Page 29 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

MAVERICK

“–she said that her mommy and daddy were wrestling upstairs in bed.”

Mallory was sharing stories her first graders had told her, making me wonder how she kept a straight face when she ran into the parents around town. She’d just finished her first year as a teacher, having finished college a year early since she’d taken summer classes.

“Did you always want to teach?” Silas asked, listening to her closely.

Mallory nodded. “I did. Bridge and I used to play school when we were little. I, of course, was the teacher. It never went well because Bridge is too fucking smart and knew all the answers.”

Bridget squirmed in my lap, which felt amazing, and like the worst kind of torture.

While I’d been hard since I first saw her at the coffee shop, my dick had been throbbing since we were interrupted earlier.

I wasn’t kidding when I needed her to hide my hard on but feeling her perfect ass wiggle around wasn’t helping.

I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and carry her out of here.

Hopefully that would make enough of a scene that no one would pay any attention to the lead pipe I had down the inside of my leg.

And maybe that caveman-like action would get the fact that Bridget was my girl through that smart head of hers.

It was as if the connection we’d shared earlier was forgotten. No, not forgotten. Questioned. Again.

Leaving her off at her house with only a kiss and no further direction or intention had been a mistake. I needed to tell her, straight out, what was going to happen next.

“Maybe she should be a teacher then instead of working for my dumbass brother.”

“Hey, she works for me, too,” Silas added.

Silas and I both left college and went right into the family business. Even though I was CEO, he and I worked side by side, making all the important decisions together.

“That’s what I said!” Mallory explained. “I’ve been wanting her to take the job teaching Physics at the high school.”

All four of us grimaced, even Theo who’d had to take all kinds of science classes to be a doctor, at the idea of having to do high school Physics again, let alone teach it.

“I don’t have a teaching license,” Bridget reminded her.

Mallory waved that off. “You’ll be a long-term sub and won’t need one. Mrs. Birdsong is having her baby in September and plans to be out at least through January.”

“The fact that the school district gets away with having someone teach kids for that long without any credentials is a little scary,” Bridget muttered.

Mallory leaned in, resting on her forearms on the table. I only saw this woman being bold and brash, but her gaze on Bridget was serious. “The fact that you don’t think you’re qualified to teach the subject is a little scary. You have an eidetic memory and went to MIT for Christ’s sake.”

“You went to MIT?” Silas asked, whistling again. Impressed.

Bridget nodded.

“Engineering, math, computer sciences?” Theo asked.

“Pure math,” she said.

I didn’t even know what the hell that was. The blank look on everyone else’s faces indicated they didn’t either.

“What’s your job with James Corp?” Dex asked.

“Assistant.”

“You’re interested in the hospitality industry?” he wondered, meaning everything to do with hotels.

Bridget shook her head. “There was an opening and I applied. I needed the job.”

“With a degree from MIT, you can probably take a few online college classes to get the teacher’s certificate,” Theo said, returning back to the Physics class. “That is, if that’s what you want to do.”

Bridget squirmed some more and I set my hands on her hips to hold her still.

“I didn’t graduate.”

She was in profile since she was on my lap and saw the words cost her. Glancing at Mallory, I noticed she was far from her usual happy self. She was biting her lip and looked angry.

“How come?” Dex pushed. For once, I was glad he did because I wanted to know.

“There was an issue with a paper.”

“Bullshit,” Mallory said, making it into a cough.

“Mal!” Bridget said, her eyes imploring.

“Come on,” Mallory said, dragging out the words. “Enough already. There wasn’t an issue with a paper. Your professor, that Diego fucker, published your thesis work in an academic journal as his own and let the school kick you out for plagiarism.”

I went still beneath her. My fingers clenched her hips though and I felt the ripple of… something move through her. Anger. Shame. Frustration.

I knew what I felt. Rage.

“Holy shit, that’s a dick move,” Dex said, running a hand through his hair.

A dick move? A dick move!

“Why didn’t you report him?” Theo asked. “If you had the notes then you could prove–”

Bridget shook her head and tried to stand, but I kept her still because she wasn’t running away. I had that part of her figured out. It was Mallory who cut him off.

“Because Professor Asshole seduced her and–”

Now it was my turn to interrupt because I knew how she was going to finish. “–used his position of power to make her afraid.”

Now it all made sense. Her hesitancy with me. Her running.

Holy fuck.