“Kady?” Amora—one of Faye’s friends—who was busy snipping leaves off a tall plant that creeps up the wall blinks at me in confusion. “What’re you doing here?”
“Just handing in an assignment for Faye,” I reply. “Is Professor Brackenwood around?”
“He’s not teaching this morning, but he should be in his office. I’d offer to take it for you, but…” She holds up her muddy hands. “Follow the path around to the right, then follow thesigns from there. He’s probably hiding in there because he has a few admirers who keep asking him for help.”
After thanking her, I continue in the direction she pointed. I don’t know how Faye spends so much time here—it’s roasting. In these conditions, my blowout will be starting to frizz any second, so I pick up my pace, intending to make sure this is a hasty visit. I come to, what can only be described as, a ramshackle shed.
My law professors have grand, oak-paneled offices lined with bookcases, while this gives meThe Hobbitvibes.
There’s no answer when I knock on the door, but I can hear motion from inside—the jangling of what sounds like glass jars and papers getting thrown around. I try again, but no response. Figuring he probably can’t hear me over the noise, I push the door open and step inside.
“Hello?”
His smell hits me like a ton of bricks. It engulfs me, licking around my ankles then swallowing my body, like an uncontrollable fire. It’s a familiar smell, the scent of a man I never thought I’d meet again.
A tall, dark, handsome alpha rises to his full height. His nostrils flare as a spade slips from his fingers and hits the stone slab below. “Victoria?”
It takes a second to remember that I used a false name when we last met. I feel like an idiot, holding Faye’s paper in my shaking hands. He looks down at it then back to me, his mouth agape.
No… It can’t be…
Over his shoulder, I spot various Health Botany Degrees framed on the wall, all made out to “Ezra Brackenwood.” My heart slams against my ribs as realization hits. The alpha I fucked in Forestville is Faye’s professor.
His brows furrow in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
“Y-you never told me that you w-work at SVU.”
“Technically, I didn’t,” Ezra replies. “Then.”
Sleeping with students is definitely against college rules, but if it happened when he wasn’t a faculty member, it doesn’t count. Right?
He takes a step closer, swiping Faye’s assignment from me. “Why do you have one of my student’s essays?”
Coupled with the stuffy greenhouse, his presence makes it hard to get a full breath.
“Um…” Usually, I’m a quick thinker, but right now I have nothing.
He rakes his hands through his locs, making the beads threaded through them dance and giving me a delicious whiff of his scent, which draws me in, even though it shouldn’t. My skin hums, as if my body remembers his touch and longs for more. “Are you a student here?”
“I… Uh… Maybe.”
“Maybe?” He frowns. “But you said you were a reporter.”
“I am,” I say quickly before adding, “forTheValley Voice.” I smooth down my blouse, trying to gather myself. “In my defense, you didn’t mention that you had a teaching job.”
The memory of what happened between us in the alleyway lights a fire in my belly that morphs into pain, my skin prickling like I’m being attacked by an army of fire ants. I grab the corner of his desk to steady myself, wobbling on my feet, vision swimming.
Learning that Ezra is a professor is bad enough, but this? This is even worse.
THIRTEEN
Ezra
I fucked a student.
Sure, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, but never this. My job is one of the few things that I take seriously, and this… Well, it could ruin everything.
But how was I supposed to know? She claimed to be a reporter, and she doesn’t look like the typical student. Her self-assuredness and the way she carries herself come with a maturity that I haven’t seen in any students.
