I know that I’m lucky with my lot in life. Blessed, even.
Doesn’t mean I won’t still work my ass off.
Daddy might have money but, as he cautioned me countless times, it doesn’t meanIcan be lazy. I fully understand why he snagged me the internship with Senator Samuels. It was well worth having to take classes remotely, doing schoolwork in the evenings and on the weekends, so I could spend my weekdays studying at the feet of Marlene Samuels.
You cannot pay for that kind of education.
Even though Senator Samuels is a Democrat, Daddy highly respects her and has always spoken well of her, and cautioned me to work my ass off to impress her.
I did, and she wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation for my college application packet.
I’m determined to make straightAs and make a name for myself so I don’t spend the rest of my life known as Benchley Evans’ daughter.
I’m Susa Evans, and I’m going to make sure people know who I am because of whatI’vedone,notbecause of who Daddy is.
Momma had felt nervous about me living in Tampa by myself this year and not staying at their home in Brandon, but Daddy knows I can handle myself. I’m my father’s daughter in more than one way.
Driving to campus every day will be annoying. I’d wanted to live in a dorm this year, but Daddy nixed that. The politician-to-be knows he’s right, but I’m still mad at him for overruling me. Buying me a house was his way of trying to compromise and soothe my anger over him putting his foot down about me not living in a dorm.
I’m also annoyed because it means I’ll have to figure out how to deal with my ex-boyfriend, Kendall. That storm will no doubt blow up tonight, if the increasingly desperate and pleading tone of his multiple e-mails are any indication. I broke up with him right before he departed on a trip to France with his family, and he’s due back in town tonight. If I was living in a dorm, I’d have all the backup I could handle.
Douchey timing on my part, I know, but it was calculated. I knew had I done it sooner, I never would have gotten rid of him. He would have been whiny and clingy and apologizing, maybe even cancelled going on the trip, and I needed a few weeks away from him to gain some extra perspective.
Because while he was good in the sack, that was about all he was good for. He damn sure wasn’t someone good for my future. Especially not with the load of debt his family’s carrying, something I didn’t know about until I ran a full background check on him just before I broke up with him. Having him out of my hair has been a relief, meaning I definitely don’t want him back.
The last thing I want to do is call Daddy and ask him to talk to Kendall’s parents for me, to get Kendall to leave me alone.
That would be like admitting I can’t adult.
Scratch that. Calling Daddy is the second-to-last thing I want to do. Calling thecopsis thelastthing I want to do, because I know damn well it’d get back to Daddy anyway.
I’m still mulling all this over when I walk in that classroom Monday morning, where I immediately spot the two hotties sitting in the far back corner. Hard to miss them, from how they’ve moved their desks. The one guy looks a little older, intense brown eyes with smoky depths and a watchful gaze that sees everything. Brown hair, gorgeous. He’s literally backed his desk into the corner, angled out toward the room.
The first thought that flits through my mind when I look at him isformer military.
He has the same look on his face worn by some of the law enforcement officers I met in Tallahassee who work security for the capitol building. Officers who were former military, and who saw active combat during their in-country deployments.
They didn’t like having their backs to a room or a door, either.
I’m immediately drawn to the guy and hope I’ve just found the answer to my Kendall problem. With my luck, this guy’s probably got a clingy, whiny girlfriend who will stomp her feet and refuse to let him do what I ask of him tonight.
But it’s either take a chance and ask, or sac up and face Kendall on my own. Otherwise, I’m going to have to hang around the damn library until about midnight and hope Kendall hasn’t parked himself at my front door. I refuse to call law enforcement except as a last resort, because I know damn well it’ll get back to Daddy.
Then good-bye living on my own. I know I’m nineteen, but he and Momma would basically move in with me at that point. Or, at least Momma would.
That would mean good-bye any sex life I might hope to have.
The guy seated next to Brown Eyes appears to be a little taller, most likely a little younger, too, from the lack of lines on his face and around his eyes. Gorgeous green eyes and blond hair, super hot. He’s angled his desk, too, and sits to the right of Brown Eyes.
Still, it’s Brown Eyes I want to get to know better.
Alotbetter.
I decide to go for broke, since I don’t see a ring on either of their hands. I walk over, smiling as I do. “Mind if I sit here?” I point to the desk that technically now sits to Brown Eyes’ left.
Brown Eyes might think he’s looking pretty casual when he shrugs, but I’ve already spotted the flash of resentment, gone almost before it’s there.
Green Eyes is practically drooling, bless his heart. He’s adorable.
