Marin’s hand covers her open mouth. “Oh my God, Nathaniel. That’s amazing. Or I should say,brilliant!”
I laugh at her feeble attempt to use to a British accent, but she’s adorable for trying.
She flips through the contract a few pages until she lands on the page I earmarked and folded over. The one that I wanted her to see.
When her wide eyes connect with mine again, I nod my head.
“Yes,” I confirm, placing my hands on her knees and squeezing them gently. “I asked them to include my research assistant during my stay. That is if you’d be interested in traveling to…”
I don’t have a chance to finish when she drops the packet on her lap and flings her arms around my neck, pecking my cheek, jaw, and forehead before landing on my lips.
“Yes, Nathaniel! The answer is yes. I’d love to travel abroad with you again. You made my New Year’s resolution become a reality and my first excursion with you was the best road trip I could ever have imagined. I can’t wait for more adventures with you in the future, Professor Leeds.”
And just like that, her comment fills my head with all sorts of imagined naughty professor scenarios with Marin as my sexy student assistant. I lift her up in my arms and carry her over to the table, where I push the books and papers aside and set her down as she laughs with carefree joy.
“I like the sound of that,” I reply, giving her an open-mouthed kiss along her neckline as I make my way to her ear. “Now let me start with your first lesson.”
The End
Part II
Book Two
His Fairytale Princess
Brinly
I choseto attend Oak Ridge University for one reason and one reason only.
To piss off my mother.
It’s safe to say my choice did the trick. She wanted me to attend Princeton, her alma mater, where I would have been surrounded by all her peers and other business magnate’s progeny, influenced by their upper class, East Coast wealth and prestige. But I wanted something all my own.
All my life, I’d been known as the daughter of Muriel Davis, Queen of Shipping. As in, she runs one of the most successful international shipping companies in the world.
I consider this as I wait for the rest of my cohorts from Mi Alpha Alpha, the sorority I pledged to at the beginning of my freshman year last year, to arrive. Our sorority president this year, Stacy Barren, scheduled this meeting to discuss the upcoming charity fund raiser we would be organizing this year for Halloween.
If it’s anything like last year’s event, we’ll have a blast and will raise a ton of money for those in need.
“You’re always early to everything, aren’t you? You put all the rest of us to shame.”
I turn behind me to find my friend, Maddie, walking into our dining room where we hold our regular meetings. Her hair is up in a messy bun and she looks like she just came back from a run. The jogging shorts and sports bra are another clue as to her previous whereabouts.
Shrugging a shoulder, I smirk. “What can I say? My mother raised me with the motto, “If you can’t be the first one there, there’s no point in going.”
Maddie snort-laughs. “Well if that’s the case, there’s no reason for me to even be in college. I’m always late for my classes. Anyway, I gotta run up and shower quick. Will you save me this seat?”
I nod in agreement and watch her charge up the stairway leading to the second and third floor bedrooms. We aren’t roommates but spend a lot of time together when we can. She’s a biology major and I’m studying to become a teacher.
Teaching is something I’ve always wanted to do, ever since I can remember. Maybe it was because I didn’t get a lot of attention at home with my mother as busy as she was running a Fortune 500 company and never home long enough to spend time with me. My teachers became my role models and parental substitutes along the way. Especially Ms. Campbell, my high school English and Composition teacher. She was the one who gave me the courage to break out of my introverted role and become a literacy mentor after school, and to join the school newspaper.
I smile at several of my sorority sisters as they begin to file in, finding their seats and chatting with one another. I’m just about to say hello to Lexi, one of my close sisters, when my phone buzzes in my hand. Figuring it’s my mom, I glance just briefly at it and am surprised to find it’s a message from Brant Leeds, the guy who manages the student tutoring center where I signed up to become an English tutor this year.
It seemed appropriate that if I was going to break out of my shell and become a teacher, I’d need the real-life experience in tutoring other students. Being that this is my sophomore year, I need all the additional hours and credits I can get to have a decent resume for graduate school.
Brant: Do you have time to add another student to your schedule? Got one that just registered. It’s past the deadline but if you’re willing and able…
I hastily type in my reply before the meeting starts and I get sidetracked or forget to respond.
