Page 170 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10
As we waited for the valet to grab my car, Penny began to shiver. I took off my suit jacket, draped it over her shoulders, and pulled her in close. "Maybe your roommate will find your story more believable if you wear this back to your dorm."
She leaned into me. "I barely believe that I'm dating you, so it'll be hard to convince someone else that it's true."
I rested my chin on the top of her head. Another perfect fit. I could have stood there keeping her warm in my embrace for the rest of the weekend. But the valet pulled up. What little private time we had was over.
We were both quiet as I drove back to campus. It felt wrong that on Monday we’d have to pretend tonight hadn’t happened. That she’d have to just be one of my students. It wasn’t what I wanted. I moved my right hand to the center console. She immediately slid her hand into mine. We intertwined our fingers and I had a feeling she was trying to hold on to this moment too.
"What will happen if someone finds out that we're dating?" she asked.
"It's frowned upon, but the university's policy isn't explicitly stated in their handbook. It's more a question of ethics than anything else."
"You've looked it up?"
I glanced at her. "Yes."
"So you won't actually get in trouble?"
"That depends on a lot of things."
"Like what?"
"Well, if there was even a whisper of sexual harassment, I would get fired. Or if someone in your class found out about us and thought you were getting favoritism, they could file a complaint. Or..."
"I'm not going to tell anyone, Professor Hunter."
"Then I don't think we have anything to worry about."
"Would you still have pursued me if the university's policy was explicitly against it?"
I’d already started pursuing her before Ian had looked up the university’s policy. I couldn’t stop myself. And if I had looked it up beforehand and it had been against the rules? I doubted I would have stopped. I’d already tried to walk away. I’d tried to tell myself this was wrong. But here I was anyway. "Yes.” I squeezed her hand.
"Even though you could get fired?"
I didn’t need this job. But I loved being a professor. I’d taken a lot of risks in business. It was about figuring out if the risks would pay off. And with Penny, I knew she was worth it. Any time I had with her was worth it. I took a long slow breath. One of the easiest ones I’d ever taken. Yes, she was worth this feeling. "I know that you want this just as much as I do. I believe that my ethics are sound, so no one can make me question them." But I knew it wasn’t that simple. If we got caught, I wasn’t sureif anyone would buy that. This was wrong no matter how right it felt.
We drove in silence for a few minutes.
"What did your startup company do?" she asked.
"Tech."
"What happened to it?"
These were the kind of questions I didn’t want to get into. I just wanted to live in the moment rather than being clouded by my past. "I sold it. But I still have a seat on the board."
"Then why are you teaching?"
"For the same reason I left New York. I needed a change."
"And if it wasn't because of how loud and busy the city was, then what was it? A midlife crisis?"
I laughed. "How old do you think I am, Penny?"
"Actually, I thought you were probably a grad student when I met you in the coffee shop. You can't even believe how shocked I was when I found out you were my Comm professor."
I laughed again. When we met, I’d hoped she was a grad student too. If only life had been so simple. "So take a guess," I said.
"Well, professors have to go to grad school and then get their masters to teach, right?"
