The Learning Curve by Collins Kelly

Author:Collins, Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kelly Collins
Published: 2018-09-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

The coffee was made and sitting on his desk by the time he arrived at 8:50.

He walked in the door and stopped. I stood next to my desk holding his calendar and wearing the purple dress he requested.

“Good morning, Dean Hollings.” I forced my voice to stay strong and professional despite the fact that I wanted to cry. The minute I saw him, all the passion and the hurt came back—strong—like an arrow through my heart. “Here’s your calendar.” I held out his schedule for the day.

“I didn’t think you would show up today.” He pulled the paper from my hand, touching my fingers along the way. The air sizzled around us. What we had together couldn’t be described—only felt.

I turned toward my desk to maintain my composure and to keep him from seeing the truth. “This is my job. I’d never dodge my responsibilities.” If not for my mother, I’d still be at Horizons, tucked next to her on the mattress in the barn. I’d be missing work to skip rocks and eat alfalfa pancakes.

He looked down at his calendar and whistled. It was a busy day. He had department head meetings every hour from ten until five. “Can we talk after work?”

I flopped in my chair and faced him. “I’d love to.” Was that hope I saw in his expression? “But I can’t.”

His attitude did a total about face, from confident to almost plaintive. “Don’t do this. We do need to talk.” He leaned toward me, and I breathed in his scent. It wrapped around me like a mink coat, all soft and warm and cozy. “Don’t punish me for Friday night.”

I wanted to slap him and hug him and comfort him and hate him and love him. Instead, I smiled. “No punishment intended. I simply have plans. Besides, you could have called if you’d wanted to talk.”

“I wanted to give you space.”

The phone rang, and I was grateful for the distraction because when it came to Mark, I was weak. If he told me to go into his office and take off my dress, I’d be lying on that soft leather couch in seconds. My legs would be spread, waiting for him.

“Dean Hollings’ office,” I said in a voice more cheerful than I felt.

He sat on the edge of my desk and watched me. My skin prickled from his perusal. It was as if he were stripping me bare with a look. He reached for a strand of my hair that had fallen from the tight bun at my neck and tucked it behind my ear.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered.

I focused on the call instead of the way his words whirled warm in my womb. “I’ll let him know. Is there anything else?” I wrote the caller’s name on a yellow memo pad and tore the sheet off. “Thanks for calling.” I placed the handset back in the cradle and turned toward Mark. “Steve Rockman would like to meet you for lunch tomorrow.” I pressed the paper into his palm.

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