Page 4 of Beneath the Beauty (Beauty 2)
A smile spread over her pretty face. “They want to hire you at the university? Associate Professor?” She laughed happily and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “That’s amazing, Blake.”
Shit. He hugged her back and then gently set her away. “Erin, it’s not going to work out.”
“But he said you could name your terms. You think you could get an office with a window in it?”
“I don’t care about the office. I mean, there’s not going to be an office.”
Her head jerked back at his sharp tone.
He softened, pleading a little. “It’s just not a good time.”
She looked around the small cluttered space as if she were seeing it for the first time. After a long moment, she said quietly, “I see.”
Goddamn her, she probably did see. She saw the thick walls that separated him from the rest of the world, shielding him from their sight. And then what? Would she walk out and never return? Would he wish that she had, knowing some stronger, more functional man could better care for her?
He couldn’t let that happen.
The inevitability washed over him, and he shut his eyes against the deluge. Truth was he needed to do this for himself. How long could he remain in hibernation before he withered away to nothing?
His throat constricted, but he managed to say with no small amount of futility, “I’ll talk to him tomorrow. If the position is still open, I’ll take it.”
CHAPTER TWO
A sense of rightness filled Erin as she ducked into the social sciences building. She’d been flush with anticipation all through her morning classes, knowing she would get to see Blake at lunchtime.
Two weeks had passed since Blake had accepted a position as a temporary adjunct professor with the university. They’d been together almost every evening in that time.
Normally they were consigned to the night, with takeout and a movie downstairs. They’d tear open the fortune cookies, adding “in bed” to whatever it gave them for the future. Soon life will become more interesting…in bed. And then Blake would set about proving it true in a languorous lovemaking session in his bedroom until the sun streamed between his blinds. Blake had joked that he was a gargoyle, turned to stone at sunrise. A not-so-subtle reference to the scars marring his handsome face.
She balanced two lattes from the vendor outside, slipping through the heavy crowd of students exiting the lecture rooms. A few banded together in small lines in front of the closed office doors. Office hours most commonly ran during the middle of the day between the usual blocks of class times. They began the week before classes started, to allow students to meet their new professors.
In Erin’s case, she had gone to see her advisor, who she already knew from previous years. He was smart and unassuming, so she liked him. He’d given her feedback on her preliminary ideas for the final research paper. She would incorporate his critique into her outline over the next few days, and he would sign off on it when school began.
She had one more stop to make before she left campus.
Professor Morris. The name made her flush with sexual heat. Probably because she’d called him that when he went down on her last night.
He was only here temporarily, but the letters were freshly engraved on the frosted glass of his office door. They must be hopeful he’d stick around beyond one semester. So was she.
Voices came from inside. Damn. Someone had beat her to him. Ah well, better that way. Then he could spend the rest of his office time with her. Oh, she knew he had a job to do. Amusing Erin Raider wasn’t why the university had begged him to be an adjunct professor. But it was the first week of classes; how many questions could they have?
Someone jostled her in the hallway, and scalding coffee spilled onto her hand.
“Shit,” she muttered.
A shadow moved in the office, then another. So there were a few students in there, chatting up the new professor to get in his good graces. With a start, she realized that must be exactly how she looked, coming to bribe him with a coffee. A blush heated her cheeks far more than the hot liquid could. If only they knew what she really did for him.
But no one would know. They had agreed not to tell anyone. More accurately, she had talked him out of disclosing their prior relationship. The position would be toast if the university knew he had a sexual relationship with a student, even if she wasn’t his student. She could see the wisdom in that. It was an ethical black mark, but no way was she putting off graduating or letting him get out of his return to society.
One semester. Only one little semester and they’d both be free. They could have a relationship out in the open. Bliss.
The hallway thinned to the occasional straggler. Finally the office door opened, and two girls tumbled out, a flurry of tiny tank tops and scrunchies, the kind of adorable, I-just-threw-this-on look that Erin always envied. They barely spared her a glance, but some sense of propriety held her back from rushing inside before the door swung shut. No need to draw attention to her double-fisted coffee routine. Acting casual, she hitched her backpack on her shoulder and reached for the latch on the door. With her back turned, she heard them speak.
“Did you see his face?” one of them said, giggling.
“I couldn’t stop looking, and not in a good way,” the other replied.
Erin froze. She held the door handle, but she was stunned by their awful words. They weren’t making any effort to be quiet, despite the fact that they’d only made it two feet away. She wasn’t sure if Blake could hear them from inside, but if she opened the door, he certainly would.
