Page 14 of The Professor
I hold out the ring I bought at the boutique, a vintage emerald and diamond on a delicate gold band.
“Emma McMann, when I saw you on campus this year, I couldn’t believe my luck,” I start, smiling at her. “I’ve wanted you since the second I first saw you all those years ago, and the time I’ve had with you has been the best of my life.”
She takes a step towards me. “I love you so much,” she whispers, the words coming out a little choked up.
“I love you, Emma,” I promise her. “Will you marry me?”
“Of course I will!” she shrieks, her excitement overriding her shock as she throws herself at me. I catch her with a laugh, both of us tumbling to the grass. I manage to keep a hold of the ring, kissing her deeply before I pull away to slip it on her finger.
“It’sstunning,” she gushes, tears overflowing as she stares at it. It sparkles in the Scottish sun, glowing as brightly as the woman who wears it. “Dammit, Oliver, you’re perfect.”
I laugh, rolling onto my back and taking her with me. I kiss her breathless, only stopping because I hear the chatter of another set of hikers closing in.
“Come on,” I say, gathering up our stuff and taking my fiancee’s hand. “Let’s go show your family our engagement photos.”
Emma gasps. “You set up the camera? And here I was thinking I was done crying,” she says, happy tears streaking down her cheeks once more.
“We’re going to need a huge house to decorate all the walls with,” I muse, kissing her once more just because I can’t help myself.
“Sounds perfect,” she answers, and she’s right.
Any life with her sounds perfect to me.
EPILOGUE
OLIVER
One Year Later
“Oh, hey, Professor,” my wife calls out across the campus green, grinning widely from where she’s perched on a bench. She holds out a coffee cup as I approach, and I take it gratefully, giving her a kiss before I take a sip.
“God, I needed this after that class,” I say with a laugh.
“None of them as well behaved as your favorite student?” she teases, bumping me with her shoulder when I sit beside her. “Can you believe this time last year, we were pretending to be nothing more than a Professor and a dedicated student?”
I raise a brow at her. “You mean, this time last year you were getting told off by the Dean for calling meProfessor Hottyand stalking me on social media?” I tease, and she tips her head back with laughter.
“Well, he can’t tell me off anymore. I’m well within my rights to announce that my husband is –the hottest professor on campus,” she says, increasing her volume as she says the last part, causing a few nearby people to turn their heads.
“You’re just as much trouble now as you were then,” I tease back, squeezing her thigh.
“You love me for it,” she laughs.
“You know I do,” I agree, lowering my voice to add, “But just because you’ve graduated now doesn’t mean I won’t bend you over a desk and spank you for misbehaving."
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” she flirts back, winking.
“You said you had news?” I ask, wrapping my arm around her waist and tugging her a little closer. I know I’m at my place of work but it’s impossible not to touch her when she’s right beside me. Besides, it’s not like we haven’t done much, much worse things on this campus. Or, muchbetterthings, depending on how you think about it.
“Oh, yes!” she says, perking up. “You remember the interview I had with the director I met at your show?”
I nod, thinking back to the art show and the photos I’d submitted. They turned out excellently, and received a lot of praise from my peers and the other artists, but I refused to sell any of them even if I could’ve made some damn good money from the way people were talking. But instead, they hang privately in our house, reminding us of the journey of our love.
“Well, he called me today…” she says, drawing out the tension. “And he wants to hire me!”
I quickly set my coffee cup down on the bench and then jump up, picking her up and spinning her around.
“That’s incredible, gorgeous,” I say, beaming with pride, as I set her down. She’s grinning from ear to ear.
