Page 117 of Trip Me Up

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NIALL

“Niall, I’m sorry.”

Those big eyes of hers pleaded while the guard held her in a punishing grip. I knew exactly how easily her fair skin bruised, having left a few marks of my own on her thighs when she’d begged me, “Harder.” I shook off the memory. That grip was going to leave a bruise on her arm.

“Hey,” I said. “Ease up. What’s going on?”

“Sorry, Mr. Flynn.” The cop hardly moved as Sam tried to jerk her arm away. “We’ll escort her out.”

“Why?” Sam belonged there more than I did. Though she wasn’t displaying her student ID. “Is there an issue with her identification?”

“She’s not supposed to be here at all.”

I’d practically dared her to come see me by showing up at her university. Why shouldn’t she be there?

“Sam, what’s he talking about?”

She growled and gave another futile tug of her arm. “I’m kind of banned from campus. But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t truthful when we started the tour. And then I should’ve told you when we got…closer.” She shot a glance at Gabi, who had her arms crossed, her hip cocked, and her eyebrows up at her hairline.

“I’m sorry that what I did with CASE hurt you. That I made it seem like I didn’t value your work. Your career. Because I do. Your books are amazing, and I don’t want you to stop writing. Ever.”

She was saying all the right things, and my ego was purring like a cat. But—“Back up a second. Why are you banned from campus?”

The cop broke in. “Unauthorized access to private property. Theft and destruction of university property.” He tugged her arm, and she winced.

“Hey now.” Gabi stepped up, arms on her hips. “You don’t need to use that much force.”

“She destroyed over two million dollars’ worth of intellectual property.”

Gabi’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “She’s also got a rich family with a posse of fancy lawyers. I’ve got a phone camera, and I’m about to start taking video.” She pulled out her phone.

For once, I was thankful for technology. The cop’s grip eased. “I’m leaving campus now,” I said, hands up in aneasy-theregesture. “I’ll escort Dr. Jones off campus. No reason to make more of a scene in front of all these donors.”

As if he hadn’t noticed the stares of the people all around us, the cop looked around and dropped Sam’s arm. “We’ll just ensure she leaves university property.”

“Fine.” I shouldered my satchel. “You okay?”

She rubbed her arm. “I’m good. But you can’t call me Dr. Jones.”

Was I ready to bridge the distance and call her Sam? I’d have to forget all the times I’d gasped her name while we’d made love.

Gabi led us through the exit, down a hallway, and through a rear door that opened to the outside. It was May, and a cold breeze slapped my cheeks, reminding me I couldn’t fall under her spell. I couldn’t slip my arms around her and get lost in her herbal scent, in the comfort of her body. Not until we’d talked.

As we strode toward the parking lot, I bent toward Sam. “Theft and destruction of university property? What’s that cop talking about?”

“I—Dr. Martell got an investment offer. From…from your father. He wanted us to add on more features, more genres. Deliver customized stories to people’s phones. And they would’ve built more CASEs. To sell to publishers. They would’ve flooded the market with cheap product, and I was worried about what would happen to you and your books. I—I couldn’t let them.”

I stopped walking. Goosebumps rose on my skin, and not from the evening breeze. “Sam, what’d you do?”

She stared off into the middle distance. Or maybe she was looking toward the computer science building. “I erased the program. And shredded the backups. Jackson and I did. Dr. Martell was not pleased.”

You can’t call me Dr. Jones.No. “You don’t mean he took away your doctorate?”

“He’d never signed off on my dissertation. And now he never will. I’m out of the program.”

“But what will you do now?” It was the only thing she’d wanted. My heart cracked for her shattered dreams.

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