Page 25 of Pandora's Pleasure

Rhodes was Damien’s type, all right. Or maybe she was his match. Either way she had an intimidating presence.

I paused a few feet away and glanced down at her blood red toenails. “Do you know who I am?”

“Most people know who you are.”

Yes, because those long lenses had captured my childhood and they had followed me as I’d grown up—the downside of having an infamous father.

“I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time?” I said.

She had the kind of pouty mouth a man would like—enhanced with bright red lipstick. She had tasted Damien’s cock with those lips. And he’d tasted her, too.

“Walk with me.” She motioned for me to follow. “I’m assuming you’re not here to discuss the graduate program?”

We left the lecture hall and I hurried after her, trying to keep up. “I respect that you’re busy.”

She shoved at a door and held it open for me. “You’ve got me intrigued.”

I slid by and entered her office.

We’d been standing so close that I’d had no choice but to brush against her, feeling her firm body against mine, realizing that Damien knew every inch of her.

Had he tied her down, too?

A million questions circled in my mind. How long had they dated? Why were they no longer together?

“Thirsty?” She gestured to a small fridge.

“Yes, please.”

“Coke?”

“Yes, anything. Whatever’s easiest.”

She studied me. “You’re very compliant.”

Stacks of exam papers rose high on her desk next to an expensive-looking blue lamp. A glass paperweight pressed down on a few letters waiting to be opened. A laptop had been tossed on a file cabinet, its power cord twisted.

“Thank you for seeing me. I didn’t call ahead—”

“No, you didn’t.” Her sternness stayed with her all the way across the room. She knelt and opened a fridge door, reaching in for a chilled can of Diet Coke.

She strolled over to a cabinet and pulled out a tall glass, then cracked open the can. The brown, sugary liquid fizzed all the way to the top as she poured it into the glass—tipping the can in a way that made her look even more sophisticated.

“Dr. Rhodes, you have the advantage of knowing me.” I chose one of the two seats before her desk, thinking of all of the students who had sat here being berated.

“A quick Internet search and you could find out more about me.” Her eyes twinkled as she gave me a knowing look. “But you’ve already done that.”

I gave her a sheepish smile. “What exactly do you know about me?”

She handed me the glass of Coke. “Your mother must have a thing for mythology.”

“I was teased for it.”

“Being named Pandora?”

“The girl who allowed all the evils of the world to escape.” I flicked a blonde lock out of my face. “My namesake had a lot more fun.”

Madeline smirked as she sank into the chair behind her desk. “Now that’s something I’d pay to watch.”