.

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?"

"Because I didn't want you to get your hopes up."

"And now?"

"And now I need to believe it's true too." I squeezed her hand. It was going to be a tough sell to keep Penny enrolled here.

Joe stepped out of his office. Normally his salt and pepper hair made him look distinguished. But today he just looked…tired. Tired of me. Tired of being the dean. Tired of all of it. He took one look at us holding hands and shook his head. He turned and walked back into his office.

Well that wasn’t a good start. I sighed and stood up. But I kept my fingers intertwined with Penny’s. We were done hiding this. And Penny needed my hand. I knew how nervous she was. We walked together into Joe’s office.

Joe was sitting behind his desk. He looked up at us. "Close the door, James." He sounded as tired as he looked. And I wondered if he’d been up all night trying to squash the story too.

I closed the door and we both sat down across the desk from him.

Joe sighed deeply and leaned forward in his chair. "Excuse my bluntness, but this is a fucking mess."

Yeah, that sounded about right. "Joe, it was never my intention for this to happen."

"What, you didn't intend to sleep with your students when you accepted this position? Or you didn't intend for anyone to ever find out?"

For fuck’s sake. "I never intended to sleep with a student. Singular, not plural. And I was going to tell you. I didn't want you to find out this way."

"And we met before I knew he was my professor,” Penny said. "And he made it clear that we couldn't fraternize. I refused to listen. It was my fault."

Jesus, Penny. Stop talking. I was trying to keep her enrolled here and she was throwing herself under the bus. I squeezed her hand hard, hoping she’d get the hint. "I take full responsibility for this, Joe.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. He looked like he was in pain. "Sorry, what is your name?" he asked and stared at Penny.

"Penny Taylor."

"Well, Penny, this is not your fault. James is an acting professor at this university.

It's his responsibility to uphold the rules.

" He turned back to me. "We have a code of ethics, which I know you're aware of.

Although not explicitly stated, dating a student violates the core values of this institution.

What the hell were you thinking? And not only did you fail to disclose this relationship to me, but I had to find out in the damn newspaper.

" He slammed his fist down on top of his desk where today's newspaper was sitting.

"Your ex-wife has made it a point not only to disgrace you but this entire university. It's like a fucking reality T.V. show."

"Joe..."

"I don't want to hear your excuses. You should have told me, James.

" He sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"I know all that stuff your wife said is a lie.

But it's going to be hard to convince other professors as well as your students' parents otherwise.

They made it seem like you molested her or something.

" He paused and sighed. "It's a mess. They're pulling me down with you.

I've already given my okay to launch an investigation.

All your students will have to be interviewed because of the press's allegations, even though no one has openly come forward.

And if you're lying about it just being her.

..if you laid a finger on any other girl.

..then I recommend you just resign right now, because. .."

"It's just Penny." Joe had every right to question my character. But not on this. I hadn’t gone anywhere near any of my students. Even though several of them blatantly flirted with me. I hadn’t even asked for his help when that student was practically stalking me last year. Not that I could really judge. I’d stalked Penny when we were on a break.

I knew I was a mess. And I knew this situation was a mess.

But it was only ever Penny. This wasn’t just some dumb fling. I was in love with her.

Joe sighed again. "Well the board has already decided to suspend you during the investigation.

That decision is over my head, but I completely agree with them.

We may be able to lift your suspension if everything comes back clean after that.

But my recommendation is that you two terminate your relationship immediately.

This can't go on if you intend to keep working here. "

"We're not doing that." No way in hell.

"Well I don't have any other ideas. We've already had dozens of calls this morning from concerned parents.

I have to act or I'll probably be fired next.

Stop seeing her and if the interviews with other students show no other instances of misconduct you can keep teaching at this university under a probationary period.

If there are no more violations we'll lift the probationary period in six months.

And continuing to screw one of your students counts as a violation.

So it needs to end. Otherwise we have to let you go. "

Yeah. I figured that was the case. I glanced at Penny. She looked so young and na?ve. And it was possible that I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life.