Page 14 of Not In The Contract

“Just Alex is fine, Devon,” I said, forcing a smile. “Until next time.”

“Good bye!” she called after me, and I exited the coffee shop just as my driver pulled up next to the sidewalk.

“Where to, Alex?” Amelia asked, doffing her imaginary cap as I got in.

“Take me to Taylor’s.” I sighed, sagging in the safety of my car.

She drove in silence, letting me wallow in my despair until we pulled up to Taylor’s building.

I made my way inside, only stopping to greet the handful of employees I knew by name. Both Taylor and I had worked together on enough projects that we knew each other's teams personally.

I made it up to the top floor, and the elevator doors rolled open to let me out.

“I figured you’d be swinging by my office before long.”

I glared at Taylor where she waited for me, a perfectly manicured hand on her cocked hip. “Spare me.”

“Absolutely not.” She giggled. “How’d it go?”

I followed her into her office, not doing anything to hide the scowl that pinched my face.

“This was a terrible idea,” I muttered. “She’s shockingly bright and actually has a heart. It’s awful.”

Taylor’s stunned bubble of laughter pierced through the silence of the office. “I don’t really see what part of that would qualify as awful,” she pointed out.

I glared at her. “The part where I can’t bear to come between her and her studies is what’s awful,” I explained.

“I think you’re overthinking things,” Taylor said soothingly, squeezing my knee. I rolled my eyes. “And I think that the next two months will be a lot harder than you all bargained for.”

5. The Wait

Devon

“Ithinkyoudefinitelyowe me dinner, Devon dear.”

I rolled my eyes and hopped off the bus, making my way onto the campus grounds. “I think you’re just itching for a night out,” I shot back at Tamera. “Besides, I wasn’t even going to be late.”

She sighed long and hard enough that I practically felt her exasperation through the phone. “And you totally weren’t on your way to your favorite bakery when I called you, huh?”

I cringed.

The truth was that Ihadbeen on the way to the bakery. It was only a block away from campus and I thought I had time.

I did not, in fact, have time.

I made it to the coffee shop with seconds to spare, only thanks to Tamera calling to ask if I’d found the place okay.

“I was,” I admitted. “To my credit though, for once it wasn’t my fault. This new professor is even worse at time management than I am.”

“Now that’s something I’d love to see.”

“Count yourself lucky that you don’t have to attend his lectures,” I grumbled, walking up the steps that led to the sprawling library. “I swear the only reason his lectures run over time is because he insists on pronouncing every word with aching emphasis. It’s like listening to Snape talk in his sleep.”

Tamera snickered. “Why do you even bother with his classes?”

“He published a paper on the effects of parenting on children.” I sighed. “It would be stupid to miss them. But he’s so boring that I’m surprisedanyonetakes his class at all.”

“Psychology majors are weird,” Tamera concluded.