Page 39 of Seducing Kaden
He yells, falling back and clutching the edge of the desk for support. “What the fuck? I’m going to report you for that.”
“Try it ass face,” Renee says from the open doorway. “And I’ll report you for sexual harassment. I heard every word.” She steps into the room, folding her arms as she stares him down.
Jesse hobbles away, pausing in the doorway to send me a hateful look. “I was only trying to do you a solid with the conference, but screw you, bitch. I’ll enjoy laughing in your face when I secure tenure and you don’t.”
Renee slams the door closed behind him, and I slouch in my chair, locking my hands behind my head. “Did you really hear it all?”
“Nope,” she says, sinking into the couch. “I just caught the tail end, but that asshole’s predictable. I knew it wasn’t a huge stretch, and I was right.”
“What’s this conference about, and why haven’t I heard of it? Should I be there?”
She grins. “He’s such an idiot to boot. You attended the same one two years ago, but he clearly doesn’t realize that. Remember the Digital Strategy Innovation Summit? There’s little point attending again, but if it was me, I’d email the organizers and see if they’d send any updates.”
I get a little flustered, realizing which conference she’s referencing. The department only sent me that time, and none of my colleagues have any clue I never actually attended. I got the slides and session notes emailed to me, and I gleaned what I needed to from them, so no one was any the wiser. “That’s a good idea,” I say, pretending to make a note of it. “I’ll do that.”
“So, I wanted to ask you something,” she says, sitting bolt upright and clasping her hands nervously in her lap.
“Sure. What is it?”
“Would you be my maid of honor?”
I get up and walk to the couch, sitting down and hugging my friend. “I would love to be your maid of honor, and I’m so touched you asked me.” I know Renee has two younger sisters and a bunch of girlfriends, so she has plenty of options.
“There isn’t anyone else worthy of the job,” she teases, hugging me back.
“No pressure or anything,” I laugh, wondering how I’m going to manage to be maid of honor without bringing my husband, because the last thing any girl wants is a notorious criminal at her wedding. But I’ll figure something out, because I don’t want to let my best friend down.
It’s Friday night, and I’m packing up my things when there’s a knock on my office door. When I open it, I’m not altogether surprised to find Kaden standing there with a cocky grin on his face. I peek out into the corridor, checking it’s empty before I usher him inside. It’s been a long while since I officially tutored him, and he’s no longer one of my students, so it might look suspicious that he’s here.
“Kade.” I eye him warily.
“Wow. What an enthusiastic greeting.” He tilts his head to the side. “Tell me, do you greet all the men you love with such ambivalence?”
My lips twitch involuntarily in response to his cocky confidence. “I couldn’t tell since you’re the only one I’ve ever loved.”
A flash of heat darkens his eyes. “And yet you refuse me.” He rubs his jaw. “How long are we going to keep this charade up?”?“For as long as it takes it to sink in, Kade.”
“That’d be never then,” he quips.
“I’m trying to be strong here.”
He steps forward, tipping my chin up. “I know that, honey, but that’s my job. Let me worry about it for the both of us.”
I reach up, removing his hand, and his gaze darts to my wrist. A muscle ticks in his jaw, and all trace of his good humor fades. “Is he doing this to you?” Gently, he takes my wrist, and the tender gesture is at complete odds with the thunderous look on his face.
“I thought we already discussed this,” I say, slowly removing my arm.
“No, you avoided answering the question. But if you don’t tell me right now, I’m going over to your house to ask that bastard for myself.”
I gasp. “You wouldn’t!”
“Try me.” He folds his arms over his chest, drilling me with a determined look. He’s just stubborn enough to do it too.
I sigh. “All right. Sit down.” I shake my head as I walk to the couch. “Why do I always cave to your demands?”
“Because I’m too hard to resist.”
His lips tip up into a smug grin as he plops down on the couch alongside me. Heat rolls off his body in waves, and I’m acutely aware of his potent, raw masculinity. I’m so attuned to his presence, and my hormones are throwing the mother of all parties. I bark out a bitter laugh, but I don’t attempt to deny what’s as obvious as the nose on my face. “Jeremy wants to start a family, and he’s determined to knock me up as fast as he can,” I blurt, because there’s so way of sugarcoating the truth.
