ROWAN “And why did you wait until tonight to say something?
You spent the entire day acting like you didn’t know me.” I gave a small, humorless laugh.
“You saw me crying.
You spoke to me.
You even offered me wipes , and you still behaved as though we had never met before.” I shook my head, unable to understand him.
“Then tonight, all of a sudden, you remember everything?” I held his gaze this time.
“Do you honestly expect me to just embrace like you didn’t deny me throughout the day?” “Do you expect me to jump in your arms after finding out that you’re Kelvin’s uncle?” That last part still felt completely insane whenever I thought about it.
I had slept with my ex-boyfriend’s uncle without knowing who he was.
And now that same man was standing in front of me, reminding me that he remembered every embarrassing detail of that night.
“So tell me, Professor Ashford…” I kept my eyes locked on his.
“Why are you suddenly acting like last night was something you can’t forget?” Instead of answering me, he gave me a slow, knowing smile that immediately made the tiny alarm bell inside my head start screaming.
Why the hell was he smiling?
Was he some kind of psychopath who responded to uncomfortable questions with smiles and laughter?
Because I was standing there asking him a very serious question, and this man looked like he had just been handed the funniest joke in the world.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Why are you smiling?
Do you mind sharing with the audience what you think is funny?” His smile only grew.
“I remembered you the moment I saw you this morning in the lecture hall.” My heart stopped.
For a second, I genuinely forgot how to breathe.
He remembered me?
Since this morning?
Then why the hell had he acted like he didn’t know me?
Before I could ask, he continued.
“Why do you think I called you into my office?” I swallowed and tried to keep my expression neutral.
“I thought it was because I didn’t answer the question you asked.
And because of my research.
That was what you claimed, anyway.” He chuckled.
“No.” He looked at me with an amused expression before finally saying, “I wanted a better look at you.” My mouth fell open.
“What?” He looked completely entertained by my reaction, which only made my embarrassment worse.
“That was the reason I called you into my office.” I stared at him in disbelief.
“You’re joking.” “I’m not.” His eyes traveled over my face before settling back on my eyes.
“Do you honestly think I could forget the face of the person who nearly brought my penthouse down with those loud, sexy moans?” My entire face caught fire.
“Oh my God.” I immediately looked away.
I could practically feel the heat spreading from my cheeks to my ears.
I was certain that if someone walked into the restroom at that exact moment, they would mistake me for a tomato wearing a suit.
Why did he have to say it like that?
Why couldn’t he simply say, Yes, I remember you and leave it there?
“I wanted to tell you that I remembered you,” he continued, sounding far too calm for the kind of conversation we were having.
“But I couldn’t do that in school.” I slowly looked back at him.
“I don’t mix teaching with pleasure.
I am strict when it comes to that.” That gave me an idea.
I latched onto it immediately.
I quickly raised my chin as I cut him off.
“Same goes for me.” He lifted an eyebrow, but I continued before my courage could disappear.
“I don’t mix my relationships with strangers, and I definitely don’t mix relationships with pleasure.” I pointed at him slightly, trying my best to sound confident despite the fact that my heart was beating like I had just run a marathon.
“You are the pleasure.” I swallowed and forced myself to keep going.
“You should respect my relationship.” I took a deep breath, hoping that was enough to make him understand exactly where I stood.
“Whatever happened between us was a silly mistake.
It happened once, and that’s where it ends.” I tried to sound confident but my voice betrayed me slightly toward the end.
Professor Ashford stared at me for a few seconds before a slow smirk appeared on his face.
“I beg to differ.” Oh, hell no.
Before I could respond, he started walking toward me.
𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑.
𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓…..
My confidence disappeared almost immediately.
I instinctively stepped backward, but he kept coming, closing the distance between us with that same irritating smirk on his face.
𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑.
I took another step back, my heartbeat suddenly picking up speed.
What the hell is he doing?
“𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓸𝓻…” i called out but didn’t stop.
I moved backward again until my back was almost against the wall.
My brain was screaming at me to move, but I couldn’t move any further.
What exactly does he think he I doing?
He couldn’t possibly be thinking about doing something here.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to hold his gaze.
“”𝓓𝓸 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓬𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓻!!!.” He continued approaching.
“I mean it,” I warned, raising my voice slightly.
“Everyone is outside.
If I scream, people will come running.” I tried to make myself sound threatening, but my voice lacked the confidence I wanted.
“And when they get here, I’ll tell them you’re trying to seduce me.” His smirk deepened.
That was when I realized I had probably made things worse.
Instead of backing away, he looked almost entertained.
“I dare you.” My eyes widened as he took another step toward me.
I immediately pressed myself against the wall, realizing there was nowhere else to go.
My confidence had completely abandoned me.
“𝓦-𝔀𝓱𝔂…?” The word barely escaped my lips.
“𝓦-𝔀𝓱𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓭𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮?” I could feel his warm breath on my face.
It slowly traveled down to my neck, then settled right against my ear.
The heat of it made something unwanted twist low in my stomach.
I hated how easily my composure disappeared around him.
After everything that had happened the previous night, I should have known better than to let myself get this nervous.
I clenched my fists and silently told myself to get a grip.
I had spent the entire day reminding myself that whatever happened between us last night was a mistake.
So why did being this close to him make it so damn difficult to remember any of that?
“𝓘’𝓶… 𝓘’𝓶 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓮,” I whispered.
I swallowed and forced myself to meet his eyes.
“𝓛𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓪 𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮.
𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓶𝓪𝓷.
𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽… 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽.
𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮.” For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then Professor Ashford slowly reached up and took my face in his hand.
A small gasp escaped me before I could stop it.
My entire body went stiff.
He pulled my face a little closer, and my breath caught when I realized just how close we suddenly were.
His eyes stayed on mine, and my mind immediately went in the worst possible direction.
He’s going to kiss me.
I squeezed my eyes shut, my heart pounding so loudly that I was sure he could hear it.
Instead, I felt his breath brush against my face as he leaned even closer.
“𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔞𝔶𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢… 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔪𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶 𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔩𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔥 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲.”