Page 8 of Betting on the Bad Boy
“Yeah, I haven’t either. But it’s on my list of places to visit someday.” I slid down and sat across from her, my back against the wall. “So, I take it you’re a student at Tempest?”
“Adjunct professor. And you?”
“Got my MBA a few years ago and now work for Crosby Consulting. I’m mentoring a group of undergrads, so I’m on campus quite a bit. Let me guess—you teach Women’s Studies?”
Faith shook her head. “English Lit.”
“So, the spicy reading material is for…?”
“Um, research for an article I’m submitting to a literary journal.”
“Huh. I’m surprised Tempest wants you working on that kind of stuff, being such a conservative university and all. You sure you don’t hand out English Lit homework like that? Or maybe group projects?”
She appraised me with narrowed eyes and a half-smile on her full, pink lips. “No. It’s all self-study.”
Maybe I’d misjudged her. “Well, that could be pretty interesting, too.”
Faith cleared her throat. “So, what kind of consulting do you do?”
“Mostly mergers and acquisitions, but on the marketing side of things.” I shrugged. “I’m hoping to land a gig with one of our divisions out east. How about you?”
Management had their eyes on me. I’d love to make a big move to one of their high-paying, high-profile divisions. That would make it possible to pay off my student loans and maybe do something nice for Meemaw to thank her for everything she’d done for me over the years.
Faith stretched out and crossed one foot over the other, drawing my attention to her long, denim-clad legs. “I’d like to stay here at Tempest and earn tenure.”
Smarty pants. “I thought all English professors wanted to take sabbaticals and write the great American novel.”
“Writing isn’t as easy as it might look.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t know about that. But you sure as hell don’t look like any English teacher I’ve ever had. You’re missing glasses and a cat.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong with cats?”
Great. I’d pissed her off again. “You have a cat, don’t you?”
She drew her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. “Mr. Darcy doesn’t really know he’s a cat. He’s more of a roommate.”
“Mr. Darcy? Seriously? I take it back. I guess you do look like some of my English profs. I just didn’t have a chance to meet them when they were still hot.”
A splash of red spread across her cheeks. “Look here, Pizza Boy?—”
“Hey, how about a beer or something while we wait for someone to rescue us?” I stood up and walked around the room, taking note of the stock.
Faith shook her head. “No thanks, I’m not a big drinker.”
Great, what to do with the gorgeous green-eyed girl? If she hadn’t already shot me down, I’d be able to come up with a few ideas. Although, she didn’t really look like one-night stand material, and for the past six years, that’s all I’d been interested in. No commitment, no one gets hurt.
By the looks of the red-headed beauty in front of me, she’d definitely fall into the long-term category—a major no-no for me. I hadn’t always been so hell-bent against commitments. But that was one lesson I only needed to learn once.
I walked back to the door and put my ear up against the cold metal. The muffled sound of the band filtered through. Maybe when they took a break, I could make enough noise to attract some attention. I looked at my watch. It was only nine-forty. Since I’d just restocked the main fridge, it could be quite a while before someone had to come back to the stockroom. Damn.
Faith
I chewedon my bottom lip. Only fifteen minutes had passed. How long was I going to be stuck in here with Pizzeria Dante? I hadn’t wanted to go out tonight in the first place. If I’d onlylistened to my gut, I’d still be at home in my pajamas, knee-deep in grading papers about Nietzsche’sHuman, All Too Humanwith Mr. Darcy nestled on my lap.
Maybe that was too optimistic. If I were at home, the Nietzsche papers would probably be laying on the floor, and I’d be snoozing on the couch. The man was brilliant, but not one of my favorites.
Still, I had work to do and those final scenes I promised Steph. I needed to get home and get busy if I wanted to turn everything in on time.
