I pressed my thumbnail hard. I didn’t like whatever was happening here.
He smirked at my hand. “An anchoring technique?”
“Yes.” I smiled anxiously. “Wow. I didn’t know anyone noticed.”
“I like to be thorough and might notice things others seem to neglect, for professional purposes. They say the devil is in the detail.”
“I prefer the original saying.”
“Which is?”
“God is in the detail.”
His face tensed, and a red glare flickered in his eyes that vanished the second I blinked. Falsely spooked, I frowned. It must have been my imagination.
“Speaking of things I’ve noticed that may not be clear to others yet,” he said, “you and Joshua?”
Oh. So this is what the meeting is about.
“What about Professor Asher and I?” I played dumb, hoping across all hope this was all about Joshua and not a certain huge Beastly twin.
“You’re dating.”
“Not exactly. We bumped into each other once at a restaurant and—”
“Things evolved,” he interrupted, and irritation pulsed in my veins. I hated to be interrupted even if it was by my boss. “These details I do not need to know.” He leaned forward. “All I’m saying here is that if you are going to date, you should report it to HR so you won’t get into trouble. It’s protocol.”
I nodded. “Thanks for letting me know.”
A devilish smirk curved the corner of his mouth in the scariest yet most alluring way. “But if you decide to date someone like…let’s say, Alec Beastly…”
My heart tumbled in my chest and sank to my knees. I pressed my thumbnail so fiercely I thought I broke a knuckle. “Why would I date Alec Beastly?”
“Why wouldn’t you? Why would anybody remake a mistake?”
I felt that my heart was about to explode. How the fuck did my boss know I fucked Alec the night before I worked here? Did Alec tell him? Was he upset about this morning that he exposed us? How fucking naive was I to think Alec would keep our secret like he’d promised?
Or was it Kayden who did it? Or someone else entirely, someone who had saw us that night?
What was I going to do now?
“Professor Pattison, I…I…” I stammered, tears pricking my eyes.
“Relax, Isabella.” His index finger touched my knee. For attention? “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. You don’t know how much I like you. How much you mean to me.”
Is he coming on to me? Is he blackmailing me, thinking I’d spread my legs for him to avoid the scandal?“No, I don’t. Why would I mean anything to you?”
He leaned back. “Because of Katrina. She’s a very dear friend, and she asked me to look after you. This is me looking after you.”
I swam in a whirlpool of confusion and mixed emotions. I didn’t know what to think anymore. Was Damien making a pass at me or did he just like Katrina? Perhaps too much?
Why the hell did a jealousy blade stab me? Where was this coming from? Damien was a very attractive man, a silver fox without the silver, a blond fox. He had the body of a twenty-year-old, the wisdom of an intellectual and the prestige of a college professor. Yet not once had I felt attracted to him.
Why now? When he practically posed a threat to me?
This side of me that kept shoving me into dangerous situations since I came here and got a kick out of it, when did I get it?
Professor Pattison rose and moved behind my seat. “Sometimes mistakes happen. Some other times, we like these mistakes so much we make them again and again.” His hands tightened around the back of my chair. “Because wrong is the only thing that makes us happy,” he whispered in my ear. “It’s not fair to stay unhappy all the time, is it?”
